We are our Habits

by Agarwaen

Rating: teen
Tags: Wonderbolts, Twilight Sparkle, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Nurse Redheart, Romance
Length: 62557

Nurse Redheart pulls a Pegasus back from death's grip. Only time will tell what your future holds.

You are a Pegasus that is going through possibly the worst day anypony could ever have, and it is punctuated by your death. Unbeknownst to you, you will find kindness and beauty in the one mare who could pull you back from the end of all things. So, without even a cutie mark on your flank, you move forward into the unknown to discover who you are and what it is to be a stallion with literally nothing from your past to help you.

SFG Rating of: [Romantic] / (With an itty bitty 4 letter instance of [Cheeky] )
Aditional tags:(To aide in searches) Nurse Redheart, You, 2nd Person, PTSD, Amnesia.

Cover Art is 'Good Morning Nurse Redheart ' by the immensely talented John Joseco (Used with permission).

All MLP;FIM Characters and settings depicted are © Hasbro, Lauren Faust, etc.
All Fanart, Fanfics, inserts, and excerpts featured in this story are © thier respective owners.

Published 2012-01-17 08:41:03 UTC
Last updated 2012-07-20 01:34:19 UTC

Death Changes Us

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”

Ariscoltle (334 Before Celestia)

Somepony once said, “We are our habits.” Without our actions, our past, and our morals, we are but a shell of a being. Would one act completely on instinct? Would one act at all? This is a something that one pony is about to find out. And that pony is you.

*****

Pain… Stillness… Coldness…

***

As you reenter the state of consciousness you see lights and shadows shift before your eyes through a veiled darkness. Then, like a stampede of buffalo, it hits you. Searing pain endlessly courses through your left wing, and a dull throbbing accompanied by swirling dizziness fill your mind. Reflexively, you try to scream, but it is as if there is no air in your lungs. You hear the faint murmurs of a pony yelling, miles away. That is when you realise that an extreme pressure on your chest prevents you from breathing. Your world fades, once again, into non-coherent thoughts.

***

Movement stirs you. A warm liquid rolls down the side of your muzzle and across multiple points of your wings. Some of the weight pressing down on you has been lifted. Instinctually, your body takes a fast, almost panting, breath in. The acrid odor of rusty iron is overwhelming; it makes you cough, and a similar tasting liquid sprays from your mouth. The weight on your left wing seems to shift, and it presses down harder, drawing a weak yelp from your mouth. A weak breeze blows past your left wing as the weight is completely lifted from it.

“Twi, over here! Ah found him!” Your breaths are getting shorter and shallower. A few more weights shift around your body before you hear that voice again, this time quieter “You’re gonna be alright, Sugar cube. We’ll get’cha outta this here rubble pile and over to the Ponyville Clinic in no time.” More time passes, and the pressure on your body gets lighter. The hope of being rescued from this situation is almost enough to make you forget about the pain coursing through your body. Slowly, the extreme pain you have been feeling is being replaced by other strange sensations, the feeling of being stabbed with thousands of needles, fuzziness, and then numbness. You find that you have to constantly remind yourself to breath in and out.

“Twilight, Hurry the hay up!” You hear the familiar voice scream.

“I’m here, Applejack. Where-“ a new voice says before it is interrupted.

“Where? Maybe that there wing sticking out of the pile o’ rubble.”

“Ok, I’m on it,” the second voice, presumably Twilight, replies.

Your vision seems to ignite with a purple aura as every object pinning you down suddenly lifts up and floats away. No longer buried in a cocoon of rubble, Celestia’s sun overwhelms your eyes, forcing you to snap them shut lest they be engulfed in the excruciating pain that has now withdrawn to your body. With the weight off of your body, you attempt to move, but your limbs do little more than quiver.

“Wow, he looks bad, Twi. You need to get him over ta Nurse Redheart, now!” Applejack commands.

Slowly, your eyes open as you feel yourself being lifted off of the ground; an ethereal purple aura surrounds you, carrying you over to a purple unicorn. As you’re gently placed onto her back, you catch a glimpse of the ground where you had been laying. There is a dark red stain in the dirt nearly twice as large as a pony. The spinning sensation in your mind worsens, and tendrils of grey and black begin to fill your vision, filling all parts of you consciousness with a warm, haze.

***

Even in your non-conscious state you feel what happens next. Every molecule of your being seems to be stretched and pulled in every imaginable direction. You feel a quick ripping sensation, not unlike removing Velcro, throughout your entire body. This is quickly followed with the sensation of falling, punctuated by a high speed, but painless, impact.

***

You flap your wings quickly, propelling yourself on a constant bearing. The wind coursing through your mane always makes you feel like the world is yours for the taking.

The weather team has done a wonderful job clearing the sky today. As such, the only clouds left in the vast blue expanse are some very-high, wispy stratus, and even the most intrepid weather Pegasi would know that those clouds are way above the limit of their flight. “I’ve not seen a sky this beautiful in my entire life!” you say to yourself, through a giant, wacky smile. Celestia’s sun is very nearly set. The horizon is a deep orange, fading upwards into a yellow and then fuchsia before it tailors off into a deep blue.

A frigid squall hits you from the side, and the cold air leaves you breathless. You close your eyes as your entire body shivers from the unexpected change in temperature. When you recover and open your eyes again, you notice that you have flown under thunderhead.

“Oh well, At least I can still see the sunset from here,” you reason. Celestia’s sun is only a few minutes away from crossing the horizon, and you can’t think of a better place to be to see it. Well, maybe you can… But, if this random thundercloud would go away, you couldn’t. You turn to give the cloud a good buck, and just as you rear, you hear a mare shout.

“CLEAR!”

Your rear hooves come in contact with the giant thunderhead, and the deafening “BANG!” of thunder is heard. Your mind seems to be tugged in every direction, and your surroundings temporarily seem to change to a white room, a bright light shines down on you. You shake your head to purge this strange sight from your mind. Celestia’s sun is just now starting to cross the horizon and make way for Luna’s moon.

“CLEAR!” You hear the mare’s voice shout again.

In a split second, a blinding light flashes before your eyes, and your ears are overwhelmed by another thunderclap. A sharp pain courses through your entire body, starting from your chest and radiating outward to the tips of your hooves. Gravity takes hold of your body, and you begin to fall. The smell of ozone and burnt feather stings your nose. All of your muscles seem to lock up and fall limp, and no matter how hard you try, neither your wings, nor legs will respond.

Your vision shifts to the white room, once again, and you no longer seem to be falling; instead, you are sprawled out on your back, on a bed. A very bright light is shining down on you, and blurry shadows are gathered around you. The only sound that's clear to in your mind is a long steady, "BEEEEEE---".

You open your eyes to find that you’re falling, the wind rushing past your body is dreadfully cold. The ground is starting to get really close, now; it must be only a few more seconds before you turn into a Pegasus pancake. Once again, you attempt to flap your wings with no luck. Looking over at them, they are singed and hang lifeless to your side, not even tucked into their normal closed position. You look up to the horizon; Celestia’s sun is barely a sliver in the now nearly purple sky. As you see it move completely below the horizon, a great green flash emanates out across the entire sky.

“Clear...” This time the mare’s voice is brittle and wavering.

Author's Note

Re-proofread. Though, it still needs a lot of work. 12/10

A New Day

A dull throbbing through the entirety of your chest plays its way through your mind. When you realise that you have returned to consciousness, your eyes shoot open reflexively to take in your surroundings. The room you are in is a dimly lit off-white room with a sharp smell of disinfectant. You try to remember how you got here, but you cannot. Ok, what was the last thing I remember doing before I was here?

Nothing? Your heart beats wildly in your throat. You can recall no memories of any portion of your life. How can I forget my entire life?!! The machine to your right begins to beep loudly and moments later, you hear the quick clip clop of hoof steps outside your room. The door opens and a white earth pony mare with a pink mane enters the room.

“Everything is going to be all right,” she says, walking over to push a few buttons on the annoying machine. “You’re safe now; I never let anything bad happen to patients in my clinic," she continues when the machine finally flops beeping. “Hun, you need to rest. I’m going to give you a little something to help calm you down.” With that, she walks over to a small cabinet in the corner of the room, retrieves a syringe full of a clear liquid, and pushes its contents into your IV tube. A few moments later you felt your heart and mind begin to slow. Your eyelids feel heavy, and even though you just woke up, you feel like you haven’t slept in weeks. As your eyes slide closed, they don’t look away from the mare’s gentle smile.

***

The sense of time escapes your mind, even when the nurse wakes you from your state of sleep. Each time, she explains something you cannot understand. Then, she tells you that you can go back to sleep. This goes on for what you work out to be hours, or even days. You are roused from your slumber for what may be the first or fiftieth time; this seems vaguely familiar, yet completely alien at the same time.

“Good morning, Sleepyhead,” a mare’s voice calls out to you. You shake your head to try and throw the haze of sleep from your mind. A white mare stands at your bedside. Her pink mane is pulled back into a bun with only the fringe hanging loose under a white nursing cap. You can see that her cutie-mark is a red cross with four pink hearts surrounding it. She is currently looking at a medical chart and making changes to the vast array of machines that you seem to be hooked up to.

“How are you feeling today?” she asks you as she turns to face you with a smile. Your eyes lock with hers for a moment before you look back at your body, covered by the white linens. You open your mouth to respond, but the only sound that comes out is a small squeak. The mare, that is quite obviously your nurse, stifles a giggle before responding.

“Back to that again, I see. Your chest was crushed pretty badly and your body is still recovering.” She walks towards a window, continuing, “It is a beautiful day outside. I can’t believe the weather team has done such a great job clearing the sky today.” A wave of bright light blinds you when she pushes back the curtains, causing your eyes reflexively close and look away.

The sensation of falling takes over your body, and the smell of burnt feathers and fur stings your nose. You open your eyes to see yourself falling through the sky, and the sun has very nearly set. A loud scream escapes your mouth as you race towards the ground. As you hit the ground, you hear the familiar voice of the nurse wavering and broken.

“Clear…”

The cables and tubes, placed on various parts of your body, pull on your body as you nearly jump out of the bed. Your mouth hangs open and your lungs sting as if you hadn’t breathed in days.

“Shhh... Everything is ok, you’re safe now.” The nurse’s hoof is running over your mane in an attempt to soothe your frayed nerves. She moves her hoof from your mane to wipe the stream of tears from your face. You didn't notice you were crying and clamp your eyes shut to try to control your mind and keep it from betraying you more. As your reign in your sobbing, the nurse speaks up.

“After being brought here, we had to take you into emergency surgery. You had a very bad concussion, crushed ribcage, and a broken wing. For the last week, we’ve had you on very strong sedatives to help in the healing process. We felt confident enough to reduce those medications today, so you will see that your mind is more active from now on, and you should also retain memories better now. That being said, I think it is about time that I introduce myself. I’m Nurse Redheart. Nurse Tenderheart and I run the Ponyville Clinic.”

You nod and try to respond, only managing to speak in a whisper. “I’m… I’m…” You pause for a moment thinking as hard as you can but absolutely nothing comes to you. Tears begin to well up in your eyes again as you look at Nurse Redheart blankly. You see a glimmer of sadness in her eyes.

