Twilight Alone

Well away from the three ponies sleeping around the embers of a campfire, Twilight lay on her right side while gazing up at the stars. The night sky is so beautiful; it’s relaxing being able to just lay here and admire it. I’ll never understand why so few ponies take the time to appreciate Princess Luna’s work.

Not for the first time that night, she tried to banish those thoughts from her mind and focus on her more immediate problems. She turned to look back at the three sleeping ponies with a sigh. Twilight had started with them near the fire, but moved once they were asleep. She wanted space.

Three days of walking is hard enough, she thought, but the tension makes it worse. Stormfront is at least polite, but doesn’t want to talk to me very much. Oaken Leaf doesn’t even bother being polite. To top it off, she glares at Page Turner anytime he tries to talk to me. He does it anyway though. I’m starting to wonder if he’s doing it deliberately to annoy her. The two of them only let up when we got near the Everfree Forest late yesterday and I called a stop. The forest scares them.

Three days of awkward conversation and even more awkward silence, with two ponies that don’t like me. I miss Ponyville so much right now.

Twilight magically lifted the necklace holding her locket off her head and held it in front of her. Even closed, the locket still served as a reminder of home and more pleasant times.

With the locket still in the air in front of her, she searched the sky for a particular set of stars. Finding them, she shifted around so she was looking directly at the same constellations she’d see immediately upon stepping out to her balcony in Ponyville. Delicately opening the locket with her magic, she then set it down in a hoof and released her magical hold. Looking up at the sky, she thought of home and friends, and wondered if any of them were looking at the same stars.

Don’t forget about me, everypony. I’ll be home just as soon as I fix everything.

The night passed, and dawn came. Twilight was content to watch the sunrise just as she’d watched the stars, until she heard a voice from behind her. “Twilight? Why are you up so early?”

“Huh?” Turning to the sound of the voice, Twilight saw Stormfront standing next to her, looking down at the locket. “How did you sneak up on me like that?”

Stormfront shrugged. “I didn’t. You were really distracted by whatever you’re looking at.” The pegasus looked at Twilight’s locket. “Is that your family?”

“No, my friends. The other five bearers of the Elements of Harmony, who deserve more credit than they get for what people say I did. With my relationship to Princess Celestia I can overshadow them sometimes, in the minds of other ponies. Princess Celestia doesn’t act like that of course, she’s fair. Your mayor, though? Pinkie Pie wouldn’t have gotten the kind of ridiculous deference he showed me.” Twilight sighed. Looking down at the locket again, she wilted slightly. “Few ponies know this, but they’re my first friends, and I met them less than two years ago. I didn’t know how to make friends until they came into my life. Do you know what that’s like?”

Stormfront sat down next to Twilight. “Honestly? No. Why are you telling me this?”

“The past few days have been awful. I know you don’t like me very much, but I just wanted somepony to talk to.” Twilight turned her head to look at Stormfront. “Did I do something to make you angry?”

Stormfront ignored the question. “You just started making friends? What about a relationship, then? Any special somepony?”

Twilight laughed nervously. “Well, no. I guess I don’t know anything about those either, except what’s in my books. I’ve never felt that way about anypony.”

Stormfront frowned. “That explains a lot. Listen, I’m sorry Twilight. I may have judged you too quickly.”

Twilight’s ears perked up. “How so?”

“Don’t think I haven’t seen what’s been going on between the three of you recently. Page Turner and Oaken Leaf are a whole thunderhead in and of themselves, but I thought you were trying to seduce him.” Twilight’s ears drooped. Stormfront laughed. “I know, it sounds ridiculous knowing what you just told me. But if you don’t mind my asking, just what were you thinking with the flirting in the library? Oak told me that she saw you... well, I won’t repeat exactly what she said.” Stormfront put a hoof up to her mouth and coughed.

Twilight tilted her head slightly, arching an eyebrow. “What did she say I did? I just batted my eyelashes and asked if I could read that book he wrote! I really wanted to read it, and I’ve seen my friend Rarity do it before. I had no idea it would lead to this!”

Stormfront smiled. “From almost anybody else, I would have a hard time believing they could be so clueless. You really are, aren’t you? No offense intended.”

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle. “None taken. I really went and put my hoof in it here. Do you have any advice on how to fix this? You seem to know Oaken Leaf; do you have any advice on how to deal with her?”

