The Power Within

Chapters

Chapter 1 - The Arrival
Chapter 2 - Tour of The Town
Chapter 3 - Bad Dreams
Chapter 4 - Mind Discomfort
Chapter 5 - An Unexpected Dinner
Chapter 6 - In the Heart of the Night
Chapter 7 - My Friend
Chapter 8 - Whitestone
Chapter 9 - The Unseen Truth
Chapter 10 - Within His Heart

Chapter 1 - The Arrival

Yet another tear ran along my cheek, as I slowly walked towards the small town on the horizon. I stopped on the top of the hill I was at, sat on my haunches and sniffled; wiping off my tears with the tip of my left wing. I didn’t really feel like flying in this condition, not that I was in a hurry anyway. Having nowhere or nopony to go to, I was just wandering around trying to find someplace to stay overnight.

The town far away looked peaceful, and I wondered if there was a motel where I could rent a room for the night. I still had a few bits left and was hoping that it would be enough for now. Sleeping in the forest wasn’t the most tempting idea there was, as I would probably just catch a cold or get eaten by some monsters that lived there.

It was already getting chilly as the sun was setting behind the horizon, making the town ahead look really beautiful. My stomach growled, reminding me that I hadn’t eaten anything since yesterday. How could I have? I have been basically flying and running all day and night non-stop, trying to escape both physically and mentally from what happened.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp spike of pain running through my system, causing me to flinch. Oh, I noticed my wound was bleeding again as I peeked at my left side under the wing. Maybe I needed a hospital more than a motel after all? The blood dripped from the wound over my beige fur, making it look much worse than it actually was, I decided shortly to dress it.

Opening the saddlebag with my right wing, I took out a roll of bandage. I managed to spin it around my waist, stopping the bleeding. It wasn’t pretty but it had to do for now, not that I was a pretty sight myself either. My usually almost glowing yellow mane and tail with darker shades of amber, was now dirty, tangled and slightly tainted from the blood. I had multiple cuts and nicks all over my body, mostly from the attack; but also from running through the forest and tripping over numerous times.

I was a flyer after all not a runner. But in my current state, flying wasn’t really the most painless option; neither was running. More pain was the last thing I needed right now. Slowly standing back up again I sighed and lowered my head. What have I done to deserve this? What had they done to deserve it? Another tear formed in the corner of my eye, but I hardly cared.

Starting to walk towards the town again felt like the only option I had at the moment. It was a miracle that my legs were still in working order, being the only things that didn’t actually hurt all that much. Descending the hill, I was careful not to cause any more unnecessary bruising than I already had. Tripping and rolling down the hill would be hilarious if somepony was actually watching.

Hearing the sound of a small stream nearby, I decided to find it and get some water. Who knows when I might get the chance to drink next? Besides, I was really thirsty. I had some food left in my saddlebag too, but I decided to save it for later. It was my work lunch after all.

After finding the stream, I lowered my head over the water and saw my messed up reflection staring back at me. My amber eyes looked dim, sad and lifeless. Some blood vessels had also ruptured, tinting my eyes slightly red. I noticed my muzzle was lightly bleeding as well. Great, I was a horrible sight at the moment.

I closed my eyes and drank while I had the chance. The water actually tasted a lot better than I was hoping for. Clean and refreshing water, so much better than at home.

Home... The one thing I didn’t have anymore; It was gone. So was the whole village and all the ponies who weren’t as lucky to make the escape as I was. Being a strong pegasus had its advantages, but I didn’t stand a chance against a whole army of armored soldiers with sharp spears, bows, and arrows; so I had to escape.

Considering myself lucky to be alive, I had no clue what had happened or why. Suddenly everything was taken away from me. From us. Not that we had much in the first place but still, nopony deserved that. Nopony deserved to die!

Gritting my teeth I slowly turned around and felt tears pushing their way out of my tightly shut eyes as my heart was beating furiously.

“It’s not fair!” I yelled as loud as I could from the pure frustration if nothing else and collapsed on the ground, sobbing uncontrollably. Everything that was dear to me, flew past my eyes and the cacophony of noises raged through my ears; making me cover them with my hooves. The iron taste of blood slowly spread in my mouth as I gritted my teeth harder and harder before everything blackened around me.

After I came to, I opened my eyes again to look around and noticed that it was getting really dark. Could I even find a place to stay at this late hour anymore? I shook my head and got back up again, to continue my way towards the town in the moonlight.

Entering the town, I didn’t really see anypony outside anymore, though some houses had a dim light coming out of them. Maybe they weren't all sleeping just yet. Being completely unfamiliar with the town, I tried to look for a sign that would indicate a place I could rent a room for the night; or even a hospital. Having no such luck, I walked around the town, wondering what kind of place this was. What kind of ponies lived here, if they even were ponies?

Streets were empty, but I could hear some voices inside the houses. For a moment I considered to ask directions but decided not to. I figured that it’d probably be really disturbing if somepony like me suddenly appeared to their doorstep in the middle of the night, looking like this. They’d probably just scream and slam the door shut.

Yeah, a bloody and banged up stallion would belong in the hospital instead. I wonder where it was anyway. A town as big as this one should have one, right?

Suddenly, I saw a big tree in front of me that had a door and windows. Oh, and a balcony, was that a house? I noticed there was also a dim light coming out of the windows. Should I ask for help from there? It didn’t look like a motel to me, or like a hospital for that matter, but an important building nevertheless.

I would have analyzed the building more carefully, had it not been for the sharp gasp I heard coming from somewhere. I quickly spun around to see where it came from but saw nopony on the streets. I spun again, almost panicking but still had no luck finding the source of the sound. Was I imagining things?

“Oh, um please don’t be afraid, are you um okay?” I suddenly heard from somewhere. The voice obviously belonged to a female and to be honest, it sounded like she was scared or something.

I quickly glanced into the air and saw this yellow pegasus with a long pink mane and tail hovering above me. Losing my balance, I let out a small yelp as I tripped over and fell on my left side, giving my wound a good reason to shoot another sharp spike of pain through my body; like the spear it actually was some time ago.

“Ow!” I flinched, holding my side in pain.

The yellow pegasus let out another gasp and muttered something I wasn’t actually able to hear before she fluttered closer. I felt the wound bleeding again, through the bandages this time; I really needed to see a doctor. Could she be one though? That would be incredibly lucky.

“Oh, I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t mean to startle you, um are you hurt?” she asked still sounding like she was afraid of me or something, before landing right in front of me. It was pretty dark already so maybe my current condition wasn’t too obvious to see, was it?

“Ugh... I’ve seen better days,” I mumbled, not looking directly at her.

She carefully inspected me from the distance, looking at my wounds, bloody bandages and what not. No wonder she was so nervous. I would be too if I saw myself walking on the streets in the middle of the night, looking like this. Who knew if I were a good or a bad guy, or if there was some monster on the loose hunting down unwary ponies.

“You are um, badly injured,” she simply stated while pointing at me, making me want to roll my eyes as if I wasn’t aware of that already.
“Come with me, please. We need to get you to the hospital, um I mean if you are able to walk, that is,” the mare continued anxiously, if rather cutely.

A hospital would be really nice indeed. I doubt any motel would take me in like this anyway, and a hospital did even more than that. They’d take care of my injuries as well. The bill would be bigger but I mentally laughed at that, slowly nodding to the mare.

“I can walk,” I replied, carefully getting back on my hooves, if little a shakily, and got a quick look at the mare that was now helping me to stand up. I noticed she was actually very pretty.

“Thank you, Miss, uh...” I stammered as my brains reminded me I didn’t know her name.

The mare in question wasn’t apparently waiting to have to introduce herself, as she rapidly turned her head away as if ashamed. Was I being rude or something?

“Flut- Fluttershy,” she replied a moment later with barely audible voice.

“Thank you, Miss Fluttershy,” I corrected myself, making the pegasus blush even more. Uhh, maybe just a simple ‘thank you,’ would have been enough, though I just wanted to be polite to her as she was obviously worried and wanted to help me.

“Please, just call me Fluttershy I mean, if you don’t mind,” she pleaded.

Was she always like that, I wondered while she circled her hoof on the ground. She was really as adorable as she was beautiful. Apparently, this wasn’t a bad place to stop by.

I nodded slowly and started to wonder where the hospital might be. But the yellow mare just kept staring questioningly at me, as if she was waiting for something.

“W-what’s your name, um if you don’t mind me asking, sorry,” she murmured.

Ooh, right! She was waiting for me to tell her my name in return, fair enough.

“Oh, I’m sorry! My name is Shimmering Thunder, but you can just call me Shimmering.”

Fluttershy tilted her head while I gave her a questioning look back, making her hide behind her mane again. I swear I saw a smile before she did though.

“That’s an um, interesting name,” she murmured and tried to peek at me behind her very long mane. “I mean nice, it’s a really nice name,” the mare corrected a moment later.

“Thanks. Would you mind showing me where the hospital is by the way?” Honestly, that was all I cared about at the moment. I wanted to lay down, get some sleep, get my wounds healed and if possible, even get some food and try to forget everything that happened.

She walked right next to me and looked around for a moment, as if not sure where it was, before gesturing to my right.

“I’m sorry, It’s this way,” she said and lead the way. I followed next to her, wincing every now and then as my wound reminded me it was still there. I really hoped it wasn’t infected or anything, that would be bad. Shouldn’t I have a fever then?

Fluttershy peeked at me few times, looking more curious than worried suddenly. Every time I caught her doing so, she quickly looked away. She was really shy, I noticed. Not that it was a bad thing, more like an adorable one. I wasn’t the most outgoing pony either. ‘That is an understatement if I ever heard one,’ my brains shot back at me. Okay fine, I was shy too. I wasn’t about to argue with myself right now.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked, deciding to break the silence. She stopped and just stared at me, wearing a delicate smile. Maybe she was just worried, she was really hard to read.

“Oh, it’s nothing,” she mumbled, before starting to walk again. “I just um, really like your mane, it’s kind of shiny,” the mare revealed.

Of course, I should have known she was staring at my mane. For some reason, my mane and tail were actually glowing slightly in the dark. It was almost impossible to notice in the bright daylight, but at night it was almost like I was emitting my own light. Sometimes when felt really sad, there were even tiny sparks floating in my mane and tail, the cause for it still being a complete mystery. Sadly it was the kind of a nightlight I wasn’t able to turn off.

“Yeah, it does that,” I snickered nonchalantly, being totally accustomed with the thing already.

“I’ve never seen anything like it before,” she continued excitedly. I bet if I let her inspect it closer she’d start drooling.

Apparently, all the blood, dirt and other stuff I had been dragging through the forest with me wasn’t bothering her at all. It even felt like there was a small stick stuck somewhere in my mane, I noticed and I absently tried to look up to see it.

Fluttershy giggled at the act, however.

“Yeah, I know I’m a mess,” I groaned, trying to give her the look that would prevent any further questions about my past.

Her eyes widened, but she simply closed her gaping mouth and nodded, taking the hint. Damn it.

“I’m sorry, I just don’t want to talk about it right now,” I apologized a moment later, actually feeling a little bad for her now. It wasn’t her fault anyway. She was just trying to help me and I had no reason to be that rude. I gave her an apologetic look as well to top it off; heck I would have given her a hug if I had been a little bit braver.

“It’s fine. You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. It’s not really um my business anyway,” the yellow pegasus reasoned, looking away from me.

“Yeah, but I had no reason to be so indiscreet. I’m sorry,” I pleaded, earning a soft smile from her in return.

The rest of the walk went uneventfully as neither of us said anything. Eventually, we stopped in front of the big building that looked like a hospital to me. We walked to the front door as Fluttershy gently knocked on it.

After a couple of seconds, I heard hoof steps coming from the inside. The door let out an unlocking sound before slowly opening.

“Miss Fluttershy, what are you doing here in the middle of the night?” asked the white mare with a white hat and pink mane; who I assumed to be the nurse or something. Wait, did she even see me?

“Um, I found this poor pegasus wandering on the streets and it seems like he’s badly injured,” she said, gesturing towards me.

The nurse peeked out from the doorway, finally looking at me. I just gave her a little smirk, as she quickly inspected me.

“Oh my goodness! Please follow me, we’ll take you in right away,” the nurse said and turned back, pulling me after her.

Slowly waking up, I opened my eyes to look around the room I was brought to last night. I still felt a little bit tired after several treatments that Nurse Redheart and other night shift doctors had given to me. The pain was gone for the most part, though now I looked like a pony burrito wrapped in bandages.

As my gaze scanned the room, it came to a stop upon noticing a blue pot of flowers and a card on the table next to my bed. Were they for the previous patient or for me? I didn’t actually remember seeing them there last night. I stretched out my hoof to grab the card and read it.

‘Get well soon! - Fluttershy,’ was all that was written on the card. Oh, she’s been here this morning, what time was it again? I peeked at the clock on the wall and noticed that it was well past the noon already. Oh right, It was already late when I came in. And with all the operations, it was almost morning when I finally laid my head against the pillow; that explains it.

‘What a nice gesture,’ I thought and put the card back, suddenly hearing some noises from the hallway.

The door opened slowly and I saw a food trolley rolling in first, Nurse Redheart coming behind it. My mood lighted up immediately.

“Oh boy, food!” I exclaimed excitedly, earning a warm smile from her in return.

“How are we doing today, Mr. Thunder?” she asked while pushing the trolley right next to my bed and taking off the cover, revealing the food.

“I’m doing a lot better, thanks to you,” I replied absently, not removing my hungry eyes from the first proper meal for days. I felt my mouth getting watery already.

“My, you must be really hungry,” the nurse giggled before slightly frowning; probably wondering when I had my last meal.

Not wanting to explain the why part of the hunger, I simply thanked her for the food before starting to eat.

The nurse watched me for a moment in amusement before chuckling.

“You look much better already, would you like to be released later today?” She suddenly asked, making me stop shoving the food into my mouth. I looked at her questioningly.

I wasn’t in pain anymore, just a little sore. But honestly, I thought I’d spend at least couple more days in here. They had done an amazing job with my injuries, that much was true, but I didn’t actually have anywhere to go after this; I kind of needed a new place to live. Sadness sneaked inside of me again, making me lower my ears along with my head.

Apparently, the nurse picked up on this as her demeanor changed immediately.

“Oh, you don’t have to leave today if you don’t feel like it. I just thought you looked much better already. Your wounds weren’t that bad and the medicines have worked perfectly,” she continued sounding surprised.

I only turned my head away from her, not being sure what to say if anything. I really didn’t want to explain my situation to her in the slightest.

“Wait, you don’t have anywhere to go, do you?” the nurse suddenly asked.

If she was waiting for a certain reaction, it probably was the one I gave to her. I slowly shook my head and sighed heavily.

“No, I don’t,” I bluntly confirmed her pretty darn accurate guess.

“I see. You are not from here then I assume,” Redheart said, sounding much more concerned now than she was last night over my injuries.

I simply shook my head again.

Fighting with myself, I wondered if I should tell her about what happened; Or ask for a place to stay, or even one I could move into. This was a nice place after all and I wouldn’t mind staying here. Everypony I had met so far had been really nice to me. Well, Miss Fluttershy and the hospital staff, that is. I wonder if Fluttershy actually lived here, at least she was recognized by Nurse Redheart last night so, maybe?

My thoughts were interrupted by the nurse, who was eyeing the card and flowers on my table.

“Are those from Miss Fluttershy?” she asked smiling softly.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Well, it seems like you have already made yourself a new friend, maybe you could stay here in Ponyville?” the white mare suggested.

Ponyville? So that’s what this place was called. It sounded just as peaceful as it looked from the far away hill yesterday.

“Do you think it would be possible?” I managed to ask quietly.

“Why, yes of course! You just need to talk to the Mayor and ask if you can move in or even build your own house!” Nurse Redheart exclaimed merrily.

“The Mayor?” I repeated her questioningly.

“Yes, Mayor Mare is our town’s Mayor and will be helping you to find yourself a new home,” she cleared to me.

“That would be really nice,” I said, nodding to punctuate how I felt.

The nurse looked happy for the outcome and pulled the cart away from my bed, smiling softly at me.

“I will bring you some more food later, and even ask if Mayor Mare could come to see you; would that be okay for you?” she asked.

Nodding quietly I turned my gaze to the ceiling as she pushed the trolley out of the room. It felt like time had stopped in that instant the door closed. Suddenly I was all alone again and it didn’t feel good. It didn’t feel good at all.

I didn’t know what to think. It felt like my head was completely empty, but still full of everything at the same time. Here I was lying in the hospital and possibly starting a new life here in Ponyville, as my old one was destroyed. Memories from the attack crept back into my mind again. How many had escaped? How many had survived? Were my parents still alive? Was my sister still alive?

“Sister...”

Quickly closing my already watery eyes, I shook my head furiously, trying to get rid of the images in my head.

“Don't you dare to touch her!” I shouted as I sat up on the bed, panting heavily, before realizing where I was. I didn’t really care though.

If there were any sounds in the hall before, it was totally silent by now. I couldn't hear anything. Despite this, I bet my shout was heard well outside of the building. I simply collapsed on the bed and let my mane cover my face as I cried quietly.

A moment later I heard somepony walking in the hallway as the hoof steps stopped behind my door. There was also a sound of the squeaking wheels of the food trolley. I wasn’t actually hungry anymore, but it wouldn’t hurt to eat just a little more, as I didn’t actually finish the last meal.

The door slowly opened and the trolley appeared again, Nurse Redheart pushing it from behind. I sunk down a little bit, completely sure she knew it was me who yelled. I wondered if she had anything to say on it.

She pushed the trolley next to my bed again, but came to the other side herself, semi-lying on my bed while giving me a reassuring smile.

“Is everything alright, Shimmering?” she asked, not revealing the food this time; not that I was waiting for it as much as before anyway. My eyes were still wet and my mane was hanging over my face. Stallions didn’t usually have this long of manes or tails, but I really liked it.

I didn’t bother to reply her. What’s the point? I wasn’t going to lie and say that everything was just fine, nor did I want to tell her anything as it hurt like hell to go through all that happened. It hurt even to think about it. I simply turned my head away from her, as my gaze came across with the food trolley instead.

An old white cart with a metal frame and plastic top, nothing interesting there.

A sudden contact on my neck startled me as I quickly turned my head around and saw Nurse Redheart stroking my mane. I doubt it had anything to do with the medical stuff, she was just trying to comfort me.

“Thanks,” I muttered.

“No worries. Remember that you don’t have to be alone with your problems. Sharing it will ease your pain and make you feel better. I know it’s not much, but you can always tell me if something’s bothering you,” Nurse Redheart ended her short speech.

I glanced at her momentarily before deciding to just go for it and hug her tightly.

Tears flooded through my eyes as I cried against her soft white neck, while she patted me carefully on the back. At any other moment that would have felt awkward as hell, but right now, it was the best feeling I’ve had in a long time. I never had time to grieve before now, I had just been trying to survive. Maybe she was right and this was going to help after all. I never was that open anyway, what more could I lose?

After my mental breakdown, I had vaguely shared some details of my journey to Ponyville with Nurse Redheart; leaving out such things as murdered ponies of course. I just told her that I had escaped an attack against my village. I could tell that she had guessed the rest but didn’t ask the confirmation, however, which I was a very thankful for.

“So yeah, that’s why I’m here,” I wrapped up my shortened story. The nurse looked somehow both stunned and calm at the same time. I could tell that she was sorry for me but also worried. Did she think that those soldiers would come to Ponyville as well? What were they after anyway?

“What are you planning to do now? Are you going to go back to look for your friends and family?” the nurse asked suddenly. “We can’t just let that kind of group of soldiers attack villages and hurt everypony. They need to be stopped,” she continued.

“How can anypony stop it, you would need an army of your own to do that,” I groaned, frustrated by the situation. Part of me wanted to go back of course, but if I ran to those soldiers again, I’d be done for sure; I needed help.

“Well, Canterlot has the Royal Army of course. I’m sure that Princess Celestia would investigate the situation and capture the criminals. Not only that, but we also have the Elements of Harmony to help you too!” Nurse Redheart cheered.

I had heard about Princess Celestia before, and I was pretty sure she had a sister as well. So Canterlot and the Royal Army must be connected to them, but I had no idea what the Elements of Harmony were.

“Elements of Harmony?” I repeated in confusion.

“Oh, you haven’t heard about them?” Nurse Redheart asked. I simply shook my head, waiting for an answer.

“They are a group of ponies that each represent one of the six elements of harmony; Magic, Loyalty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity, and Honesty. They are very powerful and have saved Equestria many times. Their friendship is stronger than any known magic, and they can overcome almost any obstacle,” the nurse beamed.

‘Wow, that must be some tough bunch of ponies.’ I thought.

“You have already met one actually,” the nurse said with a wink.

“Huh, I have?” I asked confused. Redheart simply pointed on the table where the card and flowers were sitting.

“Flut... Fluttershy is one of the Elements of Harmony?” I stammered, blinking couple times before looking at Redheart’s face to see if she was actually kidding me.

“Yes. She represents the Element of Kindness,” she announced proudly.

Hmm, now that I think about it, it fits her pretty well. She helped me to the hospital and was very polite the entire time. Not to mention she had brought me the card and some flowers too, even if I was a complete stranger. A smile slowly appeared on my face.

“I need to thank her later for helping me last night,” I said while looking at the card and flowers again. “She really represents her Element well.”

Nurse Redheart just smiled softly and stood up, walked to the trolley and removed the cover. There was a healthy looking salad with nuts and berries and some orange juice. Suddenly, I felt hungry again. I pulled the trolley closer and grabbed the plate on my hooves, before starting to eat.

Redheart walked to the window and looked outside. It didn’t look like she was watching anything particular, just staring outside. It was as if she was sad, now that I looked more closely.

“Is something wrong, Redheart?” I asked after swallowing the food I had been chewing. The white mare jumped slightly, before sighing and closing her eyes.

“Well, I’m just worried about Ponyville. What if those soldiers attack here too? I don’t want anypony to get hurt,” the nurse said timidly, still looking out of the window.

I... I guess that was a possibility, but I didn’t want to believe it; at least for now. I had already escaped one attack and my friends and family might be dead, and there was nothing I could do to help them. I didn’t want to think about the whole thing now, but she kept bringing it up. What if they really come here and hurt Fluttershy and Nurse Redheart? I felt the familiar feeling of sadness creeping inside of me again. It felt like a big rock was stuck in my throat, while my eyes got all watery again. Why would somepony do something like that? I turned my head away from Nurse Redheart and tried not to cry.

The nurse took a peek behind her and looked at me, before gasping and trotting closer to my bed.

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel sad. I mean, I understand you... You’ve been through a lot in the last couple days and I... I really care about you,” she said while having a slight tone of pink on her pure white cheeks.

I slowly turned my head to face her and smiled softly as she gently stroked my mane.

“Thank you, that means a lot to me,” I said, while a lonely tear ran along my face. I’m not sure if it was because of the kindness I got from her, or for the bad memories from the attack, but it sure felt confusing. Like I was both sad and happy at the same time. I didn’t know what I should be feeling. A complete mess; that’s what I was.

“No problem, you can always talk to me if something’s bothering you,” she offered again, receiving a simple nod from me in return.

She then turned away and walked to the door. I wanted to stop her but figured that it would be kind of rude to hog the nurse all to myself. She probably had many other ponies to take care of besides me, but the idea of being left alone wasn’t all that tempting either.

“Um, Nurse Redheart?” I asked quickly before she got a chance to slip away. She stopped and turned to me, smiling softly.

“Yes, Shimmering?”

“I, um... Would it be possible to release me today? I don’t want to lay here alone all day, thinking about what happened...” I muttered while slowly bumping my forehooves together. It probably looked pretty darn cute to her.

She giggled quietly before answering.

“Of course it’d be possible, is that what you really want? You still don’t have anywhere to go now do you?” the nurse asked. Well, it was true, but I didn’t want to be here either.

“Well, I don’t have anywhere to go...” I sighed.

“I might have an idea,” the mare suddenly offered. “I could ask somepony to show you around the town and take you to Mayor Mare. She’ll come up with some place for you to stay I’d imagine,” she continued.

“That would be great, but I don’t really have too many bits left to pay for my stay. I don’t have a job either,” I muttered back. All my savings were in the smoldering ruins of a house that used to be my home.

“Oh, don’t you worry, everything will be alright. If nothing else, I’ll invite you to my house until you find your own place. Besides, we could always use a fast pegasus to run our deliveries,” Redheart said with a giggle.

My jaw dropped, simply because I didn’t know what to say anymore. If Fluttershy ever had to compete for her title as the Element of Kindness, it would be against Nurse Redheart. Not that I knew any other ponies from here yet. If they were all this kind, I’d be the happiest stallion in the Equestria.

Redheart just giggled at my stunned expression.

“You know where to find me if you can’t find any other place to stay; I will be working here until midnight,” she continued.

Oh, she was actually being serious?

“I’ll come to check on you in an hour and then we can let you go. I’ll also bring somepony to show you around the town!” my white caretaker beamed.

I nodded at her as she left the room. I then got up from the bed and walked to the window and looked outside.

‘What a wonderful town...’

Chapter 2 - Tour of The Town

The hour went by pretty quickly. I didn’t really have that much time to worry, as I was deeply mesmerized by the ponies playing outside. They all looked so happy, especially three young fillies who obviously were good friends. I had no idea what they were trying to do, but it sure was fun to watch. An orange pegasus with the purple mane was trying to fly through the hula hoop that the yellow filly with red mane was trying to hold up with her white unicorn friend.

The pegasus didn’t quite make the jump and stumbled on the hoop, crashing on top of her friends; Causing them to roll together against the nearby tree and laugh for a while. I laughed too.

I would have stayed watching them much longer, had it not been for the hoof steps I heard from the hallway. I guess that Nurse Redheart had arrived with somepony that was going to show me around the town now.

I turned around as the door opened, and saw a purple unicorn coming in. The mare had darker purple mane and tail, with a couple different colored highlight stripes. She also had a saddlebag on, who was she and where was the nurse?

“Hello, are you Shimmering Thunder?” My new visitor suddenly asked, tilting her head cutely. Was this the pony Redheart was talking about? Or somepony else from the group of soldiers who had now come to finish me off? How else could she know my name? Quickly taking a look at her eyes, I realized that she meant no harm. Plus, I can’t remember any of the attackers being females, except their commander.

“Uh, yes... That’s me,” I stammered bluntly, still wondering where the nurse was and feeling a bit uneasy.

“Nice to meet you. My name is Twilight Sparkle. Nurse Redheart asked me to show you around the town, she will be here in a minute” she revealed.

“Nice to meet you too,” I replied and bowed with one leg, lowering my head slightly.

“Oh, no need to be so formal, I’m nopony that important,” she giggled and came next to me, watching out of the window as well. “So you’re new here? ” she asked.

“Yeah, I kind of need a place to stay,” I said carefully, trying to avoid the subject somehow. It wouldn’t take much to count one plus one; an injured pony in the hospital looking for a new place to stay; to figure out what happened.

“How did you get such bad shape?” She asked the question I had feared, damn it.

“With all due respect, Miss Sparkle, that’s none of your business I believe,” was heard from the doorway. We both spun around to see Nurse Redheart walking in with a clipboard.

“Oh, of course, I’m sorry, Mr. Thunder,” Twilight pleaded, and bowed to me instead.

“It’s okay, It’s kind of a long story anyway, and please call me Shimmering,” I offered. Maybe I’d tell her at some point if I was going to stay here long enough. I couldn’t hide my past forever if I was living here. Then again I didn’t want to get everypony all worried because of what happened to me, but they had the right to know, right?

“Okay, Shimmers!” Twilight exclaimed happily. Oh well, close enough.

“Now that you have both met, I will release Shimmering from our care. Twilight will show you around,” my white caretaker announced formally; earning a soft smile from me in return. Maybe too soft actually, I felt my cheeks getting hotter suddenly.

“Yes I will!” The unicorn nodded determinedly, already heading to the door. “Come on now, this will be fun!” she exclaimed again. Was she always that excited, I wonder.

However, Nurse Redheart stopped me.

“Just wait a little moment, I will take few of these bandages off first, as the wounds are already healing quite nicely,”
Twilight stopped as well and peeked from the doorway, while Redheart tried to remove my burrito outfit.

“Let me help you,” the unicorn chirped, and before I knew it; her horn started to glow and I felt how my hooves leave the ground and bandages started to fly off. Soon the purple aura of magic vanished around me, and I was gently lowered back to the floor. There were still a couple bandages left here and there, only on the most critical spots.

“There!” she squealed happily.

“Thank you, Miss Sparkle,” said Nurse Redheart. I was almost sure I sensed some kind of tension in those words.

“No problem,” Twilight replied absently over her shoulder, grabbing me in her magic and levitated me out of the room; leaving Nurse Redheart behind.

Hehe, I didn’t mind traveling like this. But I needed some exercising after all.

“Wow, you are really good with your magic, but would you mind to put me down now? I would like to walk myself,” I teased playfully.

“Oh, of course,” said the unicorn, as she lowered me back to the floor again. “Sorry about that, I’m just so happy to meet a new pony and show you around the town. The book said you can make the first impression only once, so I decided to make a good one!” She continued to say while pulling a book out of her saddlebag and proudly presenting it to me.

‘How to make a good first impression,’ was written on the cover. Huh... I’m not sure if she had actually read that, at least according to her idea of a good first impression.

“The book told you to drag me around the hospital, with your magic?” I asked with a large grin, trying to be as sarcastic as possible; but apparently failed in my attempt.

“Uh, no, not exactly, I mean... I,” she stammered and started to go through the book as if trying to find what she was trying to do. “Oh no, where did I go wrong?” the poor unicorn almost whimpered, while reading faster and faster, pages flying with blurring speed. How could a book about first impressions even be so thick?

“Relax, you already made a good first impression. You made it when we met, I saw it in your eyes that you are a really nice pony. That’s why it’s called ‘first impression’,” I comforted her the best I could.

For the slightest moment, I noticed a delicate shade of pink on her face as she put the book away.

“Hehe, I guess that the books don’t always have the right answers,” she replied sheepishly.

I grabbed my saddlebag for safe keeping, then we headed outside. The sun was shining brightly, but I didn’t see those fillies playing in the yard anymore. I was kind of interested in what they were doing.

“Where do you want to go first?” asked Twilight.

“Uh, I don’t really know the town, so you can take me where ever you want to. But I’d like to drop by the Mayor Mare’s office later so I could ask for a place to stay;” I mentioned absently, still trying to look for those three. They were a great diversion to keep my thoughts away from sadder things.

“Alright, I will take you to the marketplace then. You can buy all kinds of things there,” Twilight cheered.

The marketplace was crowded when we got there. The sweet aroma of different foods and treats wafted in the air, while the ripple of conversation momentarily startled me. There were a lot more ponies than I had first imagined. Everywhere somepony was buying and selling something. I was not used to seeing such crowds. The population in the marketplace alone was bigger than in my home village, Whitestone.

“Here we are, what do you think?” my new friend asked excitedly.

Hmm, new friend? Did I really consider her as a friend already? We had barely met twenty minutes ago. Oh well, why not?

“It sure is crowded in here, is it always like this?” I asked timidly. Twilight just giggled and watched me for a moment.

“Actually, no. There’s a harvest going on, and everything’s really fresh at the moment. So everypony wants to get the best ingredients they can,” she answered.

Oh, I guess that makes sense.

We walked past few stands, while Twilight chatted with almost everypony that we came across. Apparently, she was a pretty popular girl around here. At least everypony seemed to show an enormous amount of respect to her.