You are suddenly in a different room, lying on a table with a bright light shining down on you. You see Nurse Redheart’s face, and a single tear runs down her muzzle as she says,

“Clear…”

You gasp quietly, blinking until you are back in your clinic bed with the nurse speaking to you.

“—Surgeon will explain that to you soon. In the meantime, please take my word that you don’t need to worry about it right now." You nod, and Nurse Redheart turns to leave. On her way, out she pauses and says, “Oh, I almost forgot. When you’re ready, the two ponies that rescued you would like to see you.” As the door shuts behind her, all the warmth seems to leave the room.

Left to your thoughts, you go over the events of today in your mind. I was injured, badly. I was apparently rescued by two ponies. I’ve been here, mostly unconscious for a week. I’m having flashbacks of falling out of the sky. Was I hit by lightning and fell, but if that happened how did I end up buried in rubble? Did I crash into a building? OH CELESTIA! Did I hurt anyone else?! What kind of foal gets hit by lightning and possibly kills someone else while crashing?! Once again, your eyes well with tears. Who am I?!

***

Nurse Redheart walked through the ward, checking her patients and giving care where needed. Her stoic expression did not betray her distracted thought processes. A week ago, she had shed her first tear in many long years spent working in the clinic. Sure, she was sad to see patients whose lives would be forever changed when they left the clinic, and she had seen many a pony pass away, but this new pony was somehow different. His arrival was strange, to say the least. Many ponies have burst through the clinic doors screaming for help or carrying an injured pony. Fluttershy had even brought in a bear that had been accidentally injured in one of their massage sessions. But for two ponies to apparate right before her eyes and collapse on the floor of the lobby was something to be amazed at. Twilight Sparkle probably saved his life by teleporting him here, although even for a Unicorn of her power, teleporting two ponies nearly half a mile was too much. On their arrival, she immediately passed out, but it would probably take her longer to get his blood out of her coat, than it would to recover from her overexertion.

With her rounds finished, Nurse Redheart returned to room 104, the room he was in. She knew that someone who had lost so much needed a lot of help getting back onto their hooves. So she put on a smile and opened the door.

***

Through blurry, wet eyes you see the door to your room open, and Nurse Redheart enters with a warm smile on her face. Her presence seems to once again bring light and warmth to this Spartan room. You sniffle, deciding to speak first.

“Nurse Redheart, do you mind if I ask you a few questions?”

“Not at all, I rather expected this to happen sooner or later," she responded.

“Well First of all, I think I remember what got me in this situation in the first place. No one else was hurt from that were they? Because I think I might have caused it.”

“I’m not quite sure how the accident happened, but I do know that no one else came in with injuries that could be related to the collapse of that building.” That news gives you some relief; you don’t have to worry about another pony’s death because of your foalishness. Her smile widens a bit and she continues, “To be honest, that’s not quite the question I expected to be answering, though. I’d think the first question in your mind would have been ‘Who am I?” She pauses, as if coaxing you to elaborate on her thought.

“I do want to know who I am, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I might have hurt somepony else.” This time you pause, hoping you don’t have to ask the question that you have been torturing yourself with since you regained your mental faculties. She hesitates before answering.

“The clinic staff has been trying really hard to find someone that knows you, but no one in town seems to recognize you. We also tried the Equestrian Pony Database, but that basically just searches by your cutie mark, and…” Nurse Redheart trails off completely and looks away. You notice that you have been staring at her beautiful blue eyes this whole time, and you embarrassedly look down at the bed.

“And?”

“The unicorn doctor who performed the operation could explain it better…”

“Explain what better? Is there something wrong with my…” You shift onto your side, and throw the linens off of your bed. Looking down you see your flank matted and dirty, but also completely blank. Flabbergasted, you try and articulate your thoughts with your voice nearly at a yell. “That’s… That’s… how’s that even possible… you can lose your cutie mark?” Nurse Redheart gathers up your linens and puts them in a bin before removing some new ones from a cabinet. She lays the new linens across your bed, making sure they are comfortable before she speaks again.

“I’m sorry. I had hoped that I could avoid explaining this to you." Her voice was uneasy, and you could see a hint of fear in her eyes. "When you were trapped under the rubble of that building, your skull was crushed. That did some really bad damage to the portion of your brain that handles long-term memory. It was so badly damaged that the doctor had to regrow most portions of it magically. What that means is that, you are not experiencing temporary amnesia. Your memories of anything before the surgery are completely gone, replaced by a blank slate.” Your jaw drops open. “Also, the doctor told me that the magic that creates and sustains a pony’s cutie mark is housed in that portion of your brain. Rest assured, it will come back, but just like every filly and colt has to, you will have to wait until you discover who you are before it will appear.”

You are quiet for a while; this was a lot to take in. You finally speak quietly, “I have no idea who I am… What I am… Who I’m hurting by being here in the clinic and not at home… Where home is… Or why I’m in a town where no one knows me… What If I’m a criminal on the run from the law, and that’s why I’m here? I could be a pony slaughtering maniac!” With your monologue at its end, you once again break down into tears. Nurse Redheart leans over your bed and softly strokes your mane again. You can’t help but smile a little, even while sobbing uncontrolledly.

“I don’t believe you are any of those terrible things for one moment. If you remember, the first thing you asked when I walked in this room was if you hurt anypony. If you were some crazed murderer pony, the last thing you would care about is the safety of others. Yet, here you are crying your eyes out because you don’t know if you have hurt somepony.”

“But how do you KNOW I haven’t hurt somepony?”

“I don’t, call it a leap of faith. You can’t beat yourself up over something you don’t know happened. Believe me, you will end up in a very bad place if you do that.” You regain some control of your sobbing, but your chest and throat still ache. Nurse Redheart’s hoof finally stops running through your mane, which is probably a terrible mess right now. She then asks, “Are you going to be alright now?” Any attempt at talking would probably cause another breakdown, so a simple nod suffices. As Nurse Redheart turns to leave the room, you roll over onto your side and face the door. Your mind is not done with its self-destructive thoughts, and as glimpses of the past week run through your mind, an unintended comment slips quietly out of your mouth.

“Maybe I should have just died.”

Nurse Redheart visibly pauses as she hears it. Her head droops a little, and as she opens the door to leave, she responds,

“You did.” As the door shuts behind her, you notice that Nurse Redheart raises a hoof to her eye seemingly wiping something away.

A Darker Place

As the door to room 104 closed, Nurse Redheart let out a depressed sigh and wiped a tear from her eye. Her thoughts were awash with questions. Chief among which was, why this stallion seemed to tug on her heartstrings more than the next. He was attractive, but he wasn’t one of those stallions from the Equestrian Eagle Saddle Company’s advertising. A small smirk emerged from the depths of her mind as she thought back to her past.

“No, he’s definitely not…” she said under her breath.

“Who’s not what?”

Being startled out of her reflection, Nurse Redheart jumped nearly two hooves into the air. Once she landed, she turned to see Nurse Tenderheart laughing into the flat of her hoof.

“Red, I could have sworn you’d grown wings and were going to fly away.”

Nurse Redheart was still trying to catch her breath and control her heartbeat when she responded. “You… huff ... just scared me… huff … is all.” She leaned against the door.

“Why were you just standing here in the middle of the hall looking all distraught?” Nurse Tenderheart had a sincere look of interest on her face.

“There’s something about this patient. When he was first brought in, he died on the operating table, and when I was trying to bring him back, I felt so sad. I hadn’t even met this stallion before, and somehow I felt like the world would be a darker place without him. I still have no idea why I felt that way.” The look of interest on Nurse Tenderheart’s face had changed into something unreadable.

“I didn’t know you had feelings, Red! When did this happen?”

Redheart facehoofed. “Ugghhh, I guess I should have known better than trying to have a heartfelt conversation with you.” Nurse Redheart started walking down the hallway in the direction that took her away from the offending mare as fast as possible.

“Aww. Come on, Red, I was just kidding!” the blue mare yelled. Nurse Redheart simply waved a dismissive hoof and kept going.

***

“The world would be a darker place.” You repeat the statement that you had just overheard through the door. Why? Why would she she say that? She doesn’t even know who I am. I don’t even know that… Your mind dwells on this fact for what seems like days, but the fading light from the sun tells you that it was much shorter. Outside, you can see the evening sky changing into beautiful shades of the rainbow as Celestia’s sun sets. When the dwindling light of the day finally immerses your room into a state of darkness, your door opens. Nurse Redheart enters your room, and flicks on the lights with a hoof.

“Aauuhh.” As she walks over to your bed, she raises a hoof to her mouth, yawning. Dark bags under her bloodshot eyes betray her state of exhaustion.

“Nurse, are you alright? You look really tired.” The nurse was now slowly flipping through your charts. At first you don’t think she heard you, but after a little while she responds with slurred speach.

“Huh? Oh, yesh I’m quite alright, hun. Jusht a bit tired. Nursh Tenderheart had to tend to an emergenshy. So I had to shtay here until she got back; I’ve probably been awake for a day and a half, now.” Her eyes shut just as she finished her explanation.

You could see her leaning against the side of your bed, her head slowly drooping down and finally laying on the edge of the bed. It was strange to see the pony watching over your convalescence fall asleep at your bedside, but you couldn’t leave her like that. You slowly inch out of your bed without knowing if your hooves will support you. As you drop to your hooves, the wobble slightly, but otherwise, they seem to be fine. You walk around to the far side of the bed, mindful to not tangle your IV around the nurse. Hoping she does not wake up, you reach your forehooves under her body and gently lift her onto the bed. She stirs, and after a tense moment, she adjusts herself to become comfortable lying on her side. You remove her nursing cap, set it on the bedside table, and pull the warm linens up over her body. The expression on her face is so peaceful, and so much different than the one burned into your mind. You’re not sure why, but for a little bit, you can’t take your eyes off of her face.

After breaking your trance, you leave your room for the first time in more than a week, pushing your IV hanger along with you with your good wing. It takes a while to find your destination, the nurse’s station. During your search, you accidentally found the mare’s bathroom. Thankfully, nopony was inside. Taking a seat behind the counter, you’re surprised at the number of gizmos and doohickeys behind the counter. There are at least 2 machines monitoring each patient, and also a nurse’s call button in each room for emergencies.

“Well, I’m here.” You state. Your eyes move back and forth between each of the machines. It’s no small wonder the nurse was tired; this is extremely boring. After a time, you find yourself yawning constantly, and since when were your eyelids made of lead?

***

You are startled awake by the automagical door to the clinic loudly sliding open. As you lean up, you see a familiar looking mare in front of you, her purple eyes wide in surprise. At first, you think that your sleep addled eyes are simply playing tricks on you. You are sure you are staring at Nurse Redheart, but her color is not right. Her coat is a pale periwinkle blue, and her mane appears to be a muted sea foam green.

“What are you doing out here? And where is Red?” Her voice was stern, but her eyes showed concern.

“Y-you…..” You are still transfixed by the uncanny similarities that this mare had with Nurse Redheart. The fact that this new mare asked about her, would seem to mean that your eyes are fine, and this is simply a mare that looks very similar to Nurse Redheart. “look just like her.”