Stormfront shrugged. “Maybe. Oak is my best friend, but she’s got jealousy issues. She’ll calm down if you can get Page Turner to back off and pay attention to her again. Tell him that you’re not interested, never were interested, and it was just a misunderstanding. You might want to wait until we’re finished in the forest, though.”

Twilight blinked at that. “After? Wouldn’t it be a distraction if I leave it that long?”

“Yes. However, telling him now will likely humiliate him, and he’ll want to leave. Oak only came because he did.” Stormfront grinned. “Besides, she’s feisty when she’s jealous. I feel sorry for anything that attacks her right now, should the Everfree Forest live up to its reputation.”

Twilight pondered that a moment, then pushed her bangs off to the side with a hoof. “That doesn’t sound very safe. What if she decides to solve the problem by feeding me to a manticore?”

“It’s not a perfect plan, I’ll admit.” Stormfront laughed. “Do what you feel is best, Twilight. I’m going to stretch my wings and see if I can scout any of the forest from the air.” Stormfront smiled at Twilight, then stood up and stepped away. With a few flaps of her wings she took off, heading directly towards the Everfree Forest.

Twilight watched her leave, then clasped the locket shut and levitated its necklace back around her neck. Standing, she stretched, walked over to her saddlebags, and opened them, gathering the kettle and tea leaves she'd brought. She filled the kettle with leaves and water, then cast a simple spell to warm it. Getting the temperature for tea just right is a lot harder with magic than it is with fire, but I don’t feel like gathering wood this early, Twilight thought as the kettle was enveloped by the warm glow of magic.

After waiting a few minutes for the tea to steep, she filled a cup and slowly sipped it while waiting for her travelling companions to wake up. I wish I hadn’t left my books in Hoofington now, I could read while waiting. I guess it can’t be helped; I don’t want to risk losing them in the forest. While drinking her second cup of tea, Oaken Leaf stirred.

“Good morning.” Twilight said. “The tea’s ready, if you want some.”

“Oh, thanks.” Oaken Leaf didn’t move.

Twilight looked at Oaken Leaf for a moment, then used her magic to pour another cup of tea and set it down next to the other mare. She sounded almost friendly. Maybe it’s too early for her to be angry? Or is it because I’m over here, far away from Page Turner? Feeling hopeful, Twilight decided to attempt to start a conversation. “So... it looks like we might be able to solve this today. Isn’t that exciting?”

Oaken Leaf sipped her tea, frowning as Twilight spoke. “Something like that.”

So much for friendly. Twilight’s tail swished, but she kept the frustration out of her voice. “Listen, I think we got off on the wrong hoof. This whole thing is just a misunderstanding. I’m not trying to get between the two of you.”

“Then why are you doing such a good job of it?” Oaken Leaf scowled at Twilight while sipping more tea.

“I didn’t know I was. Really, it was ju...”

“You expect me to believe that?” Oaken Leaf laughed. “I saw how you were batting your eyes at him like some lovesick filly.”

Twilight’s cheeks flushed. “That was... I mean, I just wanted to read the book he wrote, and I’d seen one of my friends behave like that before.. I didn’t realize how he would misinterpret it.”

“Nopony is that stupid.” Oaken Leaf scoffed, then took on a mocking tone. “Particularly not the princess’ beloved saviour of Equestria.”

Twilight’s eyes narrowed. “You leave Princess Celestia out of this.”

“Or what? I doubt she would condone how you’ve been behaving.”

A third voice chimed in, sounding somewhat amused. “Ladies, please. It’s too early to be arguing.”

Both mares turned towards Page Turner, who was still laying down with his eyes only half-open. Twilight suspected they’d woken him up with their bickering. How much did he hear? As Oaken Leaf moved to cuddle up to him again, Twilight pointed to the kettle. “There’s tea.” Unlike with Oaken Leaf, she didn’t move to give him any. She feared that doing so would antagonize Oaken Leaf further.

None of them had anything further to say, so the rest of their time at camp was spent silently on breakfast, cleaning up, and packing. Then they were back on the road, heading directly for the Everfree Forest, with Twilight in the lead once more. As before, they travelled in silence all the way up to the forest itself. Twilight stopped twenty paces short of the line of trees that denoted the start of the forest, and there they waited for a few minutes until Stormfront found them.

