Not The First

"I know," I said. "I know."

I held Twilight close; the other mare needed it. I simply kept her wrapped in my forelegs, gently rubbing and patting her back. After a few minutes, the gut-wrenching sobs became something softer. Something relieved. I was about to separate us, so we could talk.

Until I saw the flash.

The burst of purple light that was oh-so-familiar. There was a Pop! as the copy disappeared.

I saw the glass vial, bubbling and shaking. I remembered.

"Get down!"

I shoved Twilight to the ground and twisted, putting myself between her and the teleportation.

Then my ears imploded. There was no sound, no warning. One moment there was nothing. The next, stabbing pain that went deep into my skull. A horrifying wetness that seeped out my ruptured eardrums.

The first wave passed over, shredding my ears and my mind, but it wasn't over. There was a terrible suction; even the air had been pushed away. Now the vacuum refilled with the roar of a thousand hurricanes, which sounded to me like the cough of a mouse. I could feel us lift off the ground and scoot backward.

And then the second wave hit, the rebound of the rebound. The vacuum had pulled up body parts from the pile, and now they sprayed out with unnatural force. I didn't see it. But I felt it.

I felt dozens of sharp pains all down my back. I felt my flesh come undone and my life-juices ooze out. I felt it all.

It took only seconds.

Seconds felt like hours of agony.

I couldn't move after.

I tried. I couldn't. Something... many somethings... had been cut. I couldn't move.

"Twilight," I whispered. She stirred under me. "Are you okay?"

She whimpered and moved. Cautiously, she pulled herself out from under me. I saw she was holding her ears, which didn't bode well, but she seemed otherwise unharmed.

She said something, but I couldn't make it out. I wasn't the best lip-reader, and anyway, she wasn't looking at me. I tried to move my legs again.

Still nothing.

Twilight finally seemed to realize that not all was right. She stumbled over to me, and she reached for my shoulder. For some reason, she hesitated to touch me.

"How- how bad?" I asked.

She simply shook her head.

Twilight rolled me onto my side so she could see my back. I hissed as fresh air hit the wounds again.

After a moment, she gently put me back down.

She stepped back in front of me. I did my best to implore her with my eyes. She shook her head. Her expression... it was grim.

"Twilight?"

I tried very hard to decipher what she was saying. She said Sparkle. And hurt. Something about bones. And... a spine. "How bad?" I asked again.

She shook her head. Again.

"It was a potion," I explained. "I was working on it before- volatile. Meant for crowd control. Princess... must've overdid it..." I was overdoing it. I was using energy I didn't have.

Twilight knew it, too. She said something. Probably, 'You should save your strength'.

I ignored her. "Probably added too much hexogen. Brisance off the charts... had to get it out of the lab. Teleports work the same way, no matter what. It's her magic that brought it here..."

Twilight nodded to show she understood, but her eyes watered. "You're dying," she said. I could make out that much.

"I don't want to," I whispered. I felt my breath catch, and I coughed. It came out bloody. "Oh- my lungs."

She leaned in close, and spoke into my ear. "I don't want you to, either," she said. She could've been shouting, for all I knew. It was a whisper to me. "I was just getting to like you again."

That made me laugh. Pink mist sprayed out of my muzzle. "I'm scared," I told her, "And I won't be here for you. I- I'm..."

I couldn't breathe anymore. The pain was now in my chest; I could feel it. Twilight looked at me in horror as I choked on my own airway. Black spots swam across my vision.

I was aware of everything. I could feel the bone shards digging into my back, my severed muscles and tendons, my collapsed lungs. I could feel my blood spreading over the ground, sticking in my fur. I could feel the air, never too warm or too cold, but somehow heavy and uncomfortable.

I could see Twilight, leaning over me. So this was it. This was how I'd go.

I realized I was wrong. No, I didn't want to go. I didn't want to leave her alone.

But I wasn't afraid. What came next... It was beautiful.

Goodbye, I mouthed.

My vision faded.

The last I saw was Twilight's eyes.