“Her?” Your statement seems to disrupt the blue mare’s planned interrogation. It takes her a moment to realise of whom you speak, but a moment later, her anger returns. “You mean Nurse Redheart? Where is she? What did you do with her?” As she speaks, her voice becomes shrill, and her face flushes a bright shade of red as she steadily advances to your sitting position. Your stomach ties itself in a knot as the, possibly insane, mare gets closer to you; it would really suck to die… again… You decide to try and calm her down, by answering her questions… Quickly.

“Nurse Redheart is fine!” you blurt out, in hindsight way too loudly. The unnamed mare pauses. Whether this is because you inadvertently deafened her, or because she wants more of an explanation, you cannot tell. Either way, you continue, “She fell asleep in my room, checking on my charts. I put her in my bed, and came here. I figured that if something went wrong with somepony, an alarm would sound here. Just like that day I woke up and freaked out, and if I heard anything go off, I could wake her up.”

Her harsh gaze lingers for a moment before softening. “Well, maybe she was right,” the blue mare remarks to herself. She walks around to the back side of the counter, checking each of the monitors. “Everything looks fine here. You should get back to your room. I’ll be along shortly to collect Red.”

“Uhm…” Before you leave, you want to sate your curiosity. “Who are you, and why were you so mad about Nurse Redheart not being here?” She let out a quiet sigh.

“The answers to those questions are one and the same. My name is Joy Tenderheart. I’m her sister, and I was concerned for her… And for the record, she looks like me. I was born 5 minutes before her!” Her voice bears more than a little resentment in that last statement. A long yawn reminds you that you’re, somehow, still tired.

“Oh. Don’t worry about waking Nurse Redheart; she can stay there until morning. I’ve been in that bed for so long that I could really use a change of scenery. There’s a floor cushion in the room with my name all over it.” You can’t help but chuckle at the irony of that turn of phrase.

“Sorry, but I can’t allow that. Even though you seem nice enough, I can’t take a chance of something happening to her.” The thought of breaking the peaceful look from Nurse Redheart’s face just ate you up for some reason, so you weren’t going to back down, just yet.

“From what I’ve seen and heard, I’ve caused Nurse Redheart a fair number of problems already. Let her sleep, and I’ll just sleep in the hall or waiting room or something.”

“If you really are going to be a stickler about it, you can sleep in the waiting room.” Tenderheart said, rolling her eyes. After she pointed you to the waiting room, you quickly curled up on a very attractive looking floor cushion, and for the first time since this began, you fell asleep of your own will.

***

“Ahhhh, I love a good night flight,” you say, aware you are talking to somepony, even if you don’t know who.

“The cold wind in your mane mixed with evaporating sweat makes it unlike anything else. It’s such a different sensation." Your coat and skin feel really cold, but the faster you fly the warmer you feel inside. As you fly along under the clear night sky, you look up and gaze on its vastness. “Way up here, away from the lights of civilization, the sky is not the same. It's not dark and ominous. It's filled with millions of points of light as the stars reach out across the heavens in an attempt to touch our hearts with their beauty. The night sky's perfection is something unmistakable, and yet, unfathomable. Even so, it pales in comparison to the feelings that I have for you.” You feel the warmth of another pony as they nuzzle against your neck.

“Good morning.”

You are taken completely by surprise by this statement. It’s completely pitch black, you are flying along under the moon, and your marefriend says ‘good morning’ to you? That’s when you realise that even though you are flying along gazing at the stars, your subconscious mind is willing you to open your eyes.

Your eyes open to see the morning light filtering past a white pony’s legs. You blink a few times to clear the morning haze from your eyes and look up. Nurse Redheart stands in front of you, smiling; her nursing cap is missing, and her hair is down from the normal bun. It flows around the back of her head and down over her right shoulder.

“Good morning, Nurse Sleepyheart,” you say with a smile. Your legs are stiff from being curled up all night on a small pillow, and as you stand up, a sharp shoots through your left wing.

Her smile droops a little when she replies. “Yeah… Sorry about that. I guess that much stress and lack of sleep can cause a pony to fall asleep anywhere.”

“Don’t worry about it. If I know about anything right now, it’s passing out. I understand explicitly.”

“Thank you for lending me your bed, too,” she says, the smile returning to her face.

“Ever since, I can remember being here you’ve been really kind to me. I suspect that even before I can remember it, you were equally as caring. Giving up my bed was the least I could do.”

“And from what I hear from my sister, it wasn’t all you did, either.”

“I couldn’t leave nopony at the nurse’s station. What If something happened and somepony needed help? I would feel terrible if my own selfishness caused somepony to get hurt or even—” You are interrupted by Nurse Redheart’s stomach rumbling. You laugh, through a smile. “I guess you haven’t eaten recently either?”

“No. Not since breakfast yesterday.” Nurse Redheart rubs a forehoof along her mistreated and unhappy stomach. “Do you want to get some breakfast?”

“I’m not hungry, but I haven’t eaten... Sure, as long as I can.” Nurse Redheart walks over to you and begins prodding your abdomen with her hoof. Each poke brings out a grunt of discomfort. After a few moments, she speaks up with a hint of joy making its way into her voice.

“The swelling in your chest seems to be about back to normal. So you should be fine to eat, since the pressure on your internal organs is down now. That IV you’ve been hauling around is full of water and nutrients, so that’s why you aren’t hungry. We can stop back in your room to remove it. That means, if you feel up to it we can leave the clinic and get something from Sugarcube Corner to eat.” You have no idea what Sugarcube Corner is, but the way Nurse Redheart's smile grew when she mentioned it has you convinced.

“That sounds great.” You both begin to walk back to your room. About halfway there, Nurse Redheart speaks up again.

“You know, you talk in your sleep.” A brick wall, that’s what it feels like your brain just ran into, and it’s now running at a mile a minute to try and figure out what you could have possibly said in your sleep. You remember dreaming of flying, but everything else is just so hazy. You give up.

“What, um, did I say? I hope it wasn't inappropriate.” She raises an eyebrow at your last remark, and then leans in close to you ear. The sensation of her breath on your ear makes your heart race.

She whispers, “It was beautiful.”

We?

The silent walk back to your room took longer than expected. This was mostly because you stumbled over your own hooves, and fell flat on your face… Twice. Each incident extracted a quiet giggle, a concerned look, and a helping hoof from Nurse Redheart. Once you arrived back in your room, the Nurse spoke up.

“Ok, let’s get that IV out.” You accompany the nurse over to a small cart at the bedside. Nurse Redheart moved to your left foreleg and gripped the small tube embedded in your flesh in her mouth. She quickly pulled it away and placed a hoof on the small hole it left. “Sorry about this Band-Aid, we ran out of everything but the foal Band-Aids.” She fishes out a small sticky bandage and places it on your foreleg. You look down and see that it has a picture of a bipedal animal on it. In brightly colored text it reads ‘My Little Human.’ With a small smile, you shake your head, but your thoughts are interrupted by the nurse speaking up again.

“Oh, I nearly forgot! We should probably change the bandages on your left wing, and see how well it’s healing.” With a hoof, she motions to the side of your bed. “You should probably rest against the side of the bed, this may hurt a little.” You move to the edge of the bed and lean against it; the nurse follows, and once you are situated, she begins to carefully unfold your bandaged wing from its resting position at your side. Sharp pains move through your sensitive wing, causing your eyes to clamp shut, as your muscles move over the rough, cracked bones. Nurse Redheart grasps the far end of your bandages in her mouth and begins to slowly unwrap them. As she moves down your wing, the feeling of her breath across your cold flesh brings warmth to your entire being. You come to the sudden realisation that this situation would be considerably more awkward if you did not have your right wing pinned up against the bed. Shifting, you get a bit more leverage on the treacherous appendage. That situation quickly handled itself, though. Your left wing began to radiate with intense pain as the muscles began to tighten up. With your eyes still closed from the first instance of pain, you bury your head into the linens of the bed and feel your knees begin to quiver. As the pain overwhelms all facets of your mind, your wings begin to relax and the pain begins to fade.

“You shouldn’t be trying to move your wing yet, especially when I’m trying to remove your bandages.” Nurse Redheart’s speech pierces your distracted mind; her voice is stern. An unfathomable amount of time passes; the pain in your wing is still very real, but is now bearable. You pull your head out of what is now a cocoon of bed linens, and see that Nurse Redheart has already finished bandaging your wing, which is now tucked back at your side.

“Take this, it will help keep the muscles in your wing relaxed, and prevent that from happening again.” Nurse Redheart motions to a small paper cup with a smaller yellow gel-pill inside; next to it is another cup, this one filled with water. You reach out, take the pill in your mouth, and wash it down with the water. You notice a slight taste of lavender.

“Ok, now how about that breakfast? I could really use something to eat.” Nurse Redheart was barely able to finish her statement before her stomach confirmed her hunger with a loud growl. The pleading look on her face has to be the most adorable thing you’ve seen.

“Yeah, let’s go,” you reply. The idea of leaving the hospital, even temporarily, is exciting, but also terrifying. You have no idea where you are. This could even be one of those towns where ponies are robbed on the side of the street! “You’re sure that this is going to be alright? We’re not going to get robbed or foalnapped are we? I mean an injured Pegasus and a nurse. We’re easy targets!”

“Ponyville is one of the nicest towns in Equestria. We’ll be fine.”

***

As you were walking down the street to Sugarcube corner, you noticed a strange hooded and cloaked unicorn following you. And now, here he is, levitating a knife up to your chest. Your heart is racing faster than you though possible, and you are breathing like you just finished running a marathon.

“Give me all your bits!” You glance to your left and see Nurse Redheart quickly hoofing over her small bag of bits. The knife wielding maniac then moves the knife over to her, and yells once again at you. “Give me your bits, or the mare gets it!”

“I just got out of the Clinic, I don’t have any bits!” You spit out as fast as possible. The Unicorn seems to become larger, and more imposing.

“Bad luck for you, darling.” You notice as the knife begins to move forward. If it were possible to naturally overdose on adrenaline, your brain would have just killed you. The world around you seems to slow to a crawl. You feel as every muscle in your body tenses, as if awaiting your command to release all of their power at once. In a flash, your wings unfurl, the left ripping its way through your bandages and causing insurmountable pain. You push off will all 4 hooves and give the most powerful wing beat of your life, sending your body in between Nurse Redheart and the knife. You land with just enough time to feel the hungry blade plunge into the flesh just in front of your right wing. Your knees buckle, and you fall to the ground. A large amount of a warm liquid rolls down your side, and a strange cold is radiating from the knife into your entire body. When the sensation reaches your head, your vision begins to shift, blur, and fade into that, oh so common, nothingness.

***

The light jingling of a bell brings you into reality; you feel sweat begin to roll down your face. Your heart is racing, and your breathing is shallow. Nurse Redheart is a few feet in front of you, in the door to what seems to be a giant gingerbread house. She motions with her head for you to follow her inside. You shakily step through the door as you attempt to breathe slowly in an attempt to calm yourself down. Nurse Redheart follows behind you, and as the door shuts with a second jingle, she speaks up.