“There’s no lake,” the pegasus said upon landing.

Page Turner and Oaken Leaf looked at each other, then at Stormfront. Twilight thought a moment, then responded. “No lake? Did you find anything other than trees?”

Stormfront nodded. “I couldn’t get near the mountains; the winds are a chaotic mess in the air there. On the ground, there’s a big clearing without the tall trees you see in the rest of the surrounding area. It’s full of sand and smaller plants, with a pathetic little pond in the middle. I think that was the lake, but the water’s gone.”

“All right. We should still go there. If the lake was fed by a spring or river from the mountain, maybe we can find it and follow it to find out where the water went.” Without waiting for an answer, Twilight started walking towards the forest again. At first she was alone, but before she reached the trees she heard galloping hooves behind her as the others caught up. Stormfront came alongside her to give directions towards the former lake, with Oaken Leaf and Page Turner following very close behind. It was a quiet walk, as the four ponies nervously strained the ears to listen for dangers. At least there’s no arguing, Twilight thought.

The forest was dark, as little light penetrated the dense forest or the fog that hung above the tallest trees. A light breeze rustled the leaves, and the noises of insects and small animals could be heard. Nothing bothered the four ponies as they walked, but they strained to listen for the sound of anything that might. Maintaining that level of readiness became increasingly difficult as they walked, so when they stepped out from the trees and onto sandy ground, sparsely populated with vegetation, they all breathed a sigh of relief. The more open area let more sunlight in, and it felt much less oppressive, less dangerous.

Twilight looked around briefly. She then turned to the other ponies and started giving instructions. “All right, everypony stay close together. We’re still in the forest, and it’s still dangerous. Let’s walk across in the direction of the mountain and see if we can find a water source.” The three ponies nodded in agreement. I guess Oaken Leaf puts getting out of the forest ahead of arguing.

Twilight watched the ground as she walked, looking for clues. She noticed the ground sloping downward steadily, at an angle suggesting that if this had been a lake then the middle must have been deep. The vegetation grew sparser as she walked, while the ground maintained its sandy texture. When she got to the edge of the remaining water, she stopped. “This really does look like it used to be a lake. Let’s keep going.” She got no response to that, so simply started walking around the small pond. The other three ponies followed closely, looking at the nearby trees for signs of life.

Once the ground started sloping upward again, Twilight started looking for a break in the trees that might suggest a river. Initially she didn’t find anything, but as she continued to look she noticed a spot where the tree trunks curved towards each other as they grew, filling in the canopy above while leaving an open path that wouldn’t normally exist in the dense forest. Heading in that direction, Twilight soon saw the same sandy ground continue into the forest, though this path had a number of smaller rocks in it as well. Twilight stopped to consult her map, then smiled in satisfaction. “This looks like the right place. The ground here isn’t consistent with the surrounding area, and this trail goes straight towards the mountain. We can follow it up and hopefully right to the source of the problem!”

Page Turner smiled at Twilight. “Sounds good. Lead on!” That got him a glare from Oaken Leaf, and he quickly looked away.

Twilight led the group out of the clearing and along what she believed to be a former riverbed. The new path snaked gently uphill through the forest, which felt just as oppressive as it had earlier. Still, no creatures emerged to bother them. Going this long without encountering anything hostile is almost strange in itself. I hope our good luck holds.

It was nearly another hour of walking before the trees broke again and Twilight found the incline increase significantly. Looking up, Twilight saw the mountain range the map had indicated rise up into the fog, with the riverbed going up into it and around a bend. Twilight continued to walk along the river bed, but as she did a howling wind picked up, carrying a chill from the top of the mountain. She turned to Stormfront, raising her voice to be heard over the wind. “I see why you couldn’t fly here now. It must be horrible in the air.” The pegasus simply nodded.

With the fog blocking the sun, Twilight lost track of time as she walked. With the cold wind blowing, it felt like hours. Finally she was forced to stop at a wall of rocks spread out across the riverbed, at least twelve feet high. A trickle of water came out through the rock wall. “A rockslide blocked off the river, maybe?”

Stormfront nodded. “Seems that way. I wonder where the water is going since it can’t go this way? It must have flooded another area or formed a new lake.”

Page Turner tapped one of the rocks with a hoof. “Then if we remove this, the lake we passed should refill and things will be fine. Eventually. It will take a while.”