“Howdy, Twi! Came to buy sum’ apple fritters? They’re de-licious!” An orange mare wearing a stetson shouted from one of the stands.

“Oh hi, Applejack, how’s the business?” Asked Twilight, while I slowly walked next to her, taking a closer look of the mentioned pastries. They looked really good, she wasn’t kidding.

“Business is good as always, especially with tha big apple pie sale comin’ up t’is weekend,” she replied to my partner; before suddenly turning to me. “And what can ah get for you mister?” the country mare asked excitedly. Oops...

“Oh ah, I’m not buying anything,” I stammered, earning a slight frown from her.

“Well, ah’m real sorry sugarcube, but these ain’t free ya know,” she said and stared me for a second. Probably waiting for me to step aside from in front of the paying customers.

“Want me to buy you one, Shimmering?” Twilight offered, smiling widely.

Baffled by the offer, I just gaped my mouth in surprise. I looked first at her, then the country mare in front of me, not knowing what to say. Everypony’s been so kind to me, and now my new friend wanted to buy me a pastry. Who even knew how expensive it was.

“Oh, a friend of yours, Twi?” Applejack asked while I didn’t get even a single word out of my mouth.

“Oh no, where’s my manners, I’m sorry!” Twilight suddenly gasped, “Shimmering, this is my dear friend, Applejack. She’s got an apple farm called sweet apple acres, and she’s here selling her own products. She’s a really good baker, and one of the most hard working ponies I have ever seen.”
Twilight proudly presented her friend, who then kindly bowed to me and awaited my response.

“Applejack, this is Shimmering Thunder, he’s moving in and I’m showing him around the town,” the unicorn beamed.

“Real nice to meet ya,” Applejack greeted with a warm smile.
“You can take one if ya like, consider it as a welcomin’ gift from the Apple family;” she continued, and tilted her stetson behind her blond mane, smiling softly at me.

I looked first at her, and then Twilight, who was already levitating one apple fritter in my direction. As it slowly stopped in front of my muzzle, I carefully took it in my mouth and mumbled a muffled, ‘thank you’ for both mares, as we continued our way.

I opened my saddlebag and carefully placed the precious fritter inside. However, Twilight gave me a questioning look.

“Aren’t you going to eat that?” she asked.

“I uh, want to save it for later. I don’t really have money to buy more. Guess I’ll have to start looking for a job as soon as I find someplace to stay,” I managed to say. The last words almost getting muted by the concerns of finding neither. I was still not sure if Redheart was kidding about the delivery job or not... I’d sure take it if possible.

“Don’t worry, we will help you get back on your hooves in no time,” Twilight encouraged softly. She was so kind.

Wait, what? Whom did she mean by “we”, I had no idea? Just me and her? Maybe Applejack too?

“Uh, we?” I asked absently, wondering if she actually meant the whole community by now.

“Me and my friends, of course! There’s no such thing as too many friends, and I’m sure you’ll get along just fine,” she exclaimed happily.

“Thank you, Twilight, I’d be glad to make some new friends,” I responded, suddenly feeling a light heat on my cheeks. Most of the ponies seemed to be females here; I had seen one male doctor in the hospital and few more on the marketplace. But other than that, the population seemed to be very different compared to Whitestone. It was more like fifty-fifty there, maybe a few more stallions, though.

“Let’s go to Sugarcube Corner next, since it’s nearby,” my friendly companion suggested softly. “You can get some of the best treats from there,” she continued merrily.

During the short walk, Twilight told me about a few other places that were along the way; until we stopped in front of a delicious looking house. How could a house look so delicious, though? This one did anyway. It looked like some kind of cake to me, and the roof looked like it was made out of gingerbread and whipped cream.

There were quite a few ponies around here as well, but the atmosphere was much more relaxed. A small sigh escaped from my lips.

“This is the Sugarcube Corner, come on, let’s go inside,” Twilight chirped.

Oh, I hope she wasn’t trying to buy me another expensive thing from here. I didn’t want to owe her anything. Though I had the feeling she wasn’t a kind of pony to demand back those few bits she wanted to spend on me. Was it kindness, or was it a pity, though? I didn’t have much time to think about it, as she was already going inside.

Inside the shop, I immediately smelt an army of different delicious flavors greeting us. Getting my mouth watering in a record time, I had never smelt anything so good. Surprisingly, there were only a few customers inside at the moment. One of them being the rarer male pony, I noticed, checking that on my mental notepad. They were ahead of us so we had to wait a little bit, giving me some time to look around.

The pink mare behind the counter, serving the customers, really seemed to enjoy her job. I wonder if she was Twilight’s friend as well since she wanted us to go inside. I wasn’t going to buy anything, so options were very limited in my mind.

Soon it was our turn, and we walked to the counter.

“Hi, Pinkie!” Twilight greeted, while I walked next to her.

“Ooh, hi Twilight, who’s the handsome stallion with you? Finally found yourself a coltfriend?~” the pink mare teased Twilight.

Okay, they definitely knew each other. So she was her fri... Wait, what!?

My poor purple unicorn friend went completely red, while both our jaws dropped. I bet my face was red as well, I wish there was a mirror somewhere so I could see my face.

The pink mare started to laugh hysterically, and disappeared behind the counter, rolling on the floor. Yeah, really funny.

“Pinkie!” Twilight shouted. “He’s not my coltfriend!” She defended quickly, gritting her teeth at the mare.

“You should have seen your face, Twilight! First, you were like, ‘whaaaat’, and then you were like ‘no way, how could she know?’ And then I was like, ‘Yup, I knew it!’ Haha!” The pink mare celebrated her obviously faulty assumption. Pinkie, she called her?

“Pinkie, please! He is not my coltfriend!” Twilight repeated frustrated, while my cheeks kept getting hotter and hotter by the minute. I had no idea why it hurt so much to hear those words though? She sounded like she’d never even think about liking me in that way. Maybe it was just my imagination.

“Oh, is he my coltfriend then? You’d get me a coltfriend?” Pinkie asked, sounding much more serious suddenly.

Okay, this was getting really awkward now. Apparently, it was hard to find a coltfriend around here. But I can’t blame her. Most of the ponies I had seen so far had been females, so some of them were bound to be either alone or go with another mare. The latter scenario wasn’t all that common in Whitestone, but maybe things were different here.

“He’s nopony’s coltfriend - At least that I know of,” Twilight grunted, but decided to continue with a slightly friendlier tone. “Shimmering is new here, and I’m showing him around the town, please be polite to him.”

Pinkie looked at me curiously for a moment. I bet my expression startled her a bit, I probably looked like I had seen a ghost or something.

“I’m sorry, Shimmering... Uh, Cupcake?” She offered a pastry for my last name.

I couldn’t help but laugh, this mare was a riot, that’s for sure. I kind of liked her. Twilight facehoofed, while Pinkie just grinned sheepishly. I somehow managed to collect myself, however.

“Thunder, Shimmering Thunder. Nice to meet you, Pinkie... Uhm, uh...” I tried to come up with the last name for her instead, while she, eagerly waiting for my response. Looking at her flank for hints would be really awkward, so I decided not to.

I tried to think something food related as well, and quickly looked around me, noticing a poster on the wall. From the poster, I recognized Applejack holding up some kind of a pastry with the following text: ‘Apple pie sale this weekend!’ Well, I guess that’ll have to do.

“...Pie,” I stated shortly.

The pink mare in front of me let out a sharp and extremely long gasp. Twilight looked stunned as well. Great, I had probably just offended her somehow.

“Twilight, I think he’s a wizard or something,” Pinkie whispered to the unicorn, holding her hoof in front of her muzzle. Oh? Was I actually correct?

“Ahem, so anyway,” Twilight coughed and shook her head. “Shimmering, this is my friend Pinkie Pie, as you already somehow guessed it. And she’s working here with Mr. and Mrs. Cake, who owns the place.”

“I also live here, can you imagine?” Pinkie interrupted merrily and let out a small squee. I simply chuckled at her.

“Pinkie, this is Shimmering Thunder and he’s moving in once we find a home for him.” Twilight introduced me - and my current state of living, which was homeless. Yeah, things were going really great for me.

Pinkie on the other hoof looked like she was about to burst from the excitement.

“That’s AWESOME!, I am going to throw you the best ‘welcome to Ponyville’ party ever! There’s going to be cake, and balloons, and streamers, and candy, and even more streamers! It’s just going to be so EPIC!” My new pink friend squealed like a filly, I knew she’d be my friend, no second thoughts about it.

Suddenly I heard a loud explosion and saw a huge cloud of confetti and streamers flying around. What the hay was that!? Twilight merely blinked, though, while I looked around, trying to find the culprit, being in semi-panic.

“First thing first Pinkie, we need to find him a home first.” Twilight reminded her friend and then turned to me, while Pinkie was just bouncing around and apparently going through the things she needed for the party. Shouldn’t we pay some attention to her?

“We should get going, there's still few places to show you,” said Twilight.

I simply nodded and waved a goodbye to Pinkie Pie as we walked outside. Twilight let out a pretty heavy sigh, earning a smirk from me.

“That’s Pinkie Pie for you, I’m sorry for what happened. But she didn’t really mean it,” My unicorn friend apologized for her friend.

“Don’t worry, Twilight. I think she was really nice,” I comforted her; making the unicorn relax noticeably. She really seemed to care about the first impressions. “Where to next?” I asked, suddenly wanting to meet more of her friends.

“Well, if you ever want to get some clothing, or a new saddlebag or something. You want to visit the Carousel Boutique,” she offered.

Not that I could afford anything at the moment, I still wanted to go; for Twilight’s sake at least.

“Got a friend there as well?” I inquired, receiving a soft smile from her.

“Yes, Rarity is an amazing designer. And probably wants to make you something as a gift too,” she giggled.

Somehow I had no problem believing her. Nothing against the free gifts, but it felt like I was just abusing her friends. I just wanted some place to stay until I’d decide what to do next. I wanted to know if my sister or parents were still alive... And even if they weren’t, they’d at least deserve a proper funeral.

Twilight nudged me gently, snapping me out of my grim thoughts; and causing a piece of streamer stuck in my mane to drop on my muzzle. I quickly blew it away. What the hell was that explosion anyway?

“Done daydreaming?” She smirked and motioned me to follow.

I shook my head and opened my wings, flapping them couple times; testing if I was actually able to fly. Twilight watched me carefully as I slowly left the ground and hovered closer to her. The wound under my left wing felt still a little bit sore, but shouldn’t affect my flying.

I inspected my body a little bit longer, pretty much ignoring Twilight, who was waiting for my report. I felt pretty good so I nodded to her.

“Yup, I’m fine. Let’s go,” I smiled and followed her as she led the way.

She seemed a little quiet all of a sudden, as I saw her peeking at me few times. She probably wanted to ask me something about my background, but knew that I didn’t really want to talk about it. I felt sad for her, though. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell her, but now wasn’t the time or the place for that.

I gave her an apologetic smile, hoping she’d understand.

Eventually, we stopped in front of a building, I assumed to be the so-called Carousel Boutique. At least it looked like one if I ever had to use my limited imagination.

“Well, here we are,” Twilight chirped, seemingly happier now. She was about to knock on the door before it suddenly opened; somepony was coming out.

It was the same white unicorn filly whom I saw from the hospital window earlier today, playing with the other fillies. Her mane and tail were curled, and two-colored with purple and pink.

“Oh, hi Twilight and the unknown stranger!” The white filly greeted us happily, cracking her voice, sounding absolutely adorable. “Are you here to see Rarity? ” she continued. My smile widened, she was just so sweet.

“Hi, Sweetie Belle. Yes, we’d like to meet with her, if she’s not too busy,” Twilight answered. ‘Heh, another fitting name,’ I thought.

The little filly then looked at me curiously and was clearly about to ask something, but Twilight interrupted her.

“Uh, this is Shimmering Thunder. I’m showing him around the town as he’s moving into Ponyville,” she spat out rapidly.

“What happened to you?” the little unicorn asked directly from me, completely ignoring Twilight’s efforts of stopping her; while still cracking her voice adorably. She looked confused, but not scared at least. I gave her a soft smile.

“It’s a long story,” I said while closing my eyes for a second. I didn’t want to lie, especially to a little filly like her. “It’s also a pretty sad story, and not for young ponies to hear,” I revealed; making Twilight gasp and blowing her eyes wide open.

Sweetie Belle looked more like disappointed than horrified though.

“Aww, okay,” she sighed but got happy just as fast. “Well, I’ll have to go now, see you later Twilight, and welcome to Ponyville Shimmering!” The little filly exclaimed merrily and hopped away.

I watched her, smiling widely. She was just so adorable. Twilight on the other hoof, still had her mouth gaping wide as she watched me before she shook her head.

“Uhm, right... Let’s go inside,” she suggested anxiously.

I raised my left wing to block her way before she did though.

“I’m sorry, Twilight. I will tell you what happened once I’m ready. It’s not an easy subject for me to talk about. Especially when I don’t know all the answers myself. Please, give me some time to settle in first, okay?” I pleaded, looking directly into her eyes.

Making such eye contact with strangers wasn’t easy for me, but now I had to do it. I didn’t want her to panic, but I had to stay calm myself too. Fortunately, Twilight relaxed a bit and nodded.

“Okay, when you are ready,” she repeated before continuing. “Shall we go and see Rarity now?”

“Yeah, let’s go,” I nodded absently, relieved that she dropped the subject. Well, the subject that I brought up myself this time.

We walked inside the Carousel Boutique, Twilight leading the way. The atmosphere was elegant and clean as we entered the main room. There was also a pleasant aroma lingering in the air. Probably from the perfume, or flowers maybe?

“Hey Rarity, what’s up?” My purple friend greeted another unicorn; a white mare with a beautiful curly purple mane and tail. My, she was gorgeous, I wonder if she was somehow related to Sweetie Belle? There were multiple similarities anyway; curly mane, white coat, they were both unicorns. She just came from here, and they were really beautiful... Uh, no wait, the latter went for almost every mare around here it seemed.

The white unicorn stopped her sewing machine and spun around to face us.

“Why hello, Twilight!” she said, before pausing for a moment while laying her big blue eyes on me. “Oh my, you brought somepony with you?” She inquired and slightly frowned at me over her red glasses.

I guess these bandages weren’t the best conversation starter there was. On the other hoof, Pinkie Pie or Applejack didn’t seem to care at all. Oh well, nothing I could do about it now. Twilight responded quickly anyway.

“That’s right, Rarity. This here is Shimmering Thunder. He’s moving into Ponyville, and I’m showing him around the town. Shimmering, this is my dear friend Rarity-” Twilight introduced, while Rarity bowed gracefully. “-and she’s running a fashion shop here. She’s really famous, even ponies in Canterlot knows her work;” she ended. Rarity earned a bow from me as well, though it wasn’t nearly as elegant as hers.

“Oh my, a real gentlecolt I see,” said Rarity. “But how did you end up showing him around, Twilight?” She suddenly asked while she seemed to inspect my bandages. Did she think that Twilight caused this to me?

Apparently Twilight wasn’t waiting for such a question, as I noticed her starting to get a little nervous. She peeked at me as if looking for hints of what could she tell her about me. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea to go and talk everypony, but just show me where everything was. However, I cleared my throat to answer for myself.

“As Twilight said, I’m new here,” I started. “I have had a rough journey, and I ended up in the hospital. Nurse Redheart told me that she can arrange somepony to show me around,” I tried to stay as calm and as vague as possible, and it seemed to work.

“Ah, I see,” Rarity mumbled and eyed elsewhere, while Twilight sighed quietly. “Well, it’s always such a delight to get new friends, and I sincerely hope that you will enjoy your stay in Ponyville. Why, I’d even like to make you a welcoming gift as well!” she beamed.

‘Spot on Twilight, spot on,’ Twilight giggled knowingly for my silent expression.

“Thanks, but-” I tried to turn down the offer, only to get immediately interrupted.

“No buts! I simply must make you something!” Rarity huffed and looked at me, eyes narrowed. “How about a new saddlebag?” She suggested while pointing at me.

Glancing at my back, I felt a hard lump form in my throat. I really liked my old saddlebag, besides it had a lot of sentimental value to me. It was also pretty much the only thing I had salvaged from the attack. Mostly due to the fact that it was already on my back, containing few personal items and food.

“N-no, I don’t-” once more she interrupted me.

“How about a new hat, or a scarf?” the white unicorn demanded. I sighed, giving up for the idea of not getting anything.

“Okay, you can make me a scarf,” I grunted, hoping it wouldn’t cost me anything later. Because I didn’t have much money left, nor a job; not yet at least.

“Oh, that’s simply marvelous! What color would you like it my dear?” she inquired.

Wow, I didn’t know what to say anymore. She sure was a character, just like Applejack and Pinkie Pie. Twilight had some enthusiastic friends I noticed.

“Surprise me,” I simply stated, closing my eyes while nodding.

“Oh, you will be surprised,” Rarity beamed. “It will be one of my finest works! Every stallion will downright envy you!” She exclaimed, while already pulling various materials out of the shelves.

“Thanks... I, I really appreciate it,” I stammered at her. The scarf would actually be nice in the winter, I didn’t have one yet anyway. I never had any actual clothes or hats for that matter, it was pretty warm all year around in Whitestone.

Rarity peeked at me, smiling widely.

“You are more than welcome darling. I’m simply glad I can help such a gentlecolt,” she said; leaving me wondering how this kind of paradise could even exist.

Twilight walked next to me and gave me a soft smile. Guess I was doing good, though I wasn’t sure why we had to do this in the first place. On the other hoof, it was another great way to distract my brain from thinking about the attack. I felt tired suddenly, the whole ordeal was draining my energy. I gave Twilight a blank stare back, glancing at the front door; she took the hint.

“Well, I guess we’ll have to continue our tour now, see you later, Rarity!” Twilight chirped while heading outside with me.

“Very well then, have fun and take care,” Rarity shouted after us.

Once outside, I nearly collapsed to the ground. I fell on my haunches instead, hanging my head low. I was tired. Twilight watched me carefully, obviously feeling worried about me. But I managed to give her the ‘I’m okay, don’t worry’-type of smile.

“I’m just tired is all,” I sighed.

“Maybe we should skip few places then, and go straight to the Town Hall? We can continue our tour later if you want,” Twilight suggested.

It was almost evening already, and I was still lacking one good roof above my head. Did I even need the walls? Maybe, but that was all I could afford at the moment. Then again, it was comforting to know that there was a generous offer from Nurse Redheart to take me into her house if I couldn’t find any other place.

“Uh yeah, let’s go to the Town Hall,” the little spark of energy that was left inside of me requested.

Twilight smiled softly at me and motioned me to follow. I stood up and went after her. ‘I guess that a few more days in the hospital would have been good for me anyway.’

Town Hall looked huge from the outside, but even more so from the inside. I had seen it earlier today from the distance, but I didn’t know it was the town hall. The round shape gave the building a unique feeling, kind of like in the Carousel Boutique, but on a bigger scale.

It was roomy but also had a certain office atmosphere at the same time. If that’s something you can call it.

A brown mare with glasses and gray mane walked towards us on the hallway, snapping me out of my thoughts, while Twilight came in next to me. She also had some kind of a collar or bow on her neck.

“Oh my, if it isn’t Twilight Sparkle,” the brown mare exclaimed once noticing us.

‘I guess she was the-’

“Hi, Mayor Mare!” My purple friend greeted merrily.

‘-Knew it,’ I smirked to myself, while the Mayor trotted closer.

“What brings you here, and who’s your companion?” She inquired, while quickly glancing me with the oh-so-familiar look I had received so many times by now. It was getting old, to be honest, I kind of wanted to take off rest of the bandages too.

“This is Shimmering Thunder-” she introduced me while I gently bowed to her, trying to make at least a little better first impression. “-the reason for our visit. He’d like to move into Ponyville, is there any place you can think of?” asked Twilight.

The brown mare in front of me looked at me more closely, before softening her gaze and smiling heartily to me. I guess that was a good sign?

“I think that can be arranged,” Mayor said, while Twilight and I watched each other excitedly. “However...” she continued ominously, “You’ll have to wait a little bit. There're some paperwork and background checking to do,”

My spirit dropped immediately along with my head and ears. This meant that I’d have to spend few nights on the streets, in case Redheart wasn’t able to take me in for some reason. The background check worried me even more, though. What if they learn about the attack and think that I’m one of them and throw me into the prison? Then again I’d have a solid roof over my head and steady source of food. But other than that, it would be a horrible thing to happen. I anxiously shifted in place, going through every possible scenario in my head, while shaking like a leaf.

Apparently Twilight picked up on my behavior, as she quickly defended me.

“Oh, come on, is that really necessary? He’s got nowhere or nopony to go to.” Twilight pleaded in a way that made my heart to skip a beat.

She really cared about me that much? I was a complete stranger but she still protected me. Part of me wanted to hug her, but I wasn’t sure if that’d be wise now; no it’d be downright disturbing.

“But Twilight, you know we do have our procedures.” Mayor protested, being honestly surprised by Twilight’s behavior. Well, I can’t blame her; so was I.

‘Okay, I’ll let them do the background check and see where it goes from there,’ I thought. What more could I lose anymore? I was just about to open my mouth when...

“Fine! Come on Shimmers, you’ll stay with us then!” Twilight huffed and turned around, grabbed me into her aura of magic, and dragged me outside; leaving stunned Mayor Mare behind.

What the hay!? And who’s us? ‘Damn these unicorns and their magic!’ I cursed in my mind while being transported out of the building.

Chapter 3 - Bad Dreams

My oat milkshake tasted amazing. Twilight had bought it for me after we stopped by the small coffee shop, ordering herself the same thing. I didn’t want to owe her anything but figured she wasn’t in a mood to argue with me right now. She was awfully quiet anyway, no doubt she was thinking about the incident at the town hall.

I’m not sure who was more surprised by the turn of the events, me or Mayor Mare. But one thing was for sure, neither of us saw that coming; or should I say, none of us? Guess I can kiss a goodbye to my new home, even if it wasn’t technically my fault.

Then again, Twilight was the second pony to offer her home for me to stay in, so I wasn’t completely homeless. Although I’d still need my own place at some point. Why did she drag me out of there? I was just about to accept the offer, none of the explanations I could come up with made any sense. Maybe it wasn’t too late to patch things up with the mayor though. I wanted to take the chance in the end, but it almost felt like Twilight was protecting me; protecting from who or what exactly? She didn’t want my past to be revealed? Why would she even care? I was a complete stranger.

Twilight herself was sitting right in front of me on the outside dining area of the coffee shop; the place being more than ideal for a date if the situation was different. I took another sip of my drink while eyeing the purple unicorn who didn’t even seem to notice it, being too deeply buried in her own pile of thoughts.

“Twilight?” I ask timidly, still managing to sound somewhat nervous.

The unicorn before me slowly raised her gaze from the table and came to a stop upon meeting my amber eyes. Hers were purple, matching the rest of the colors perfectly.

“Yes, Shimmering?” she responded quietly, apparently having no clue what I was about to say.

“Why did you do it?” I asked, deciding to go straight to the point while trying my best to not make it sound like an accusation. Just wanted to know why that’s all.

Twilight looked at me for a moment before sighing.

“Well... I know that something terrible has happened to you and that you are not ready to talk about it, so I didn’t want anypony to dig it up themselves... I know you need a place to stay, but it shouldn’t cost you your privacy. Whatever happened, you don’t have to share with others before you are ready; you need time for yourself, but also a lot of support. If you ever need to lighten your heart, you can trust for me to be there. You seem like a real nice guy and I will do everything I can to help you out,” Twilight ended melancholy, her voice literally dripping compassion.

Speechless, I was absolutely dumbfounded. The kindness and care I got from her simply made me want to cry my eyes out and hug her tightly. Somehow she understood me perfectly, even if she didn’t know the whole story; she still had my back and really wanted to help me. Never in my life, had I felt like this, the happiness she made me feel was absolutely unreal.

Tears poured from my eyes while I so much as stared at her in disbelief, wondering if I was actually dreaming. If I was, I wanted this particular dream to never end. I saw a delicate smile forming on her face, as she tilted her head cutely. Her eyes were locked on mine, while she let out an adorable giggle, still softening her smile. Having the look one would have upon seeing a new baby for the first time.

“Aww, come on Shimmers, you are going to make me cry as well,” Twilight teased playfully.

“I can’t help it, you are just so nice to me,” I whimpered, smiling widely while shuffling my hooves under the corner of the table.

“That’s what friends are for,” she replied.

“Thank you, Twilight. You have no idea how much that means to me,” I said, wiping off the tears with my wing, and reached my right hoof over the table towards her.

Twilight looked a bit puzzled at first but soon reached her hoof as well, putting it gently on top of mine. My heart was beating faster by the minute, as I saw a beautiful shade of pink dancing on her cheeks. After a while, I pulled my hoof back and took a steady hold of my drink, sipped it a few times and noticed Twilight still looking at me.

“What?” I semi-smirked at her while sniffling.

My ever so blushing friend, simply giggled before sipping her drink and continue staring at me; while I gave her a questioning glance back.

“You are pretty cute, Rarity was definitely right about you; you are a true gentlecolt,” Twilight revealed suddenly.

Not only did my poor heart skipped a few beats again, I also inhaled a whole lot of milkshake in the process; causing me to cough wildly. Honestly, I didn’t expect her to laugh, but she did. We got more than a few stares from the ponies around us, but I hardly cared. I felt as if my whole face was on fire anyway, I couldn’t get any more embarrassed than this. So now she was flirting with me? For some reason I had no intention to join in, not that I thought she wasn’t pretty by herself; she was a very beautiful mare if I had to say it.

“Uh, thanks, I guess,” I muttered, scratching my neck awkwardly. That probably wasn’t helping.

Suddenly her horn started to glow as she lifted a small napkin from the table and levitated it in my direction. The napkin momentarily stopped in front of my muzzle, before starting to wipe off some oat milkshake that was spilled all over my face and table. I couldn’t help but blush even more for the act, while Twilight seemed to enjoy this, probably more than was actually necessary. She even hummed a little bit. Wait, why was I suddenly enjoying this too!?

“You are welcome,” she smiled, “Ready to go? We should head to the library now,” my purple companion continued.

“Library?” I repeated confused, I thought she was taking me to her home now, not continuing the tour.

“Yeah, I live there,” she grinned sheepishly.

Well, that explains a few things, I guess... but.

“You said; ‘you’ll stay with us’ earlier, who’s us?” I inquired hesitantly.

“Oh, with me and Spike of course,” she replied nonchalantly like that’d tell me anything.

Deciding not to ask any more details about her roommate, I dropped the subject and nodded to her.

“Okay, let’s go then,” I said, and stood up, stretching my wings and legs. Twilight watched me amused and came walking right next to me as we left the place.

We walked toward a familiar looking tree, I recognized from the last night. It was the place where I had met Fluttershy. Peeking at Twilight, I saw her happily walking toward the place, humming something as she went. That was the library then?

There was a red sign in front of the house with a picture of a book on it. I must have missed it last night in the dark I guess.

“Here we are, this is the Golden Oak Library,” Twilight presented the place with an enormous amount of pride in her voice and demeanor. How could one pony actually be living in the library, though?

“Yeah, it’s huge,” I muttered through my lips while eyeing the buildi.. I mean the tree...

“Huh?” Twilight frowned and shot me a questioning look. Oh, right... She didn’t know I had already been here.

“Um, I saw this place last night when I came here.” I clarified to her, earning a knowing; ‘ah’ reaction from her. It was a rather cute act, but she kept looking at me as if wanting to hear more.

“How did you find the hospital?” she asked.

“I met somepony here last night, and she showed me where it was,” I recalled shortly, not revealing her name, thinking it as an insignificant detail. Was bumping into an Element of Harmony an insignificant detail, though?

“Who?” Twilight inquired further. Damn it, she was persistent.

For the slightest moment, I thought to lie to her by not knowing who the pegasus was, but abandoned the idea just as fast. Getting caught lying wasn’t the best way to start a new life.

“Uh, Fluttershy, I think,” I muttered, still adding an extra layer of hesitation to the end. In case I was actually somehow wrong and Fluttershy was just her codename or something. I was being totally paranoid, I thought as a mental facehoof sealed the deal for me.

“Fluttershy? What was she doing outside so late?” she questioned, sounding concerned now.

For that, I didn’t have the answer. She was literally the only pony I saw outside that night. Oh? She seemed to know her as well, I noticed... Was she actually friends with one of the Elements of Harmony? She knew some important ponies it seems.

“No idea,” I shrugged and shook my head, causing a section of my mane to fall to my face. I looked up and tried to blow it back behind my ear with another little shake.

Twilight just giggled. Was there something wrong with my mane, apart from the glowing; but I doubt she noticed. I snorted and peeked at my cutie mark instead; A storm cloud shooting two lightning bolts and few shimmering stars around them. Nothing wrong there, what the hay was she laughing at? I shot her a questioning glance to find out.

She got serious, however, before actually trying to look at my cutie mark. Against my better judgment, I let her inspect my flank for a while; feeling a slight tingling in my cheeks suddenly.

“What does your cutie mark mean?” she asked curiously.

To be completely honest, I had no idea. For me, it was just a butt tattoo that appeared one day while working. I mean, my name came pretty much from my shimmering mane and tail. But like for the weird phenomenon in my mane and tail, I had no explanation for the cutie mark either.

“I don’t know, it’s just a cutie mark,” I stated shortly.

Twilight gasped and looked at me utterly shocked.

“It’s not just a cutie mark, Shimmers. It’s your special talent! It’s about who you are, what you do, and what makes you different from others!” Twilight exclaimed, spinning around me and looking at my flank even closer now; while scribbling some notes on the paper she got from somewhere.

“My special talent?” I repeated puzzled.

“Yeah, how did you get it? Tell me!” My friend exclaimed merrily, jumping up and down in front of me excited. I hated to break the news for her, but...

“Look, Twilight, I don’t want to talk about it now, okay? I’m really tired,” I grunted.

Twilight stopped in mid air before landing, seemingly disappointed. She lowered her ears and gave me the puppy dog face look, her eyes big as saucers while rippling with tears. ‘Damn it!’ It should be illegal to be so darn adorable.

“Uh, you can eye my flank later, don’t worry,” I smirked, being actually proud I had the courage to say that.

Twilight went completely red as she rapidly turned her head away from me. Now I actually got a good look at her cutie mark too. It was some kind of a star with few more stars around it. Huh.. No idea what it was supposed to be, just noticed that the stars were pretty similar to mine. Maybe that’s why she was so excited?

“Okay then, let’s go inside. I’ll prepare the guest bed for you,” she suggested and trotted towards the door opening it.

I took a look behind me as the evening was slowly turning into a night, thinking about Redheart suddenly. Was she worried about me? Things didn’t go exactly the way we planned them. ‘Don’t worry, I found a place to stay, at least for now,’ I thought and trotted inside as well.

Once inside, I froze on the spot. I couldn’t believe my eyes, but there was an actual dragon in the main room. Well, a small, kind of cute looking purple dragon, who was lying on his stomach on the floor, flailing his feet in the air while humming and drawing something on a paper with crayons. But it was a freaking dragon nevertheless!

“T-Twilight?” I stammered anxiously while keeping my eyes on the fierce creature. “W-why there’s a dragon in the library?”

The mentioned carnivore then raised his head from the drawing and looked at me surprised.

“Why shouldn’t I be here? And who are you?” He asked suddenly, blinking his eyes confused. Wait a minute, he could talk?