“Are you—“ But she is interrupted as a bright pink pony quickly emerges from the bottom of your field of vision, directly in front of you and way too close for comfort.

“Hi!”

Any ground you had gained on slowing your heart to its normal pace was completely vain. You instinctively back away as fast as possible. Almost right away, you run into a wall, and begin to slide along it. Tables crash to the floor as you push past, with no regard for them. As you reach the corner of the building, you collapse on your left side, shrinking into the foetal position and tucking your legs as close to your body as possible. For good measure, you unfurl your right wing and produce a cocoon around yourself. After a few moments of cowering, you feel a tickling sensation as something brushes along the bottom edge of your feathers. You open your eyes to see a worried Nurse Redheart crawl under your wing and press herself carefully up against your side. She drops a piece of candy wrapped in a blue and yellow wrapper in front of you.

“You should eat that. Chocolate causes your brain to release some chemicals that will help calm you down.” You grab the candy and eat it. It is a sphere of sweet chocolate, filled with a sweet, salty caramel and gooey, buttery toffee. As you slowly savor the trio of flavors you can feel your heart slow and your mind calm.

“Ok, I think I’m better now” You say between deep breaths.

“Surely, Pinkie didn’t set that off. You were flushed and sweaty when we walked in. So, was it another flashback?” the mare's voice was soft. You could tell by her expression that she didn’t want to cause you more pain by making you relive it, but she had always wanted to help you.

“Not this time, it was more like a dream. I saw this crazy looking pony as we we’re walking here. Next thing I knew, he had jumped us, pulled a knife and was threatening to stab somepony if we didn’t give him our bits. He didn’t believe that I wasn’t carrying any, so he tried to stab you.”

“Tried? Nurse Redheart’s eyes were wide with surprise, and full of sadness. You look away and at your hooves.

“Yeah, then something got in his way.”

“Something?” She seemed like she knew, but wanted it from the horse’s mouth.

“I did. I thought I died, again.” You lay your head down onto your hooves and try to recompose yourself. A warm object rests on your neck; you turn your head to see and are unexpectedly met with a face full of pink mane. The sweet smell of lavender assaults your senses. You move your wing down, wrapping it gently around Nurse Redheart. The heat of her body radiating into your wing seems to bring warmth into your entire being.

It comes as a bit of a shocking realisation that you are not really alone, and most ponies seem to be staring at you. You can see the strange pink pony sitting on her rump, her eyes glistening and a huge frown on her face. A purple unicorn is talking to her, but you cannot hear what she is saying. At a table, two unicorn mares and two earth pony mares sit together, three of which seem to be staring at you. They look away when they realise you are looking back at them. The fourth mare, a white unicorn with a mane comprised of two shades of blue, is playing with a large lizard

“Uhm… Uh…” You shrug your shoulder to push Nurse Redheart’s head off your body, as a light blush appears on your face. When she looks up at you, you subtly motion to the other ponies with your head. Two of the four mares from the table have gotten up and are walking towards the exit.

“Hey Octy, Would you take a knife for me?” You overhear the white mare ask a slate grey mare, now with the lizard on her shoulder, as they move towards the exit.

“Vinyl, dear, I’d probably be the one stabbing you.” The white mare’s jaw would have most likely hit the floor if it wasn’t attached to her face. As they went through the door, she regained her composure and continued,

“B-but, what about our foa—“ The closing door cut off any more eavesdropping. Nurse Redheart moves out from under your wing, and gets to her hooves. She turns, offering you a helping hoof up; you happily take it.

“I guess I’ve made quite a scene,” you say, hanging your head shamefully. Your ears pick up the clip-clop of the hooves of two ponies walking over.

“I’m really sorry, Mister. I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I was just so excited that a pony I had never met had walked in. And I know every pony in Ponyville so that means you are new here.” You look up to see the pink pony standing in front of you, this time at a comfortable distance. With her is the purple unicorn. “And I should really throw you a party! A welcome to Ponyville and I’m sorry I scared you in a not fun way Party!” At first her voice was slow and sad, but as she spoke her voice sped up to speed that was nearly unintelligible. “Oh. I’m Pinkie Pie. I run this place when the Cakes are busy. You can call me Pinkie.”

“And I’m sorry about all of the stuff I knocked over. It’s been a really rough couple of days.”

“Nothing a little levitation spell can’t fix!” the purple pony interjects. With that, she turns to face the tables strewn on the floor and her horn begins to glow. You turn and just barely catch a glimpse, as three tables levitate upright and are placed back in their positions. “There, good as new.” She turns back to you and continues, “It’s good to see you out and about. You were pretty banged up.” You still feel pretty banged up, that’s for sure.

“Yeah, about that, I’m pretty interested in knowing what happened.” Truly, you were interested in anything that might help you figure out who you were; you had a pretty solid idea of what happened.

“Your memory hasn’t started returning yet? I know it can sometime take a long time, but it’s already been over a week.” You look to Nurse Redheart for help, and she responds for you.

“We had to almost fully regenerate the memory center of his brain. He won’t ever remember anything before the surgery.”

“Wow. I should introduce myself then. I’m Twilight Sparkle Ponyville’s librarian and personal student to Princess Celestia. Now, you're sure you want to hear about what happened? It wasn't pretty."

"As much as I just wish to be rid of it, I think I do need to know."

"Ok, but we should probably sit down, and get something to eat, then. This was the first time I’ve ever seen anything so traumatic. I could use a distraction after recounting.” Twilight seemed torn between wanting to help, and not wanting to relive the horrors of your shared past. That suggestion seemed to remind Nurse Redheart of her rampant hunger. She began to move over to the nearest table, and addressed Pinkie.

“Pinkie, can we have one Chai Latneigh, one cup of Lady Neigh Tea, one peppermint cupcake, one orange cupcake, and some chocolate, oat no-bake cookies.” You’re quite surprised; with her soft, yet toned physique you didn’t figure Nurse Redheart would put away food like a Pegasus. Following Nurse Redheart to the table, you sit down. A short while later Twilight joins you.

“So, you really are hungry, aren’t you?” Your statement was one of amazement, but you cringe as you realise that it could easily be interpreted as an insult. You nearly die as the second that follows is complete silence. As a single bead of sweat rolls down your face, Nurse Redheart simply smiles and lets out a quick laugh.

“I ordered for both of us, silly. At this point you don’t even really know what you like, let alone what they serve here. So I picked out something every pony should love. Lady Neigh Tea and an orange cupcake complement each other so well. And if all else fails, the chocolate no-bakes are amazing!”

“Fair enough, if your enthusiasm about this place is any indication of their baking skills, I’m sure I’ll love it.” You then turn to Twilight, quite anxious to possibly find out some answers about who you are. “So… What happened to me?” Twilight sighs, shifts a little, and takes a deep breath before beginning.

“Some construction ponies were building a new three story house for one of the locals here. As they were lifting a beam to the upper levels, their crane went haywire. It threw the beam into the building, and the whole structure began to come down. Applejack and I saw you fly into the rain of rubble, but never saw you come out.” Huh? “Everypony else was too busy helping the construction workers, so we went searching for you. When we found you, there was…” The memory seems to cause Twilight pain, her eyes glisten with tears. She looks away, and slowly closes her eyes. “You were completely covered in blood; I couldn’t even tell what color your coat was. I think you know the rest.” No sooner had she finished, than Pinkie arrived with your order, along with a cake. Pinkie quickly cut 3 small pieces out of the cake before picking up the rest of the cake in her hooves and eating it in one bite. Twilight took a piece of cake in her magic, and began to eat it slowly. Your mind is awash with confusion. If you were injured in a simple construction accident, why do you remember being hit by lightning?

What can I trust, if not my own mind?!

You sighed, and hung your head without realising that the orange cupcake had been placed in front of you. As such, a nose full of icing was quite a surprise, it left you coughing and sputtering. The other ponies at your table were too entranced with their food to do more than give a worried glance at you as you wiped the orange icing from your nose.

“What a silly billy, you eat with your mouth not your nose.” Pinkie chimed in. Choosing to simply ignore her, you picked up your tea in both hooves, and took a deep breath of its warm, calming aroma. Its rich, bittersweet smell warmed your body and slowed your overworked mind. You take a drink, and hold the warm liquid in your mouth, letting it wash across your tongue, allowing your mind to fully experience the complex flavor. Even after you swallow the soothing liquid it leaves a flavor in your mouth that you recognise. Your face flushes when you realise how much you enjoy the flavor of lavender, and what significance that it holds. You decide its best, for your wings, not to dwell on the thought.

“If I was just caught in a construction accident, why do I remember being hit by lightning?” You expel a quick breath from your nose as the smell of burnt feathers fills your mind. Nurse Redheart puts down her cup of Chai before speaking.

“I can probably explain that best. As I said earlier, you cannot remember anything before the surgery, which means the memory you have has to be after the fact. It is generally accepted that it is not uncommon for a pony’s mind to hallucinate while in a near death event. What you remember is probably nothing more than a dream enhanced by the fact that I had to use a defibrillator on you. Hence the lightning.” Your throat seems to tie itself in painful knots, and your eyes ache as you close them to hide the feeling in your mind.

“Since I woke in the Clinic, I have had the memory of you looking down at me red eyed with a tear running down your face burned into my mind. And one word shakes and saddens me down to the core.”

“Clear…” It comes as a whisper, barely audible, but your reaction isn’t any weaker because of it. You move your foreleg up to the table and rest your forehead against it as tandem streams of tears roll past your still closed eyes. In an attempt to save face, you try and keep control of your breathing. Slowly in, slowly out. Once you feel your emotions under your control again, you try and speak.

“I feel like a hallowed shell of a pony, filled only with sadness and fear, and I don’t know If I’ll ever be whole again.” A soft hoof presses gently against your right shoulder, and firmly turns you to face your to your right. As your right foreleg drops off the table and with your neck muscles doing nothing to compete with gravity, your head follows it down. It comes to rest on a soft, warm pony shoulder as you are pulled into a tight hug. The scent of lavender and smooth, silky mane hairs tickle your nose causing a slight smile to cross your face. Nurse Redheart’s soft voice echoes through your consciousness.

“We’ll get through this.” You’re struck completely dumb. Your mind analyzes and scrutinizes this statement over and over completely devoting itself to figure out how else that statement could have been meant. Surely, it wasn’t meant THAT way. It’s not until your chest is on fire and you begin to get light headed that you realise that you haven’t breathed in a long, long time. You gasp for air, and pull your head away from its resting position still looking down at the floor. You hear shuffling of hooves. With her forelegs still wrapped around you and yours around her, you look up and lock eyes with Nurse Redheart’s magnificent gems. Her cheeks a brighter shade of pink than the pink pony you know as Pinkie. You feel her warm breath across your face and can smell the peppermint and cinnamon left on her breath. You’re totally lost in the moment, and your mind is on fire; the sniffling of crying ponies makes its way into your consciousness. Her beautiful sapphire eyes drill into your soul and in her eyes, it seems clear as day. Even so, you can’t make the next move without knowing.