Oaken Leaf sat on her haunches. “Well, this must have happened years ago for the lake to empty out the way they did. What if we’re destroying a different lake to restore the first one?”

Stormfront shrugged. “What about it? We’re fixing something that went wrong.”

“But what if other ponies or animals are using that water now?” Oaken Leaf stood up and started pacing along the rock wall.

Stormfront moved her head to watch Oaken Leaf’s pacing. “It doesn’t matter. Hoofington needs us to fix this.”

“Of course it matters. What right do we have to interfere with nature like that, particularly if it’s going to harm other creatures?”

Twilight decided to get involved. “I understand your concern about this Oaken Leaf, but we came here to try and help Hoofington. If we don’t do anything the town still has the same problem. We have to do it. Besides, for all we know this rock slide flooded an area that used to be inhabited, and we’re fixing it.”

Oaken Leaf appeared to choke on something for a moment, then snorted and shook her head angrily. “I guess you’re right.”

“Umm, Twilight?” Page Turner tapped a rock again. “There’s a lot of water behind this, and we used the riverbed to walk up here. How are we going to get back down?”

“Well we just...” Twilight looked back down the path, and didn’t see much in the way of good footing aside from the riverbed. “Umm... hmm. What about if you two head down. I’ll use my magic to get rid of the rocks, then Stormfront can pick me up and glide down.”

Stormfront shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.” To illustrate, Stormfront spread her wings and had to struggle to keep standing as her wings caught the wind. She quickly retracted them. “Flying will be risky, at best.”

Twilight looked at the rock wall, then at her three travelling companions. “All right. I can move the rocks, but I’m not sure if I can teleport all of us away fast enough. Maybe the rest of you should go and leave this to me?”

For a moment, there was no response as all three ponies looked at Twilight in various stages of shock. Page Turner was the first one to recover. “Teleport? You mean you are going to move all these rocks then teleport all the way back to the lake? That doesn’t sound possible.”

Oaken Leaf only had a single word in reply. “Showoff.”

Twilight glared at her. “You have a better idea?” Silence. “Good. Then let’s do it. Head back for the far side of the lake, where the water won’t reach you. I’ll wait until it starts getting dark to give you time, then meet you there.”

Stormfront wished Twilight luck, then started back down the path. Page Turner wrapped his hooves around Twilight in a hug, which she found rather awkward, before joining Stormfront. Oaken Leaf glared angrily at the whole exchange, then kicked some dirt at Twilight on her way back down the trail. With the other ponies leaving, Twilight set about walking back and forth to look at the large pile of rocks.

This is going to be tricky. I need to move enough rocks to destabalize the wall and start letting water through. Once I do, I need to be able to drop the rocks without blocking the water again, then teleport quickly. If I don’t move enough rock the river won’t flow fast enough to restore the lake, but too much and I won’t be able to move it fast enough to avoid being swept away. Twilight continued to pace back and forth along the wall of rocks while she tried to determine exactly how to proceed.

She hadn’t decided on anything when yelling distracted her. Turning to look down the path, she saw the three ponies in the distance, galloping towards her. Shortly after seeing them, she saw four heads appear behind them. She didn’t need to see the rest of the creature to know what it was. With only a few seconds before the others would reach her, Twilight’s mind raced trying to think of what to do.

Okay Twilight, relax! You can do this! There’s nowhere to run with this rockslide in the way. Stormfront can’t fly us out. A shield spell until it gets bored? How long would that take? What if we get stuck up here at night? Maybe we can fight it. Does anypony here besides me know how to fight a hydra? What if I try to teleport everypony down the mountain? Then we’d have to come back to try and fix this later. Maybe I can chase it off with magic. Or maybe I can release the river, then put a shield up and walk down to safety with the water going around us. Would a shield even block water? Did Shining ever try that? Why didn’t we think t...

“Twilight! Hydra! Do something!” Stormfront’s frantic yelling snapped Twilight’s thoughts back to the moment.

The three ponies stopped when they reached Twilight and turned back to face the hydra, all panting. The hydra walked up the path gradually, feeling confident now that it’s prey had no escape. The four heads each looked at a different pony in the group and one licked its lips in anticipation of a meal.

Twilight had to yell to be heard over the wind, despite Stormfront being close. “What?”