Some dragons had caused us serious problems in Whitestone. Doing things such as stealing our food and even damaging our homes, but they never talked. Maybe things really were different in here.

Twilight watched me for a moment before starting to laugh.

“Calm down Shimmers, that’s just Spike. My number one assistant, and dear friend.”
Spike got up and bowed to me, much to my surprise, while accidentally knocking over a box of crayons. “Spike, This is Shimmering Thunder and he’s going to stay here, well... For a while,” Twilight said.

That sounds... Interesting. Did she mean like one night, or like a week or something? I had no idea. It kind of sounded like a longer period of time to me. Oh well, the dragon seemed like a nice guy at least. No way a mean dragon would bow like that, especially for a pony; not to mention he was living with one, now with two.

“Nice to meet you,” said Spike and eyed my bandages before asking.
“Mind me asking what happened to you? Is moving really that dangerous nowadays?”

“It’s a long story, and I don’t really want to talk about it today, sorry. All I want is to get some rest,” I replied drowsily.

“Ah, I see,” Spike muttered, scratching his neck.

Twilight walked next to us and gave Spike a warm smile.

“Let’s get the guest bed ready for him,” Twilight then gestured for Spike to follow; as I spotted a pleasant looking sofa in the corner and headed towards it.

I took off my saddlebag, placing it on the floor near the sofa and climbed on it. Opening the saddlebag from the sofa, I took out my now couple days old lunch. It was a double sandwich wrapped in the big leaf, to protect it from damage and getting spoiled while working. The leaf was also edible and gave the sandwich some extra crunch. Placing the lunch between my hooves while lying on the sofa, I took a bite and looked around the room for awhile.

There were a lot of shelves, all crammed with books. Just what you could expect from a library, though I had no idea what kind of books they were. A small table also stood in the middle of the room, along with little chairs and desk. I guess Twilight was the librarian then. She seemed to enjoy the books at least, so it wasn’t just a job to her I assumed. Who was Spike then, other than her assistant? It was an odd couple in any case.

Taking another bite of my surprisingly tasty lunch, I decided to do some quick preening. My wings were in terrible condition, I noticed. A trip through the forest sure left its marks. A bath would also be nice, as I was dirty and still had some dried blood on my fur; reminding me from the attack once again. All that blood wasn’t even mine... They had cleaned me a little bit in the hospital, but not all of it was removed.

After being satisfied with my wings, I curled up some more to bring my tail closer and started to clean that as well. It was slightly tangled, and dirty too. The more I cleaned it, the more it started to shimmer. It was still easy to miss unless some pony looked at close range. I then tried to clean my mane, but could only reach so far with my muzzle and decided to give up after a while.

I turned my attention back to the delicious sandwich between my forehooves and took another bite out of it.

“Aww, isn’t he just adorable, Spike?” Was suddenly heard from the nearby doorway with a whispery voice.

‘Uh, what?’

I stopped chewing and raised my gaze to see Twilight peeking out of the doorway, Spike standing next to her. The unicorn then lets out a light gasp and came to me with a pretty blush on her face.

I simply stared at her, my mouth still full of bread. If I wasn’t completely out of my mind, I’d say this particular blushing mare in front of me, liked me more than just as a friend... I let my jaw chew once more before swallowing, giving my brains a minute to process the idea.

“Everything alright?” I ask Twilight.

“Yes, our guest bed- I mean, your guest bed is ready now,” she stammered awkwardly, making me blush as well. “Do you need anything else?” she continued.

“Uh, I’m fine, thank you. I’ll just finish this sandwich and hit the hay, I’m really tired,”

Trying to steer the conversation away from the awkwardness was definitely the right thing to do, I guess. I mean, she was a really beautiful mare and all that, but I wasn’t actually seeking a fillyfriend right now. My life was a complete mess right now. I just couldn’t concentrate on such things as love at the moment. Twilight then again seemed to have a huge crush on me. Oh, pony feathers... I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, but I wasn’t ready to answer them either.

“Okay, we’ll be upstairs if you need us, good night, Shimmering,” said Twilight as she went upstairs.

I munched the last piece of my sandwich and rummaged through the saddlebag to find out what else was there. The apple fritter smelt good, so I decided to eat that as well, and boy did it taste good! Applejack was one hell of a baker. I needed to thank her again for the ‘free sample’ at some point.

The next thing I found from the saddlebag was the purple ribbon, that actually belonged to my sister. She had probably dropped it and I happened to find it on the ground, never getting an opportunity to give it back to her. Sniffing it, I recognized the aroma of her mane still holding on to it.

“Good night, Cres,” I whispered while watching out of the faraway window. “Good night mom and dad,”

Moonlight created a kind of relaxing atmosphere in the room, as well as in my mind. I put the ribbon back in my saddlebag, closing it, and sidled off the sofa heading to the guestroom Twilight came out earlier. I dragged the saddlebag with me as well, wanting to keep it close to me. Not that I thought anypony would steal it, but to keep the ribbon close to me as if it was my sister.

In the room, I saw a small bed and even more books. Well, this was a library, not a hotel. There was also a small nightstand in the corner and a window on the wall, letting some light in.

I climbed on the bed and let out a heavy sigh, after getting under the blanket. My eyelids felt heavy as I pressed them shut, allowing myself to drift on the faraway lands of pleasant dreams...

“Good job, Shimmering. You are just as good as your dad, even better if you don’t mind me saying;” the sky blue stallion complimented my work.

“Thanks, Sky Hoof. It’s nothing really, it just comes naturally,”

“That’s because you are a natural talent. Nopony else can handle those storm clouds like you do,” He continued to flatter me while correcting his multicolored mane, colors varying from deep cyan to an almost frost white.

“Heh, I guess. Want to do another round?” I ask.

“Sure thing, you go right and I go left this time. Try to gather as many storm clouds as you can,” my co-worker briefs.

We bolted in our different directions, both flying with blurring speed and spinning around those black storm clouds; binding them together. Clouds shot few lightning bolts towards us, but we were used to dealing with them. I somehow withstood those strikes better than anypony else.

We then sprinted through our piles of clouds, pulling them together as one huge storm cloud. The next step was a bit more dangerous though. We needed to build up our speed and pierce the cloud from below, making it explode and turn into a subtle rain. The danger lies in the strong lightning bolts that could easily fry somepony if not careful.

I flew high above the cloud, Sky Hoof mirroring my moves, as we dived past the huge storm cloud and made a sharp U-turn below it. The move was always hard on your guts. But you didn’t want to do it from above, as that would cause the cloud to explode downwards; shooting bolts all the way to the ground and possibly hurting somepony.

With increasing speed, we flew through the storm cloud forehooves first and wings closed, maximizing our aerodynamics. The cloud exploded into a million pieces with a huge rumble, as those bolts shot up into the sky and rain started to pour down. There was even a pretty rainbow this time.

“That was amazing!” Sky Hoof exclaimed, “You really showed to those clouds Shimmering.”

“You did great too,” I complimented back. He just smirked at me knowingly.

Sky Hoof was always such a pleasure to work with, always so happy and kind. Not everypony around here was like him. Most of the villagers were just hard working plow horses, who never knew what the word fun or friendly meant. You could still do your job and enjoy it at the same time.

My dad was a living legend on the cloud control, but he had to retire after a serious accident, or so I was told because it happened before I was even born. Fortunately, there were other workers to take his place. As soon as I was born, my dad taught me everything he knew about his job and wanted me to continue in his hoof steps; and so I did.

Sky Hoof was one of my foalhood friends. We used to play all the time, and it was only natural that he chose the same profession as me since he was a pegasus.

“Hey, did you hear that?” He suddenly asked.

“Hear what?”

“Like somepony was screaming,” Sky Hoof said worriedly.

Then I heard it too. We looked first at each other, then gazed down to see what was going on. We saw nothing out of ordinary, mostly because of the clouds below us obscuring our view.

“I think we need to check it out,” he said, earning a confirming nod from me.

We dived down and stopped above the houses, and we saw a group of heavily armored black soldiers marching in our village. Everypony was running around and screaming as if trying to escape. What the hay was going on!?

Soldiers tried to capture a few ponies, but they fought back; unfortunately. Soldiers hit and threatened them with their weapons and tied them up. Some of them had spears, and some bows and arrows.

“Come on, we need to find them!” Someone shouted in the distance.

I looked up and saw the gray unicorn mare with black stripes, shouting commands to the soldiers. She had a huge white-gray mane and tail, and some armor as well. This wasn’t good.

As if by instinct, I flew straight to my house and saw it was on fire! So was many other buildings too all of a sudden.

“Mom! Dad! Are you there? Cres!” I shouted after landing at the front door, but nopony answered.

I looked up to see Sky Hoof, but he was nowhere to be found. I hit the door, but it was either locked or jammed.

“Calm down kid, or you’ll get hurt,” was suddenly spoken behind me.

I spun around and saw one of the soldiers looking at me threateningly; forcing me to take few steps back towards the burning home behind me, as he aimed his spear at me.

“What’s your name kid?” he asks, but I can’t bring myself to answer. Not that I’d tell him anything anyway.

“Leave him alone!” somepony said behind the soldier.

I recognized the brownish earth pony with a red mane as one of the villagers but didn’t actually know him by name. Particularly brave this one was, though.

“Shut it if you don’t wish to die that is!” the soldier said and tackled the pony to the ground.

‘Oh please stay down, please stay down, it’s not worth it,’ I thought, staring at the pony on the ground, who grinned from the pain and tried to stand up again.

He watched me for a second and gave me a weird smirk. The pony then launched himself towards the soldier, trying to hit him with his hoof.

The earsplitting scream caused me to wince, as I saw the spearhead penetrating the pony right in front of me; coming through from the other side.

“NO!” I yelled as loud as I could, tears flying from my eyes.

The soldier twisted the spear and yanked it out with one quick motion, ripping his guts out and splashing blood everywhere. Some of it landed on my face and forehooves, as the spear swung through the air. I watched in horror as the poor pony fell to the ground, twitching and shaking violently while coughing blood and trying to gasp for air. Blood gushed out of his wound like it was a fountain. His eyes shrunk to tiny spheres, as I saw the life force leaving his body. The last thing I saw, was his eyes rolling back as his lower lip waggled, before coming to a complete stop; he was dead. I just witnessed somepony’s death for the first time in my life. The soldier laughed and grinned mischievously while turning to me.

“What’s.. your.. name?” the soldier asked again with a menacing voice.

I was shaking like a leaf on my spot, while slowly backing up, paying no attention to his words. I just kept my eyes on the bloody spear he was holding, while other soldiers apparently continued his work on the background. He came closer to me, closing the distance I’d gained when I backed away from him. His eyes narrowed as he pointed the bloody weapon at me again.

“Tell me, or you’ll end up like your friend right there,” he threatened, pointing the bloody corpse to his right. I couldn’t get any words out of my mouth, even if I wanted.

I glanced at the body quickly, before shaking my head and turning around. Just to find three more soldiers behind me; I was surrounded.

“See, you have nowhere to go, running is useless,” one of the soldiers said ominously while approaching me.

He was right... I wasn’t going to outrun them, but I had my wings. Quickly inspecting the situation, I opened my wings and leaped over the first soldier. It was a bad call, though. He raised his bloody spear and sunk it into my left side, causing me to fall down; spear still hanging on my side. I howled in pain, as the soldiers laughed at me. Adrenaline rushed through my body as I kicked the spear off, causing blood to fly out of the wound. The pain was so immense, that it actually stopped hurting for a brief moment.

“You stupid little prick,” soldiers huffed at me, “You thought you could escape from us? Well, think again.”

I was laying on my right side, panting and grunting heavily from the burning pain and gritted my teeth as the soldiers walked closer. No doubt left in my mind that they were going to finish me off. Why were they doing this!? We never did anything to anypony! Tears poured from my eyes as the group got closer and closer. Was this it, was this my end? I thought about my family and wondered if they had escaped. Then I saw the spear lying on the ground. I closed my watery eyes while taking a deep, controlled breath.

‘Mom, dad, Cres.. if this is the goodbye... I love you all,’

I got up, grabbed the spear with my mouth, and took off with my wings as fast as I possibly could. I flew straight into the soldier who murdered the pony earlier and drove the spear through his throat, forcing it to come through from the other side. ‘Take that, you son of a bitch!’ I then flew over him and took to the sky, blood still dripping from the wound. I flew higher and higher, trying to get out of their sight.

After a short flight, I felt drowsy as my vision started to blur; I was losing my altitude. Neglecting the pain, I simply pushed forward, faster and faster as long as I could. I don’t know how long I managed to stay in the air. But after seeing treetops closing in, I just tried to glide with the last of my power as I blacked out, and crashed to the ground.

“Shimmering, are you alright? Shimmering, please answer to me!”

The weird sound echoed from somewhere far away, kind of like it was underwater. To be honest, I didn’t even recognize the voice. Weird bubbling sound, like I was underwater myself too. It was dark as well, I couldn’t see anything.

Another muffled voice spoke something that I wasn’t able to hear properly. It sounded like a male’s voice, first one being female I guess.

Then I felt something touching my right foreleg. I cracked my eyes open and saw nothing but a black blur at first.

“Don’t worry, Shimmering, everything’s okay, It was just a bad dream!” Twilight spoke; I now recognized her voice as reality started to kick in. The other voice must have been Spike then.

A blur started to sharpen up as I saw the purple dragon staring down at me from above my head, poking my muzzle with his claw. Why the hay was he upside down?

“I think he’s finally waking up!” Spike exclaimed.

“Thank Celestia, are you alright, Shimmering?” asked Twilight, now also coming into my field of vision - upside down as well.

I blinked a couple of times before asking, “Why are you all upside down?”

Spike laughed. “It’s not us silly, it’s you!”

I then realized my position on the floor.. I had fallen out of the bed, head first onto the floor. Apparently, I was lying on my back, while my hind legs were still in the bed somehow. The cover was also semi-drooping over me on the floor.

Shaking my head, I slowly and carefully turned to my left side on the floor; staring at Twilight and Spike dumbfounded.

“What are you doing here?” I ask timidly, probably knowing the answer already.

“Why? You were screaming and shouting like a maniac! I thought somepony was here and trying to hurt you. We ran here and found you kicking and swinging in the air like you were fighting for your dear life,” Twilight recalled anxiously. Oh how right she was... “I was so worried about you that I, I..” she tried to continue, but was about to burst into tears.

“Shh, shh, Twilight, everything’s okay now, please don’t cry,” I said while standing up. I walk next to her, gently nuzzling her neck with my muzzle; and covering her with my wings. She was shaking.

The act might have been a bit inappropriate, but I didn’t know any other ways to calm her down. She twitched slightly from the sudden contact at first, but then pressed her head against my neck.

Spike watched us quietly.

“Thanks for taking such a good care of me, Twilight,” I smiled softly at her and pulled away; our muzzles still being mere inches apart.

She just stared at me in the moonlight. It was still night, we hadn’t been sleeping all that long, unfortunately. This was going to be a long night.

“That’s what friends are for,” Twilight said, eyes glimmering from tears as she threw herself at me and hugged me tightly.

“I’m okay now, Twilight... It was just a bad dream, but it’s over now,” I comforted my purple friend.

“You need to tell me what happened, Shimmering, I want to help you, I can’t stand to see you suffering like this,” Twilight pleaded against my neck.

“Can’t it wait until tomorrow?” I ask softly.

“Tomorrow? How do you think I’m going to sleep when you are torturing yourself like this? Please, let me help you!” she cried against me.

Poor Twilight... I’d have to tell or she’d never get any sleep. Though my story was sure going to give her nightmares as well. I couldn’t hide anything like I did with Nurse Redheart. She’d want every little bit of detail, not just some vague summary of my journey. For some questions, I didn’t even have the answers myself.

I let out a heavy sigh, as I pull away from her hug.

“Okay, but I want to share it only with you. Sorry, Spike.” I turn to him, apologetic, but still with a determined look on my face.

“Oh, it’s um, okay, I guess,” he stammered and glanced at Twilight concerned.

“Don’t worry Spike, I’ll be alright,” she says and gives the dragon a reassuring smile.

Spike nods and exits the room, closing the door behind him. Twilight turns to me and lights up a few candles to lighten up the room.

“I’m ready when you are,” Twilight says.

Chapter 4 - Mind Discomfort

It was morning already, but Twilight Sparkle was still sitting next to me, listening to my story while staring at me like a statue. I had told her all I remembered about the attack. She didn’t react much to anything; just listened. Only when I told her about the murder I witnessed did she put a hoof over her mouth for a while. But that’s it. It was really hard to talk about it. I also told her how I escaped, killing one of the soldiers in the process. No reaction to that, either. Technically, I was a murderer, but she understood that I had to do that in order to survive.

Well, it wasn’t solely for that reason. I needed to avenge that pony, even if it meant my own death. It was the unwritten rule of solidarity we all lived by; when somepony saved your life, you owed them yours. If the one who saved you was in danger, you were obligated to return the favor. Or in my case, avenge his death at least. It wasn’t a suicide he’d committed, though. He was a brave, fearless individual, who was ready to fight for his freedom. For my freedom. Sadly, he was no match for the said soldier. But at least he tried. I closed my eyes for a moment to honor his sacrifice as the morning progressed.

The sun’s rays were already coming in through the window. Spike had probably been sleeping like a log for hours by now. I wasn’t all that tired, despite last evening. Twilight didn’t seem to be tired either. I had also told her about my job, and that I had few friends, but she just nodded at everything. One of the said friends wasn’t even living in Whitestone, so I rarely saw him. I wondered how he was doing nowadays.

However, Twilight derailed my train of thought, eyeing my mane curiously. “So what’s up with your mane and tail, then? Why do they glow like that?”

Ugh... Was that all she cared about? I tell her about murders, burning villages and what not, and yet she asks about my mane. Well, I guess it was an easier subject to talk about than the horrific incident. A sigh left my lips before I answered.

“I’m not sure, Twilight. My mom told me it’s because of the accident that forced my father to retire from the cloud control business. She told me that one day at work, dad got hit by a huge lightning bolt. He was hospitalized for a couple of weeks before he was able to walk again. He was never quite the same afterward. Soon after his retirement, they had me,” I recalled with melancholy. It was hard to talk about my parents, as I didn’t know if they were dead or not.

“What does that have to do with your shiny mane and tail?” she asked, after scribbling down notes on some paper.

Why was she taking notes about what I was saying? I looked at her curiously but she showed no change in her demeanor. I let out another heavy sigh.

“My mom noticed it after my birth and said that my dad’s energy dwells in me now... Whatever that means.”

Twilight stared at me, confused for a moment while tilting her head. Yeah, I didn’t believe that explanation either, but it was all I’d ever had. She still wrote something down as I looked at her, annoyed.

“So, your mane and tail are full of electricity? Does your dad’s mane glow like that, too?”

“Uh... No, I don’t think so,” I muttered, ignoring the latter question. I didn’t want to talk about my parents more than was necessary, as I noticed it made me depressed. I felt a hard lump form in my throat as my eyes started to slowly water.

“But it’s glowing, it must get its energy from somewhere!” Twilight Sparkle insisted. Her quill and piece of paper floated in the air in front of her.

I just turned my gaze down to the floor, keeping my mouth shut. I didn’t know for sure, and what would it matter anyway? It was just an annoying glow that made everything yellow at night. If it were up to me, I’d rather have turned it off. Cutting off my mane or tail was out of the question, though. I wasn’t that desperate to get rid of it. Not even shortening them was acceptable.

“What about your cutie mark? How did you get it?” she asked as I went silent about the previous topic. I could feel her staring at my flank.

This question, I could answer. It was quite possibly the very question she wanted the answer to most, anyway. And it didn’t involve my parents.

“Well, I was cloud control training with Sky Hoof, like we always used to do. We did our routine, but he was struggling with his clouds and got hit by a lightning bolt. He hurt himself slightly. I went to help him, pulling both cloud stacks with me and did the whole run all by myself. I got hit by lightning bolts as well, but I didn’t feel them. After finishing the job solo, the cutie mark just popped onto my flank,” I summarized, glancing at the storm cloud on my flank.

“What?” Twilight asked in confusion. “You can withstand lightning bolts?”

“Err, yeah... They don’t really hurt me, they just tickle a little bit,” I said absently; a mistake.

She started to write something down with the quill with a blurring speed. I feared the paper was going to rip at any given moment, and we would have to start over. I saw a tongue sticking out of the corner of her mouth as well.

Twilight Sparkle then stopped and stared me, eyes glimmering from the excitement. Uh oh...

“I have never heard of a pegasus able to withstand lightning bolts! I mean, unicorns can protect themselves with magic, but you have nothing! Not to mention that you were a foal back then! That must be some kind of a side effect from your father’s accident,” she exclaimed happily. “Your mother was a unicorn, right?” She was ready to write more things down with her quill.

I was baffled by the question, but also by her enthusiasm. Yet again, she was asking something about my parents. Though, I didn’t remember telling her that my mother actually was a unicorn. She obviously knew that my father was a pegasus since he was in the cloud control business. I quickly shook my head in confusion before answering.

“Y-yes, how did you know?”

“Your dad’s condition, combined with the unicorn magic, must have somehow created that glow to your mane!” Twilight chirps, hardly staying on her hooves at this point. She writes everything down and takes a new piece of paper, continuing whatever she was doing.

Interesting theory that was... Too bad I wasn’t all that excited to talk about it. Would she just drop it about my parents? The lump in my throat felt even bigger this time, and I could feel the tears gathering in my eyes.

“What does it matter?!” I retorted, turning away from the mare.

I felt the anger suddenly raising its head inside of me. The red-eyed monster that rarely revealed itself. It wasn’t because of Twilight, but me. I closed my eyes and relived the attack in a split second in my mind. Those screams, all that blood and fear. Death... Then, I cracked. The anger was gone, replaced by what only could be described as total devastation.

It wasn’t so much just crying as it was yelling in tears. I fell on the floor and burrowed my face in my hooves and cried like never before.

I could hear the paper and quill drop on the floor as Twilight Sparkle gasped. She leaned over and hugged my twitching body tightly, trying to calm me down the best she could.

The morning had progressed further and it was almost a midday. I’m not sure if Twilight had any plans for the day but if she did, she was doing a great job neglecting them because of me. Most of the time, Twilight had been trying to calm me down and telling me that it wasn’t my fault and all that typical stuff. Honestly, it didn’t bother me a bit. What else could one say? I had been mentally destroyed for the day and would listen to anything she had to say.

Spike had visited us, wondering who the hay was crying so loud. My purple friend had then sent her number one assistant away, wanting to be alone with me. I didn’t want an extra pair of eyes to see my sorrow either. It was embarrassing enough as it was.

At one point, I had heard somepony knocking on the library door, but Twilight had instructed Spike to tell anypony who came to visit that the place was closed for today. I couldn't tell who the visitor was, though.

I was laying on the bed under the blanket that Twilight had put over me. She said that I was cold and shivering. The unicorn herself was laying next to me on the rather small bed. Her body leaned against mine and I could feel the body heat through the blanket. A rather comforting feeling if you ask me.

We had been quiet for a while, Twilight reading a book and stroking my mane while I stared at nothing in particular with my glassed over eyes. Only a subtle sniffle broke the silence every now and then. I had requested this arrangement myself. Being quietly next to her like this really made me feel safe; safe and relaxed. It was the second time I had felt so safe after the attack. The first time was at the hospital with Nurse Redheart.

Another page turned in Twilight’s book as I slowly peeked at her with my still-moist eyes. She slowly turned her gaze to me, smiling heartily.

I tried to think of something to say, but the words never came out. I wanted to thank her but didn’t know how. However, she simply nodded to me, smiling ever warmer now, probably knowing what went through my mind.

“Are you feeling any better?” she asked softly, earning a subtle nod from me a moment later.

“Yes, thank you,” I mumbled, staring into her eyes.

The amount of warmth and kindness I found from those purple eyes nearly mesmerized me. She really cared about me. Twilight simply smiled at me, still stroking my shimmering mane. It felt good, really good. If I was a cat I’d have started purring. I even allowed a small smile to grace my face as well.

“I hope I’m not causing you to miss any appointments or anything because of me,” I whispered shyly.

Twilight put her book down, giving me an understanding look. “No, you are not. And even if I had something, I couldn’t leave you alone. What kind of friend would I be if I did something like that?”

Ignoring the fact that it was a rhetorical question, I answer her, “Y-you would probably be just like any other pony... I, I don’t say that you are like that, but... I mean...” I mumble and burrow my burning red-hot face into the pillow to hide the blush, thanking my brain for humiliating me once again. Some things just shouldn’t be said aloud.

Twilight stayed silent, however. She didn’t move or say anything and I was already going through the worst possible scenarios in my head about what might happen. She’d probably be mad and throw me out or something.

I carefully cracked one eye open to look for Twilight. She was staring at me with a shy smile on her face as a soft shade of red complimented her beauty. She giggled. A hoof then appeared in my vision and went over my mane a couple of times. A few seconds passed. Or were they minutes? I couldn’t tell anymore.

“Come on, let’s get something to eat,” Twilight exclaimed softly, earning a subtle nod from me as we got up and headed to the kitchen.

Spike was relieved to see us finally coming out of the guest room. The dragon had meanwhile been preparing us a lunch it seemed. I didn’t have any food left anymore so the lunch was much appreciated, to say the least.

Twilight was sitting on the opposite side of the table as Spike was serving the food. The poor little thing was obviously confused by the latest events and clearly wanted to ask something. I felt sorry for him as it was all my fault.

There was only some small talk between Twilight and Spike, mostly about the food. Twilight also asked if he got any sleep at all. Fortunately, the dragon had been sleeping soundly after the late night crisis. I still felt obligated to give him my deepest apology.

“I’m really sorry about last night Spike...” It was a start but I didn’t know how to continue. Instead, I simply turned my gaze to the table. It was a kind of reaction - to escape behind my own little shield, my own personal space. I wouldn’t see them so I could think clearer.

I could feel Twilight and Spike looking at me, wondering if I was going to continue. Spike still didn’t know the first thing about me. That is if Twilight hadn’t told him anything while being at upstairs. Twilight on the other hoof knew pretty much everything. Maybe she knew even more than me actually?

“I hope I’m not causing you too much trouble,” I continued quietly. I even managed to raise my gaze from the table and looked at my hosts one after another.

“Uh, it’s okay,” Spike muttered and placed the cauldron on the table. “No harm done,”

The cauldron and a few other things suggested we were having some kind of a soup. There were also small bowls for us to hold such a dish. I had no idea how I’d manage to eat it in a civilized manner though, as Spike had claws and Twilight could levitate a spoon with her magic. I had never eaten using proper tableware before. Maybe I could fold my wing tip enough to hold the spoon, but I didn’t seem to have one to start with.

Spike took a big wooden ladle and served us the food. It was indeed a soup; containing mushrooms, some leaves, carrot and other root vegetables.

Twilight and Spike started to eat as I just stare the bowl in front of me awkwardly.

“Aren’t you hungry Mr. Thunder?” Spike asked worriedly. “Is there something wrong with the food?”

I quickly shook my head before answering, “Oh, no no, it’s just... I don’t know how to eat this,”

I felt my face burning from the embarrassment and wanted to hide again - And so I did. What earlier had been a pillow concealing my shame, was now a hot bowl of soup I already forgot was sitting there. I dove muzzle first into the bowl, spilling most of the contents onto the table. I panicked and inhaled some of the soup and started coughing. Didn’t something like this already happen yesterday?

“Well, that’s one way to do it,” Spike snickered, trying his best to hold up the laughter.

Just what I needed, another catastrophe. Note to self; don’t try to facedesk on a dinner table ever again. Especially if they are serving a soup. Not that any other dish would be any more suitable for such an act. I tried to rub my eyes and remove some of the soup’s ingredients from my muzzle as Spike cracked into an open laugh.

I couldn’t hear Twilight though. And for the record, I couldn’t see her either from the soup in my eyes. Maybe it was better that way. A good way to stay calm when you can’t see what’s coming your way.

“What is it with you and food?” a voice next to me suddenly spoke. Instinctively I turned my head towards the voice. She was right next to me.

However, Twilight’s voice was soft and kind and I even detected some sarcasm in it. She then carefully dried my face with a towel as I opened my eyes and saw her ever-so-comforting smile. Fortunately, she wasn’t mad or anything, though it seemed like I was only creating a mess whatever I was doing. I started to wonder if she could ever be mad at me?

“I’m sorry, I’m not used to eating a soup from a bowl and I have never used a spoon before,” I whisper, hopefully quiet enough for Spike not to hear.

“It’s okay, you can always drink it from the bowl,” she said and cleaned up the table too, before returning to her seat.

I decide to do as I’m told and eat the rest of the soup directly from the bowl. Twilight eyes me a couple of times, looking like she’s having a good time doing so. Spike on the other hoof seems to be even more confused by her behavior and decides not to ask.

What was it with Twilight eyeing me and laughing? She did the same thing yesterday. I wasn’t that interesting to look at, shimmering mane or not. Whatever it was, it made me really uncomfortable.

Soon the lunch was over. Twilight was helping Spike to clean up the table as I took a closer look at the books in the library. No way I could mess that up. Better not to jinx it though.

Most of the books seemed to be about magic and spells if I had to say. Cres would love to read these books as she was pretty good with her magic as far as I was concerned. Hadn’t she always been interested in magic? Cres had focused her studies on shield spells. She had bought some books from traveling sale ponies that sometimes visited our isolated community. Her dream had always been to visit Canterlot and learn even more about magic, but our parents wouldn’t let her leave the village. They said she was more useful there.

She might be a pretty mare, but she could take care of herself in a bind. My lips turned into a proud smile as I thought about my big sister. She kind of reminded me of Rarity. Probably because they looked alike, but their personalities were also quite similar. I had only met the designer briefly, but that meeting told me a lot about her.

“Looking for something to read?” Twilight suddenly asked next to me, once again derailing my train of thought down a cliff. No survivors.

“Oh, I’m not much of a reader, but Cres would’ve loved to read these,” I reply absently, not removing my eyes from the bookshelf.

“Oh?” Twilight says confused.

Just then I realize that I haven’t told Twilight about my sister at all. She had literally no idea about whom I was talking about. Maybe she thought it was my mother’s name or even my non-existing fillyfriend’s name... A slight panic started to creep in as I thought how to tell her about my dear sister.

“I uh... S-she’s my um, sister...” I stammered while scratching my neck and giving her a sheepish look.

“Oh, you have a sister?” Twilight asked looking honestly surprised. “Is she-”

“A unicorn, yes. And before you ask; no, she’s older than me. No glowing manes there,”

Twilight goes silent upon my interruption. Either she didn’t like being interrupted or that wasn’t what she was about to ask.

“Actually I wasn’t going to ask about her mane but thanks for the information,” Twilight snickered. “Is she interested in magic then?”

“Yeah, she’s pretty good with some shield spells. She always wanted to visit Canterlot to learn about healing spells also,”

“Oh, those take a long time to learn,” The librarian says, giving me a surprised look. “Healing spells especially are nearly impossible to master without a proper teacher,”

I could tell that my sister was talented, but according to Twilight’s impression, Cres had more skills than I had originally thought. Something told me that Twilight knew a thing or two about magic herself.

“She always wanted to help and protect others,” I said melancholically, turning my gaze back to the bookshelf in front of me.

However, Twilight gave me an alarmed, worried look, “I-is, is she...” she stammers quietly.

I shook my head before pressing it down, “I don’t know, I didn’t see her that day. There’s a chance she was out of town at the time,” I could hear Twilight releasing a subtle sigh.

“We were always close with Crescent Rain,” I state quietly.