“We?” She gives a subtle nod and slowly moves in closer; you match her movements. You both close your eyes to savor every precious feeling; your entire body tingles with anticipation. You feel two sets of forelegs wrap around your back, and two more from the front side. Surprised, your eyes shoot open wide, met with Nurse Redheart’s equally flabbergasted expression. You see that all four ponies from the room are now pressed up against you in a giant group hug. They all seem oblivious, and all chime in at once.

“We want to help you get through this, too”

You close your eyes as your mind screams at itself.

BUCK!!

My Downfall

For the rest of the breakfast, time seemed to barely move. You could not figure out if it was because your head was brimming with confusion, or because everything seemed so awkward now. Pinkie, and the other two ponies, who had now introduced themselves as Lyra and Bon Bon, had joined you at your table. The conversation touched on all bases; thankfully it all didn’t revolve around you and your situation. You couldn’t help to admire how beautiful Nurse Redheart looked with her hair down, and you caught yourself staring on more than one occasion, and in one such event, you even caught her wistfully staring back at you. As your eyes locked, the entire world around you seemed to cease to exist. Awareness outside of Nurse Redheart and of the slight smile on her pink tinged face slipped away from you.

“Eh-hmm.” Your mind returns to reality, and realises you have been completely immobile, staring, for quite some time. Glancing around, you notice that everypony is looking at you. You’re quite sure you've missed something important, and beating around the bush just doesn’t feel right.

“Why is everypony staring at me?” The seafoam unicorn looked a little annoyed at you.

“Bonnie asked you a question, and you just sat there, staring off into space.”

“O—“

“Sorry,” Nurse Redheart interrupted as she shot you a quick wink. “That was probably my fault. I gave him some muscle relaxers to help with a problem we had with his wings earlier. They can have a pretty wide range of side effects, and loss of focus is definitely one of them. That being said, we should probably get back to the clinic. You can never be too safe with drugs and their side effects.”

You exchange goodbyes with the four mares, and climb to your hooves. As you begin to walk towards the exit, you realise that your legs feel something akin to how a marshmallow would feel, if it were sentient. The tinkling of the doorbell sends a chill down your spine as you exit, holding the door with your right wing for Nurse Redheart. You let the door fall back closed after she passes through, but in the process you lose your balance and stumble backward. Luckily, you are close enough where the building can catch you before you fall completely to the ground.

“Are you feeling ok?” At first, the white mare didn’t notice you fall behind, and is now quickly trotting back to you.

“My legs are just really wobbly and slow to react.” You push off the wall that you've been leaning against, and begin to walk back towards the clinic. Nurse Redheart moves to your right side, and matches your slow but steady pace. You feel her warm body press up against your side, her soft coat rubbing against your, still sensitive, abdomen. The feeling sends shivers down your legs, to the tips of your hooves.

“If you feel like you’re going to fall, you should lean on me. I don’t want you falling onto your side and hurting your wing any more than it is.” You slowly press yourself up against her side, until she supports a good portion of your weight. You’re not quite certain you would have fallen over if you didn’t rest against her, but you definitely like the warm tingly sensation that doing so brings to your body. Time no longer existed; your legs were on autopilot, your brain only processing sensations of comfort. You could feel her heart beat faster at your touch, and her chest rising and falling with each breath.

The smell of disinfectant and freshly purified air pushes its way into your nose, forcing you back to reality. Realising that you had drifted off into your thoughts again, you quickly glance around. You find yourself still leaning into Nurse Redheart as you pass through the second set of automagical doors into the Ponyville Clinic. As she leads you back to your room, you notice how frigid the clinic is; in contrast, you feel like fire is radiating through your body from her contact. Upon entering your room, Nurse Redheart motions a hoof to your bed.

“You should lie back down until the muscle relaxers wear off.” She slowly pulls away from you, so as to not cause you to lose balance. A small frown reflexively forms on your face. You walk over to the bed and quickly bury yourself in the linens, vainly hoping to bring back the warmth that has now vanished and left your body freezing. Rolling onto your right side, you can see her expertly twirl her mane into the bun that you have seen so much over the past few days. With a couple pins, retrieved from the bedside table, her mane is locked in place. She places her nursing cap onto her head before saying,

”I'll be back in a little bit; I need to fetch some supplies to take a blood sample. If that shows us your body chemistry is balanced, and you don’t have any infections, we can release you.” As she finishes, she turns to see you watching her, and a small smile and blush spreads across her face. You nod slowly; mixed feelings of fear, excitement, and sadness keep your facial expression blank. Nurse Redheart turns and leaves the room. This is a great opportunity to simply rest your mind, and you take it.

***

It’s only a few minutes before the white mare returns, carrying a tray on her back. She sets the tray down on the bedside table, places a hoof on top of a small paper package, and rips the end of it off. You can see its contents clearly; inside is a large needle with a round recess that seems to be the same size as a small vial setting next to the package. You must have a very shocked or scared expression on your face, because Nurse Redheart immediately begins trying to comfort you.

“The needle may look really big, but it won’t hurt at all.” She’s fidgeting around in a drawer in the bedside table, looking for something. “Ahh, here it is!” Her hoof withdraws from the drawer with a small red ball. She then places the ball next to your right forehoof.

“I need you to put your hoof on the ball, and in just a moment, I want you to squish it into the bed three times. On the last squish, hold your hoof down on it firmly.” You simply nod in agreement. She grabs a large elastic band from the tray, and in a blur of both forehooves, she ties it tightly around your foreleg just above the knee. A small square paper pouch is retrieved from the tray on your bedside table. Nurse Redheart rips it open, takes the small cloth from inside, and rubs it on your foreleg just above your fetlock. It leaves a tingly, cool sensation behind.

“Ok, go ahead and squish on the ball,” she says, before grabbing the needle in her mouth. You oblige, and pump your forehoof on the ball three times, holding pressure on the ball on the last motion. She moves closer to your appendage with a look of stark determination on her face; you find it oddly endearing. As much as you’d love to continue to admire her in her element, that needle is really bucking big, and you press your eyes shut, awaiting some intolerable amount of pain. The sensation of her warm breath across your coat sends a shiver through your entire body. Moments pass, and before long, the warmth subsides from your foreleg. Opening your eyes, you can see Nurse Redheart as she pulls the elastic band away.

“That wasn’t bad was it? Putting the needle in scares pretty much everypony, but this next part is easy. I just have to put this vial into the syringe in your foreleg, and the vacuum pressure in it will suck some of your blood into it.” Looking down at the apparatus embedded in your flesh, you watch as Nurse Redheart pushes the small vial into it. In less than two seconds the vial is full; she pulls the syringe and vial out, and places them on the tray. Moving quickly, the white pony grabs a square of gauze from the tray, and presses it onto a small drop of blood that now rests atop your foreleg. A piece of white medical tape is then placed over it, holding it in place.

“Ok, you can let go of the ball now. It will take about 4 hours for us to go through this and make sure everything is normal. If you get hungry, there is a small cafeteria down the hall that you can get something to eat in. I’ll come back to see you with the results.” You simply nod in acknowledgement; your mind is still addled by the fear of the fact that in a short while, you may be ejected into a world you know nothing about, with nothing to call your own. Nurse Redheart places the tray onto her back, and leaves the room.

***

Nurse Redheart had barely made it into the hallway before she heard the familiar voice of her insufferable sister, Nurse Tenderheart.

“Soooo, how’d it go?” The blue pony took up a position aside her, and they walked towards the lab together. Nurse Redheart decided to take her co-worker’s vague question to her advantage.

“The new anaesthetic, disinfectant wipes worked like a charm. I don’t think he felt the needle at all.” A sly grin spread across the white mare’s face, as an exasperated sigh was drawn from her prey.

“You know that’s not what I mean.” Nurse Tenderheart responded in a tone that clearly showed her lack of amusement.

“Oh, so you must have meant the experimental vacuum vial, then?” It was becoming hard for Nurse Redheart to keep a straight face, especially when the blue pony facehoofed too forcefully.

“Yes, I meant the vials that cost the clinic 5 times as many bits as the normal vials, which work just as well. I wasn’t thinking, at all, of the breakfast you spent with a patient that you feel attracted to. In fact, that was the last thought on my mind.” Her voice was muffled from the hoof that was now rubbing her sore muzzle, but she should probably get an award for sarcasm. Nurse Redheart didn’t think it was possible to sound as sarcastic as she did.

“The breakfast? Oh, it completely slipped my mind.” Grinning widely, Nurse Redheart turned to regard her sister, met with a blank look.

“You know, you really are the worst kind of pony.” A smile emerging as the blue mare responded. Nurse Redheart waved a dismissive hoof.

“Psh, you know you love your dear sister.”

“I’m not so sure of that anymore,” the blue nurse deadpanned. Nurse Redheart stopped in her tracks, a look of shock on her face. Her sister turned to face her, and burst out into laughter at the sight. Nurse Redheart pushed her way past the, still giggling, nurse into the lab.

The room was the same cold, Spartan design as the rest of the clinic. However, this room was full of many different types of magical machines that could do any number of things, from analysing blood or tissue, to zapping various bacteria or viruses out of existence. In this case the nurse was here to do the former. She began with her tedious work of separating the blood sample into multiple different tubes, placing specific solutions into each one, and placing some into machines and others into a refrigerator. Hoofclops alerted her that her sister had most likely regained control of her legs after her bout of uncontrolled laughter.

“Y-you, just left me out there, I was laughing hard enough that I could have suffocated. How could you do that?” The blue mare’s voice came from the doorway, bathed in an overdramatized tone. They both knew this wasn’t medically possible.

“At least that would rid me of your constant badgering about my love life.” Nurse Redheart joked as the blue mare walked up beside her. The response from her sister was the complete opposite, her expression showed concern and her tone was serious.

“Honey, I ‘badger’ you about your love life because you don’t have one. Hay, you schedule yourself for 18 hour shifts when there are plenty of other nurses to cover the ward.”

“But one of us should always be here—“ The blue mare seemed a more than a bit annoyed by her sister’s stubbornness.

“We might be the head nurses, but we don’t always have to be here. The doctors are more than able to advise the other nurses, who aren’t completely helpless by the way, what to do if we’re gone.” Nurse Redheart let out a defeated sigh, but continued to work on her task of analysing the blood sample.

“So, what then? You want me to marry the first pony I see?” Her voice took up a defensive tone.

“Don’t go overboard. I just want you to take time, get your head on straight and give ponies a chance. Ever since that friend of yours—“ Nurse Redheart’s hoof interrupted her sister as she grabbed her shoulder and spun her around until they were face to face, mere inches separating them.

“He wasn’t just a friend!!” She yelled indignantly. “He was the only pony I ever loved! And I never got to tell him…” Her voice cracking up and fading into a squeal as her eyes welled with tears. Nurse Tenderheart grabbed her with both forehooves and pulled her into a tight hug.

“That’s exactly my point.” The blue mare’s voice was soft, and she could feel the cool, moisture of her sister’s tears run through her coat. “It’s been over five years, and you haven’t really showed any emotion since then. Even when our Gram passed, you never shed a tear.”