“I don’t know, anything!” Stormfront and Oaken Leaf both crouched and lowered themselves into a fighting stance, ready to charge the slowly oncoming Hydra.

“All right, I’ll try!” The glow of magic surrounded Twilight’s horn as her shield spell came into being, surrounding the four ponies. The hydra’s heads looked to each other in confusion, but it continued to approach. When it reached the group, it stopped. One head lunged at the shield, and bounced off. Twilight winced.

Not willing to give up so easily, the hydra’s other heads soon joined in. With all four of them bashing her defences, Twilight grimaced and strained. Through clenched teeth she pleaded with the other ponies. “I can’t keep this up. Can you distract it so I can try something else?”

“Are you mad?” Page Turner sounded frantic and terrified. “We can’t go up against that thing without magi—OOW! Why did you kick me?”

Opening one eye long enough to see what had happened, Twilight saw Page Turner rubbing his flank with a hoof. Oaken Leaf spoke, sounding annoyed. “Don’t be ridiculous. Of course we’ll distract it. I just hope you have a plan.”

Twilight sighed. “Me too. Get ready!”

A second later Twilight dropped the shield and the four ponies scattered. One of the hydra’s heads was in mid lunge at the time, already committed and unable to stop itself without something to crash into. It hit the ground instead, dazing it momentarily. The three other heads each wanted to chase a different pony, and the confusion kept the creature’s legs from moving. Stormfront used the chance to risk flight, spreading her wings and going airborne briefly, then retracting them and diving directly at the hydra. She hit another head with her hooves, and managed to dive to the side after the impact.

To Twilight’s left, she saw Oaken Leaf pick up a stone and throw it at the hydra, scoring a direct hit on another head. That dazed another head momentarily, which gave her time to move and do it again. Page Turner initially stood next to her frozen in fear, but after a few shouted instructions from her he went to gather more rocks. Soon she was sending projectiles hurtling up at the hydra with impressive speed.

The hydra was frustrated enough at Oaken Leaf’s assault to try and move towards her, but the rocks were painful enough that it was slowed down. Stormfront took to the air once more, but a sudden gust threw her off course and she crashed hard into the ground. One of the hydra heads turned and started lunging for her, but a well placed rock drew its attention back to Oaken Leaf.

Hoping that her companions could manage to avoid getting hurt, Twilight turned back to the rock dam. Staring at it, her horn lit up once more as she started gathering in her power. The glow of her horn intensified into a brilliant lavender as she drew in as much magic as she could hold. Sweat beaded up on her despite the chilling wind and her body shook from the strain. She wanted desperately to turn and look at what was happening, but couldn’t risk breaking concentration. When the strain of holding so much magical energy began to turn into pain, Twilight stopped drawing in more power and instead started wrapping the magical energy around a large cluster of rocks in the wall. As she worked, a lavender glow began spreading along the rock dam, extending five feet across and slowly climbing upwards.

“Umm, Twilight?” Page Turner’s voice came from somewhere behind Twilight. “Could you speed it up, maybe?”

Ignoring the risks of being distracted, Twilight looked over her shoulder and saw the hydra nearly on top of Stormfront, all four heads ready to lunge. She tried to reach out with her magic, but the instant she tried she felt her grasp on the rock wall begin to collapse and she had to pull her concentration back. One of the hydra’s heads began moving, and just as Twilight expected the worst she heard a sickening snapping sound, which was followed by a rock the size of her head flying through the air and crashing into the hydra. The force of the impact knocked the beast onto its side. Casting a quick glance in the direction the rock came, Twilight saw Oaken Leaf lying on the ground, with Page Turner standing next to her and looking directly at Twilight. “Twilight! Stop staring and do something!”

Looking back at the hydra quickly, she saw it struggling to get back up while Stormfront used the opportunity to move away, opposite Page Turner and Oaken Leaf. Twilight quickly turned back to the rock wall and refocused, causing the glow of her magic to begin moving upwards again.

The moment he rmagic reached the top of the wall, Twilight dug her hooves into the ground and lifted with her mind. From the top of the wall, rocks lifted into the air and were thrown aside. As she worked, water began to pour over the top. At first it was a trickle, but as she moved more and more rocks the flow turned into a river cascading over the edge. If I keep this up, we’ll be flooded before I reach the bottom! I need to move the last group all at once.