My purple companion slowly nodded to me before taking a step closer, “I’m sure she’s okay,” I simply smiled at her comforting words as somepony knocked on the library's door.

Twilight walked to the door and opened it, letting inside a beautiful alabaster mare and one of the most adorable fillies I had ever seen: The two being Rarity and Sweetie Belle of course. I simply sat on my haunches and inspected the situation from the distance. The designer looked a bit worried, I wondered what they wanted.

“Hi Rarity and Sweetie Belle,” Twilight greeted the visitors, letting them in.

“Are you quite okay, Twilight darling? I tried to visit here at the morning but Spike told me that the library was closed for the day, what’s going on?” Rarity asks worriedly.

Ah, so it was Rarity who visited earlier. She seemed to have some kind of a box with her as well. I wonder if they noticed me sitting quietly in the corner.

“I uh, I was doing a research about something and wanted no interruptions,” Twilight spat out rapidly.

Oh? Did she just lie to her friends? She was trying to protect me again... I lowered my head quietly. It hurt. I knew her intentions were good, but I wasn’t asking her to lie to her friends.

“About what, dear?” Rarity questioned further.

“Doesn’t matter, now what brings you two here? the librarian shot back, steering the conversation away from the incident.

“Oh, I was just wondering if you happened to know where that pony is you were with yesterday,” the designer replied.

Wait a minute, they were looking for me? They probably wanted to make sure Twilight was safe and thought that I had done something to her, causing the librarian to lock up in her home.

“We have a present for him,” Sweetie Belle suddenly chirped.

A present - for me? Oh, that scarf... She wasn’t kidding about it then. More than that, I couldn’t believe it was done already, she was fast if so.

“For Shimmering?” Twilight stammered, probably now remembering my existence in the room.

Man, I was being a stealth pony today. Suddenly when I raised my head, I saw Sweetie Belle staring at me. Oh crap. She looked a bit puzzled at first and took a hesitant step towards me, before smiling and galloping full speed in my direction.

“we found him, sis! He’s right here!” the little filly cheers in front of me while looking at Rarity and pointing to me with her little hoof.

Twilight spins around while Rarity shot a surprised look at me and her sister.

“Uh yeah, he’s right here,” Twilight says sheepishly.

“What’s going on, Twilight? Why is he in here?”

I decide to open my mouth before she lies to her friends again... “I couldn’t find any other place to stay so Twilight invited me to stay here - for a while,”

Rarity looked suspicious about it and glanced at Twilight curiously, “Really?”

An exchange of nervous looks between Twilight and I didn’t go unnoticed by the alabaster mare, “Oh my, I didn’t know you were... Is it that serious already?”

“Are they dating?” Sweetie Belle asked from her sister a second later, her face glowing from happiness.

I ended up only facehoofing and shaking my head, my system was out of stock of red blush at this point. No more blushing for Celestia’s sake. Twilight on the other hoof had plenty of her pretty blush left it seemed.

“No! we are not dating,” I grunted and walked over to Rarity and Twilight while Sweetie Belle lets out an adorable ‘aww’ of disappointment.

I took a moment to let the information sink in before sighing heavily.

“I had some really bad nightmares last night and accidentally woke up Twilight and Spike. I... I broke down and Twilight only tried to comfort me. That’s why the library was closed today. Please don’t be mad at her. She was only trying to spare my feelings,”

Twilight stared me in disbelief while Rarity wore a much more concerned look on her face. I decide to stop her from asking.

“I’m fine now, thanks to Twilight,” A soft smile to my purple friend makes her noticeably more relaxed.

“I see,” Rarity mutters and brings up the box in front of us. “Very well then. With that out of the way, here’s the scarf I promised to make you,”

She opens the box and levitates out an amber colored scarf with the brown and yellow pattern on it. The pattern goes in diamond shaped squares from top to bottom in forty-five-degree angles. There’s also a row of small tassels on the both ends of the scarf. It looked fabulous, to say the least, but not too feminine to be worn by stallions.

The fashionista then opened the scarf and put it over my neck, gently tying it so it wouldn't drop. She stepped back to admire her work, eyes glowing from joy.

“Well, do you like it?” Rarity asked while Sweetie Belle let out a cooing noise.

“He’s so cute!” the little filly exclaimed.

I simply stared at Sweetie Belle as my body somehow found more red color for my face. Twilight was also eyeing me on my right and I could hear the giggles.

“I- I like it very much. T-thank you Miss Rarity,” I mutter while hiding behind my mane, slightly lowering my head. A section of my mane dropped conveniently over my face to block my vision.

However, the white mare gasped loudly. At first, I thought it was because of my reaction to her present, but little did I know about her eye for detail. Maybe the dim lighting in the room also helped her to see it.

“I-is that normal, Twilight?” Rarity asked, confused. “It’s as if his mane is... glowing somehow,”

Great. This was going to be one of those days at school when everypony piled on top of you asking a million questions at once about your mane.

“Okay, let’s get this over with,” I grunt while heading to the sofa.

With one slick motion, I jumped onto it and laid down, dropping my head between my forehooves and swinging my tail next to me. I hear hoof steps coming closer and burrow my face in my hooves. Apparently Twilight was there as well. I had no idea where Spike was though. Still in the kitchen?

“Actually, it’s shimmering. That’s what I was researching this morning,” Twilight reveals, earning a surprised look from her friend.

“I really like his mane!” Sweetie Belle chirps in my ear, her voice cracking once again. I couldn’t help but smile.

“Thanks, Sweetie Belle,” I mutter from the hideout between my hooves.

“Can I touch it?” she continues, receiving a confirming nod from my head.

Three girls were gathered around me, stroking my mane and letting out cooing noises. Every touch sent a new set of chills down my spine. I could smell their scent and it was pretty similar to one fragrance lingering in the Carousel Boutique. I still wasn’t completely clean myself, despite my last evening’s efforts but it didn’t seem to bother them a bit.

“What the hay are you girls doing?” the little dragon asked, now somewhere in the room.

“Petting Shimmering. Come on try it, his mane feels like velvet,” Sweetie Belle exclaimed to Spike.

“I’ll pass,” he snickered, “It’s probably awkward enough for him as it is,”

I didn’t bother to react. He was right. I couldn’t say it was any easier when colts stacked on top of me like this, but at least I knew most of them at the time. These girls were new to me and they were petting me like a common toy. Then again, I kind of surrendered myself to this.

However, upon Spike’s words, the girls took a few steps backward, letting me out of their gentle embrace.

I raised my head and looked at the girls from under my new mane style. It was drooping all over my face but I didn’t dare to correct their masterpiece. It felt like it would have looked similar to what Twilight’s mane did, just a little bit longer.

“Well, I have some more work to do back at the boutique, Please excuse us, Twilight. Come on Sweetie Belle, I know one thing you could help me with,” Rarity says and smiles at the little filly, whose eyes start to glow from sheer excitement.

“Really?” Sweetie Belle asked as she followed her sister outside.

I watched after them, still wondering how she made the scarf so fast. She obviously had other jobs as well. More than that, she didn’t even ask any money in return; that can’t be good for the business.

The door closed quietly as I found myself still staring it absently. I felt the soft scarf tickling my neck, causing me to adjust it with my muzzle while Twilight and Spike chatted about something. However, I was too distracted to pay any attention to them.

“Uh, would you mind if I took a little walk outside? I need to clear my head a bit,” I muttered to Twilight who gave me a blank stare.

Once earning a silent nod from the purple mare, I headed outside as well, leaving the library behind along my saddlebag. It felt weird to be without it. The ribbon came back to my mind and I almost turned back to get it but decided that it was safe right where it was. Plus I had the scarf now, compensating for the missing equipment.

Outside, I noticed a few passing ponies giving me questioning stares. Okay, it was definitely time to get rid of these annoying bandages for good.

Without stressing about it any longer, I took off up into the sky and headed straight to the hospital. There was no way I would be able to rip them off myself.

“Is Ms. Redheart available? I’d like to get my bandages removed,” I state my business to the mare behind the reception desk.

She gives me a questioning look before checking something from her files.

“Ah, yes. Mr. Thunder, take the hallway to the left and third door to the right and you should find her office. She should be free right now,”

I bow and thank her for the information and start to follow the given instructions. The hospital smell hit my muzzle again, making me frown. If there was one thing I didn’t like about the hospital, it had to be the smell. I couldn’t put my hoof on what exactly caused it, but it was obnoxious. Even if this was my first time in a real hospital, I could tell that the stench was common in all other advanced hospitals as well. Trying to neglect the odor, I continued walking.

One room was open as I stopped next to it, taking a quick peek inside. I could see somepony sleeping on the hospital bed, her right hind leg being in plaster. I felt sorry for the mare; at least I think it was a mare. I couldn’t see her head as it was behind the curtain. It seemed to be a gray pegasus with a pale yellow tail.

For a moment I considered going inside and saying a hello to the patient, but quickly decided not to. I wouldn’t like it if a stranger came into my room like that. Then again, things might be a little different around here and she might even appreciate the gesture.

I continued my way through the stuff filled hallway and found the door I was looking for. A gentle knock on the door yielded a friendly response from the inside, spoken by the familiar voice I recognized from before.

“Please come inside, it’s open,”

Opening the door with my hoof, I walked inside and saw Nurse Redheart looking at her files.

“How can I help yo-” Redheart said while turning around to face her visitor.

The white mare with pink mane simply stared me as if not knowing what to say. Her eyes and mouth were wide open as she froze on the spot.

“Shimmering?” she asked, surprised. “What are you doing in here? Didn’t you find any place to stay? Don’t tell me you slept in a gutter! I told you to come here if things doesn’t work out,” she rambled a second later, taking few steps closer to me.

It was a bit amusing to see her like that, but confusing at the same time. I couldn’t help but stare at her, dumbfounded.

“I- I mean... How are you?” she muttered a few seconds later, her face displaying a light tone of pink while she circled her hoof on the tile floor.

“I’m doing okay, thank you. I didn’t get my own place yet, but Twilight invited me to stay with her for a while,” I stated my current situation as it was clearly concerning for her.

If I had learned anything about mares here in the time I had spent in this town, I could tell that they deeply cared about everypony. Such wasn’t the case in Whitestone. Everypony took care of themselves and only minded their own business. This kind of behavior was all too new to me.

“I actually came here to have these bandages removed,” I added in a lack of any comments.

“Ah, of course. Let’s go into the room five,” Nurse Redheart said and motioned for me to follow her.

In the hallway, I took a quick peek at her and couldn’t help noticing that she looked a bit tired. There were dark lines under her eyes; I wondered if she’d had any sleep lately.

Redheart opened a room with a big number five on it and we stepped inside and she closed the door behind me.

“Okay, please lay down on the bed so we can begin,” the nurse said. With one gentle move, I was on the bed and ready to be tortured.

She picked up a small tool that looked like a pair of pliers and came next to me, starting to take off the bandages. Some of them were really stuck to my coat and stung a little bit as she took them off.

“How have you been doing?” I asked her, absently.

Little did I know it would startle her; she quickly ripped one of the bandages off, causing a piece of my coat to come off with the cursed thing. That really hurt!

“Oh, I’m so sorry, please forgive me, Shimmering” the nurse muttered surprised by what had just happened.

“Are you quite alright?” I decided to ask, “You look a bit frazzled.”

My question made her stop for a moment and look at me, concerned. A few seconds later she turned her head away from me and almost started to cry. Something was clearly bothering her and I had a sneaking suspicion what it was.

“Do you remember what you told me some time ago?” I asked the mare as she raised her head slightly to look at me. “Sharing will ease your pain and make you feel better,” I quoted her perfectly. “Maybe it’s my time to listen and help you,”

She smiled at me. A tender smile that lighted up the whole room as well as my heart. I joined in with a smile of my own, while the nurse started to giggle. I just made somepony feel better; the feeling was quite new to me.

“I- I’m sorry... It’s just that... I have been worried about you,” the nurse revealed.

Well, that wasn’t the thing I thought she’d say, but it made sense to me now. Ponies here were selfless, caring creatures. But honestly, I thought she was more worried about the soldiers than me; and maybe she was, but she didn’t just say that. I didn’t reveal everything to her either, but I guess she knew it already. So I didn’t try to press her.

“I’m doing okay, considering what I have been through. Twilight has been really nice to me, even if I mess up things sometimes,”

A raised eyebrow from Nurse Redheart made me want to adjust my choice of words. I didn’t want to give her the image that I was causing a havoc in the library.

“I uh, spilled a soup,” I said and burrowed my face in the pillow in front of me. Ah, the comforting pillow...

Nurse Redheart giggled even more, but I was too busy hiding my shame to really pay any attention. I know it didn’t help, but it was a habit - this sitting tightly inside of me. And I bet it was a pretty adorable pose because the nurse laughed even harder now.

“It’s okay, Shimmering. You don’t need to be ashamed of a simple accident. If you only knew what I have done, you’d be amazed my coat color isn’t red,” she laughed at me.

“What have you done then?” I asked, being actually curious about it

“Well, once I accidentally messed up the names of our two new trainees and called them with wrong names for a week and nopony said anything. You could only imagine what I thought when I found out. They said it was too funny to correct it... No wonder they were laughing so much...” she added quietly at the end.

Well, that was really something. While it was a relatively harmless thing to happen, somepony could even have found it mean. Imagine that every other pony knew what was going on but you. I would have ran out of the door and never come back after such a prank.

“I- I’m sorry to hear that,” I said, really feeling sorry for her over this one.

“Well, that’s all good now. Should we continue our little operation?” she asked with a wink and took the pliers in her hooves again.

I gulped and nodded quietly, not being entirely sure what she meant by that...

Chapter 5 - An Unexpected Dinner

From the look of things, Nurse Redheart was obviously relieved that I was doing okay. Had it not been for that information, the bandage removal operation would have been a whole lot quieter. But it didn’t end just there. She now thought what I thought was clear as day from the day one when I arrived here; I was dirty.

She had then washed me in the shower, making sure that none of my wounds would start to bleed or anything. She also dried me with a towel, even if I told her I was capable of doing it myself, but she wasn’t going to take no for an answer. After surrendering myself to her will completely, she had styled my mane and tail to a whole new level. Apparently, she thought nothing of the fact that they glowed like they did; if she’d even noticed it. She had to have noticed it!

There I stood in room five with Nurse Redheart, mane neatly combed over my left ear while my tail remained pretty much the same, just cleaner. Thank Celestia she hadn’t braided it or anything. Then again, my dignity had taken a vacation a long time ago. Had it not been for that, I’d have been blushing like a little filly upon telling her crush that she loved him - or her. I absent-mindedly looked down at my now very clean hooves and wondered if this was going to cost me something later on.

Once Nurse Redheart was done with my tail, I allowed myself to breathe again. I felt like a completely new pony, which ironically was a very fitting theme considering my situation.

Only one thing was missing; namely, my new scarf Redheart had removed prior to the shower I needed to take. The said fashioned piece of clothing soon appeared in my vision, as Nurse Redheart threw it over my neck, tying it tightly together; using a bit too much force for my taste.

“Ugh, not so tight please,” I coughed while putting a hoof between the scarf and my neck.

Nurse Redheart just giggled while slightly loosening her weapon of opportunity.

“But you have to look good, Shimmering,” the pure white mare rambled absently.

“For what?” I asked once she stopped choking me.

The unexpected question caught her off guard and I got the chance to spin around and take a look at her. The mare was blushing and clearly ashamed of something if I had to guess.

“I uh... What would you say about a dinner later tonight?” Redheart asked, circling her hoof on the floor quietly.

I recognized her behavior from that of my own. Despite what she had just done to me, I take it she was also a bit shy, at least with the current subject. But even so, she was asking me out - on a date. On an actual date out for everypony to see. I just blinked while trying to stammer at least some kind of an answer out of my nearly crushed throat.

“I would... I mean, that’s... But I...”

A heavy sigh. That was never going to work and I forced myself to close my gaping mouth.

“Don’t worry, the dinner will be on me. You could pay me back by working for us. I’d imagine you still haven’t found a new job, now have you?” she inquired.

“N-no I haven’t,” I managed to mumble out.

“Is it a date then? This evening at seven o’clock?” the white mare before me asked, looking for a confirmation.

A free dinner sure sounded lovely and to top it off, I was going to get a job as well! I couldn’t believe such a thing would ever happen to me. But that was beside the point. The point was that Nurse Redheart was asking me out. I had no reason to reject the invitation, no matter how badly my brain fought against the very idea after the lunch with Twilight and Spike.

“Oh, uh... Yes, of course!” I exclaimed ever so carefully, causing Redheart to smile faintly. Truth to be told, I was terrified about the whole idea as I didn’t want to embarrass her in public. Not that I was eager to do it for myself either.

“Great, meet me in the lobby at seven, okay? I shouldn’t have to work overtime today,” the nurse said wearily.

The sudden change in her demeanor raised an army of questions in my head, while the concern for her well being also ate into my mind. Was she working too much? I couldn’t even start to imagine how stressful her work must be; to be responsible for all those ponies. No wonder she wanted to spend an evening out with somepony.

I only nodded to her while giving a comforting smile along the way. Of course, I wanted to help if something was bothering her, but I wasn’t going to stick my muzzle where it didn’t belong. It would be up to her to decide if she was going to let me know or not. Isn’t that what real gentlecolts do?

A gentle breeze greeted my face as I walked along the busy streets of Ponyville. The number of ponies was pretty much the same as yesterday, but now I was getting significantly fewer questioning stares. If anything, I was getting far more complimenting looks from the mares around me.

While those looks still felt a bit awkward, I didn’t want to fly as it would probably mess up my styled mane and tail; which I bet was one of the reasons for the others to be eying me. I had seen myself in the mirror at the lobby while leaving the hospital and I had to say that I liked the new look in a way. It was somehow more aerodynamic.

It was still couple hours before the dinner, so I decided to take my time while heading back to the library. The day was as beautiful as ever and I could hear birds singing joyfully, making my steps even lighter. I even allowed a small smile on my face, momentarily forgetting everything bad that had happened a few days ago.

I stopped in front of Sugarcube Corner as the delicious smell wafted from the doors and windows. A pastry of some sort would definitely hit the spot right now, but I had left my saddlebag at the library. Even if the night and morning had been horrible, my little visit at the hospital had really improved my mood and I almost felt like celebrating the new job I was going to get.

But that would have to wait for now. There was no way I’d try to get another ‘free sample’. I was already feeling bad over Rarity having given me the scarf; which I absolutely loved by now. It was so warm and comfortable. If I ever got enough bits, I’d pay her something for it, whether she wanted it or not.

I decided to continue my way back towards the library. Maybe Twilight could give me some tips about the dinner. I wasn’t familiar with the etiquette of dining out.

Three rapid knocks later, I could hear Twilight’s voice from inside before the door opened. She appeared to be baffled.

“Oh, Shimmering? You don’t have to knock you know, you are living here now,” the librarian giggled.

The statement momentarily derailed my thoughts from the upcoming dinner; that almost sounded like I was going to stay here permanently, but she couldn’t possibly mean it like that, nor did I want that myself.

“Um, temporarily, right?” I add, to get the confirmation anyway.

“You can stay as long as you need, I’m not going to drive a homeless pony out onto the street,” she says.

“Yeah, thanks for reminding me,” I mumbled while lowering my head. There goes the happy mood.

Twilight gasped, throwing apologises in my direction, but the deed was done. While I knew she didn’t do it on purpose, I couldn’t help but notice how often she brought those things back to my mind.

“It’s okay,” I stated blankly, stopping her rambling by raising my hoof in front of me. “Besides, I’ve got something to ask you,”

Twilight then eyed me more closely, looking at my mane and tail, but also my missing bandages.

“Wait a minute, where have you been, you were gone for quite some time. What happened to your mane?” the purple mare inquired.

“Well, I went back to the hospital to have my bandages removed as they were turning ponies heads like I was on fire or something,” I stated, annoyed.

“Did you visit the spa as well?”

“The spa? N-no... Actually, I need your advice with something,” I say quietly while circling my hoof on the floor, she didn’t need to know how I got my new style.

Twilight watched me with increasing curiosity, waiting for what I was about to say.

“N-Nurse Redheart asked me out and... Well, I don’t know what to expect, I have never been on... on a date before,” I muttered with a barely audible voice.

One could have read many things from Twilight’s face, but all I could see was this strange expression somewhere between surprise and disappointment; maybe even sadness.

Soon enough, her expression turned into a faint smile while she motioned for me to follow her to one of the bookshelves.

“Well, I don’t know much about the subject either, but I bet there’s a book for it,” Twilight said and grabbed few book from the shelf.

She read the covers and quickly, taking one book after another, making a high stack of abandoned books next to her. I simply followed her working from a distance in awe. I was not sure if such a book even existed, but it was amusing to see her looking for one. This was her job at least from what I understood.

“Spike, do you know where the book about going out with somepony for the first time would be?” she shouted over her shoulder.

There was no immediate answer from the purple dragon. Instead, the said creature appeared from upstairs and stared at Twilight questioningly.

“Twilight Sparkle going out with somepony eh? Never thought I’d live to see the day,” Spike snickered while Twilight herself dropped the stack of books she was levitating, “I don’t think we have such a book, Twilight, but I know something even better; why don’t you ask Rarity? She’ll tell you more than any book ever could,” Spike continued calmly.

To Twilight, the suggestion sounded good, while for myself it was a real nightmare. It was really hard for me to talk about these things with anypony, let alone with complete strangers. If I had known Twilight for couple days and talked with her, Rarity was a whole new case for me. I had barely said anything to her and now I’d have to ask about going out from her. Celestia knows she might even think that I was trying to ask her out.

I shifted on my place while Twilight eyed me curiously before actually giving me the chance to explain myself.

“Uh, I don’t know, Spike... I don’t want to bother her with such thing. Maybe I should just cancel the whole dinner.” I muttered quietly while looking at my still very clean hooves.

“Oh, so you’re going out, and not Twilight?” Spike asked while scratching his head, earning a shy nod from me. “I see. Twilight, could we have some privacy, just me and Shimmering, okay?”

Twilight looked puzzled at first but then nodded to us, “Uh, okay sure. I’ll just go and buy few more quills in the meantime,”

That said, she trotted out, leaving Spike and me behind.

Okay, I had a dinner planned up with somepony, Twilight had just run outside and I was now sitting in the library with a baby dragon while having no clue what was going to happen next. Absolutely nothing seemed to happen at first.

Spike simply stared me while I shifted in my place anxiously, wondering if I should just bolt out from the door, or see where things were going in here. Against my better judgment, I somehow managed to calm myself down in front of this fierce creature. Dragons were always scary to me, small or not.

“Good,” Spike said quietly. “Now that you are calm, I can properly introduce myself. My name is Spike, I’m Twilight’s number one assistant,” he said and took a step closer, holding his claws out for me.

I carefully proceeded closer, raising my right forehoof and shaking his claws. “S-Shimmering Thunder,” I stammered anxiously.

Having no idea why he was doing this, I suddenly felt a bit more relaxed. Maybe he simply wanted to be friends with me?

“Now, take it easy, Shimmering. I just want to help you, okay?”

All I manage to do was nod lightly.

“Can you tell me who it is? I mean, it’s easier for me to help you if I know who you are going out with, right?” Spike asked.

“Um, Nurse Redheart asked me on a dinner later tonight, but I don’t know what to expect. I- I don’t think it’s a real date, she looked a bit tired to me, I couldn’t say no,” I revealed quietly as if she could hear me.

Spike watched me curiously few moments before resuming a soft smile.

“I see. Well, all you have to do is be yourself. Don’t try to act any differently than you normally do. Just be polite and make sure that she’s having a good time, okay?”

That’s all I had to do? She’s not expecting me to do anything else but keep her company? Now that I thought about it more closely, it made sense. Sometimes I was really making my own life a living in hell by worrying about stuff beforehoof.

I raised my gaze from the floor and looked at Spike, a wide smile on my face, “Thank you, Spike,”

“Ah, don’t mention it, we boys have to stick together, don’t you think?” Spike snickered, once again receiving a nod from me; happy and rapidly this time.

I talked a bit more with Spike about the upcoming dinner before Twilight returned from her little trip. The librarian saw Spike and I sitting on the floor, now chatting about casual things like Spikes’ cooking skills. Apparently, Twilight wasn’t much of a cook herself. I guessed that magical abilities can't cover the lack of physical skills, but then again, it wasn’t my place to judge anypony. I was barely able to make a sandwich myself.

Twilight glanced at me questioningly whilst trotting past us, “When is your dinner by the way? It’s starting to get late,”

O-oh... What time was it again? I peek at the clock on the wall and notice it’s almost seven already. How long did I actually sit here with Spike? I would never forgive myself if Redheart was late for our date because of me. I wouldn’t- No, I couldn’t let her down.

“Now!” I screamed and literally flew out of the still open door.

“Wow, he should try to race Rainbow Dash sometime,” Twilight coughed to Spike in the dust cloud.

The sound of bubbling apple cider in my mug was barely audible over the mellow tunes of violins playing in the background. The orchestral music was coming from the small speakers hidden around the dimly lit restaurant. Only some candles on the tables and the counter were lighting up the place, creating a lovely atmosphere.

The smell of different foods and drinks lingered in the air, as waiter ponies served those few customers around us. I didn’t recognize any of them from before, only the one white mare sitting across the round table. I also noticed that most ponies used different perfumes on occasions like this, as the one emanating from Nurse Redheart was all new to me; smelling like strawberries. She’d had some time to prepare herself before she left work. There was no sign of the horrible hospital stench.

As for myself, I was wearing nothing but the fragrance called ‘sweat de la panique’ due to the frantic flight I had taken from the library in order to make it in time.

Nurse Redheart had been waiting for me in the lobby as had been agreed and laughed upon seeing me bolting into the lobby like I did, but at least I had made it in time. I didn’t know if she had an actual reservation for the restaurant, or if we could just go in whenever we wanted to, but I didn’t want to take the risk.

The white nurse hat was now absent, indicating that she was off-duty. Now would be the worst possible time for somepony to choke on their food. I could tell by her demeanor that this was something she had been looking forward to for quite some time. To be able to take off her hat and just relax and enjoy herself. No doubt she loved her job, but this mare was on the verge of a serious burnout.

After leaving the hospital, Nurse Redheart had been constantly talking to me. Mostly about her job, my upcoming job, the restaurant to which we were going, and the weather of course. I remember her praising the weather three times during the walk. The poor mare must practically be living in her office. I thought about it more closely, remembering seeing a blanket there. Nah, she couldn’t be actually sleeping there now could she?

Once we got inside the restaurant, she had been somewhat quieter. We had received our menus and my white caretaker told me that I could order whatever I wanted. The waiter had suggested their seasonal special and I took it, not being entirely sure what I was going to be served; even after he described the dish for me. Redheart took the same thing, only without fried hay. We then received our drinks in advance along with a cute little salad.

“This sure is a nice place,” I commented absently to my partner, still looking around in awe. We had nothing like this back in Whitestone.

“I’m glad you like it. I have been wanting to try out this new restaurant ever since it opened, but...” Redheart pauses momentarily, “...I haven’t had too much free time, nor have I had anypony to come with me. Well, those two things are kind of related to each other,” she continued with a sigh.

I felt so bad for her. Not only she was working her flank off, but she didn’t seem to have too many friends, either. If only there was something I could do to cheer her up. All I could do was to put the most caring, understanding look on my face that I could muster and smile heartily at her. I simply couldn’t find any words for describing what I felt.

Redheart returned a similar smile back with a small nod.

Maybe I didn’t need to say anything in the first place, just listen. Spike’s words echoed in my head, telling me to be myself and make sure she was having a good time. So far everything was going well. She was even smiling now. Even the food seemed to arrive quickly, I noticed as our waiter subtly walked toward us.

“Two seasonal specials,” the brown unicorn announced and levitated the plates in front of us. “Please enjoy the evening,”

The amount of food was a bit surprising, to say the least. I had no experience with different restaurants, but I could tell that this place was on the fancier side.

There was a square shaped pan-fried potato cake in the middle of the plate, surrounded by baby carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and pieces of onion. On top of them sat different herbs and flowers, which I think was solely for decoration. The brown sauce was drizzled around the plate in a circle, with fried hay also on my plate.

“Ooh, this looks delicious!” Redheart exclaimed merrily, while I was still wondering at the small size of the dish. “Is something wrong?” she asked suddenly.

“Oh, uh... No, I just thought that the dinner would be a bit bigger, that’s all,” I stammered anxiously. Great, now she thinks I eat like a horse.

Redheart giggled heartily, “Yes, it’s a bit of a small portion, but I assume it’s that much tastier,”

I simply stared at the plate before leaning closer and taking a small bite. The explosion of flavors spread in my mouth, causing my eyes to fly wide open from the surprise. Redheart tasted her dish as well, giving me pretty much the same expression; just a tad more ladylike. The food was absolutely wonderful, never in my life, I had tasted anything so yummy.

As we ate, we talked a bit more about my possible job. Redheart told me that they needed somepony to get them supplies from time to time and I could also deliver different packages around the town; things like medicines, bandages, vitamins and what not. The hospital didn’t always have enough staff available to take care of such things, sometimes patients needed to fetch what they needed directly from the hospital and that wasn’t desirable of course.

The pay wouldn’t be all that good, but it should be better than nothing. I doubt I’d pay my hospital bills anytime soon with it as I also wanted to pay for the scarf.

“What about your housing situation?” Redheart suddenly asked. “You said you hadn’t found your own place yet,”

“Well, the mayor said they needed to do a background check and Twilight... Uh, she didn’t want them to do that so she invited me to her home,” I recalled melancholically.

Nurse Redheart watched me for a moment before nodding few times quietly. “I see. Well, my offer still stands. You can move in with me if you want. I mean, I have an empty house and all, it’d be fun to have somepony I could talk with when I’m home. It can get pretty lonely sometimes,”

My eyes started to wet as I listened to her proposition. She wasn’t just an overworking nurse with few friends, she was a lonely shell of a mare who was barely keeping it together with her job. If I ever saw the management of the hospital, I’d like to tell them few things about the insane workloads they put on her.

Without stressing about it any longer, I rapidly nodded to her, “I’d be happy to move in with you,”

The smile on my face probably told her everything there was to tell, while I absently wagged my tail in excitement like a dog. My wings twitched slightly as I thought how happy I’d make her just by being there for her.

Redheart smiled back to me while nodding, “Thank you, Shimmering,”

Once the dinner was over, we had a wonderful berry dessert with caramel pudding, spiced with some exotic dark chocolate. Nurse Redheart paid the bill and we went to the lobby of the restaurant, confirming our plans for the next few days.

I told her that I could move in tomorrow, I just needed to fetch my saddlebag from the library and explain the situation to Twilight. I had no idea how she’d take the news, but for once, I was ready to keep my head. Redheart needed me; she didn’t say it directly, but the clues were all there. On the next day, I’d sign the contract and start working as a courier for the hospital. Everything was suddenly starting to look better for me.

To be a real gentlecolt, I offered to escort her back home. Redheart didn’t hesitate to accept my humble offer. I’d need to learn where she lived anyway.

It was night already, probably around ten o’clock or something. The air was cool and peaceful and I noticed only a few ponies on the streets. The moon was already glowing in the night sky while the stars shyly twinkled above us. What a lovely evening this was. I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply; everything was going to be okay.

The walk didn’t take too long and soon enough, we were at her house. It looked just like any other house in the area, just a bit bigger and tidier.

We stopped at the door, gazing at each other for a moment, not knowing what to say. Well, I didn’t at least.