“When he died, I locked myself in my room for days. At first I cried like a foal, and then I tried to distract myself from my feelings by reading all of the books in my room. I found a book by a pony named Ebon Mane called Merely a Mare; when I first started to read it, it was just a hole to bury my mind in. But there was a paragraph at the end of the second chapter that made so much sense at the time. My heart had been utterly ripped from my chest, and here was a set of directions to prevent it from happening again. I still carry that page with me.” Nurse Redheart broke the embrace, and reached a hoof up to remove her nursing cap. The blue pony could see a small square of paper tucked away against the forward face of the hat. It was removed and set down on the table infront of them. Nurse Tenderheart could see that this page had been through a lot of wear. The edges were frayed, as if ripped hastily out of the book in which it once resided, the paper was discoloured from age, and there were many creases in the paper.

Before the blue mare finished reading the passage, Nurse Redheart hung her head disappointedly and continued to explain herself. “Even after I closed my heart off from the world, it took all my willpower not to collapse into a ball of helpless, sobbing pony when we buried Gram. We spent most of our foalhood with her. Once I was alone after Gram’s funeral, I cried for hours. I felt like I betrayed her by not showing my sadness when we said goodbye for the last time.” Nurse Redheart collapsed down onto her haunches, and her head hung so low that now her runny nose nearly rubbed the floor.

“You didn’t betray her; we all mourn in our own ways. As long as you remember all of the things she taught us when we were growing up you honor her.” Nurse Tenderheart sat on her haunches next to her sobbing sister, and nuzzled her affectionately. “I want you to go home tonight, after your shift, and figure out what you need to do to make yourself happy. Take as much time as you need, but I’ll tell you now that I’m scheduling a full rotation this week without you in it. So don’t bother coming back before then.” They sat there for a few minutes; the only sounds in the room were the slowing sounds of crying. It then shifted to the sound of loud, unsteady breathing and sniffling before turning into complete silence.

“We still need to finish up the blood tests, and we still have a long way to go.” Nurse Tenderheart’s voice broke the silence. “I’ll start working on the samples in the fridge, you finish up here. Ok?”

“Yeah.” The white nurse’s voice was still shaky, and her bloodshot eyes nearly matched her mane color.

The two sisters toiled on, testing and checking the life sustaining liquid. It would take them nearly 3 more hours to finish, and when they finished with their tedious work, they parted ways. Nurse Redheart began her walk back to her patient's room prepared to give the best, or worst, news of his conscious life.

***

You ran out of things to do a long time ago. For a while, you bounced the ball, that was used earlier, against the wall opposite your bed. It took a bad hop and now rests over near the wall somewhere. You definitely can’t be bothered to get up and get it; you’re way too bored for that. Fortunately, the clinic has speakers in each room tied into a radio that is playing quiet and calming music. Unfortunately, it’s still way too early in the day to consider sleeping, and that's all this music makes you want to do. Especially considering you’ve been lying here, in bed, most of the day. At least you’ve been given some thinking time, but, to be honest, thinking is still the last thing you want to do. The more traumatic memories of your death on the operating table, and the resultant delirium seem a bit farther away now. Regardless, the fact that you still have no name and no established life here in Ponyville weighs heavily on your confidence.

The door to your room opening grants you a respite from your failed attempt at not thinking about your situation. You are unsurprised to see Nurse Redheart come into your room, a spring in her step and her expression is absolutely beaming. It’s pretty obvious what she is here to say.

“So, good news then?” You ask, looking to confirm your suspicion. You’d really like to tell her how beautiful she looks, right now, and how her mane complements her radiant, blue eyes. The white mare makes her way to your bedside, and you rein your thoughts in before they take a turn for something unbecoming. Nurse Redheart’s smile grows even larger as she nods her head and a small ‘squee’ escapes her mouth.

“Good news, indeed. We did a full work up on your blood,” Her voice trailed off a bit for this next part. ”and aside from a few chemicals you don’t normally see during a blood test,” You raise an eyebrow, inquiringly. ”everything was 100% normal.” Seeing this, she put extra emphasis on the last portion.

“Uhm… That middle part. Some chemicals?” The white mare’s face lights up a pale shade of pink and she looks away to her hooves. It really was adorable to watch. After a moment, her voice returns, and she explains quietly.

“Your brain releases all types of chemicals during the course of a day. Each one has a different cause and effect. Your blood happened to be carrying some that indicate…” She trailed off into a mumble at the last second, still staring at her fidgeting hooves.

“I didn’t catch that last part. It’s not, bad, is it?” You inquire, a bit nervous now. She quickly looks up at you and shakes her head, her face still tinged with pink.

“No, it’s not. They show… attraction or more specifically…” Her voice trails off again as her face flushes a brighter pink than her mane. “Uhmm… arousal.” Your eyes shoot open so far that you are convinced your eyelids have actually retreated totally into your skull. Trying to hide your embarrassment and oncoming blush, you quickly roll over to face away from the nurse.

“You know, I didn’t realise how desperately tired I was until just now. I think I need a nap.” You spit out quickly, hoping it is convincing. Closing your eyes, you begin to make exaggerated sounds of sleep. A few moments pass as you continue your act, but you are beginning to think she wasn't fooled by your, clearly, magnificent theatrical skills. A soft hoof grips your shoulder and rolls you back over gently. Your heart races as you struggle to keep up your charade until the very end. A captain goes down with his ship, after all. Warm air rushes over your face in waves, and the smell of lavender prevails on these warm winds.

WAIT A SECOND!

Your eyes shoot open just I time to see Nurse Redheart’s half-lidded eyes slide closed as her lips meet yours. Lightning courses through your body, moving from your lips to the tips of your hind hooves. Your eyes lazily slide closed. Her silken lips moving over yours pushes any fear or doubt to the farthest reaches of your psyche. After the initial shock wears off, you find yourself kissing her back.

Updraft

Your heart is racing faster than a Wonderbolt, and your lungs feel like they are going to explode. Still, you dare not pull back for fear that this magnificent act will never happen again. The feeling of hope, joy, and comfort overwhelm all of the discomfort of your body urging you to break away from the paradise of Nurse Redheart’s lips. It’s not until your head starts to spin, that you dare to break the kiss.

“Wow.” The words come from the white mare’s mouth as a breathless whisper, barely audible over the quiet song playing through the radio’s speaker. Opening your eyes, you are met with the sight of her radiant sapphires, glistening with tears. Her hoof is pressed up against her lips. The look of surprise and amazement on her face brings a small smile to your face and makes your head feel light enough to float off your neck. Her expression quickly changes, and before you are able to ascertain what it means, your stomach is forcefully jabbed with her hoof. The force of the impact makes your body try and cough, but with no air in your lungs, it is more like a dry heave.

“BREATHE!”

Without missing a beat, Nurse Redheart presses her lips against your open mouth and exhales, forcing her warm, sweet breath past your tongue and into your lungs. Possibly knowing what happens next, she quickly pulls away. As soon as her lips left your mouth, you bury your muzzle into the bed and begin to cough. When that had passes, you gulp in as much air as physiologically possible. After a few more fits of coughing, the pain of your burning lungs begins to recede. The fear in Nurse Redheart's eyes was something that brought extreme guilt to your heart.

Her voice echoes through your mind.

Clear…

She opens and closes her mouth a twice, as if she is trying to speak but is unable. The white mare takes a slow, deep breath before trying again.

“Please, don’t… Don’t do that to me. I can’t watch you die again…” Before you can even think about it, your body decides to rush forward, pulling her into a tight hug, and pressing your face deeply into on her shoulder.

“I’m so sorry, so sorry…” you mutter into her coat, hoping her silky fur will hide how truly upset you are. The white mare’s warmth envelopes you as she leans in and nuzzles your neck gently. After a moment, you pull away from her, leaving a wet, matted spot in her coat. You then retract your body from the awkward angle it had assumed, hanging wildly off the clinic bed. It takes a considerable amount of adjustment to get yourself comfortable again; you finally come to rest, mostly, on your back. Upon finishing your readjustments, you watch as Nurse Redheart pulls a floor cushion over to your bedside and proceeds to sit upon it.

“Have you thought about what you are going to do, now that you are free to leave the clinic?” A pang of fear creeps back into your heart.

“I’ve been trying to avoid thinking at all, let alone thinking of what I might do in a world I don’t even know. In the end, I think I’ll just have to get a job wherever I can. I don’t have a place to stay or any money to rent a place, but after being dead, I guess it’s not that bad, right?”

“I’m pretty sure that dead is the worst it can get, but having not experienced it, I can’t say for sure.On a happier note, I think you need to find out what your special talent is. Nearly everypony around here has a job, at least, relating to what they do best. My nursing staff, myself included, has a knack for caring for hurt ponies. Twilight Sparkle has a special talent for learning magic. Naturally, she is the librarian. Et Cetera. Ponyville would be a much worse place if ponies were stuck at jobs they hated, just so they could survive.”

“So, basically I’m a full grown stallion and a foal at the same time.” You let out a long sigh, not sure you’ll ever shake this hopelessness. The white mare beside you seems more than a little annoyed at your response.

“You really need to shake this mood of yours, and I need this bed for another patient. Go to the spa next door, get a massage, and have a mineral bath. If you tell them I sent you, they’ll do it gratis.”

“Aren’t spas where mares go to get beautified? Not sure they do stallions.”

“They are a lot more than just some beauty salon. Mares, stallions, colts, fillies, it doesn’t matter, they can help anyone relax. Just trust me and go.”

***

The jingling of a doorbell startles you as you enter the Luxury Lotus Spa; at least, that’s what the pink and blue sign out front says. “Why does everypony have a bell on their door?” You mutter to yourself, a bit cross at it for the image of a knife sunk into your flesh that it conjured in your head. The spa is a relatively small building; its walls are coated in a dark blue stucco finish, with periwinkle accents. The décor is accented with multi-colored filigree, and large, tropical potted plants are scattered throughout the room.

“Welcome to ze Lux—“ You swear that you can hear the sound of a jaw hitting the floor. Behind the spa counter is a Cyan mare with a pink mane pulled back behind a white headband, her mouth is agape. She blinks a few times before quickly resuming her introduction. “Ze Luxuree Lotus Spa, Je m’appelle Lotus… Euhhh… Forgeeve me for being deerect, but what happened to you?”

You figured this would come up sooner, rather than later. On the short walk from the clinic, which happens to be next door to the spa, you were pelted by 4 cherry pies. Luckily, they weren’t fresh out of the oven, and most of your skin survived the assault of the hot pie filling that was now dripping off you and onto the floor. “A very ditzy mailmare dropped her delivery of pies on me. Luckily it wasn’t anything that could have killed me. I’ve been through that once already.” The grey mare had been very apologetic about the whole incident, and you decided that it would be in your best interest to forgive her and get as far away from her as possible, preferably indoors. Or underground.

“Really?” The cyan spa pony seemed be considering whether or not you were exaggerating your claim. “Eef we leeve zat cherry all over you, eet is sure to stain your coat. Might I recommend a meeneral bath? Eet is very relaxing, has many benefits, and, most of all, weell get that pie feeling out of your coat.” The spa pony was beaming as she finished her recommendation, and her eagerness to help you relax was very convincing.