Twilight screamed at the top of her lungs, hoping the others would hear her over the sound of the water. “Everypony, come to me now!” With clenched teeth, she then poured all the strength she could muster into the remaining wall of rocks, lifting a six foot tall section in one attempt and tossing the large mass of rocks out of the way. A torrent of water poured through the opening, and the rocks on either side of the opening she’d created began to fall as the pressure pushed them aside.

Celestia, please let them be close enough! Twilight spun and began her next spell, quickly looking to see if the ponies had heeded her call. Stormfront was indeed close, but Page Turner was carrying Oaken Leaf and the pair weren’t moving quickly. Waiting a second longer to strengthen her spell, Twilight felt the water hit her and knock her off her feet. As she was swept up in the surge of water, she unleashed her teleportation spell.

The next instant, Twilight felt the ground hit her. She felt soft grass underneath her. Looking around, she saw that she was back on the edge of the Everfree Forest, near where they had first entered. Twilight slumped down onto her stomach, exhausted. She lowered her head to the ground and tried to catch her breath and reorient herself. She wasn’t sure if this was exactly where she wanted to end up or not, but a quick glance showed her that the entire group had made it. That was good enough, for now. The cold wind was gone, but she felt freezing from being submersed in the cold water a moment earlier.

Exhausted, Twilight didn’t try to get up. Stormfront walked up to her. “You all right, Twilight?”

“Yes. Just tired. What about you, and the others? I saw that hydra about to get you, then a big rock hit it!”

Stormfront stretched out her left foreleg. “The crash landing was awkward, and I’m a bit dizzy. It’s not serious. Oak wasn’t so lucky, though.”

Twilight moved her head slightly to look in the direction of Oaken Leaf, and even that bit of movement was a struggle for her exhausted body. She saw Oaken Leaf lying down, with Page Turner standing over her saying something. She couldn’t make out what. “What happened, Stormfront?”

“That rock that knocked the hydra over? I saw what happened. She had Page Turner throw it into the air, then she bucked it.” Stormfront shook her head. “She hit the ground immediately after doing it. She must have hurt her legs hitting something like that hard enough to send it flying.”

“Oh.” Twilight sighed. “We need to check on her. Would you mind helping me up?”

Stormfront extended her good foreleg out for Twilight to grab onto, and with a yank hauled the unicorn to her feet. Then the pair slowly made their way to Page Turner and Oaken Leaf, who was still laying on her side. Page Turner sat in front of her. There was an unscrewed container next to him containing a salve Twilight didn’t recognize, which Page Turner was gently rubbing into the injured hooves of his marefriend.

Twilight walked up along beside him. “How is she?” Stormfront took up the other side.

“Amazingly, nothing’s broken.” Page Turner answered, not taking his eyes off Oaken Leaf’s hooves. “Her back hooves are a mess, though. I washed them out and this will keep them from getting infected, but she’s not going to be able to walk on them until we get her to a doctor.”

Oaken Leaf’s voice was quieter and more strained than Twilight had ever heard it. “I’ll be fine, stop making a fuss.”

Stormfront sat down in front of Oaken Leaf’s head. “Nonsense, Oak. Unless you or Twilight became doctors and I don’t know it, Page Turner is the only one here who knows anything at all about treating injuries. Even if he does just know first aid.” She looked at Twilight. “You’re not a doctor, are you?”

Twilight shook her head. “No, not at all.”

Stormfront nodded. “There you have it then. You stay off those legs. We’ll have you back to Hoofington and good as new before you know it.”

“You might change your mind after a few days of carrying me.” Oaken Leaf laughed. “Say, Stormy...”

Stormfront took on an expression of mock outrage. “I told you to stop calling me that!”

Oaken Leaf grinned. “I’m injured, you can’t stop me.”

Stormfront’s mock outraged broke up into laughter. “I guess you’re right. What is it?”

“Did we do it? The water, I mean.”

Stormfront gently stroked Oaken Leaf’s mane with a hoof. “We did, and you probably saved my life with that crazy stunt. Just relax now, everything’s going to be fine.”

Oaken leaf smiled. “I’m glad.”

Twilight sighed. “Say, Stormfront? Could you excuse us for a moment? I need to talk to these two.”

“Oh? Oh!” Realizing what Twilight wanted to talk about, Stormfront stood up. “Sure. I’ll just be, umm, over there.” The pegasus quickly walked away.