“Thank you, Shimmering. This has been a wonderful evening. I haven’t had this much fun for a long time,” Redheart said, earning a blushing nod from me in return.

“W-well, I had fun too, I mean... It was an amazing evening,” I stammered, trying to hide my blush the best I could.

Redheart slowly leaned towards me, landing a soft kiss on my cheek and halting my rational thinking center completely. My blank stare could only find Redheart’s smiling face as she turned around towards her home, and opened the door.

“Good night, Shimmering,” Redheart said as she disappeared inside.

I raised my forehoof to my face and touched the spot she had just kissed. Blinking a couple of times, I felt reality starting to kick in again, snapping me out of my trance. I simply turned around and headed back towards the library, a faint smile on my face. I was just so baffled that I didn’t know if I should be doing loops in the air or cry on the ground. The emotional roller coaster was almost too much for me at that point.

First, I was devastated by the dream and sharing the whole thing with Twilight. Then I embarrassed myself at lunch and then I was nervous about the upcoming dinner. Suddenly after that, I felt happy. I felt happy simply because I made some other pony else feel good. And she made me feel good in return.

As I trotted along the street, I felt like somepony was following me. I stopped and spun around but saw nothing out of the ordinary, so I decided to continue. Though the weird feeling of a stalker didn’t go away, I trotted a bit faster. The library was already in my vision. If it was one of the soldiers, I could at least scream for help and Twilight might just hear me.

I stopped at the door and was about to open it, had it not been for the rustling from a bush a few hoof steps away. I froze on my spot, waiting for a bird or rabbit to shoot out of the bush.

But what came threw me right on my flank as I stared at the figure in front me, stunned. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t even breath. I couldn’t believe my eyes, for Celestia’s sake!

“Please, don’t be afraid, Shimmering. It’s me, Leaf Trotter,” the green earth pony said calmly.

Those light green eyes, the jade green coat and even greener mane and tail... His cutie mark of three leaves. There was no mistake, it had to be him.

“L-Leaf Trotter? What are you doing here?” I asked in disbelief as if I was talking to a ghost.

“I could ask you the very same question myself, but I’m afraid I have some bad news for you, my old friend,” Leaf Trotter said.

My eyes widened as they also started to wet. All I could do was hold up my tears and wait for what he was about to tell me. I couldn’t help myself from going through every possible scenario in my head before he told me, though. He probably knew what happened and came to tell me that my family was dead, nopony had survived. They couldn’t have.

Sitting on my haunches already, I sniffled and waited.

“I come directly from Whitestone and I believe you know what happened there,” Leaf started, confirming the facts for himself first. I nodded to him. “The whole village is gone, destroyed by the commander Silvermane and her crew,”

I lowered my head and start to twitch from crying. I was right.

“Silvermane is keeping Crescent Rain as a prisoner there... She’s still alive,” Leaf Trotter revealed, causing my head to rise slowly from the ground.

“She’s alive!?” I shouted in confusion, partly angered by the fact that he was just now telling me that. “Why didn’t you say so right away! We need to go rescue her!” I shouted again and tried to get on my hooves, but Leaf trotter held me down.

“No Shimmering, that’d be suicide! We need more help,” he said while preventing me from taking to the air.

“I don’t care, I need to see her before it’s too late!” I screamed and tried to find my way out of his tight grasp, but my efforts proved to be in vain.

Earth ponies usually had upper hoof when it came to wrestling. Even more so, Leaf Trotter was what we called an outdoor pony. He was toughened by the mother nature herself. He could kick down trees and run hours without getting exhausted. He was a downright exceptional athlete. But he wasn’t going to stop me. Not him, not anypony.

Suddenly, everything else lost its meaning. My life, Twilight, Spike... Even Nurse Redheart. All I was able to think about was my sister and the fact that she might still be alive. I wasn’t going to give up now, I was far too angry to give up.

I struggled even harder against my friend holding me down, gritting my teeth together with all my might.

“Let... Me... GO!!” I roared as loud as I could and jumped into the air.

A sudden flash of light momentarily blinded me, as I flung myself free from Leafs’ hold and hit the library behind me head first. Along with the flash, there was also a loud crackling sound, almost like an explosion now ringing in my ears. I could faintly hear Leaf Trotter yelling in pain somewhere, but I couldn’t see him. Actually, I couldn’t see anything at all as everything was suddenly blackening around me...

Chapter 6 - In the Heart of the Night

Chapter 6 - In the heart of the night

The ringing in my ears told me that I was slowly waking up. The feeling was quite similar to the one I had after the nightmare, but this time there was a vicious headache pounding within my skull like somepony was using it as an anvil. I tried to open my eyes to look around, but nothing happened. It felt like there was some kind of glue holding my eyes shut. Soon enough I felt somepony touching my head, causing me to twitch in surprise.

My reaction brought on the sudden sound of somepony speaking closer to my head, though I couldn’t quite make any sense out of what they were saying. At least it didn’t sound hostile. If somepony wanted to end my days, they would have done so by now. Where was I again? How long have I been unconscious? And what in the name of Celestia happened in the first place?

Slowly everything started to come back to me. I remembered that I was on the outside of the library ... I had bumped into my old friend Leaf Trotter, who then told me that somepony called commander Silvermane had captured my sister and that she was being held as a prisoner in Whitestone. We had struggled and then I’d flown full speed head first into the tree. That was something that’d knock out pretty much anypony, and cause a headache this bad.

Was I still there? I turned my head in an attempt to see, but my eyes were still stuck somehow. I raised my hoof to rub them but was stopped by something - or somepony.

“Please, try not to move, okay? Twilight’s coming back soon, don’t worry,” Spike said.

The ringing in my ears had calmed down just enough to recognize his voice. Apparently Twilight and Spike had heard my scuffle with Leaf Trotter and came to see what was going on. But where was Leaf Trotter anyway? And where did Twilight go?

“Mmh... W-where... Where is he?” I muttered and started to cough. My throat felt as dry as a bone while the iron taste of blood slowly spread in my mouth.

The coughing hurt my lungs and stomach while my headache decided to intensify. Grimacing from the pain, I pushed my eyes shut even tighter before trying to yank them open by force this time; and it worked. My eyelids felt slimy and heavy for some reason.

“Where is who?” Spike asked next to me.

I turned my head around, trying to look for Leaf Trotter but couldn’t see much of anything at first; only a dim blur. I guess he wasn’t around anymore. He was probably hiding in some bush, trying to be invisible... Well, he was good at that. Plus it probably wouldn’t look good for him to be here right now, as somepony might get the wrong idea of what had happened.

Blinking my eyes a couple more times, I rubbed them again. Looking at my hoof, I could see it was covered with blood - both dried and fresh. So that’s what was holding them shut. I must be bleeding a lot. I wiped my muzzle as well and got some more blood on my hoof. This wasn’t good.

“What happened, Shimmering? Did somepony attack you?” Spike asked worriedly while trying to motion to a few bystanders to keep their distance.

To be honest, I didn’t know what to answer. I didn’t want to tell him about Leaf Trotter, nor was this the time or place to tell him what I had learned about my sister. Spike still didn’t know anything about my past and I wanted to keep it that way - for now at least.

I only drooped my head, trying to get my thoughts together. I thought about Cres and what Leaf had told me about the situation in Whitestone. A lonely tear made its way out of my eye, collecting some blood on the way down. The uncertainty about the fate of my parents slowly turned into an acceptance that they were gone... If there was anything I could do to save Cres, I’d do it. I’d even give my own pathetic life to save hers.

Even though the last couple days had shown me what a wonderful town this was, it all felt insignificant now. All my life I had been nothing but a freak, a failure. Almost a complete outcast. If it was my purpose to sacrifice myself to save somepony I deeply cared about, so be it.

A sudden sound of hooves rapidly hitting the ground pulled me from my grim thoughts, as I saw Twilight Sparkle and Nurse Redheart galloping our way.

“Redheart ...?” I wondered aloud in confusion “No ... No!”

My voice cracked from the cry I held in. I realized immediately that it would be because of me that her peaceful, free night would have fled out of the window and into the trash can. She wasn’t the only nurse in town, why did Twilight have to drag her here, of all ponies?

I pressed my head down in defeat, there was nothing I could do about it anymore. Once again I had ruined everything...

It was sad to see my new scarf tainted by my blood, as I had really liked it. As if that wasn’t enough, blood also covered Twilight’s living room table. Twilight had put me there so Redheart could work on me once again. It wasn't a pretty sight, but they soon noticed that my injuries were not too serious this time around. The white mare had patched my bleeding head and was now washing away some extra blood from my face, scarf and the table.

What originally started as an outdoor operation led by Nurse Redheart had then turned into a court hearing about what had happened, judge Twilight presiding. Somehow - believe it or not - she thought that I was lying. She told me that one could never fly into a giant tree like that, no matter how clumsy they were. Not to mention the speed needed for this to happen.

In my mind, I wasn’t lying to anypony. I was just leaving out some details I didn’t want to share with them. If I told them about Leaf Trotter, they might overreact and try to capture him. I also didn’t want to tell them what I had learned and was about to do; that I was going to go back to Whitestone and rescue my sister. These girls didn’t have anything to do with the whole thing, so they didn’t need to know that. They’d continue their life and forget me in a week. This was my choice to make.

Deeply buried in my thoughts again, I absently stared at Nurse Redheart’s bloody hooves that she rested on the edge of the table. Twilight stood there next to her. Redheart’s expression was concerned, while the librarian looked almost angry. I doubt it was because of the mess I had created, but more my transparent inability to lie.

“Come on now, Shimmering! You need to tell us what really happened!” Twilight almost screamed into my ear. “Are the soldiers still after you?” she asked, her voice trembling with both fear and anger.

A loud gasp from Redheart told me that such a scenario had never occurred to her and that she was on the verge of panic. I had to calm her down somehow.

“No! Dear Celestia no, nothing like that!” I sobbed frantically before starting to cry. “Please, y-you need to let me go!”

My sudden reaction baffled the mares even more. I wasn’t tied down or anything, but I couldn’t afford to have them following me. I needed their permission to ‘slip away’ so to speak. Every second would count. Every minute I spent here was another agonizing minute for Cres in her prison.

“Why, what happened?” Redheart asked worriedly. I never had a chance to answer her, for we were interrupted by a cough we heard from the doorway.

“If you really care about him, you let him go,” somepony spoke to us.

Twilight and Redheart spun around while Twilight’s horn flared up simultaneously. I recognized the voice, but turned my head toward the door to be sure and saw Leaf Trotter casually leaning on the doorframe.

What in the world was he doing here?

The librarian looked ready to use her magic against the intruder at any given moment, while Nurse Redheart took the place between me and my friend as if trying to protect me.

“Who are you?” Twilight shouted and lowered her head preparing herself ready to attack. One wrong move and my friend would be toast. The situation would have been almost funny if it wasn’t so deadly serious.

“The name is Leaf Trotter, Leafy or LT for friends; like the one you have right there,” he said and looked at me emotionlessly.

What the hay was he doing? This wasn’t going to help me as I didn’t have time to explain who he was or what he was doing here.

However, the mares turned to me, looking for the confirmation of Leaf’s announcement. I guess I had to play ball, even if I was a little bit tempted to get rid of him.

“Yeah, I know him...” I murmured quietly. I was still bitter to him for not letting me go right away. Had he changed his mind, then?

The glow slowly vanished from Twilight’s horn, but she too took a step between Leaf and me, trying to block him from seeing me.

“What do you want from him?” Twilight demanded, probably still suspicious about the visitor. I couldn’t blame her. She knew my situation and would not take any risks with new faces.

Leaf merely peeked over the mares and looked at me. “Thunder, are you okay? Can you walk?” my friend asked.

He was doing such a great job neglecting my two beautiful bodyguards, who only looked at each other in confusion. Calling me Thunder probably helped convince the mares that he knew me. At least Nurse Redheart took a careful step toward him.

“Shimmering has a nasty wound on his forehead, I think he should get some rest now,” Redheart spoke quietly, trying to get rid of my friend.

Unfortunately, this wasn’t the hospital and she didn't have the authority she had there. She’d have thrown him out by now, but the doubts about him being dangerous stopped her for doing so.

“P-please, be so kind,” the white mare murmured.

One could have cut the tension with a knife as Redheart didn’t even try to hide her fear. It would be up to me to calm her down before something actually happened.

“It’s okay, Redheart ...” I stated softly to the nurse before turning my attention to Leaf. “I guess we need to talk?”

LT simply nodded while I slid off from the table. To my surprise, the girls had not said anything to try and stop me. They merely followed me with their gazes as I exited the library with my green friend.

It was almost a midnight already when I sat on the cliff with Leaf Trotter. The air was a bit colder than usual, but I paid little mind to it even if it made me shiver. Nothing really mattered anymore. My panicked desire to rush back had now faded away, replaced by the sadness and despair I harbored in my heart about the situation. Even if I went back, there was little I could do alone. But I didn’t want to take the risk of anypony else getting hurt by helping me.

Actually, getting hurt was more of an optimistic way to look at things. There was a very real possibility of not coming back at all, being the main reason for me not to ask for any help. The last thing I wanted was more innocent ponies to suffer. Then again, if nopony stopped those bastards, they might eventually hurt more ponies.

All I cared about was my sister and her wellbeing. Maybe I could trade myself for her…

I merely stared down to the valley while the gusts of wind ruffled my mane and wings. Another shiver traveled along my spine, and I shook uncontrollably. Leafy didn’t seem to mind, though he had been living in the wild almost his whole life.

“Do you think they’ll hurt Crescent?” I asked quietly.

Leaf didn't say anything at first; he only looked at me for a moment before turning his gaze forwards. One could have detected a hint of uncertainty in his demeanor.

“She wasn’t hurt when I met her, at least,” he stated calmly.

“Do you know what they are up to?”

A shake of his head told me enough. “I’m not entirely sure, but Cres said they might be looking for something,”

“Like what?”

“That I don’t know,” LT said quietly.

I took in the sparse information he’d provided me with.

“How did you find me, then? I mean, how did you know I was here?” I inquired, now looking directly at him.

“Well, Cres told me that she saw you flying away that day from your house. I investigated the place and found something ... well, interesting,” Leaf said cryptically while peeking at my expression.

“Oh ...” was my only sheepish reply. I guess he had found the soldier I’d killed.

Leaf simply gave me a smirk before continuing, “I recognized your hoofprints and noticed a trail of blood, so I followed the trail you left behind after taking to the air. I almost lost the trail at one point, but fortunately, you had landed again. Or - according to the skid marks and broken tree branches, you had lost consciousness and crashed to the ground.”

I just stared at my friend in awe. He was spot on, as always. I always knew that he was an amazing tracker and one of the most stealthy ponies I had ever known, but this report made me look at him in an entirely new way.

Then again, if you were living alone in the wild like Leaf Trotter did, you had to be aware of your surroundings. You would need to learn to notice the smallest details and detect the tiniest sounds in order to survive.

All in all, it was really great to finally see my old friend after so many years. We had lots of catching up to do. For the first time after the attack, I didn’t feel like I was alone.

I gave my friend a wide smile and sighed, “Thank you, Leafy. You are the best friend a pony could hope for.”

However, my overly sweet comment only yielded a quick snort out of my green friend. “Some kind of a friend I am.”

Leaf’s unexpected huff got me off guard as I found myself staring at him questioningly.

“W-what do you mean? You are one of my best friends...” I muttered.

“Yeah, one who’s never around and only cares about himself. Besides, it’s not hard to be ‘one of the best friends’ when you have a total of two of them,” Leaf Trotter retorted.

Now that was a bit uncalled for, considering my current situation. What gave him the right to mock me, of all ponies? One could have smacked him in the face in that instant, but I simply stared at him in tears.

“B-but, you of all ponies should know why I don’t have that many friends in the first place,” I almost cried.

Leaf’s cold expression didn’t change though. If anything, I felt the air getting even colder between us.

“You can’t blame your glowing mane and tail for everything!” Leaf yelled suddenly.

I couldn’t help but gasp dumbfounded, as my pulse increased rapidly. This wasn’t typical behavior for Leaf at all. Usually so calm and understanding, Leafy was now scolding me for blaming the one thing that had made my life a living hell. Like he was the perfect pony himself.

“Says the one who’s constantly running away from his problems!” I shot back in tears. “You left your family to die! No, you killed your family, isn’t that how it went?” I shouted.

Leaf’s demeanor changed, as he shot me a dark, angry glare that likes of which I had never seen before. To be honest, I was a bit scared of him by now. That was an extremely cheap shot and I knew it. But thanks to my hot temper, I didn’t care.

“You know it was an accident! There was absolutely nothing I could have done!” he yelled to my face so loud I could feel a few drops of his spit hitting my muzzle.

“Exactly! And it was because of that accident that you decided to live alone, making sure that nopony you cared about would get hurt ever again; except, it made you lonely and miserable! You are blaming yourself, just like me, but it’s not your fault!”

Leaf blinked a few times, confused by my logic, but I knew I was right. What happened to his family was indeed an unfortunate accident and there was nothing he could have done to help. But instead of even trying, he had run away. Nopony blamed him for the accident except for Leaf himself. Now after a decade of living in the wild, he was still on the run. However, he was anything but okay it seemed.

What I saw next was the first time I had ever seen it - Leaf Trotter was crying. Somewhere deep inside of that hard shell was the caring stallion that I once knew; back when everything was still okay.

“I’m sorry, Thunder. You're right. It’s because of me acting like a coward that day, but I couldn’t see them like that. I didn’t want to see them die right in front of my eyes, I was just a foal! There was nothing I could have done! They were all crushed under the pile of huge rocks. Rocks that I made fall down onto them by an accident. The biggest boulder crushed my father's head like a fruit and-” Leaf bemoaned in tears.

“Stop it, Leaf,” I begged, while barely holding back my own tears, “It wasn’t your fault,” I whispered and put my hoof and wing on his back, trying to comfort him the best I could.

Leaf Trotter then softly rested his head against my body, sobbing quietly. At least he wasn’t alone anymore…

A few moments later, LT had calmed down enough to talk with me again. I had told him about Ponyville and all those nice things that had happened to me since I arrived here. I told him how I got the scarf and how I went out with Nurse Redheart - an admission that earned a playful smirk from my friend.

Leaf Trotter listened in awe, being seemingly surprised by everything I said. Things were clearly much better here than anywhere else we knew.

“So ... What happened at the library?” LT asked once I told him about Twilight. “Did somepony attack us?”

Reliving the moment didn’t help as I couldn’t actually remember anything at all. I was too concerned with getting away at the time.

I only shook my head before answering. “Honestly, I have no idea. I don’t even remember what happened there, only that I flew against the library head first,” I mumbled.

“Hah, that explains the amnesia,” LT chuckled. “You tried to go back but I managed to stop you. I gotta say, you are quite strong for a pegasus.”

“I was just desperate to get away,” I muttered annoyed.

“Well, in any case, what are you going to do now?” Leaf Trotter asked a serious tone in his voice this time.

To be a completely honest pony, I didn’t know anymore. Of course I wanted to save my sister, but the talk with LT had made realize how wonderful this place was. I wanted to come back here. I ... I didn’t want to die ... Maybe my life had a meaning after all. We needed a plan to rescue Crescent safely.

“I need your help to rescue her,” I stated quietly.

Leaf stared at me immovably before tilting his head. “Do you have some kind of a plan?” he asked.

“Well, no.”

I didn’t want to tell him about my backup plan, but if needed, I was ready to take Crescent’s place in order to save her.

“It’s probably for the best if we manage to sneak in there unseen and then release her,” said my friend as he revealed his plan. “Another option would be for one of us to distract them while other gets her free,” Leaf continued absently.

The first plan sounded much better to me, although there was one thing that I was concerned about. “You managed to talk with her - where were they holding her?” I asked worriedly.

Leaf now looked at me with the same worried expression I wore myself. Great, more bad news.

“It was a metal cage at the center of the village. It must have been locked and would be hard to open without the right key,” Leaf Trotter said quietly.

“Hmm, you are probably right,” I mumbled while trying to think of something.

The cage was most likely protected with a spell as well since they were holding up a unicorn in there, otherwise Cres would have escaped by herself. Or had they threatened to kill her if she ever tried such a thing? She was a smart girl and would know better than to risk her life without a guaranteed getaway.

But why did they spare her in the first place? I mean, was she the only one who made it besides me? Maybe she knew of something that they wanted, and that something was a good enough reason to slaughter the whole village? I couldn’t think of anything that valuable anyway.

“Can you get anypony to help us?” Leaf asked quietly.

“NO! ... I mean, no ... I couldn’t bare to see any other pony getting hurt or worse. This has nothing to do with these ponies and the Royal Army would be too slow. We need to do this on our own and fast, the sneaky way you suggested,” I muttered. “Once we get her free, we will then get the Royal Army to arrest those criminals,”

Leaf watched me for a while before nodding. “So, are we off to Whitestone then?”

“Uh, not quite yet... I left my saddlebag at the library,” I said as I lowered my head.

Getting the saddlebag would be harder that one would think. I bet Twilight wouldn’t let me just leave without telling the truth and if I told her that, she’d never let me go.

“Uh, why would you need that?” Leaf Trotter asked baffled.

“I have something there I can’t leave behind,” I answered. My voice probably revealed more than I wanted it to, as I thought it would sound silly. I wanted to get the ribbon back to Cres.

“Okay, tell me what it is and I’ll get it for you,” LT winked at me. “I promise they won’t notice a thing,”

Even though I was tempted by his offer, I was getting really tired suddenly. The lack of sleep combined with all the excitement for the day had really started to take its toll. We wouldn’t get far tonight and it would be dangerous at night anyway. We didn’t have much of a choice.

“No, Leafy… I think we should rest now and sneak away in the morning while everypony is sleeping,” I revealed my overly simple plan.

The plan was simple and it just might work. It wouldn’t be a nice thing to do, but I had no other choice. I could always apologize later if I ever made it back in one piece.

“Okay, I’m pretty tired too. I’ll be sleeping outside, don’t tell anypony that I’m there, okay?” LT asked softly, receiving a nod from me in return.

However, something about his voice and demeanor worried me. I couldn’t put my hoof on what it was, exactly. I couldn’t help but feel like a total jerk for bringing up his family like I had. Celestia knows what mental wounds I had torn open inside of him...

Leaf Trotter followed me a good distance behind in case Twilight was outside waiting for me as we were getting closer to the library. The moon had lit up the sleeping village, its citizens unaware of the situation back in my own hometown. The moon also revealed that nopony actually waited for me outside. For some reason, I felt both relieved and sad at the same time. I guess I had hoped for somepony to care enough to look for me, but apparently, this wasn’t the case.

Leaf hid in the bushes while I knocked on the door. The sound of hooves galloping across the floor rapidly told me that my assumptions had not been totally accurate. Twilight was still up and had waited for me, it seemed. Once the door opened, my jaw dropped completely.

“N-Nurse Redheart? What are you still doing in here?” I asked while staring her tear stained face.

Without her making any verbal reply, I suddenly found myself within the tight grasp of the white mare and I knew that she wasn’t about to let go. Dumbfounded by the sudden hug, I barely allowed myself to breathe again as I slowly answered her gentle hug.

“I was so worried,” Redheart sobbed quietly against the scarf on my neck. She then carefully nuzzled my neck while tightening her grip. She really cared about me this much?

As baffled as I was, I somehow managed to look behind her, only to find Twilight staring back at me in disbelief. The librarian looked sad, almost helpless as she shifted in place anxiously. She then pressed her head down, turned away and disappeared from my vision.

If I only knew what had been going on here. Wasn’t Twilight happy to see me?

A moment later, Nurse Redheart pulled away from the hug and stared at me before sniffling quietly. “Um, please come in, we have been waiting for you,” she said, her face glowing with a red hue.

I stepped inside while Redheart closed the door behind me. I looked around but couldn’t see Twilight anywhere. Spike was also nowhere to be found, though he might be in the bed already as it happened to be well past midnight.

Trying to look for some clues, I let my gaze travel through the room but saw nothing that seemed out of the ordinary. Even the bloodied table had been cleaned. My attention then turned back to the white nurse next to me.

“Are you okay?” I asked worriedly. She had clearly been crying while I was gone, though it appeared she had no physical reasons for that.

“I’m fine,” she smiled back at me. “You should get some rest now, it’s really late,” Redheart said and walked to the kitchen.

Twilight then appeared from the guest room and smiled faintly, “Your bed is ready now. Good night, Shimmering,” Twilight said and quickly trotted upstairs.

I followed her with my gaze as the door closed behind her. Maybe she was just tired after all of this? Or maybe she was afraid of Leaf Trotter, maybe she thought that he was the scout of the soldiers who slaughtered our town who now came to look for me?

I turned back to the kitchen and saw Redheart coming back with the wet towel in her mouth, “Okay, please go lay on your bed so I can clean your wound and change the bandage,” she mumbled, before swinging the towel onto her neck to travel. She looked a lot happier by now and I did as I’d been told and went to the guest room.

Climbing on the bed, I rested on my left side and looked at the white mare in front of me doing her thing. It was almost like she enjoyed taking care of me, or at least the way she hummed while she cleaned my wound suggested as much.

Soon enough there was a delicate smile on my face as I eyed my white caretaker in awe. I was glad she was there. Even though I was devastated by the fact that I had ruined her free night, I thought she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now. In a short period of time, we had come to know each other rather well. Even if most of that was due to the fact that she had been the nurse and I was the patient. There was more to it; I enjoyed being with her. I couldn’t quite explain it, but I felt good around her.

My smile grew even larger as I closed my eyes and released a happy sigh that I hadn’t known I was holding.

“My, I have never seen anypony enjoying this as much as you are,” Redheart giggled playfully.

I merely opened my eyes again and looked up at her amused expression. “Thank you, Redheart,” I said, earning a simple nod from her as she finished cleaning my forehead.

She then turned around and took a fresh bandage and gently pressed it onto my now-clean wound.

“All good,” Redheart exclaimed happily, admiring her work as I simply smiled back at her from the pillow. “I think it’s time to get some sleep now, good night, Shimmering,”

Much to my surprise, she didn’t go anywhere. To be precise, she merely circled around like a dog in her place before laying down next to my bed.

Not believing my eyes, I peeked over the bed, looking at her questioningly, “You are... Sleeping here?”

“Why of course, I have nopony at home, it’s so depressing to sleep alone. Besides, this way I can keep an eye on you in case you start feeling sick,” Redheart cheered and took the sleeping position again.

Well, I believed she didn’t want to be alone, but I also believed that she was trying to protect me from something else besides health complications. I guess she still didn’t trust Leaf Trotter, or she thought that the soldiers were going to attack me.

But that didn’t seem plausible. If they were holding Cres as a prisoner, it meant that they weren’t going to move. What in the name of Celestia were they up to? It was as if they were waiting for something - or somepony.

I needed to get back in Whitestone tomorrow, no matter what. Though now I had another obstacle in front of me - literally. Nurse Redheart had decided to sleep directly in front of the door that opened inside. I couldn’t get out without waking her up.

The window on the wall wasn’t one that opened and it was a bit too small as well. I couldn’t make her go sleep anywhere else as that would be highly suspicious - not to mention rude, considering that she was only wanting some company and I just couldn’t deny her that.

I sighed quietly as I gazed at the sleeping white mare on the floor. She looked so peaceful... I’m so sorry, Redheart...

The morning came and I heard the birds singing their serenades outside, but I wasn’t one to enjoy it right now. My stomach felt like it was doing flips and cartwheels on its own. And I knew the reason for it all too damn well.

I was about to leave Ponyville and my new friends. I was about to sneak away from them and go back to Whitestone with Leaf Trotter and rescue my sister. What was it that I was about to do anyway? A complete betrayal of their trust? Abandoning their friendship and very likely committing myself to a suicidal mission? I didn’t know anymore, but saving Cres was the only thing I could think of. I opened my eyes and looked at the door.

There was no sign of Redheart on the floor, so that meant she had already gotten up. Great. I tried to listen but couldn’t hear anything behind the door. Maybe she went back to the hospital?

I sidled off from the bed and took my saddlebag from the floor and put it on. I carefully snuck towards the door and would have opened it, had it not been for the hoof steps that closed in. I backed away from the door to avoid getting hit by it, causing more work for the poor white mare that I assumed to be at work.

The door opened and the said pink maned nurse was standing in the doorway, a tray of food in her mouth. She was a bit baffled to see me up at first, but then happily trotted inside and put the tray on the nightstand.

“Good morning, Shimmering. I made you some breakfast!” The mare smiled, simply radiating happiness.

Did she have a day off or something? I couldn’t make myself to believe that she’d neglect her job anyway.

“Oh, uh ... thank you, Redheart. I hope Twilight didn’t mind you cooking for me,” I stammered awkwardly.

“Twilight and Spike are still sleeping. I can’t leave my patient hungry, you need to eat something to get some energy,” she smiled. “Twilight will understand, don’t worry.”

‘Yeah, but what about those other patients in the hospital?’ I thought while accidentally rolling my eyes.

She then took a closer look at me and noticed the saddlebag. Never in my life had I thought the atmosphere could change so quickly, but it did. It was like an icy wind had blown through the room on a cold winter night, while my heart raced harder than ever. She stared at my saddlebag as if frozen on the spot, while I tried to come up with an explanation.

“A-are you ... going somewhere ... Shimmering?” Nurse Redheart whimpered, being almost immediately in tears. This wasn’t good.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I wasn’t going to lie, no way. She would have noticed it anyway. There was only one thing I could do and it was to tell her the truth. No matter how much it would hurt, I needed to tell her what was going on. She would let me go, she would understand me. Wouldn’t she? Wouldn’t she?

“I need to go back to Whitestone…”

Chapter 7 - My Friend

The feeling of relief was surprisingly overwhelming when I told Redheart about my plans to go back to Whitestone. It felt good to get it off of my chest. Despite this, it was sad to see her utterly helpless reaction to the sudden news. She was surprised of course, but the empty look in her eyes told me a lot more; she was scared, maybe even terrified. One could only imagine what was going through her mind right now. I doubt it was anything soothing. She probably thought that the soldiers would attack Ponyville as well, but I didn’t think it was plausible. The distance alone would be a challenge. Besides, there had to be a reason for why they targeted Whitestone in the first place.

I simply waited and gave Redheart a moment to pull herself together. Even if I was in a hurry, I had to make sure that she was going to be okay.

Soon, the white mare in front of me had stopped shifting on her spot and now stared at me worriedly.

“W-what? Why?” She asked confused.

For Redheart, the question was more than justified as she didn’t know about my sister yet. For her, it probably sounded like I was just going to get myself killed. A heavy sigh left my lungs as I prepared myself to tell her what was going on.

“It’s... It’s my sister...” I started and felt how a lump formed in my throat. “They have my sister,” I continued and forced myself to hold back the tears. Be strong now…

Redheart’s expression turned from confused to stunned as she gasped and put a hoof over her mouth. We both thought that I had lost everything just a few days ago, but now, I suddenly had something to fight for. I hoped she understood my motives better.

What felt like an eternity of Redheart processing my news, also made me feel a bit better about the situation. At least she wasn’t straight up denying my plans. Then again, she might be in a shock, unable to say anything at all.

“Leaf Trotter is going to help me rescue her. We are supposed to leave as soon as possible,” I continued quietly and took no eye contact as I felt awful by doing this to her.

But I had to go. If it wasn’t for Crescent Rain of all ponies, I wouldn’t go back at all. Was it selfish? Probably, but I didn’t care. If Redheart only knew how important my sister was to me... Of course, I loved my parents too, even if we had had our problems. Even though I found it hard to believe they were still alive, I wanted to tell them that I was sorry for everything I had said.