“I was actually sent here by Nurse Redheart. She told me that I should visit your mineral baths, and then have a massage. She told me that it would help the swelling in my body go down.”

“Very good, I weell show you to the baths, then.” You follow the blue spa pony as she moves from behind the counter, and leads you down a hallway dotted by many separate rooms and closed doors. As you move farther down the hallway, the temperature and humidity rise; it is obvious that the sauna and hot baths are getting closer. Lotus comes to a stop, and opens a door near the end of the hallway. You can see that at the end of the hallway is a large room that seems to be radiating heat. Looking back to Lotus, she is extracting a bathrobe and a set of very plush looking towels from a large trot-in closet. She closes the door, and leads you further down the hallway, into the large room at its end. As you enter the room, you can see that the left half of the room is dotted by mudbaths, sunken into the floor. The other half of the room has several large, steaming in-floor baths with crystal clear water. Directly ahead of you, the wall is no longer blue stucco, it is raw hardwood that gives off a reflective sheen, and has a single wooden door in it.

Lotus moves over to one of the baths, places the towels on a bathside table, and hangs the robe on a small hook. “Thees weell be your bath, just relax and let the water wash away your worries. Please be careful getting een the water ees very hot. My seester, Aloe, weell come by to get you when eet ees time for your massage.”

“Thank you,” you say with a nod. The blue spa pony returns your gesture, and leaves the room, presumably going back to the lobby.

Moving over to the bath, you prod the water with a hindhoof, testing its temperature. Just as you were warned, it feels something like lava mixed with plasma from the heart of Celestia’s Sun. Or at least, that’s the first thing that popped into your mind as you quickly pulled your hoof away from the offending liquid. Surmising that the nice spa ponies would not heat the water to a point that it would harm their patrons, you return your hoof to the water slowly. Keeping your hoof submerged in the water, the pain turns into comfort, and soon you find yourself dipping both of your rear hooves into the soothing substance. Slowly, the warm embrace draws your body in further and further, until you are submerged up to your neck. You let out a slow, relaxed sigh as you move slowly over to an area of the bath that seems to be designed where you can comfortably lie on your back. There is even a small pillow built into the tiling around the bath. It doesn’t take long to move yourself into a comfortable position. Lying there, the heat of the water relaxes your mind and body. Soon, your eyes drift closed, and your mind can only focus on the rhythmic beating of your own heart.

***

Muffled words bring you back into consciousness. Your eyes feel like lead, but you slowly pry them open. Bright white light momentarily blinds you, as you vision returns to normal, the figure of a pony comes into view. The entire world around you is cast in an indistinct haze; the small room you are in seems familiar, its nondescript white walls somehow common feeling. Even this bed you are laying in is just a white haze. White linens, white bed, white everything. Unintelligible, muffled words draw your attention back to the pony in the room with you. Turning to face the figure, you can see that the pony in front of you is... White. *Beep…* HA. The first definitive thing in this world. *Beep* A warm feeling is momentarily brought to your heart as you look over the pony in front of you. Her pastel pink mane is pulled back into a tight bun, and partially hidden under her nursing cap. She’s now right in front of you. *Beep* More muffled words meet your ears, this time your body seems to react without your mind’s action. You can feel as your mouth moves, and hear as sounds escape your mouth. What your brain processes, though, is too homogenous to understand. It’s strange then, how the white pony reacts to what you sensed to be completely incomprehensible. She places a hoof to her mouth and lets out a series of feminine giggles that send warmth to the very core of your being. *Beep* You can see her move over to a table at your bedside, she retrieves a small quill-light from a drawer. Placing her forehooves onto your bed, she leans in close to you. A sweet floral scent graces your weakened senses. Flipping her quill-light on, she shines it directly into one eye before pulling it away. This action repeats a couple of times, and then moves on to your other eye. *Beep* She finishes her examination, makes a note on your chart at your bedside, and begins to leave the room. Once again, you can feel your mouth moving, and sounds escaping, but you can only make out two words.

“…, Nurse Redheart.”

“You should go back to sleep. Your body really needs the rest right now.”

As the white mare moves toward the exit of your small room, she turns back, a smile on her face, and gives you a small wave goodbye. A wave of blissful warmth permeates your entire body, this time it does not fade. It’s embrace lulls you back into the abyss of sleep.

***

The piercing scream of a panicked mare pulls your mind into cognizance. Startled, your body tries to jump from its resting place, even before your eyes can pull themselves open, but your limbs are held firm by something you can only describe as impenetrable Jello. Behind it lies an immeasurable, unyielding force, but it is ever shifting and flows like water. When your confused and addled mind finally forces your eyes open, the world is cast in a pastel purple haze. With a powerful thud, your body strikes the ground, but no sensation of pain or discomfort accompanies the act of being forcefully placed on your back on the cold tile floor. The world begins to return to its normal colors; the dissipating purple aura lingers longer in some spots than others.

“…bealivePleasebealivePleasebealive...” You immediately recognize the voice of Twilight Sparkle, repeating the same three words endlessly over and over. Her deep purple mane crosses in and out of your vision quickly; looking down towards your body, you can see her head is facing away from you as she quickly presses her right ear against your chest. The purple pony pulls her head away from your body, and turns to face you. As your eyes meet hers, she jumps quickly jumps back a few hooves; with a small yelp, she stops her repetitive babbling.

“Twilight, what’s—“ Seemingly realising that you were, indeed, alive, she rushes you and quickly wraps you in a hug. Her blabbering starts up again, this time she’s repeating

“…Thankyouthankyouthankyou…”

“Twilight,” you say as you try to pull away from her attack hug. Unfortunately, you are pressed between the tile floor, and the purple unicorn that is pretty much laying on top of you.

“…Thankyouthankyouthankyou…”

“TWILIGHT!!” The prattling purple pony proceeds to pull herself back to her hooves. Once her body is no longer pressed up against your own, you begin to right yourself as well. Twilight points her horn at you, and it lights up with her lavender aura. As the points her horn at different parts of your body a tingling sensation accompanies her magic. Her horn lingers longer on your wing than anywhere else, the tingling giving way to a cool, soothing feeling. When she is satisfied, she sits on her haunches and nervously hangs her head just below her shoulders.

“I’m sorry for waking you like that, but when I saw you laying there in the bath. The water looked so much l-like…like… Just look at it!” As you finish clamouring to your hooves, your eyes meet the dark red pool of liquid that you had been resting in. There are multiple trails of the crimson liquid that lead over into another small pool directly below your, still dripping wet, body. Looking back to Twilight, you trace a tiny pool of clear liquid back up to her sad, teary eyes. The loud clamour of hooves can be heard from the hallway leading to the large common bath area.

“Twilight, you have nothing to be sorry for. That is the second time you came rushing to try and save my life. And here I am, after being crushed beneath a building. Alive and, for the most part, well.” You hear a quiet sniffle come from the purple unicorn as she raises her head, a solemn expression on her face.

A pink mare emerged from the hallway and slid to a halt on the slick tile flooring. “I heard a scream, ees everypony alright?” Catching sight of the pink mare caused you to do a double take. Her voice was nearly identical to Lotus, the spa pony that you met earlier, her mane was styled in the same pulled back look, and she wore the same white headband and necklace. Her eyes were even the same deep azure, but her colors were completely reversed. Where Lotus was cyan with a pink mane and tail, this pony was pink with a cyan mane and tail.

“Everypony is fine, Aloe. I just got a little frightened when I saw the bathwater he was in.” The pink spa pony jumped a little when she saw the crimson pool.

“Sacreblue! Lotus told me of your, strange, entrance. You must have been covered from head to hoof een cherry feeling to cause the water to be that color.” Aloe immediately moved to the towels left by Lotus on the bathside table, giving one to you to dry yourself off, and pushing the second around with a forehoof to dry the floor. Twilight stood, and regarded you.

“I read in Egghead’s Guide to Mental Stress that one of the best ways to cope with these kinds of events is to talk about them. I think it would be best, for both of us, if you were come speak to me at the library. It’s the only enormous oak tree in town that has been made into a building. You can’t miss it. In the meantime, I need to go speak with my good friend Rainbow Dash about a book that is well overdue.” On the last word, a few strands of Twilights well groomed mane sprung up out of place and her voice took on an inflection that you could only describe as menacing. You waved goodbye as the purple mare left, now a little apprehensive about visiting the library.

Drying yourself off with the plush towel that was given to you was a quick affair, all the moisture in your coat seemed to leap at the chance of being absorbed by its abundant softness. Pulling the towel over your head, you use a hoof to dry your mane. Aloe is standing in front of you, a hoof held out to take the towel once you are done drying your mane. As you hoof it over, she motions to follow her, and drops both towels into a hamper by the hallway she leads you into.

“Those wet bandages should be removed from your eenjured wing. Een that state, they can cause a sereeohs eenfection.” About half way down the hallway leading back to the waiting room, the pink spa pony leads you into one of the side rooms. The room is the same color as the rest of spa, but one wall is lined with a single row of polished hardwood cabinets, and has a cushy looking, white table in the middle. “Please get up on the table, there. I’m going to get some seezors to cut those bandages off.” Moving onto the table, the firm padding supports your body, and provides comfort no matter how you move.

“Are you sure you should be using scissors around my wing? You could clip a feather.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not just a spa pony and masseuse. I’m also a licensed Chiropractor, and that means I went to at least as much Medeecal School as anypony that works een the cleeneec next door.“ The pink spa pony sits at your side, placing a small set of angled scissors on the table next to you. Aloe grabs your wing gently in her hooves, and begins to unfold it. Surprisingly, this time, there is no pain; your muscles just feels a little stiff. Grabbing the scissors precariously in her mouth, the spa pony places them under the bandages at the apex of your wing. She carefully moves down your wing, snipping the bandages. She stops when she reaches the point that your primaries attach to your flesh. Using her hooves, she peels the sopping wet cloth away, revealing your scarred, dishevelled wing. She retrieves a small towel and pats the appendage dry. As the cyan maned pony puts the wet towel in an aptly placed hamper, your curiosity gets the better of you. You slowly move your wing through its natural range of motion. When that yields no pain, you give it a good flap. The muscles seem sore, but the sharp pains you felt earlier today are curiously gone.

“Looks like you are happy to get that wing back een action.” You hadn’t realised that a massive grin had formed on your face until the pink spa pony brought it up.

“Yeah. I guess I am. Now that I think about it, it feels really good. It’s...” You pause for a moment to try and put your thoughts into sentences. “After all I’ve been through, having my body, in its entirety, back gives me the one thing I think I need right now. It gives me… hope.”

“We should start your massage. Eet’s getting close to closing time. Lay your head down and we weell get started. And Eef you don’t mind, I’d like to hear what happened to you. Some extraordinary tales have been floating around about the nameless colt from the clinic. Although, eef you do not want to talk about eet, eet‘s none of my business anyway. I’m just cureeohs.” As you laid down completely on the soft table, her hooves moved up to your back and began to firmly rub away any remaining tension in your muscles. It took a non-trivial amount of consideration before you decided to tell Aloe about what happened to you. But this event was something you wanted to put behind you. Twilight had told you that one of the best ways to heal from a traumatic event was to talk about it. Something about her made you believe that she was right about that statement, too.