“Twilight, what’s this about?” Page Turner was still rubbing the salve into Oaken Leaf’s hooves, and he still didn’t look up.

“I’m sorry, to both of you. Things have just been so awkward lately, and it’s my fault. I think I gave you the wrong idea back in the library, Page Turner. The truth is that I’m not interested, umm, like that. You’re smart and I want to be friends, but I’d never try to come between the two of you. I’m sorry.”

As Twilight spoke, Page Turner gradually slowed down in rubbing the salve in, and stopped. He stared at Twilight with his jaw hanging open. After waiting a moment, Oaken Leaf spoke. “You understand I find that hard to believe, of course?”

Twilight nodded. “Of course. I don’t expect you to forgive me. I really am sorry, though.”

“I see.” Oaken Leaf frowned. “Well, you probably could have left me in the forest with that spell, but you didn’t. I’ll give you this much, Twilight; you really are as good with magic as they say. Not so much with ponies, however.”

Twilight nodded. “I’d be the first to admit that. Princess Celestia sent me to Ponyville in the first place to learn how to make friends.”

“Oh. Wow. How embarassing.” Oaken Leaf looked at Page Turner, who had barely moved during the entire conversation, then back at Twilight. “Could you leave us alone? I think we need to talk.”

“Of course.” Twilight left the pair alone, walking up to Stormfront. “I told them. Do you think she’ll forgive him?”

Stormfront nodded. “Probably. Those two do things to hurt each other sometimes and I don’t know why, but they’ve always worked it out before. We should just keep to ourselves until they do.”

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. “I hope you’re right. Now, we should talk about how to get back to Hoofington.”

Laying comfortably in bed back at the Hoofington Inn, Twilight reflected on the last few days as her quill hovered over an empty sheet of paper. The trip back from the Everfree Forest had taken almost a week. Carying Oaken Leaf slowed the group down tremendously, as none of them wanted to risk injuring her further by going at full speed. Twilight had made frequent teleportation jumps with Oaken Leaf, that being the safest way to move her. When Twilight was too tired for teleportation, Page Turner carried his marefriend. The two seemed to be getting along, so Twilight hoped she had forgiven him. It was a subject Twilight hadn’t been willing to raise, however. I’ll talk to Page Turner tomorrow, before I leave Hoofington. Maybe I can smooth things over and at least leave with the working relationship we used to have as librarians intact.

Mayor Coppermane had been very eager to hear from them. Twilight had reported her findings after seeing that Oaken Leaf was taken to the hospital for treatment. The mayor had been pleased to learn that the water was flowing again, but less so to learn that it would take months, possibly even a year or two before everything would return to normal. Twilight had to explain that a lake wouldn’t fill up instantly short of all of Cloudsdale descending to deluge the Everfree Forest, which of course they wouldn’t do with the strange weather inside the forest. Even if they did somehow accomplish that feat, water would need to seep back into the ground and then slowly move through the aquifer to Hoofington, all of which would take time. She reassured him that things would be fine in the long term, and that in the short term the town’s residents would need to manage their water carefully. With Stormfront backing her findings up, the mayor hadn’t had much choice but to accept them. Still, he thanked her for her help and the princess for sending her. Twilight didn’t bother correcting him on the last point.

Looking down at the paper again, Twilight realized she should send the princess a letter about what she’d learned here. Unfortunately she wasn't sure exactly how to phrase that yet. Instead, she dipped a quill into the inkwell and began writing a different letter.

Dear Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, & Pinkie Pie,

It’s been strange since I left. I fought a hydra, of all things. Well, some ponies from Hoofington I was with fought it, while I did some magic to divert a river and then teleport everypony away. It’s a long story, which I’ll tell you when I get home.

Mostly, I spent a lot of time fighting a local mare for the attention of a stallion that I didn’t want, without understanding what was going on. It turns out that I was friendlier than I should have been, particularly when I tried to imitate Rarity’s way of convincing Ponyville’s stallions to do her favors. This one was already in a relationship, and the other pony assumed the worst. She got very jealous. Things were bad for a time, but we’ve since worked it out and she accepted my apology. It was all a misunderstanding anyway, I’m not looking for my own special somepony right now.

I’ll write more soon. Hope everything is good in Ponyville.

Your faithful friend,
Twilight Sparkle.