As the nurse still didn’t reply, I dropped my head and sighed, “I’m sorry, Redheart, but I need to do this.”

The white mare in front of me looked down at first, before raising her head again and giving me a serious stare and nod.

“Then I’m coming with you,” Nurse Redheart stated gravely.

I couldn’t believe my ears. Not only had I thought she’d try to stop me from going, but she actually wanted to come with me? Had she completely lost her mind or something? I couldn’t possibly allow her to come with us, not to a trip as dangerous as this one.

“No! You can’t go, it’s too dangerous!” I shouted surprised.

Redheart stared at me for a moment before pressing her head down again. “But ...”

“You are needed here, all those ponies in the hospital, they need you. Heck, I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you, Redheart,” I stated softly, trying to convince her to stay behind.

My white caretaker smiled faintly at my kind words, but the expression didn’t last for long. Her demeanor got suddenly much more serious. The scary part was that I had no idea of why, though.

“That’s really sweet of you, but … I can’t go on like this much longer,” the nurse murmured, earning a stunned look from me in return. “I feel like I have nothing but my job in my life and it’s driving me nuts. I want to be more than - No! I am more than just a nurse! You have been the only pony with whom I have been able to talk about normal things for a long time. I can’t lose the only friend I have made.” Redheart pleaded on the verge of tears.

What could one say to that, honestly? I only made a mental note to scold the director of the hospital if I ever came back from the trip. This poor mare had practically no life outside her job, but if she came with me, she might have no future either.

“But, Redheart …” I pleaded back, touched by her words.

“Please,” Redheart begged while looking at me with her big light blue eyes that glittered with tears.

Saying no to somepony had always been hard for me. I rarely got to decide anything, had it not been for my parents being so dominant over our lives. You simply didn’t say no to them and I couldn’t say no to Redheart either. However, this decision wasn’t made because of my submissive nature. It was simply made because I felt so bad for Redheart.

I released a heavy sigh and looked into her caring eyes, “Okay - you can come,” I stated softly and almost immediately regretted my decision. Fortunately, I managed to hide my hesitation.

Redheart smiled widely before she squealed and jumped on my neck, hugging me tightly. I felt my cheeks getting hotter suddenly. My eyes wandered onto the tray of food sitting on the nightstand as the delicious smell caused my stomach to growl loudly, greatly intensifying my blush.

The nurse giggled softly before releasing me from her gentle embrace. “I think we should eat something before we go.”

I gave the breakfast another hungry look and decided that she was right.

After we had eaten, we snuck outside where the sun was already shining brightly in the sky. The air felt warm and fresh after such a cold night. Autumn wasn’t too far away anymore.

There were also few other ponies walking around the town, but I paid little mind to them as I shifted on my spot anxiously. Redheart seemed to reflect my nervousness as well while we waited for Leaf Trotter to appear.

He probably wasn’t waiting for me to show up with anypony, but It was too late to protest. I had promised Redheart that she could come with us and LT had no saying in my decision.

“Is he supposed to meet you here?” Nurse Redheart asked quietly.

I had told her what we had planned with Leaf Trotter and I could tell she was still a little bit uneasy whenever I mentioned his name. He wasn’t that scary.

“Yeah, he’s probably watching us right now. I was supposed to be alone, but it’s okay,” I said calmly, trying to make her feel more comfortable.

Soon enough, there was a light rustle in the bush not too far away from us. A green head popped out first, then the whole pony. The look on his face was a bit baffled, but he walked toward us. However, he did look a bit tired.

“Oh dear,” Redheart whispered, mostly to herself I think. Maybe she wasn’t used to seeing ponies sleeping outside?

“Morning.” I greeted my friend ever so casually.

LT shot a questioning glance between me and Redheart, making the nurse put her gaze down. I wonder why she wanted to come if she wasn’t comfortable around my friend?

“I thought you’d be alone,” Leafy said blankly.

“Uh, yeah... She wanted to come with us,” I revealed the situation to my friend and wondered if he was going to protest.

“Why?” Leaf asked, looking directly at her.

“Well, she is a nurse after all, so if anypony gets hurt, she can help,” I said and gave a warm smile to my white caretaker, who then gave me one back as well. However, the smile soon faded away.

Redheart gazed behind herself past the library and became even more anxious. Leafy and I merely followed her example but saw nothing out of ordinary and gave the nurse a questioning look.

“Uh, I need to get my saddlebag from my home first, and then I need to inform the hospital that I’ll take a few days off; if that’s okay?” the nurse said and circled her hoof on the ground. “Today is my only day off anyway, so they will have some time to get a substitute.”

Ah, so she had a day off after all, good thing she wasn’t neglecting her job even when she was already working so much. I would have skipped a day myself, but then again, her job was significantly more important than mine was. If I skipped a day, we might only suffer from a little storm.

Leaf interrupted my thoughts and gave me a questioning stare. It was almost like he was asking if it was going to be okay for me if Redheart took care of her business first. Of course it was. The last thing I wanted was to cause trouble for Redheart. Still, we were in a hurry and didn’t have too much time to waste.

“Okay, let's meet at the hill just outside of the town,” I said and pointed at the direction of said hill with my wing.

It was the same place where Leaf and I had sat chatting last night. I bet Redheart knew the place as well. The nurse nodded to us and galloped away while Leafy kept staring at the said place. I couldn’t quite put my hoof on why, but he looked sad suddenly.

“Hey, are you alright?” I asked.

Leaf Trotter lowered his head and sighed, before looking right at me, “What if we can’t save Cres?”

The question caught me off guard as such a scenario had never occurred to me. I was going to save her and that’s that. But… What if we actually failed? What if she was already dead and we were going to walk right into their trap? What did that mean to me - to all of us? I think we all knew the answer to that.

“Well, I-” I started, only to get immediately interrupted.

“You have to escape,” Leaf Trotter said, sounding depressed suddenly. No doubt he was thinking about what I said to him last night. Or was there something more?

“Yeah, like that’s going to happen after somepony hurt my sister. I’m not going to run away, and you…” but then I paused. I just realized what he had said.

He said that I’d have to run. He didn’t say we - I’d have to run. Leaf drooped his head even lower after noticing my realization.

“Bullshit!” I shouted. “You are not going to kill yourself! I have already lost a-” I tried to scold my friend but he interrupted me again by raising his hoof in front of me.

“Please, stop…” Leaf pleaded, tears in his eyes.

“Leafy...?” I asked quietly, tears now filling my eyes as well.

This was the second time I saw him crying. Something was seriously wrong here, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to hear it.

“I’m dying, Shimmering. I… I don’t have much time left,” Leaf stated quietly, while tears ran along his jade-green cheeks.

I couldn’t believe my ears. I didn’t want to believe what he just said. A complete denial of truth took over me as I shook my head in disbelief. This couldn’t be happening!

“No! You are lying! You are going to be fine, you can’t die! We will find the cure!” I shouted and looked around in panic as if Nurse Redheart was still nearby. However, there was nopony in sight at the time.

“No, Shimmering… It’s too late. I won’t see the autumn leaves dancing in the sky, or feel the fresh breeze of an upcoming winter on my face... I have a month at best,” Leaf Trotter said poetically and gazed at the sky.“ I wonder if I can finally see my family and tell everypony that I’m sorry,” Leaf ended with a sob while having a small, hopeful smile on his face.

However, on my face, there was only sadness, disbelief and sorrow. I was simply devastated by the news. I wanted to help him, but I didn’t know how. Was there anything I could do or was it really too late already?

“Wha- what is it then? W-what’s wrong with you?” I sobbed, letting the tears flow freely.

“It’s a brain tumor. A bad one. It developed quickly and I never saw a doctor before last week. They told me that it’s too late to do anything. They could probably slow it down by a few weeks, but I’m not going to spend my last days in a hospital. So I traveled to Whitestone to find you and say goodbye to everypony, but the town was already gone. And, well… You know the rest,” Leafy ended, wiping off his tears.

Of all ponies in Equestria, Leafy was the last pony to deserve this. None of this was fair! He has always been a healthy stallion, an exceptional athlete even. Did I have to lose one of my only friends so soon after so many years? Did I really have to lose everypony I ever knew?

“Shimmering…” Leaf spoke quietly, interrupting my panicked sobbing. “Please, don’t be sad. Let me help you to save Cres. Let it be the last thing I do.”

Mentioning the name of my sister somehow gave me the small boost of energy I needed to pull myself together. She might be still alive and I wanted to save her. So I gave my friend a subtle nod before sniffling.

“For Crescent Rain!” Leaf shouted and raised his hoof in the air.

“For Crescent Rain!” I repeated after him and mirrored his move, my vision being obscured by tears.

The morning had progressed a little bit further as we sat on the hill with Leaf Trotter. The atmosphere was tense and neither of us had said anything for a while. Nurse Redheart should be here any minute now and we didn’t want her to overhear anything.

LT had requested me to not tell Redheart anything about his situation, and I had promised to keep my mouth shut. It wasn’t going to be easy, but I wanted to respect his will. Besides, I didn’t want Redheart to worry about him as well. She didn’t need to know. If we ever came back from this trip, Leaf would leave and none of us would ever see him alive again. It was a crushing thought and I barely managed to back my tears.

While it was true that Leaf and I never saw each other that often, he was still like a big brother to me. He had helped me to believe in myself and cheered me up when I most needed it. Even if he had his own problems, he had always found time for me.

I remembered one time he had helped me when I was just a young colt. It was spring time and I was preparing to go home from school. I had to walk because I still couldn’t fly. Other ponies thought it was weird because I was a son of such a great flyer like my dad.

A few earth ponies had stopped me outside of the school and started to push me around, asking why I couldn’t fly yet and why my mane and tail were glowing. I didn’t even know the answer myself and still don’t know today. I was never aggressive towards them. I simply took the hits and waited for somepony to come and help me, but usually, nopony came.

That day, however, somepony did come. Leaf Trotter happened to be around and he ran to us and told the bullies to leave me alone - or else…

Leafy had already graduated from the school as he was a few years older than me. He also happened to be the leader of our school’s sport team. Everypony respected him as he always won every possible contest you could imagine. He was never violent, though.

Whatever Leaf had threatened them with, seemed to do the trick as the bullies soon apologized to me and then ran away.

After that, Leafy had helped me up and we had chatted a long time. He had told me that I didn’t need to worry about being bullied by them ever again. He also taught me self defense.

Everything was fine from then on, none of them had bullied me ever since, just like Leaf told me.

I slowly peeked at the jade-green stallion next to me and smiled thankfully. Leaf Trotter too had a faint smile on his face while he gazed at the sky. Why he smiled, though, was beyond me. If I had a month to live I’d probably go crazy, but Leafy seemed to be okay with the situation. I guess it was a good thing in a way, I didn’t want him to be sad.

Suddenly, we heard hoof steps closing in and saw Nurse Redheart trotting our way. It was finally time to go.

Redheart walked next to us, panting lightly. “I’m sorry, it took a bit longer than I thought, but I got everything settled.”

I simply nodded to her before taking a deep breath. “Okay, let’s go then.”

Hours went by and our little team started to get exhausted. We had galloped a long time without breaks and everypony was slowing down as we arrived in a peaceful looking clearing between two forest areas. Being able to fly, I wasn’t that tired, but Redheart looked like she was going to collapse at any moment. I peeked at my friend and noticed that he wasn’t doing that good either. He was panting heavily, so heavily that even Redheart gave him a worried look. It has been a proper workout for everypony, even for Leaf.

Now would have been a great time for lunch, but we didn’t have any food with us; that is if Redheart hadn’t brought any. Some water would also be great, as my panting friend clearly needed a longer break.

Wait, no. That wasn’t panting anymore, he was downright groaning.

Before Redheart or I managed to do as much as blink, Leaf Trotter lowered his head and threw up with a huge volume. I grimaced as he threw up a few more times, the puddle at his hooves growing larger and larger by every outburst.

Redheart stared at him in disbelief before taking a couple hoof steps closer to him. “Dear Celestia, are you alright, Mr. Trotter?” the nurse asked wearily and walked a bit closer again, but Leaf only raised his hoof to stop her.

“I’m fine,” Leaf mumbled exhausted and spat few times on the ground to empty his mouth.

“That doesn’t look fine to me,” the white mare protested quietly. She then took her saddlebag off and rummaged through it, trying to find something that’d help the poor stallion.

I followed the situation from the distance as Leafy fell on his haunches, just barely missing the smelly puddle. This had to be because of his illness. A lonely tear made its way down my cheek and I sniffled quietly. I felt so bad for him. Redheart would find out at any moment now.

“I’m fine, really,” Leaf repeated annoyedly. “I just ran a bit too hard, that’s all,” he continued and spat on the ground again.

Redheart didn’t care though, she took out a bottle of water and walked closer to my friend. “Please, take some water at least. It must taste awful,” the nurse pleaded and gave the bottle to Leaf.

He opened it and took a gulp. And another one. “See, I’m better already,” the green stallion stated and tried to stand up, but lost his balance and fell right on the puddle.

I quickly turned my head away - I couldn’t watch anymore. He didn’t deserve this kind of humiliation.

But much to my surprise, Leafy didn’t drop his act. Hardheaded, my friend was.

“Woops, I think I slipped,” Leaf said and released a nervous laugh, that neither of us joined in.

“Let me help you up,” Nurse Redheart said and grabbed a towel from her saddlebag.

However, my puke encrusted friend wasn’t going to accept any kind of help. Some things never change.

“I can get up myself, thank you very much,” Leaf groaned, seemingly more irritated now.

Redheart shot me a surprised look and I simply shook my head and tried to smile at her. If a pony had been living almost his whole life alone, he was probably more than embarrassed if somepony was trying to help him.

“I think he’s alright,” I stated quietly, trying to give Redheart a look that’d make her leave my poor friend alone for a moment.

“Thank you,” Leaf Trotter retorted before releasing a sigh. “I think there’s a small pond nearby. If you don’t mind, I’d like to clean myself up,”

I nodded to him and just like that, he was on his way. There was no argue from the nurse. Taking a quick look at the white mare told me that she was shocked, to say the least. Maybe it was for the better if I apologized for my friend.

“Well, that’s Leafy for you,” I laughed nervously, “He didn’t mean anything by that. I mean, he’s used to being independent. Taking help from others makes him feel, um… kind of helpless,” I continued while following Leaf with my gaze as he trotted away.

Redheart didn’t look too happy about my explanation, though. She took one last look at the puddle of vomit before looking at me, sadness dominating her demeanor.

“But… Why did he throw up? It’s not normal you know?” the nurse mumbled, almost like guessing there was something wrong with him.

“He already told you,” I defended my friend, managing to sound nonchalant about it.

“It’s not normal, Shimmering,” Redheart repeated, disappointed that I wasn’t on her side.

I had promised to keep Leaf’s condition to myself and I wasn’t about to let him down now. Still, I didn’t know for sure why did my friend throw up in the first place.

“Well, maybe it was something he ate? Some bad food maybe?” I suggested.

That seemed to work as Redheart sighed quietly. It was heartbreaking to see Leaf Trotter doing so bad, but even more heartbreaking was that I couldn’t tell Redheart about it. I had promised not to. I had promised something to one of my few friends who was going to die soon. I simply couldn’t break a promise like that.

“Well, maybe you are right,” the nurse mumbled a moment later.

Still, I could tell that she didn’t believe me. She was a nurse for Celestia’s sake. She knew that there was something wrong with him. Maybe she knew that I knew it as well? She had to know. I wasn’t that good of a liar.

We simply started to walk in the same direction that Leaf went, leaving the smelly puddle behind us. Neither of us said anything as there wasn’t really all that much to talk about. We were all nervous as we didn’t know what to expect once we arrived at Whitestone. Or what was left of it anyway...

An hour later, the atmosphere was a little bit better. We were sitting in a middle of the forest, eating some food that Redheart had brought with her. She made sure that Leaf would get the most of it, leaving a smaller portion to herself.

Leaf was telling us about his life as a traveler, explaining to Redheart why he acted like a jerk earlier. Of course, he never told the nurse why he was living all alone. Redheart simply thought it was his choice.

It was great to hear more about his life, this was probably just as revealing moment for me as it was for Redheart. These stories even I haven’t heard of yet and I bet there was a lot more that he didn’t want to share with us.

We all laughed our flanks off when Leaf told us how his old and trusty vine hammock had broken down in a middle of the night. The poor Stallion had dropped from the tree and into the pond below. Building a hammock in the tree was a lot safer than sleeping on the ground. I could just fly on a cloud, but he didn’t have that kind of luxury.

Redheart then asked if Leaf Trotter had any stories about me, but the green stallion simply chuckled.

“That you’ll have to ask from Shimmering himself. Besides, I think it’s time to continue our journey,” Leaf said, smiling softly at us.

It was nice to see Redheart being more comfortable around my friend, regardless his situation. I think Leaf didn’t want to be a jerk either on the last of his days. Sharing his memories like that must feel good. Spending time with his old friend. His best friend even? He never mentioned any other ponies being in his life than me, and Redheart never asked.

However, I had a question of my own. It was probably going to ruin the atmosphere once again, but I had to know.

“You said you knew the mare who attacked our town, right?” I asked quietly, bringing the silence to the forest as both Leaf and Redheart now stared at me. “Who is she and why did she attack us like that?” I continued while holding up my tears.

Leaf didn’t say anything at first, only observed my changing expressions between sadness, anger and desperation.

“I don’t know much about her, just her name, Silvermane. She apparently has an army that she uses to rob small villages, but this was the first time I know that they’ve actually hurt somepony,” Leaf said and frowned. “I was following them around in order to collect some evidence against them, but then I … I lost them,” Leaf continued and scratched his neck.

He was lying. No way he’d lose them, I bet he started to feel sick and went to see a doctor. But of course he couldn’t say that if he was going to keep his condition from the nurse sitting next to me.

“I see,” I mumbled quietly and peeked at the nurse to see if she had caught the same lie as i did. However, the mare looked like she believed my friend for once. “But why are they now hurting ponies?” I inquired.

“I don’t know, Shimmering. Crescent said that they might be looking for something valuable,” LT pondered.

Something valuable? We didn’t have anything like that. There wasn’t anything even remotely valuable in our town. Though my mind soon wandered back to my sister.

“Why didn’t you try to help her?” I asked annoyed.

“And get her killed? I was barely able to sneak close enough to whisper with her while the soldiers were distracted by Silvermane. Cres asked me to find you, so I did just that,” Leaf stated, sounding a bit offended.

Of course he did the right thing. I was just so worried about Cres that I couldn’t think clearly anymore.

“I’m sorry, you’re right. It would have been too risky,” I mumbled and gazed to the forest. “Okay, is everypony ready to go?” I inquired, knowing the answer already.

A nod from both Leaf and Redheart set us on the move again.

Hours. We had been walking for hours by now. Sometimes, we would run, but most of the time we walked. We began walking more carefully the closer we came to our final destination. It was almost evening already.

Slowly, the scenery started to look more and more familiar and our little team was beginning to feel really anxious. Leaf’s ears were turning around a lot and his steps were feather light.

I was flying and Nurse Redheart followed us a few hoof steps behind. Her face told me everything. Things were getting serious from now on.

I soon recognized the mountains that surrounded our town. Because of the harsh land, there wasn’t too much flora around these parts. The mountains often caused a very unpredictable weather and because of the dry air, thunderstorms often appeared close to our little community. That made those few pegasi in our town to practice the profession we called cloud control.

Basically, a group of pegasi worked in a team in order to subdue the storm so it wouldn’t hurt anypony.

It wasn’t a necessary profession, but one that town ponies appreciated and one that brought the bread to our table. Pegasi weren’t that common around here, as most of us were earth ponies alongside an even fewer amount of unicorns.

I gazed at the mountains and landed quietly on the ground. Leaf and Redheart stopped as well, looking at me questioningly. I felt it in the air.

“There’s going to be a huge storm…” I stated while still looking at the mountains.

“Still got it, huh?” Leaf smirked at me, but the seriousness of the situation prevented me from noticing his comment.

“How can you tell?” Redheart asked with a shaky voice.

Maybe it was the lack of pegasi doing their work, but this storm felt a lot stronger than usual. I took a deep breath before sighing.

“I just feel it. Behind those mountains is where Whitestone resides. We are almost there,” I muttered, feeling like my stomach was doing backflips again.

A subtle gasp was heard from Redheart’s direction. Of course she was scared, I was too. Not of my own safety, but of my sister’s. Best case scenario, we’d never see those criminals, but in the worst case, we would be all dead. Wait, was that really the worst possible scenario?

What if they didn’t kill us, but held as prisoners for the rest of our lives? What if they tortured us beyond our wildest imagination? I’d rather die than watch my friends and sister being tortured, or worse. No, I’d fight until the bitter end to make sure they’d be safe.

A sudden cough got my attention, bringing me back to Equestria again; Leaf stared at me questioningly.

“Should we continue further or take cover from the storm then?” he asked monotonically.

What options did we have? If we waited for the storm to be over, it might be too late to save Cres. But if we went into the storm, we could get hurt badly. On the other hoof, the storm would create a nice cover for us to free my sister without them noticing a thing. Suddenly, I realized that I have to decide what to do - and I wanted to save my sister.

“We’ll go forward. We can use the storm to our advantage. They won’t even know we were there,” I said, a sly grin creeping on my face.

Leaf Trotter nodded to my idea, but Redheart stayed silent.

I gave her a serious look and noticed a moment of hesitation in her demeanor.

“It’s not too late to go back, Redheart,” I offered quietly.

The mare raised her gaze and looked at me for a moment, obviously considering her options. For a moment, I hoped she’d stay with us, but then I remembered that she had the most to lose out of all of us. Or wait, what did she have to lose? Her ludicrous work schedule and her non-existing friends? What was the real reason for her to come with us? One messed up suicide-squad this was...

“I- I’m going to stay with you guys, I mean, somepony must look after you, right?” Redheart rambled nervously.

Her statement raised my eyebrow higher than usual, but I let it go this time. Maybe she was just trying to lighten up the mood.

“Okay, then. Let’s continue,” Leaf stated and started to walk toward the mountains, Redheart and me in his wake.

Some darker looking clouds were already gathering over the mountains as the air got even hotter. It was just on days like this when the most powerful storms appeared.

However, I couldn’t take care of a storm all by myself. Not a whole storm at least, even if the bolts wouldn’t hurt me. It was a job for a highly trained pegasus team, but since everypony has probably been killed, we had no way of stopping the storm now.

I took a look at my companions as we walked, they both looked exhausted. I was tired as well, but we had to push forward. I knew a small cave nearby we could use to rest for a moment if the storm decided to start raging.

“Just a little bit more,” I encouraged my friends, only to receive faint smiles in return.

After an hour or so, we were almost there. Signs of a pony civilization started to pop up every now and then. There was a broken cart in a ditch, as well as abandoned shed next to it. There was also an actual road now to follow. I was home.

To our left was a small wheat field, and on our right was an old mine that had been closed for years now. It was simply a failed attempt of a certain greedy unicorn to open a profitable mining business. But because the guy didn’t trust earth ponies or pegasi, he was trying to hire unicorns.

And there wasn’t a whole lot of them. Only a dozen individuals came to my mind. Needless to say, that not all of those unicorns wanted to work in the mines. But those who did weren’t exactly pleased with the pay. And from what I had heard, the guy wasn’t too nice to the workers either, so he went out of business in a year.

The old mine gave me the creeps as I eyed the old equipment left outside to rust.

Everything looked so different after spending a few days in Ponyville. There were no colorful houses anywhere. The delicious smells of different pastries and other goodies were also missing. Not to mention friendly ponies.

We walked slower and slower, keeping our eyes and ears open. Suddenly, Leaf Trotter stopped. We all stopped.

There was something on the road - or not something, but rather somepony. All we could do was stare horrified.

We held our breaths as the smell of the rotting corpse hit our muzzles.

An orange pegasus was lying on the road, arrows sticking out of her head and throat. She had a pale yellow, curly mane and tail, but her cutie mark wasn’t recognizable anymore. However, I still knew who she was.

I pressed my head down and sniffled as few tears dropped on the ground.

“S-she’s… she was our flight teacher,” I sobbed through my tears. “Sunshine, we always called her… because she was always so happy and kind,” I mongered.

Redheart came next to me and gave me a gentle hug. She tried to keep her eyes away from the corpse but I saw she couldn’t. Though, I doubt this was the first time she had seen a dead pony. But a murdered pony? Yeah, probably.

Leaf, however, stepped between Redheart and the body, blocking our unpleasant view. My green friend somehow managed to stay a lot calmer than us. I could tell that he was sad too, but his mental strength was sometimes beyond me.

“Thanks, Leafy,” I murmured, earning a nod from him.

I knew this would only be the first of many corpses we were going to see, but we couldn’t let that endanger our mission.

We carefully walked around the body and continued forward, but not on the road anymore. We needed to hide and think about our strategy.

The storm would be here at any minute now. The first drops of rain already came down as the wind started to pick up. This wouldn’t be pretty…

“Hey, I know a small cave nearby. What if we go there?” I whispered as we sneaked closer to the mountains near town.

“I don’t know, what if those filthy criminals are in there?” Redheart pondered.

“Oh, the language. Is that how you greet your queen?” Somepony spoke above us.

We raised our heads and saw a gray unicorn mare standing on the cliff. She had a long gray, almost silvery mane. I recognized her. She was the one who attacked our town, she was the commander Silvermane that Leaf had told us about - and she had spotted us.

So much for the element of surprise...

Chapter 8 - Whitestone

The armored gray mare stared down at us from the cliff as her huge silvery mane waved in the increasing wind. She was a somewhat bigger than Redheart and me, but almost the same size as Leaf Trotter. Her green eyes carefully scanned us as we were unable to move a muscle.

I peeked at Leafy and noticed him back away just a little bit. If he was going to run away, I wasn’t going to stop him. Unfortunately, the gray mare picked up on his movement.

“Don’t you dare to move, green one! I gave you no permission to leave!” Silvermane roared, stopping Leaf in his tracks.

Fighting against myself, I wondered if I should just ask about my sister or not. Maybe we could be reasonable here. All I cared about was her well-being. But before I managed to do as much as open my mouth, the gray unicorn continued yelling.

“The white one can go, I have no use for her, but the pegasus will stay,” Silvermane announced and stomped the ground, making a few small rocks to fall down.

“W-what do you want from him?” Redheart asked with a shaky voice.

“Silence! I did not allow you to speak! Run, white one, before I change my mind!” the mare roared, stomping the ground again.

Redheart jumped backward and almost took off, but then held her position.

“N-no, I won’t leave my friends,” Redheart stated nervously.

What the hay was she doing!? If we couldn’t save my sister, at least Redheart could save herself for Celestia’s sake! Why did she care about us!?

“No, Redheart! Run!” I shouted at her, earning a stunned look in return. “Save yourself!” I added to increase the effect.

However, the stubborn mare didn’t move a muscle, she just stared at me in disbelief. Tears ran down my cheeks as I turned to the commander.

“P-please, I just want my sister back!” I pleaded.

The gray unicorn mare stared at me for a moment before giggling mischievously, “Oh, you mean the one that we fed to the timberwolves this morning?”

My brain stopped working completely. My ears couldn’t register her words. The world around me became completely mute as the only voice I could hear was my gritting teeth.

“YOU DID WHAT!?” I shouted and started to walk toward the lunatic mare, intending to tear her into pieces, but Leaf pulled me back.

“No, Shimmering! She’s bluffing! There are no timberwolves on these parts!” Leaf Trotter shouted into my ear.

Now that I thought about it, I had never seen one here, only some dragons. I guess my friend knew what he was talking about. If anypony knew these forests, it was him. I calmed down a little bit, but still kept my angry glare at the gray unicorn. Redheart on the other hoof simply froze on her spot, staring at us, mouth wide open. Honestly, what else could one do in this situation?

Silvermane started to laugh while a bunch of black shadows appeared behind her. Those were the soldiers that had slaughtered our town. Well, minus the one I'd killed...

“The green one is pretty smart, unlike his other friends,” the mare laughed. “How naive can one pony be?” she continued her hysterical outburst, while I fully revealed my teeth at her.

“Let my sister go!” I shouted within LT’s hold.

Without my friend holding me down, who knew what I was going to do that rotten scumbag of a mare. I didn’t even think about losing to her. If she wasn’t going to let my sister go, I’d kick her flank right here, right now.

“Silence!” the mare roared, seemingly more irritated by me. “You don’t tell your queen what to do! I’m the one in charge here!” she yelled.

For a minute, I decided to give her time to cool down. I didn’t know which mental hospital this mare had escaped from, but she was surely living in her own fictional dream world. And that made her dangerous and unpredictable.

“Now, the pegasus comes with us if he wants to see his precious sister,” Silvermane said and pointed at the direction of the town.

“W-what about us?” Redheart asked quietly.

The commander simply sighed while hitting her forehead with her hoof, “Why is the white one still here?” she asked from nopony in particular.

“W-we are friends and we stick together,” the nurse answered shakily.

“Oh, isn’t that cute. But the answer is no! If you don’t leave now, you won’t leave at all!” Silvermane shouted again, stomping her hoof.

At this point, I didn’t have much of a choice. If they didn’t leave, they’d die. I had to get rid of them one way or another.

“Please, go! Don’t worry about me!” I shouted as loud as my lungs allowed, tears pouring from my eyes. “I am not worth it!”

The look on their faces was simply indescribable. They were all confused, scared and horrified at the same time. They came here to help me, but now I had to drive them away. Even Leaf Trotter looked completely helpless as he tried to raise his hoof toward me. But there was no way I could let them follow me.

I gave them one last hiss and started to walk toward the town, soldiers now escorting me in a circle. They had spears and bows ready in case somepony didn’t do as they were being told. Leaf Trotter and Nurse Redheart took a hesitant step after me, but the soldiers blocked their way. The commander simply followed me from the cliff and made sure that my friends stayed behind - like they should.

I was all alone now - and I was relieved. If anypony got hurt, it’d only be me. We walked through the burned down ruins, where dead ponies were lying everywhere. Some had even been decapitated. I had never seen inside of a pony like that before, all the bones and intestines were scattered everywhere. The smell alone was absolutely horrendous. And what was even worse, the rain was now pouring down on us as the rumbling of those dark storm clouds filled the skies. It was getting dark very fast.

The town was so badly damaged that I had a hard time recognizing where I was anymore. There were no houses left, only some charred piles of wood. The only thing that was still up, was the tree at the center of the town. It was the oldest tree in the area and it actually looked similar to Twilight’s library now that I had a comparison. Well, minus the doors and windows. I wonder what Twilight was doing right now. She had no idea where I was. More than that, even Redheart was now missing. I hoped neither of them will remain mad at me. But then again, I might have deserved it.

We walked toward the old tree and I saw something hanging from the branches. No, they couldn’t be… I got a bit closer, but I still couldn’t believe my eyes. There were at least a dozen ponies hanged from the tree, waving in the wind. Some had spears in them, some had arrows. They were barely recognizable due to the blood that had covered their bodies and tails. They were just a red mess of blood and intestines that were hanging out. I couldn’t take it anymore - it was simply too much.

I stopped, collapsed on the ground, threw up and cried. All of my will to live was gone. I couldn’t believe that my sister would even be alive anymore, and even if she was, Silvermane was never going to let us go just like that. I just waited for a spear or an arrow to pierce my skull at any given moment, but sadly, nothing came. I just cried - and cried. The rain was pouring even harder on us while the lightning bolts lit up the place, revealing the horrors in the tree and surrounding areas.

I wanted to die. I didn’t care anymore. Cres was dead for sure. At least my friends had escaped and that was enough for me. I was ready to give up, it was only natural for a coward like me. I had betrayed everypony.

“Get up,” somepony said before me with a surprisingly calm voice, interrupting my crying.

I slowly peeked up and saw the commander Silvermane looking at me - emotionlessly. Not the slightest hint of regret on her face, not the tiniest amount of compassion in her demeanor. I only sniffled a few more times and tried to get on my hooves, but slipped on the muddy ground.

However, the green aura of magic caught me before I smacked back onto the blood-soaked ground.

“Your sister,” the mare spoke quietly and stepped aside, revealing a small metal cage behind her.

A lightning bolt flashed in the sky, momentarily revealing what was locked inside of the tiny cage.

“Cres?” I asked in disbelief.

The white unicorn in the cage slowly raised her head and looked at me, showing her purple eyes and her deep blue mane that was missing the ribbon I had in my saddlebag.

“Shimmering? Is that you?” The mare asked drowsily as she had just woke up.

I nodded rapidly and crawled my way closer to the cage, “Y-yes, Cres, It’s me. I came to free you,” I sobbed while trying to give her the softest smile I could muster.

“Run, Shimmering…” Cres mumbled quietly.

I couldn’t quite understand why would I need to run. I was finally here and Crescent was still alive, I had absolutely zero reasons for leaving. Not without her anyway.

“Cres, you don’t understand, I came to save you,” I sobbed again, as yet another lightning bolt lit up the town.

“No, Shimmering, it’s not about me,” Cres said wearily and tried to stand up inside the small cage, “I was just a bait to get you back… and now that you are here, I serve no purpose anymore,” my sister continued as she lowered her head, dropping a few tears.

“What?” was all I managed to say before I saw a shiny spearhead in front of my muzzle.

“What she’s trying to say, is that we used her to lure you back here like a little fishy that you are, Shimmering. Honestly, did you really think we didn’t notice your green friend snooping around that day? We let him find you and bring you back,” Silvermane said ominously.

“Why? Because I killed one of your stupid henchmen!?” I shouted in tears, earning a kick to my ribs from one of the soldiers.

The kick wasn’t anything to sneeze at, I noticed as I gasped for air. Ow, ponyfeathers! That really hurt!

“Watch your mouth, kid. Ravenheart was a good soldier…” the commander said, her tone giving off a hint of respect for the lost pawn in her army.

A name fit for a pony. I bet it came from his raven black heart that knew no mercy. First, I had felt guilty about the whole thing, but now - nothing. I didn’t think I was a murderer anymore. I hadn’t killed a pony, I had just stopped a monster from hurting others.

“No, it wasn’t for that,” Silvermane continued, “You really don’t have the slightest idea now do you?” she laughed.

I didn’t reply. I didn’t even want to try to think of something that’d cause anypony to do something like this. But why me though? I didn’t know anything that valuable. I didn’t have anything that valuable. This had to be some messed up misunderstanding.

“Your parents were quite a fascinating couple, don’t you think?” the commander asked, earning my sobbing attention once more.

For a moment, I hoped my parents were still alive, but I abandoned the idea quickly. The smirk on commander's face told me enough.

“You know, there’s a ritual where a powerful unicorn such as myself, can use ancient black magic to suck up other ponies life force and receive their special abilities. I don’t mean their cutie marks, of course, but their hidden powers. Unfortunately, this ritual ends up killing the target - as happened to your parents. Very unfortunate, I must say. But don’t worry, they only suffered for an hour, before their hearts simply exploded,” Silvermane said and tried not to laugh, but failed in her attempt miserably.

I wasn’t laughing, though. I was simply infuriated. Never in my life had I been so angry at somepony. It felt really strange to be so mad, but at the same time, it felt really good to finally stand up for myself. Long gone was the shyness and fear from my heart, along with every other feeling but anger.

I stood up and took a few steps closer to Silvermane and growled between my gritting teeth, “You are going to pay for what you have done!”

I readied myself to attack her with full force. Heck, I was even going to sink my teeth into her flesh just so I could taste what the rotten blood of a real monster tastes like. There wasn’t going to be much left when I was done with her.

But just then, Silvermane used her magic to teleport a few hoof steps away and cast a huge beam of magic toward Crescent’s cage. The cage exploded into a pieces, sending my sister fly through the air. Her painful cry drove through my ears and heart like a dagger. Everything happened so fast, yet I saw my sister flying in slow motion as she slammed against the tree head first. She laid on the ground, motionlessly, bleeding everywhere. If she had just died…

That does it. Every single cell in my body was absolutely filled to the brim of rage toward this despicable abomination before me. I lost all control of my mind as I lowered my head and roared as loud as I possibly could. The sound of the rumbling thunder above was no match for my desperate cry, the cry that even made the soldiers to take a step backward.

I could see the ponies Silvermane had murdered before my eyes, I could see Leaf Trotter, weakened by his illness. I saw our flight teacher, Sunshine lying on the road. I saw a fearful Nurse Redheart and Twilight Sparkle staring at me. I saw my sister laying under the tree and I could see my parents back when I was still a foal… And I saw the commander Silvermane standing in middle, laughing at me, mocking me.

Suddenly, I felt a weird sensation of heat traveling across my body, almost like I was on fire or something of the like. The energy then ran into my mane and tail, where it was released in a form of the most furious thunderstorm I had ever experienced. I had no idea what was going on, but I didn’t care. I just roared louder and louder, as the lightning bolts flew everywhere, hitting everything around me.

Sadly, I had no control over the bolts, they were simply leaving my mane and tail at their own will if they even had such thing.

At some point, I had detected a weird flash somewhere near the tree where Cres was lying, but I couldn’t tell what it was. I was in a trance, in a state that was beyond my control, like watching myself from outside of me.

As if that wasn’t weird enough, the huge storm above us started to spiral around me. I could feel the extra energy run through my mane and tail, almost like the storm was giving all of its energy to me. I didn’t know what was going on, but it felt good - really good.

I shouted, roared and howled even louder and the lightning bolts around me grew larger and larger. I could hear a series of explosions following every bolt that left my mane and tail. Among those explosions, were panicked screams of the scared soldiers. I just hoped I could have heard the commander’s cry at some point. This was too good of an opportunity not to get her killed.

Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the weird energy was gone. I felt dizzy as the world started to spin around me. The reality started to kick in and I could see the havoc around me. There were smoldering soldiers everywhere, each and every one of them being dead.

And then I saw something that made me doubt my own eyes once again. The huge tree had split cleanly from the middle. And in front of the three, was this weird, glowing purple bubble of magical energy. I had no idea what it was, though, but it was beautiful.

Soon enough, my hooves gave up and I fell on my stomach. I saw my reflection from the steaming puddle in front of me, revealing my smoking mane and tail that looked like they had just been burned from the tips. My mane felt soothingly warm as it laid against my soaked coat.

I raised my gaze and looked at the purple bubble again, only to notice that it suddenly vanished. From the bubble, emerged Twilight Sparkle, who was desperately trying to shield my sister. It didn’t make any sense, Twilight was in Ponyville. I’ve never had any hallucinations before, and for this to be the first one, it felt a bit too real. I wanted to go check on my sister.

However, trying to get back up wasn’t something I was able to do. I was dead tired. I couldn’t move a muscle, let alone speak to this illusion of Twilight. Then again, what good would it do anyway? I just wanted to tell her that I was sorry I had left her without saying a word.

I closed my eyes and tried to sleep. All I wanted was peace and quiet. However, this stubborn hallucination of Twilight Sparkle didn’t go away. Now it started talking, just like real Twilight. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to hear what she said as she was too far away. I wasn’t sure if I were in Equestria anymore, everything was just so hazy and unreal.

“Magnificent! This is just what I was talking about!” somepony shouted a bit closer to me.

That almost sounded like the commander Silvermane - but that couldn’t be. There were only dead ponies around me, I mean aside from this weird hallucination of Twilight Sparkle that I enjoyed watching.

Sadly, the said commander soon appeared to my vision and looked at me excitedly. She then lowered her green magical shield she had cast. So that’s how she had survived. Speaking of a disappointment.

“This is the power I need!” She yelled.

And before I even knew it, I was levitated into the air and this weird green cloud of magic surrounded my body. I felt really tired.

“I was right, the power of your father was passed on to you - and now, I can finally drain your power and use it to conquer the whole of Equestria!” the gray mare laughed maniacally.

This mare was completely out of her mind, I had no idea what she was even talking about. What powers did I have? Did I cause those lightning bolts?

However, the image of the fake Twilight suddenly turned at us and fired a purple beam toward the commander.

Much to my surprise, the beam actually hit the gray mare and she dropped me back to the ground. Okay, that was a bit too real.

“Run, Shimmering! I mean fly, I mean, just do something!” Twilight shouted at me.

As much as I wanted to obey her, My legs felt like they were made of lead.

´I can’t,´ I tried to say, but absolutely nothing came out of my mouth.

The commander stood up and readied her beam to shoot at Twilight, but just then a green earth pony came out of nowhere, hitting Silvermane on the head with his hind leg with an audible smack. Was that Leaf Trotter!? First Twilight, now Leaf Trotter. Maybe I was already sleeping and this was just some weird dream, though it felt so real.

I watched for a moment while Leaf and Silvermane struggled on the ground with hoof to hoof combat. Leaf really gave her a piece of his mind it seemed as he pounded Silvermane’s face with his hooves. Apparently, Twilight wanted to use her magic to help Leaf but she couldn’t do it as she might hit my friend. It was a bit fun to watch, to be honest, mostly because my friend was suddenly so energetic.

Unfortunately, the commander managed to teleport away from my friend and fire an enormous green beam at him, making him fly a good distance. This time, however, I winced. That's gotta hurt. Now the gray mare turned to Twilight. How she was able to see the same hallucination as me, was beyond me.

Suddenly, Nurse Redheart appeared to my vision, trying to scoop me up, “Come on now, Shimmering! We need to get you out of here!” the nurse said and tried to get me on her back.

I wasn’t so sure this was just a hallucination anymore. She could actually touch me. Maybe Redheart and Leafy came back for me, but that still didn’t explain what in the name of Celestia Twilight was doing here.

“Twilight, could you please give me a little help here?” Redheart pleaded from my purple hallucination, who first fired a beam at the commander and then levitated me into the air and onto Redheart’s back. “Thanks, Twilight,” the nurse cheered and slowly started walk away from the action.

“Please try to hold on tight, okay?” my wobbly method of transportation shouted over her shoulder and tried to go a bit faster.

I had to say, this wasn’t the most pleasant ride I had experienced. Redheart panted after every step and I felt how I started to slip off of her back. Regardless of my efforts of trying to pair up my forehooves around her neck, I soon splashed to the ground.

The nurse just huffed and turned back to me and took my tail in her mouth.

“Hey, w-what are you-” I tried to ask, but she couldn’t answer with her mouth full.

A hard yank from my tail made me wince as Redheart pulled me through the mud like a toy, she was actually a pretty strong mare.

Suddenly, I felt how I was dragged over a rock and felt how my right wing folded under me, sending an excruciating wave of pain through my body as the bones bent and cracked under my weight. Everything simply flashed in white while my ears started to ring.

I couldn’t even scream. I simply gasped for air like a fish on a dry land. It hurt like hell, a thousand times more than the spear had hurt. I rolled on my left side, taking the load off of my broken wing.

Redheart spun around and looked at me horrified. She saw my mangled, muddy wing standing up from my body. It didn’t even look like a wing anymore.

“Dear Celestia, I’m so sorry, Shimmering!” Redheart sobbed and shifted in place anxiously, before deciding to continue pulling me from my muddy tail.

After she had dragged me for a good distance, she let off of my tail and fell on her haunches, panting heavily. I managed to turn my head enough so I could see where the others were and noticed that Silvermane was still up and fighting with Twilight. Leaf and Cres laid on the ground, but they weren’t moving.

Twilight seemed to be exhausted, but so was Silvermane. The commander was also bleeding heavily from her head. Leafy had really made a number on her noggin.

The purple unicorn then launched one of the biggest beams of the match and the commander had no strength left to dodge it. The beam sent Silvermane flying for a brief moment. It looked like Twilight had a good chance of winning the fight.

However, I was about to lose my fight against the immense pain caused by my broken wing. I was simply exhausted both physically and mentally. My eyelids felt heavy and they soon closed, allowing me to lose consciousness.

Chapter 9 - The Unseen Truth

In the past few days, I had almost gotten used to waking up like this; ringing in my ears, someplace either broken or bleeding, feeling nauseous and distant to the surrounding world. All that good stuff.

It almost felt like my mind woke up before me. I could hear and smell things, but I couldn’t quite move yet. And according to the obnoxious smell of blood and corpses, I guessed we were still at Whitestone. But I couldn’t hear the storm anymore, not even feel the rain.

I carefully cracked my eyes open and saw Twilight Sparkle looking down at me. So it was really her who had appeared from the thin air during the fight. She looked really tired but wasn’t apparently hurt. Did that mean she had won the fight? Where was Silvermane?

Before I managed to do as much as open my mouth, Twilight jumped away from my field of vision.

“Redheart, he’s waking up!” Twilight shouted somewhere.

I still had no clue how Twilight had even gotten here. Apparently, she was very real and so was the fact that we were still alive. Well, me, Twilight and Redheart at least.

LT didn’t have much time left anyway, and I couldn’t see or hear my sister anywhere. A grim thought took over my mind and I closed my eyes while a lonely tear rolled down my cheek.

My broken wing still hurt like no tomorrow and the whole thing felt really weird. Well, what was I expecting? It was shattered for Celestia’s sake. And knowing Nurse Redheart, it was probably heavily bandaged as well.

After a short moment, I heard hoof steps getting closer and as I waited a little bit more, I saw Nurse Redheart popping into my vision. Apparently, I was lying on my back, my head resting on my saddle bag.

“Shimmering?” the mare asked anxiously. “How are you feeling right now?” she continued, sounding desperate and exhausted. Her mane was open, hanging straight while dripping water. The tips were also stained by blood.

What was I feeling then? For starters, I felt dizzy, my wing hurt, and my mind was a dumpsite filled with dead ponies. All in all, I felt really awful in every possible way. I was so going to need some psychological help after all of this. I had seen what happened to Leaf Trotter after a tragic event and I didn’t want to end up like him, running away from my past for the rest of my life. But it was easier said than done.

“Dizzy,” I answered wearily to the nurse. “Where’s Cres and Leafy?” I asked with a whispery voice, fearing to hear the worst possible answer.

The look on Redheart’s face was absolutely crushing. Her eyes shifted between me and some other place as her breathing got even faster. She was also sweating. The nurse tried to say something a couple of times but little did she get out of her mouth.

“I, uhh…” Redheart stuttered with a shaky voice and once more peeked at her left.

I followed her gaze and soon found Twilight standing next to my sister. Crescent was lying on the ground, breathing heavily. Even if she looked to be in serious pain, she was still alive, though. A small ray of hope grew on my face.

I looked at the nurse again and once more followed her wandering gaze. This time, it let me to Leaf Trotter who was lying on the ground as well. Apparently, he wasn’t bleeding, but that didn’t comfort me at all. Something was very wrong with him.

“C-Crescent is in a really bad shape and … uh … Leaf Trotter i-is… He’s...” Nurse Redheart sobbed frantically and lowered her head in defeat. A couple of sharp sobs escaped her lungs as she cried.

My jaw simply dropped as I stared at her in disbelief, trying to grasp what she had just said. She wore the saddest expression I had ever seen on anypony’s face.

She didn’t have to say it. I didn’t want her to say it. My foalhood friend - my metaphorical big brother - was gone. I closed my eyes and let the tears flow freely. At that very moment, everything felt so meaningless, so pointless and frustrating. I had lost yet another pony from my life and I could still lose my sister too. If she died, what was I going to do? I could die as well then. I had absolutely nothing else left.

Still, the news about Leaf Trotter didn’t have as big impact as I had thought they’d have. Most of that was probably because I had already prepared for this due to his illness, but I never thought his life would end like this. Then again, maybe this was what Leaf Trotter had meant earlier at Ponyville; ‘Let me help you save Cres. Let it be the last thing I do’, his words echoed in my mind.

He had come back for me and protected me for the last time, saving Cres, Twilight and Nurse Redheart in the process. For me, he was a true hero - he was like my own brother. Thank you, LT - for everything. I thought and sniffled quietly.

“Redheart! She’s bleeding again!” Twilight shouted, interrupting my thoughts.

The nurse bolted to my sister in a split second. I followed her with my watery gaze, now also trying to raise my head up. Much to my surprise, I was able to move again. I saw Redheart rummaging through her saddlebag while Twilight was casting some spell over my sister. I had no idea what she was doing, though.

“We need more bandages!” Redheart shouted and turned her saddlebag upside down on the ground.

Apparently, there wasn't any left… Twilight went through her saddlebag as well but found nothing useful. Instead, there was now a pile of books soaking on the wet, muddy ground.

A lightning fast blink later, they both looked at me as if I possibly had something with me. I rolled onto my stomach and opened my saddleback with my muzzle. There wasn’t much stuff, only a few bits, my work badge and flying goggles, and Crescent’s ribbon.

It took me a moment to realize what I was looking at. The ribbon wasn’t long, but it just might do the job. I took the purple ribbon in my mouth and looked at Redheart and Twilight hopefully.

“I’m afraid that’s not enough, Shimmering,” Redheart panicked and peeked at my sister again, concern dominating her demeanor.

Was this really it? After all of this, Crescent would just bleed to death? Time was running out by every passing second and the situation started to feel hopeless.

Then it suddenly came to me. I actually had something that might work, but it wasn’t in my saddle bag. I pictured the alabaster designer from Ponyville in my mind and took a deep breath. Thank you, Miss Rarity.

I yanked the scarf from my neck and threw that toward the nurse, earning a surprised gasp from both Twilight and Redheart. Twilight then caught my scarf and gave it to Redheart.

The nurse swiftly took it and bent over my sister, trying to prevent some place from bleeding. Unfortunately, I couldn’t see much behind them.

Come on, sis, you can do it...

If somepony told me a week ago that I’d be lying in our destroyed town, surrounded by dead ponies while having a broken wing, I wouldn’t have believed a single word. And if somepony told me that I would lose all my loved ones and become a mass murderer, I would have probably killed myself before that could ever happen. But honestly, who would have thought that something like this could even happen?

On top of that, I had now dragged two outsiders into this horrible nightmare of mine and caused my friend to die. If I could have just died like everypony else did, I’d have never met Twilight or Redheart and cause them so much trouble. I was so glad they were still alive.

I watched as Redheart and Twilight worked in a team, trying to save the only family I had left. The nurse told Twilight what to do and the librarian seemed to be a fast learner. The scarf was almost gone, but just before they used the last piece, Nurse Redheart let out a heavy sigh.

“Alright, I think she’s stable for now,” she stated wearily, causing me to release a heavy sigh as well.

Twilight was double-checking their work to be sure. “We still need to get her to the hospital.”

She was right. Cres wasn’t safe yet, they had only stopped her from bleeding. I stood up and walked to the mares, taking a closer look at my sister for the first time. I still felt really weak, even the weakest breeze could probably knock me over.

The sight in front of me was far from pretty. The bars of the cage had caused some major injuries to Crescent. The frost white unicorn was mostly red and her body was covered with the bandages and pieces of my scarf. But she was still alive and only that mattered at the moment. How could we get her to the hospital, however, was beyond me.

I couldn’t carry her, Redheart couldn’t carry her, and Twilight probably couldn’t levitate her all the way back to Ponyville either. The fight with Silvermane had drained her powers a lot.

Speaking of the rotten commander, where was she?

“What happened to Silvermane?” I asked anxiously as if she was still around.

The nervous exchange of looks between Twilight and Redheart caused my heart to skip not one, but two beats. Don’t tell me she had escaped…

“Uhh, s-she kind of disappeared,” Redheart stuttered nervously.

“She probably teleported away,” Twilight added with the most disappointed voice I had heard for a long time.

Great. That horrible monster was still on the loose, but at least she didn’t have her troops anymore - If this was her only unit, that is.

“We need to get Crescent to the hospital and fast,” I shouted and looked around me, trying to make sure that nopony was watching us.

I saw nopony on the ground, but as I looked up, my jaw dropped. The sheer feeling of disbelief ran over me like a herd of angry buffalos. “You have got to be kidding me...” I whispered absently while gazing at the threatening view above us. Twilight and Redheart looked up as well, both gasping in unison.

Over the mountains, we saw a pack of dragons flying our direction. Big, mean looking dragons with huge wings, contrasted against the evening sunshine glowing behind the mountains. I quickly peeked at my sister lying on the ground and swallowed. She was completely helpless and couldn’t take a single hit if those beasts were going to attack.

I looked at Twilight and she was still exhausted, even scared. And so was Redheart. I just wished we didn’t need to fight, although, that’d be a very short and one-sided match. Everything would be over in a blink of an eye.

We couldn't do anything but stare. The pack came closer and eventually landed right in front of us, standing on all four legs due to their immense size. I didn’t actually recognize any of them as these bad boys were a lot bigger than the other dragons that used to rob our town. But this time, there wasn’t anything left to rob and that made me even more nervous.

There were six dragons in total, the orange Dragon in the middle being at least ten times our size. The other two beasts on both his sides were half the size of the orange one, one being light gray and other being brown. The other three dragons on the background were almost our size, all different shades of blue in color.

I held my breath and just stared at the dragons in horror, waiting what was going to happen next. If they decided to attack, there was absolutely nothing we could have done to defend ourselves.

However, nothing seemed to happen. They eyed us just as carefully as we eyed them. One wrong move could have triggered a huge fight. The dragons looked around our town, noticing the havoc around us. They also looked at Crescent Rain whimpering on the ground - an action that made me swallow once more.

“Did Silvermane do this?” the orange dragon suddenly asked, earning a loud gasp from all three of us.

His voice was incredibly deep and raspy and it actually scared me even further. I couldn’t believe he just talked. Were all dragons able to talk then?

Somehow, I found enough courage to nod, but nothing more.

“And who destroyed her army?” the orange dragon continued, looking at the crispy soldiers on the ground.

He then gazed us one after another, while others stayed put. I figured he might be some kind of a leader or something. He didn’t sound or act hostile, but still, I couldn’t bring myself to answer him. Fortunately, I didn’t need to.

“We did,” Twilight stated quietly, peeking at my sister, who let out a barely audible cry.

The cry made me and Redheart peek at her as well. None of us even tried to hide our anxiousness as the dragons followed our example, staring at the poor defenseless mare.

“Please do accept my most sincere apology,” the orange dragon said softly. “My name is Sorath, the elder of our clan. This is my daughter, Cinder Flash, and her mate, Hurricane,” Sorath introduced himself and the two other dragons next to him.

“We owe you thanks for defeating Silvermane’s army,” Cinder Flash, the light gray dragoness announced with a surprisingly beautiful voice.

It actually confused me. For the first time in my life, I saw a dragon as an individual, caring creature, not as a bloodthirsty monster. Well, Spike didn’t count, he was okay. Actually, Cinder felt kind of nice as well.

“I’m afraid Silvermane managed to slip away, though.” Twilight sighed disappointed, staring at her hooves.

The words caused me to lower my head and ears. If Silvermane had really escaped, it’d only be a matter of time before she found us again.

However, Cinder Flash just giggled and reached on her back and took something in her mouth, before turning back to us.

From her teeth limply hung a dark gray mare with a silvery mane that was now covered in blood. The mare looked completely lifeless to me. Then, without a warning, Cinder Flash bit her teeth together with force. An audible crunch was heard as Silvermane’s neck was crushed. Her body twitched as well.

‘So much for her being a nice dragon.’ I thought while staring at Silvermane in Cinder’s teeth and took a step backward.

Cinder Flash then dropped the body on the ground and gave us a smirky grin. “I don’t think she’s going to cause troubles anymore.”

Twilight and Redheart reflected my horrified expression as I peeked at them in a slight panic. I don’t know if Silvermane was alive just a moment ago, but she sure as Tartarus wasn’t anymore.

“I apologize for my daughter, but she had every right to do that,” Sorath grunted, while Cinder simply licked her lips like she was enjoying the taste.

Well, she did what I was going to do earlier. But for some reason, I couldn’t see me doing that anymore.

“E-excuse me, elder Sorath, but we need to get this poor unicorn to the hospital as soon as possible,” Nurse Redheart stuttered nervously, her eyes pleading compassion from the huge dragon.

How she had the guts to interrupt this giant beast, was beyond me. All I could do was simply stare at the mauled body of Silvermane in horror. I just couldn’t believe she was finally dead, nor could I believe how strong Cinder was.

“I’m terribly sorry, ma’am, but we have a problem of our own,” Sorath muttered. “Like I said, my daughter had a good reason to kill this abomination. Unfortunately, I would have liked her alive myself, as she was the only pony who knew where my granddaughter is hidden. Cinder, however, does whatever she wants,” the huge dragon continued quietly.

Sorath then grabbed Silvermane by her hoof and threw the mare behind his back, like she was a piece of trash. Well, she was that to me anyway.

“What!?” Redheart shouted in surprise.

However, Hurricane took a step forward before anypony else managed to say anything more.

“Yes. Commander Silvermane has kidnapped our daughter and threatened to kill her if we didn’t do as told,” Hurricane growled, giving his mate a sympathetic look. “We might know where she is, but no adult dragon can fit inside the mine and digging could make the whole thing collapse,” he continued with a huff.

The mine? Did they mean the one that’s been closed for years now?

“I-I know that mine,” I offered quietly.

I was still scared of these dragons and Cinder’s act didn’t help me to think otherwise in the slightest. However, if we were able to find their daughter, maybe they would help my sister in return. They were our only hope.

The dragons turned to me, eyeing me questioningly. For me, it felt like they were looking at their next dinner.

“If you three can help us find our baby, I can fly your friend wherever you need to,” Cinder Flash stated.

“She’s my sister,” I murmured quietly, tears now gathering in my eyes.

“What’s your sister’s name?” Hurricane asked with a calm voice.

“Crescent Rain,” I replied, laying a concerned look at her.

“Alright. Me and Sorath will take care of Crescent Rain while you ponies go look for our daughter with Cinder,” Hurricane planned.

That sounded good to me, the faster we found their daughter, the faster they’d fly my sister to Ponyville. It was the only town I knew with a proper hospital.

However, Twilight didn’t seem to agree with his plan as she shook her head.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Redheart here is a nurse so it’ll be for the best if she stays with Crescent. I’ll go look through the mine with Shimmering and your daughter,” she offered.

“Suit yourself, but ain’t the winged one in too bad shape for such thing?” Sorath asked, looking at my quickly bandaged wing.

The wing still hurt a lot, but I was able to walk at least. A little dizziness wasn’t going to stop me from saving my sister.

I looked at my wing and was about to open my mouth, but Cinder Flash cut me off. “We know where the mine is and a wounded pony would only slow us down. Let the nurse take care of him as well.”

Well, I wasn’t going to argue with her. Besides, I wanted to be with Cres so I only nodded and laid down next to Redheart.

“Well then, let’s get moving,” Cinder said and lowered her head and huge wings to the ground.

Twilight shot us a comforting smile and climbed on the back of the light gray dragoness. With one flap of her huge wings, the pair was gone in a second. I almost laughed at a small yelp Twilight made during the take-off, but I managed to keep a straight face.

Redheart then turned to me and stared at my wing in tears before giving me the look that made my heart skip a beat. I couldn’t even start to imagine how bad she must have felt. She had broken my wing after all. In the worst case, I’d never fly again. It was a devastating thought, but in the end, it was just a wing. The most important thing was that my sister was still alive.

“I-I’m so sorry, Shimmering,” Nurse Redheart sobbed. “I know it doesn’t fix anything, but I’m truly sorry. I should never have done that.”

I couldn’t bring myself to respond to her. I was still confused over everything that had happened. Deciding to neglect the pain caused by my wing, I asked her the one thing I truly cared for.

“Is my sister going to be okay?” I inquired ever so quietly.

One could have heard a feather dropping on the ground. The wind had calmed down while the sun was already going down. Only Crescent’s heavy breathing got through my ears.

“I can’t say for sure,” the nurse replied a moment later, looking at my big sister. “She needs to get in the hospital and soon, I don’t think she’s going to survive the whole night here.”

The latter sentence caused me to bury my muzzle between my hooves and cry quietly. The feeling was simply indescribable. I felt so hopeless, tired and desperate that I was afraid I was going to have a heart attack.

I felt Redheart pairing her forehooves around me and hugging me tightly. It felt comfortable enough to stop me from crying at least.

A few tearstained moments later, I was feeling somewhat better. Redheart was lying between me and Cres, while the two remaining dragons waited for Cinder and Twilight to come back from their trip. Sorath had ordered those three blue dragons to go back and inform the clan about the situation.

The mine wasn’t too far away, but it was pretty deep. Twilight would have her hooves full trying to get the baby dragon out of there in total darkness - if the baby even was there.

Taking a look at the two scary dragons next to us somehow made me feel a bit more comfortable. If Twilight was able to rescue elder's granddaughter, Cinder had promised to fly Crescent anywhere we needed to. And by the look of her take off, she was one quick dragoness. With that speed, she might be in Ponyville by midnight.

Having no idea how many ponies could one dragon even carry, it was comfortable to know that at least Cres would get out of here. Redheart and Twilight were not hurt so they could make it back if there was no other way, unlike me.

My crushed wing aside, there was also some pain in my chest. The kick I had received from the soldier might have broken one of my ribs. Walking all the way back to Ponyville sounded like an impossible task right now. I just hoped the dragons would fly all of us there.

I looked at Hurricane and Sorath and wondered if I should ask them. As the adrenaline rush was now gone, I started to slip back to my old ways. I didn’t want to upset them, but we needed to get back to Ponyville as soon as possible.

However, Hurricane happened to notice my wondering gaze and cocked his head questioningly.

“Is there something we can do for you, ponies?” Hurricane asked softly.

Now was my chance.

“Uh, I… um... If Twilight and Cinder Flash find your daughter, are you able to fly all of us back to Ponyville?” I inquired as carefully as I possibly could. “I mean, it’s a long way and I’m not able to walk that far in this condition and Nurse Redheart needs to-” I continued, but got interrupted by Hurricane.

“It’s okay, little one. We will get you all back home, right, elder Sorath?”

Sorath glanced at us a couple of times before smiling softly.

“Of course. It’s the least we can do for those who destroyed Silvermane’s troops,” the huge orange dragon said with his raspy voice.

I had no idea why I suddenly felt a lot more comfortable around these dragons. It was like they were on our side.

“Oh, um… How did Silvermane end up in… in your daughter’s teeth?” I asked with my newfound courage.

“Well, we heard some noises from your town and decided to see what was going on. Then there was this weird storm and soon after that, Silvermane simply appeared in front of us from thin air. She was in a really bad shape and my daughter didn’t think twice before attacking her. She tried to force the location of her baby out of Silvermane, but she was a little bit too rough on her,” Hurricane explained.

I almost felt bad for Silvermane… almost. I mean, that’s a pretty rotten luck to teleport in front of the angry dragoness whose daughter you have kidnapped. But then again, she got what she deserved.

“A-another question… Lately, we used to get robbed by some dragons… Do you know anything about that?” I asked shakily. Now I was downright accusing them of robbing us.

Sorath looked at me for a moment before sighing. “We had no choice. Silvermane threatened to kill our daughter if we didn’t bring her gifts. We don’t even know if she’s alive anymore, maybe she was only using us. I mean, she showed us our daughter through her magic, but that might have been just another trick,” Sorath grunted annoyed.

“And it’s because of that trick she showed us we think my daughter is inside that mine,” Hurricane added.

It all made sense now. But that also meant that Silvermane had had their daughter for a long time. What if she was dead and the dragons weren’t going to fly my sister to Ponyville?

A wave of sadness washed over me as I sniffled quietly.

“I’m sorry, we didn’t know that,” I mumbled quietly, earning a subtle nod from Sorath.

Redheart had been listening quietly while stroking my sister’s mane. I wasn’t sure if she could even hear us.

“So... cold…” Cres suddenly murmured, earning my immediate attention.

“Cres?” I asked quickly, but the nurse stopped me.

“We need to get it warmer around here,” Redheart stated nervously.

But we didn’t have any fabrics left to burn, that is if we didn’t want to burn our saddlebags. Cres was already covered by Redheart’s small towel, but that wasn’t enough by far. The ground was wet and cold, though my sister laid on a more dryer spot.

“I’ll go gather some wood,” Hurricane announced and took off.

I followed him with my gaze and wondered what he was up to.

He flew around the town and grabbed some wood from the huge tree and burned buildings. However, everything was fully wet, there was no way they could burn. I mean, dragons or not, I doubt they could build a fire.

Hurricane held his cargo in his front claws and flew a bit further from us, dropping the wood on the ground. He then dug a small hole and filled it with wood.

I followed his work with Redheart and we looked at each other questioningly. Why did he put them there? We didn’t want to move Cres closer, why didn’t he bring those woods here?

However, Sorath looked at us and gave us a small smirk. “You are about to find out why he’s called Hurricane.”

We stared at the brown dragon who now hovered over the hole full of wood. He started to flap his wings rapidly, aiming the gust downwards. He flapped harder and harder, causing all kind of debris flying through the air.

“Holy…!” I squeaked as a small rock flew past my head.

Sorath stepped in front of us and expanded his enormous wing to protect us from both wind and rocks.

Apparently, Hurricane was only getting started as he flapped his wings even harder now. Thank Celestia Sorath was standing there, otherwise, I’d be a halfway back to Ponyville already. Suddenly, Hurricane started to breathe fire to the hole.

That was simply genius. A hard wind combined with scorching heat was surely gonna make those woods burn better.

A short moment later, Hurricane stopped and Sorath stepped aside, revealing the sight behind him. The area was flat, burned and clean from all kind of debris. The hole on the ground was smoking, but I couldn’t see fire just yet.

Hurricane collected the woods from the hole and flew back to us.

“There, now we just need to light them,” Hurricane stated proudly and shot a small stream of fire at the woods, igniting them immediately.

Who needs magic when you could just use raw power? I would have never been able to do anything like that. But then again, I couldn’t breathe fire, nor had I such huge wings. All in all, I was pretty darn impressed.

The fire was now warming us gently and Crescent had finally stopped shivering. She was awake but didn’t open her eyes and her breathing was still heavy. All I could do was stare at her and hope that Twilight and Cinder Flash would come back as fast as possible.

I felt how the mud on my coat, mane and tail started to dry up because of the heat.

Redheart gave me a funny look and stroked my mane and coat in order to scrape off at least some of the mud. She tried to avoid the area around my broken wing and went down to my flank, revealing my cutie mark under the mud. Her hoof momentarily stopped, as if she was taking a closer look at my cutie mark. She had probably no idea what it meant.

Redheart’s touch felt extremely awkward and my cheeks flared up immediately. I knew she was only trying to clean me up, but still… it felt really awkward.

Despite the warm fire next to us, I shivered lightly.

Redheart’s hoof stopped again and I could feel her staring at me.

“Are you still cold, Shimmering?” she asked worriedly.

At that very moment, the dragons turned back to us and saw my blushing face. They also saw the nurse holding her hoof over my cutie mark. I didn’t know which one was worse. The dragons seeing my red hot face or the fact that Redheart petted my ass.

“I, uhh… I’m f-fine, really,” I stammered, trying to keep a straight face.

Sorath then looked away while Hurricane gave me a little smirk, greatly intensifying my blush. There was no way I could look at Redheart right now. I simply stared forward and tried to calm down by lowering my head between my forehooves.

Finally, Nurse Redheart lifted her hoof and turned her attention to Cres.

“Hey there, Cres. Are you feeling cold? Anything I can do to help?” she asked ever so softly.

I also peeked at my sister and waited for her answer. She then carefully cracked her eyes open and looked at Redheart.

“It’s so warm now... Thank you,” Crescent murmured and closed her eyes again.

A small, hopeful smile crept on my face. However, the smile soon faded away as I eyed at her body covered in bandages. Most of those bandages were on her neck and head. I wondered if any main veins had ruptured, causing her to bleed so much.

My pulse started to get back to normal levels and I dared to shoot a nervous gaze at Nurse Redheart. She looked surprisingly calm considering the situation. Maybe that was because she was in her element again, taking care of other ponies. That was her calling anyway. Unfortunately, she didn’t have that many tools with her. Only some syringes, pills, scissors and stuff like that.

Redheart had given Cres a shot during the operation with Twilight, but I had no idea what the said syringe had held inside.

The nurse corrected her still wet mane falling in her eyes. I had to say, she looked a lot better like that. It was like her true beauty had just been unleashed without that bun.

I quickly shook my head and tried to think about something else.

Fortunately, that something else happened to be a roar made by Cinder Flash who was flying our direction.

Everypony raised their heads and watched as the dragoness landed next to us. Soon, the familiar purple unicorn appeared behind Cinder’s wings and jumped off her back, smiling heartily at us.

“We are back!” Twilight announced happily.

According to Twilight’s mood, the search has been a successful one.

Cinder was smiling at Hurricane and suddenly a beige baby dragon peeked at her father from behind Cinder’s head.

“Daddy!” the small baby dragon shouted excitedly and jumped off as well, sprinting toward Hurricane.

“Fuzzy!” Hurricane shouted back with at least the same amount of joy in his voice as he spread his arms and wings to hug his daughter.

We all watched the emotional family reunion of the dragon family, including my sister. It was a miracle the baby was still alive, somepony must have fed her and I doubt it was Silvermane.

The dragons hugged each other for a moment before Cinder raised his head and gave us a warm smile.

“Thank you ponies, you have been a great help to us. We will fly you to Ponyville once our daughter is safely back within our clan,” Cinder announced softly.

I gave a tiny nod to the dragons and with that, Cinder Flash flew away with her daughter.

Looking around, I let my gaze travel across the ruins of my hometown. So many ponies laid dead around us, one of them being Leaf Trotter. My wandering gaze stopped at him and I stared at him quietly. If we weren’t leaving yet, I could as well use that time to bury my friend and say goodbye.

Twilight and Redheart followed my example and I could see the sorrow on their faces. I neglected their looks and simply walked toward Leaf’s body, earning Hurricane’s attention.

Lowering my head over Leaf’s body, I took a deep breath and chose my next words carefully.

“I’m so sorry, LT… I couldn’t have imagined that it would all end up like this. I wish you are safe with your family now. You were my best friend…”

A tear traveled down my cheek as I sniffled.

“Without you, we may not be alive right now. You truly saved Crescent like you said you would. You always kept your words… and I will keep mine. You are a true friend.”

I gave the body one last look and whispered, “Farewell… brother.”

And with that, I turned to Hurricane with a pleading look.

“Could you…?” I asked and motioned toward the fallen tree with my head.

“You want me to bury him there?” he asked quietly.

“Yes,” I stated shortly.

Hurricane nodded and carefully moved Leaf Trotter at the tree and started digging. With his claws, the job was over in a minute and soon there was a big hole in the ground.

Redheart followed my reactions while Twilight seemed to be more focused on the dragon itself. Sorath was simply watching over us and tried not to interrupt us in any way. It was almost like he felt uncomfortable about the situation.

Carefully, Hurricane lowered my friend to his final resting place, under the very same tree we had first met. It was almost poetic how our paths had crossed and departed at the same place.

“Thank you,” I whispered as Hurricane slowly made his way back to Sorath.

Hurricane nodded and then turned his attention to Cres.

“We will go right away when Cinder comes back. She can fly the injured one and the nurse and I can take you two,” Hurricane said, looking at me and Twilight.

First, I was going to protest as I wanted to go with Crescent, but figured that Redheart could take care of her in case something happened. I just wasn’t that eager to go with Twilight as she would probably bombard me with questions the whole way back to Ponyville. But I guess we didn’t have a choice.

“Alright,” I sighed, earning a raised eyebrow from the librarian.

Soon enough, Cinder Flash roared from the sky, announcing her presence. Why did she do it, though, was beyond me. It was scary as hell.

The said dragoness then landed in front of us and smiled. “So, who’s going to fly with me?” she asked with a small smirk.

“M-me and Crescent,” Redheart mumbled nervously

I fully understood Redheart’s hesitation as we all saw what Cinder was capable of. Not that she would harm us after all of this, but Hurricane still felt like a safer bet to get to Ponyville in one piece.

After a moment, Twilight helped Crescent onto Cinder’s back with Redheart. She had even made a small vine harness for Cinder so they could hold on better. Hurricane got harnessed as well and we were ready to go.

Sorath gave us his approval, allowing Cinder and Hurricane to rise into the air.

Surprisingly enough, the ride was actually quite smooth. Those huge wings and long tail really made the flight stable.

And so we were on our way back to Ponyville.

Chapter 10 - Within His Heart

The seconds passed one by one. They passed and turned into minutes, and the minutes soon turned into hours as the night progressed. My eyes scanned the surroundings of the hospital for the thousandth time, doing the same loop around the hallway over and over again. These floors and walls were becoming annoyingly familiar by now. Wherever I looked, there was nothing new for me to see. Not that there was much to look at in the first place. I had counted fifty-four tiles on the hallway floor, and six cracks on the wall. Or maybe seven, I was never sure about that last one... Waiting was painful and patience had never been one of my strong points, and right now - even less so. I wanted to hear some news about my sister and I wanted to hear them now.

The night shift doctors were trying to take a good care of me, but that was easier said than done. They simply couldn’t understand my rather neglecting behavior towards them. I had even shocked Twilight by yelling at the nurses to leave me alone - but I was desperate, and for the record, I couldn’t care less. I didn’t really care about anything but one thing. Redheart was leading the surgery in the operation room and I wanted to be the first to hear any information I could get. Although, there was a small flaw in my plan. Saying that I was tired would have been quite an understatement. I had tried to sleep during the smooth flight, but my broken wing had made sure that it was not going to happen.

Somewhere behind those doors were Nurse Redheart and couple other doctors, trying to save Crescent’s life. It was the same place where I had been lying a few days ago and I was probably going to be there soon again due to my wing, although I had no high hopes for keeping the damaged body part.

The pain had spread from the wing to my whole right side as the wing itself was completely numb. The sharpest pain was now gone, replaced by pulsing waves of pain, almost like there was some pressure on the base of my wing. I had heard some of the nurses whispering about an amputation, but I had no idea if they were actually talking about me - or Crescent.

It was a miracle we were still alive, much thanks to Cinder and Hurricane. I sacrificed a moment of my time to relive our arrival.

After several hours of blurring flight speed, we had finally arrived at the Ponyville hospital. The deepest part of the night was already above us, but our late timing had also given us a perfect cover to land unnoticed. The last thing we wanted was to cause any panic. According to Twilight, no dragons of this size had set their claws in Ponyville for quite some time.

Twilight and Nurse Redheart had helped Crescent into the hospital while I had bidden the dragons farewell and thanked them for their help. For some reason, it had felt weird to depart from them, like I hadn’t said enough to show my gratitude. As ridiculous as it sounded in my head, I almost wanted them to stay. At least for overnight so they would know how the surgery went.

But… I couldn’t possibly ask them to do that. They wanted to get back home to their baby. Besides, the ponies here might get scared of the dragons and panic. It was always a full-time panic at Whitestone whenever we saw the dragons coming and Cinder Flash and Hurricane were a lot bigger than them.

As I didn’t want to ruin anything else, I had waved the farewell to the pair as they took off. A small tear had rolled down my cheek and I sniffled. I actually cared about them.

I let out a subtle sigh, now staring the door in front of me blankly.

Twilight was sitting on the same small bench with me, but neither of us had said anything for quite some time. The atmosphere was actually pretty tense. We were simply waiting for the operation to be over, but the longer we waited, the fewer chances Crescent had to survive the ordeal.

I simply released another frustrated sigh through my nostrils and stared down. The way I was mentally preparing for the worst was nothing new to me. I imagined Nurse Redheart coming out of the door and telling us that Cres didn’t make it. Regardless of how many times I imagined that happening, the scene always froze there. I had no idea how to react to such news should it ever come to that.

But… Why did I prepare myself for the worst? Why couldn’t I let myself believe that everything was going to be alright? She had already made it this far, there was no reason for me to lose my hope. Although I had already lost so much I almost felt obligated to feel this way.

As the night progressed, the director of the hospital had come to me and asked if I would agree to get checked. I had only laid a cold stare at him. Had it not been for my current state, I’d have probably smacked him to the face. It was because of him that Redheart was working so much that she wanted to come with me on a suicidal mission. Then again, if Redheart weren’t there, Crescent would have been dead a long time ago. So I decided to spare him from my ranting.

I was actually pretty mad inside. I was angry and frustrated. Not only because of what had happened but why it had happened. It was all because of me and my stupid shining mane and tail. It had already ruined my foalhood and now it had destroyed my hometown and everypony who lived there. I had ruined the lives of so many innocent ponies. And as if that wasn’t enough, I was now also a mass murderer. Sure, they were bad ponies and I didn’t know what I was doing, but that didn’t make me feel any better. I never wanted to take anypony’s life!

Tears gathered in my eyes as I closed them, lowered my head and cried. My whole body joined in as I twitched from the sobbing, my crying being audible for those few ponies in the nearby rooms.

I could feel Twilight move on the bench as she probably turned to me. However, she didn’t say anything. I could only imagine what she was thinking.

Another moment passed, but the unicorn stayed silent. She simply didn’t know what to say or do, and neither did I. She probably didn’t even know why I was crying.

Only after I let my mane fall over my face, Twilight let out a surprised gasp.

I tried to stop my sobbing for a moment and looked at her, though I couldn’t see much. My vision was blurred by my tears and obscured by my mane.

The weird thing was that Twilight still didn’t say anything, only stared at me. I couldn’t even start to guess what had she gasped about, so I just decided to ask.

“W-what?” I sobbed, sounding more pathetic than I would have liked to.

Yet, there was no answer from the purple mare. She only moved her forehoof toward me and ran it through my mane, stroking it. The act felt surprisingly pleasant, so I allowed her to continue, nevermind what she was even trying to do.

I remembered how she had stroked me before in the library after the nightmare. Maybe that’s what this was all about. It felt really good to experience the same pleasant feeling again. It’s not like my mom ever stroked me.

“It’s not glowing anymore,” Twilight spoke softly, almost whispering the words into my ear.

“What? Growing?” I asked absently, not even trying to process her words. What wasn’t growing anymore?

I sniffled and took a better look at Twilight next to me and noticed that she was staring at my ass now. Or my cutie mark, I didn’t know and I almost didn’t care, but the heat on my cheeks told me otherwise.

“Your mane and tail, they are not glowing anymore, Shimmering,” Twilight revealed softly.

Great. Apparently, my ears were also full of mud. I could swear she had just told me that my mane and tail weren’t glowing anymore. Like that could ever happen.

I shot her a questioning gaze and cocked my head in confusion.

Twilight only gave me a faint smile and pointed at my tail before grabbing it and presenting it to me.

Apparently, this truly was about my tail so I dried my tears with my hoof and looked at my tail.

The first thing I noticed was that it sure wasn’t clean. It had mud and blood stains on it and it was badly tangled. But… I couldn’t see the infamous shimmering anymore. I tried to shadow my tail in order to see it, but my efforts proved to be for nothing. Now it was my turn to release a surprised gasp.

“It’s… It’s not glowing, Twilight,” I said and looked at her in confusion.

I couldn’t believe my eyes. For the first time in my life, the glow was gone. I didn’t know if I should be happy or scared about it. Was I … dying?

“Yes, that’s what I said,” Twilight replied with a delicate smile that soon faded away.

“B-but why? Am I dying?” I asked in a slight panic.

Twilight took her time to inspect me further before answering.

“I don’t think so. I think it has something to do with that huge thunderstorm back in Whitestone.” Twilight pondered before continuing, “Somehow, you were able to discharge all that magical energy that was trapped inside of you. And I also bet you could feel a lightning bolt now.”

All I could do was blink my still moist eyes. If what Twilight said was true and I was going to live through the next couple days, my life would never be the same. I didn’t give a flying pony feather about the glow or my ability to withstand lightning bolts. I would finally be free of my nightmare. No more label on my forehead that said ‘freak’, no more explaining to other ponies what was wrong with me.

“It- it’s not coming back ever again?” I asked excitedly with a small sniffle.

The librarian simply smiled at me. “We can’t be sure, but I don’t think it will come back.”

For a brief moment, I was able to forget my worries and concentrate on myself. I simply stared at my tail in disbelief while the overwhelming feeling of confusion roamed free in my mind. So many questions I had to ask, questions that nopony could probably answer. How had it happened? Why had it happened, and what was going to happen next? I was like one big question mark sitting on the bench.

Soon, I found myself staring at Twilight Sparkle, the purple unicorn who had appeared in Whitestone from thin air. Now I had even more questions in my mind. I could as well use this time to figure out what had happened.

“Talking about Whitestone... W-what were you doing there? Uh, I mean, how did you find us, were you following us?” I stammered out, confused.

Twilight looked down and sighed heavily. Her demeanor wasn’t all that pleasant suddenly.

“Nurse Redheart told me everything about you and your friend and what you were about to do,” Twilight started, but paused upon my stunned gasp that actually came out more like a tiny squeak.

I couldn’t believe Redheart had betrayed my trust. Well, technically I never told her not to tell anypony about the situation, but it was still not cool. When did she even had the time to do that? Unless…

I opened my mouth to say something, but in the end, I just let Twilight continue whatever she was about to say.

“She told me just before you three left Ponyville. Please, don’t be mad at her, she was only trying to help…” Twilight said quietly, not even looking at me anymore.

I could see from her demeanor that there was something more to this. Something was obviously bothering her. She had been acting strangely at Whitestone too like she was afraid of me or something.

“And?” I inquired further.

“She told me that she was worried about your safety and needed somepony to look after you in case something happened. So, I followed you a good distance behind,” Twilight revealed.

That didn’t make any sense. Why would Twilight risk her life by following us?

But then again, if Twilight wasn’t there, Cres would be dead right now. Twilight had protected her from the lightning bolts, using a shield spell of some sort. Thinking about it, both Twilight and Redheart had saved Cres from certain death at some point. That realization only reminded me how foolish I was thinking to do it alone, or even just with Leafy. Without Redheart or Twilight, Crescent would not have survived.

“Thank you,” I mumbled quietly, now feeling bad about my way of thinking of her. She didn’t have to come or help me.

“Don’t thank me. I did it for Redheart,” Twilight shot coldly.

The words hit me like an anvil dropping from the sky. All I could do was stare at Twilight dumbfounded, mouth and eyes wide open. Nothing made sense anymore. The flood of questions filled my head, but I couldn’t even make the tiniest voice to speak. But like so often in my life, I didn’t have to. Somepony else was always doing the talking.

“You remember when you flew into the library and Redheart patched you up and then your friend suddenly came to talk to you one night ago?” Twilight asked rhetorically, not that I would have been able to reply anyway. “Well, while you were outside, I was actually trying to contact Princess Celestia and ask what to do with you as the things started to heat up with your sudden friend and all. I thought we might be in danger,” Twilight revealed, almost sounding like she had never trusted me in the first place.

All those nice words she had said to me, offering help and comfort, even her home… I couldn’t believe that all this time she had been afraid of me. There was no denying, it felt bad.

But then again, this was nothing new to me. I was nothing but a freak. I had an army after my flank and suddenly my shady friend appeared on Twilight’s front door. I guess I kind of understood her.

After I had processed the first piece of information, Twilight continued, “We… We had a small argument over the situation and I decided to give her a chance to figure things out with you by herself.” Mild annoyance was present in her voice. “But then, you decided to go back with your friend. Only Redheart noticed what you were trying to do. She came to me, crying, asking for my help to look after you. You have to understand that I had no choice,” Twilight ended with a slight huff.

I tried to fit the pieces together, but only scrambled my thoughts further. Why did she ask Twilight anyway, what was so special about this mare? Yes, it was a stupid idea to go back alone, but I was desperate and only wanted to save Crescent. Was that so wrong?

“Y-you think I had a choice then? Just leave her there, dying?” I sobbed, giving the unicorn an offended look. “I had to do something!” I added with a bit more volume.

Twilight actually took a moment to think about my words as she hesitated to say something. But I wasn’t done.

“I thought I had lost her. One of the only ponies who actually ever cared about me. She was more important than anything else in my life and then Leaf Trotter told me that she was still alive. I have nothing without her…” I ended with a small sniffle as I processed my thoughts.

She really was everything to me. My mom was a cold tyrant that controlled my life as she pleased, and my father never really loved me as a son. All he cared about was having a pegasus foal who would continue his work. Who knows how many siblings I’d have if I wasn’t born as a pegasus. Crescent Rain got the same treatment, but she had a lot more confidence than I had.

“You think I didn’t care?” Twilight asked on the verge of tears.

“Well, I thought you did, but nothing says ‘I care about you’ more than getting me arrested!” I shot back.

“But I wasn’t…” Twilight tried to say something, but pressed her head down and sniffled.

I peeked at Twilight, feeling bad that I had yelled at her. But I think she understood me.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Shimmering. I just wish you had told me first.” Twilight sighed.

“You said you were going to contact the princess about me… wouldn’t it take a long time for the letter to reach her?” I asked after a moment of silence.

The letter was just my first guess. I just assumed so by her habits of taking notes and writing everything down earlier. Maybe she actually had some friend who knew the princess and thus she could send the message via them?

Twilight looked at me and was about to answer, but just then, a familiar voice was heard from the end of the hallway.

“No, with me they won’t,” Spike said, proudly moving a claw to his chest.

Two pure white pegasi with golden armor stood next to him. They looked like actual soldiers, causing my heart to skip a beat.

“You see, I can send the letters to Princess Celestia directly and she can send them to me.” Spike puffed his chest.

That said, the purple dragon suddenly held his stomach before releasing a huge burp with a green flame that lit up the hallway. But that wasn’t all. There was now a small scroll in Spike’s claws.

At my current state, I wasn’t even going to try to understand what had just happened. But it looked like Spike had just burped a letter out of himself.

“Spike? What are you doing here? Did you send a letter to Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked, excitedly.

How they knew the princess was beyond me and I suddenly felt a lot more anxious than before. If I had just came across with one of Celestia’s spies, I was officially screwed. And so was Crescent.

The purple dragon opened the scroll and started to read.

“Dear Spike. I’m truly sorry to hear about the latest turn of events in the library. It appears to me that this pony you told me about in your letter poses no threat to the community. I’m also glad to hear that you and Twilight had took such a good care of him in his situation. Although it also worries me that Twilight disappeared with him.

It has come to my knowledge that something terrible has happened in a faraway town called Whitestone. These two cases might be linked together somehow. I will send you some guards to keep watch over the town regardless.

My sister is trying to locate Twilight as we speak. Report me immediately shall the situation change in any way.

Princess Celestia.”

Spike ended the letter and watched me questioningly. It appeared he wasn’t scared at least, only confused. But I couldn’t blame him.

“You wrote her a letter?” Twilight asked, baffled.

“Well, yeah. I was worried about you.” Spike sighed and looked at Twilight for a moment. “I mean, you are important to me and I don’t want to lose you,” the little dragon muttered quietly.

For a brief moment, I let a small smile on my face, but abandoned it after realizing just how much pain and worry I had caused to everypony. Especially to Spike. He was still a young dragon and I wanted to apologize to him so bad, but I couldn’t find the right words.

Instead, Twilight turned to Spike and levitated him within her grasp before hugging him tightly.

“Thank you, Spike.” The librarian giggled happily.

The bond between Twilight and Spike was something I had not seen too often in my time. It almost reminded me of my relationship with my sister. I watched as the dragon tried to get free from the hug, having a small blush on his face.

“Don’t mention it, it was nothing, really,” Spike muttered before Twilight levitated him back on the floor.

“Well, I think it’s time to let the princess know that everything is now alright.” Twilight sighed, relieved.

I only pressed my head down in defeat. Nothing in this setup was alright. I mean, of course Twilight wanted to protect Ponyville and her friends from a possible threat, but what about me? I was alone, scared and mentally scarred for the rest of my life. All I could hope was that Crescent would survive the operation.

“Spike, take a letter,” Twilight requested firmly and Spike took out a quill and a piece of paper.

“Dear Princess Celestia. This is Twilight Sparkle. I’m happy to inform you that the situation is under control. I’m back at Ponyville, unharmed. I was at Whitestone with this new pony and we managed to rescue his sister from the army that destroyed the town. Due to some extraordinary circumstances, the army no longer exists,” Twilight worded the letter, Spike scribbling every word on the paper. The dragon raised his eyebrow after Twilight mentioned the fate of the army.

However, I was only confused that Twilight didn’t reveal the actual details. At least not yet. It would have made one long letter, though. Soon, Twilight continued, “I can confirm that this pony is not a threat to us. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. He really wants to protect those important to him at all costs. Unfortunately, his sister was badly injured and is currently fighting for her life in the operation room. All we can do now is wait. Your faithful student, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight ended with a sigh.

Soon after that, Spike wrapped the letter and shot a stream of green fire to it, making the letter burn and disappear. I didn’t even try to process the act.

Twilight’s words echoed in my mind over and over again. She was an actual student of the princess herself? Suddenly, I didn’t feel so good. I just stared at the floor, afraid to do so much as breathe. There were two royal guards in the hallway, one dragon that could magically send and receive letters from the princess, and Twilight Sparkle who was a pupil of Princess Celestia. I only waited for the guards to arrest me at any given moment.

“There, it’s sent,” Spike announced.

Not too long from that, I could feel Twilight Sparkle staring at me. Spike did too. I was simply petrified. Suddenly, I felt like I had nopony around me I could trust, like I was in danger or something. My heart beated furiously as I swallowed and stared down, awaiting what was going to happen next.

“Shimmering, are you alright?” Twilight asked worriedly.

What an odd question. No, I was not alright. I was in a hospital, surrounded by strangers and two guards, waiting for news about Crescent. My right wing was in so bad shape that I might never fly again - that is if I wasn’t locked up in a prison for the rest of my life. After all, I was responsible for not only the lives of the soldiers, but my hometown as well.

I did the only thing I could at that moment; I cried.

I let my tears flow as freely as they wanted, just staring down. Maybe they would go easy on me if I didn’t resist.

“I’m… I’m so sorry for everything… I never wanted any of this to happen,” I sobbed. “I deserve any punishment you see fit,” I murmured before raising my head and looking at the guards. “I won’t resist.”

The moment I looked at the guards, they looked each other, confused. Spike looked confused as well, surprised by my words.

But the most interesting look was on Twilight’s perplexed face. Never since I had met her had she wore an expression as confused as this one.

“Uhh, what are you talking about?” Twilight asked, tilting her head.

The guards whispered something to each other before resuming to their poses.

“You haven’t done anything wrong, Shimmering. You are the victim here. Why in Equestria should we throw you of all ponies in the prison?” Twilight asked, still confused.

For all that it mattered to me, I still couldn’t help but feel responsible. I just couldn’t understand why Twilight was suddenly protecting me again.

“But I-” I tried to lighten up my heart, but was interrupted by Twilight.

“No, Shimmering. It was not your fault. What happened was beyond your control,” Twilight stated firmly. “Please, don’t blame yourself for this. You should concentrate on yourself and your sister now.”

The moment she mentioned my sister, I turned my gaze back to the door in front of us. It was quiet, almost too quiet.

Everypony followed my example, including the guards. I had no idea why, but even they seemed to be genuinely worried. Did they actually know what was going on?

“S-she will be okay. Right, Twilight?” Spike asked quietly.

Spike’s question somehow gave me a little bit of hope. It was nice to know that I wasn’t the only one who cared.

“She has the best possible ponies working on her, so I think she will be okay, Spike.” Twilight smiled at the purple dragon.

The best possible ponies… I counted on every one of them, but at the same time, I was worried about Nurse Redheart. She must have been extremely tired after all of this and now she had to perform a late night operation. She was already exhausted by her job when I got here. I just hoped she would be able to pull this off and save Crescent Rain.

As we stared the door in silence, we suddenly heard some noises behind the door. Somepony was coming out.

The door opened and the familiar white mare with pink mane came out. She wasn’t even wearing her hat and her mane was a ruffled mess.

The nurse had a small mask in front of her muzzle and there was some blood on it. Apparently, she had already washed her hooves as they were clean. Just by looking at her, I couldn’t tell if the operation had been a successful one or not.

She pulled the mask down and looked at me for a few seconds. Then, she cracked a faint smile on her exhausted face.

That smile was the best smile I had ever seen in my life.

Her smile soon turned into a happy grin as she ran to me, throwing her forehooves around my neck and hugging me tightly. She giggled and cried one after another.

“She’s going to be fine!” Redheart announced to everypony, relieved.

Carefully, others started to cheer as well and joined in the hug with me and Redheart. Well, except for the guards as they were trying to save their dignity. But they were seemingly happy as well.

The hug felt so, so comforting. Happy tears streamed down my cheeks as thankful feelings filled my heart. Crescent was going to be fine… Redheart and others had saved her life. I, too, paired my forehooves around Redheart's neck and hugged her tightly.

Suddenly, I felt so happy, so relieved and safe. All bad things that had happened to me stepped aside for a moment, letting me be thankful that I was still alive myself. I hugged Redheart even harder, burrowing my muzzle into her mane.

“Thank you! Thank you, Redheart!” I murmured against her soft pink mane.

I felt Spike and Twilight departing from the hug, but I just couldn’t let go. Not just yet.

Redheart let out a small giggle while stroking my mane. “You are making me blush.”

As adorable as that sounded, I couldn’t help but blush myself.

“Any color is perfect on your pretty face,” I whispered, feeling the furious blush burning on my face.

After we had celebrated the successful operation, Redheart had lead me to see Crescent Rain. We had talked a bit and she told me she had been worried about me more than herself. Just like she always did. According to Redheart, my sister was going to be fine and released in a couple of weeks. The nurse had also offered her home for Crescent to stay until she found a new home. She had thanked Redheart and smiled happily before the nurses told us to leave as she needed to rest.

Twilight and Spike went back home as it was almost morning already. Twilight had been surprisingly quiet after the operation, but I just figured she was tired. We all were. I still had a lot of questions about her, but tonight wasn’t the time to ask them.

In fact, Redheart had scheduled an operation for me as well. She wouldn’t be on it as she was tired, but she promised that my wing would be fixed.

To my surprise, the director of the hospital had apologized to Redheart for her workload and requested her to go home and get some rest. She had also received a pay rise and a luxurious spa treatment for two. First, the nurse had been awkward about the extra spa ticket, but after she had glanced at me, she had smiled and accepted the tickets with a giggle.

For some reason, I had a feeling I was up for a surprise spa treatment whenever I was going to get out from the hospital...