So as Aloe kneaded at your stressed and neglected muscles, you told her what you remembered of your accident, and what Twilight had told you that she had witnessed. As you regaled her with your story of life, and death her hooves moved from your back to the sore sides of your torso. At first the gentle pressure brought discomfort, but soon you could feel the swelling reduce and the soreness go away. You notice that part way through your story Aloe that has finished with her massaging, but she sits attentively on a floor cushion listening to your tale. When you get to the more recent portions of the story, you knowingly skip a few portions about Nurse Redheart.

“Nurse Redheart really does like you, then?” The pink spa mare leads you back down the hallway towards the entrance to the spa.

“Yeah,” you say before the weight of the question sinks in. “At least I think so.”

“And you really like her?”

Something had changed inside you. It’s almost as if some weight was lifted from your mind, freeing you to come to the realisation. “Without a doubt.” Everything Nurse Redheart has done for you played back through your mind.

The first time you saw her face, her head silhouetted by the bright medical lamp behind her. Her eyes were red, and a single tear ran down her cheek. That time she checked on you while you were still recovering from your concussion. Her smile. Her laugh. Her fear and sadness when she told you of your memories being lost forever. The comfort she gave when you were scared. The warmth that rushed through your body from her touch. The raging inferno that her kiss ignited in your soul.

After a moment, Aloe’s soft voice breaks through the waves of bliss playing through your mind.

“Good… She deserves a good stallion.” You’re still not so sure you fit the bill, but you’ll be damned it you aren’t even going to try.

“You know, everypony keeps telling me that I’m a good stallion, but I don’t even know who I am. How can you all be so sure of it?”

“Call eet a mare’s intueetion.” You let out a sigh at the spa mare’s failure to give a real answer to your question. Even so, nothing seems to weigh on you. Your memories have kindled a wildfire in your heart that cannot be quelled. As you re-enter the waiting room, you see a white mare sitting on a floor cushion near the far wall. Her pink mane down over her right shoulder and a copy of Cosmarepolitan held in front of her face.

Propelled by your wings, you make a running leap across the room. Your heart is racing faster than a marathon runner. As you reach the unsuspecting mare, you give a powerful beat of your wings to bring a halt to your momentum. The powerful gust of wind given off blows the magazine completely out of Nurse Redheart’s hooves, revealing her beautiful blue eyes wide with surprise. You firmly press your body up against her, pushing her back a few inches and up against the wall. When you stop, your face is only an inch away from her. Her ragged breath can be felt over your nose, bringing with it the sweet scent of lavender.

“Hey,” you say as calmly as possible.

“H-hi—“ Before she can finish, you press your lips softly against hers. The fiery passion in your heart rages with heat that can only be compared to Celestia’s sun. Your tongue presses past her partially open lips exploring her mouth. The taste of her saliva, the motion of her chest rising and falling with each breath, and the racing of her heart felt through her chest all serve to cause your wings to stand completely rigid, fully splayed out for the world to see. You feel the white mare’s hooves wrap around your neck, pulling you deeper into the kiss. Her tongue moves out to meet your own. Placing a hoof on her side, you run it gently down her body until you reach her cutie mark. This causes the content mare to moan into your mouth, a sensation that you are sure you will always enjoy. You venture to break the kiss, and quickly try and catch your breath. Nurse Redheart simply sits there, with blissful expression on her face. She nuzzles your face and whispers into your ear.

“That was amazing.” You tend to agree. A loud crash from behind the counter draws your combined attention. A cyan mane followed by a pink pony’s face comes into view from below the counter.

“Sorry! Treeped over a trash been.” The spa pony bent back down, seemingly to right the toppled trash can. Motioning for the door with your head you lead the white pony outside. “Bye, you two!” Aloe’s voice follows you out as the door closes.

During your time in the spa, Luna raised her moon, and the cool air of a spring night descended on the land. Sporadic clouds dot the sky, punctuating the endless number of twinkling lights of Luna’s night with pure darkness. You love the cool, damp feeling of the air as it passes through your nose.

“Sorry for, uhh… For lack of a better phrase, mouth-raping you in there.”

The usual confidence of the white mare seemed to crack a little. “It’s ok. I’ve never been kissed like that before, but I really liked it. What made you do it?”

“The short version is that I got talking to Aloe during the massage. It made me run over every minute of my life. I can’t really describe what I felt, but the best way is a fire burning in my heart. Excitement about the next time I’d see you, and fear that I never would. And because those descriptions were nothing compared to what I feel, I had to show you the only way I knew possible.” The white mare leans in and shares a short kiss with you, this one much more tender than the last. A shiver makes its way through your body as she pulls her lips away from yours. The pink maned pony presses herself up against your left side, apparently thinking the shiver she sent through your body was a sign of being cold. As the opportunity arises, you wrap your wing around her. The warmth of her body radiating into your sensitive appendage makes your head spin. As quickly as the sensation began, it ended. She pulls out from under your wing with a confused look on her face.

“You shouldn’t be using that wing yet. I imagine that has to be really painful.”

“Actually, I’m as surprised as you are. We removed the bandages after soaking in the mineral bath, and it didn’t hurt at all.”

“Pegasus bones do heal quickly, due to being hollow, but normally at this point there are sharp ridges where the bones healed together. Until they smooth out, they act a bit like a cheese grater when muscles pass over them. I’m sure you remember this morning.” You do remember this morning, and cringe at the memory. “Aloe and Lotus didn’t give you one of their ‘home remedies’ to help with the pain did they?”

“No, at least not while I was awake. Twilight Sparkle did levitate me, and then do some other magic that felt all tingly. But that’s about it.” The white mare quirked an eyebrow at this.

“Tingly? Like pins and needles followed by the feeling of cool water washing over your flesh?”

“Yes, that perfectly described it.”

“It sounds like she regenerated your wing, but we need to make sure. If she just calmed the nerves, your bone could be shredding your muscles every time you move it.” That was all the explanation you needed to keep your wing folded tightly against your body. You had only had it back for maybe an hour, and you already loved what it could do. “Let’s go visit Twilight Sparkle before it gets too late.”

***

Twilight wasn’t kidding, the tree that the library was built in was absolutely massive. Its windows exuded the light of lanterns; the brightness rising and falling as the magically sustained fire danced and shifted. Judging by the outside, this library had to be at least 6 stories tall, and housed two outdoor balconies. Not noticing that you had stopped to gawk at the architecture, Nurse Redheart had already knocked on the door. As you trotted to catch up, the door was sheathed in a familiar purple glow and flung open, revealing a quite tired looking Twilight Sparkle.

“—a quick question about my Coltfriend.” You have to supress the urge to bounce up and down, wave your forehooves in the air, and squeal like a little filly. A smile will suffice, you decide.

“Sure, come in. But please be quick, I had a rough day after the spa, and I’d like it to just be over.” You shudder, the overdue book crosses your mind.

“You said you were going to retrieve a late book from a pony named Rainbow Dash, right?” Twilight visibly sighs.

“Yes. The things I had to do to get that book back were just terrible, but she deserved it. She checked that book out 3 weeks ago. That’s overdue by two week! 14 days! A FORTNIGHT! What if somepony else wanted to read it? That pony can be so selfish sometimes. So, it was my duty to Celestia to go get that book back from her by any means necessary!” By the end of her rant, your mouth is hanging widly open at the amount of malice this pony can bring to bear over a thing as simple as an overdue book. Looking to Nurse Redheart for support, her expression is unreadable; so, after an awkward silence, you a question that you’re not sure you want the answer too.

“W-what did you do to her?”

“I had to go to her cloud-house, and pull it down to the ground with magic. Considering she keeps it over 100 hooves in the air, that was difficult. She refused to open the door. So, I turned it into steam.” Her voice carried more anger than you knew possible from such a nice looking mare. “She was clutching the book in her hooves, with it pressed up against her chest. I backed her into a corner, and I… I…” She looked dejected, her broke up on the last word, and her head hung in shame. “I had to… fine her two bits. TWO BITS! It was so horrible.” Surprised doesn’t even begin to describe what you are feeling right now.

“Twilight, I think you’re overreacting again. Remember that time with your Smarty Pants doll?” Nurse Redheart places a supportive hoof around Twilight’s withers. “There is nothing wrong with fining for overdue books. Is it any different than anypony else getting paid for what they do?”

“No, I guess it’s not.” The purple pony seems a bit less distraught over the, in your opinion, trivial matter. “So what was it that you wanted to ask me about, Nurse Redheart?” The white pony unwraps her hoof from the purple mare and moves back to your side.

“Just about a spell you cast at the spa. Did you happen to heal his wing?”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say I healed it, it was already mended. I just smoothed out the surface where the fractures had regrown. I’ve studied a lot of healing spells, but I lack the practical experience to do anything major. Even resurfacing the bone was a bit difficult.” Twilight looks at you, a glimmer of happiness in her eyes. “How does it feel?”

You push yourself into the air with a powerful flap of your wings, and hover a few hooves from the floor. “The muscles were stiff at first, but now everything feels normal.”

“We were just a little worried that maybe he just wasn’t feeling the pain, and about the possibility of the muscles getting torn on the bone.”

“Ah, the Cheese-grater effect,” Twilight interjects.

“That’s what it’s actually called?” You’re a bit bewildered.

“Well, it’s more of a technical term,” the white mare qualified.

“Do you two think it would be safe for me to go fly? It took me a little bit to figure out what it was, but ever since I got this wing back, I feel like I’ve had an urge clawing at the back of my mind to just go fly.”

“From what I read, most Pegasi have that feeling. That’s probably why you are still hovering, instead of landing. And from what I saw, your bone is good as new,” Twilight confirmed.

“And after only a week, there shouldn’t really be any atrophy. I’d say you should be fine. Just be careful,” added Nurse Redheart.

“Cool, I’ll be back in a little bit.” You land only long enough to use your legs to push your body back off the ground, flipping head-over-hooves backwards. Now with your head facing the open door and your body in a position not unlike a swimming backstroke, you use your wings to rotate your legs back under your body and propel yourself quickly outside.

Both mares are stunned at your show of athleticism. You’re long gone and will never hope to hear what they say next.

The white mare was the first recover. “Wow, he’s good.”

“Yeah, I think he’s done that before.”

A Mirror of Perfection

Glorious, it’s the only word you can use to describe this. The sheer size of Luna’s moon, as it hangs just over the horizon, is overwhelming. For some unknown reason, the normally white celestial body is instead giving off a bright orange glow. You plop down on a nearby cumulus, content just to take the sights in from its plush, cool embrace. Scooting to the edge of your heavenly bedding, a flash of light from below catches your eye. When you look down, the view that graces your eyes is indescribable. The one thing that you do know, is that everypony in the world should get a chance to see this primal beauty. But time is short, neither nature, nor heavens will wait for onlookers.

Sliding forward off of the cloud you called phil, you pull into a steep dive beating your wings as fast and powerful as possible. At this speed, the air itself seems to be fighting back against your movement. You turn your head back to take one last look at the scene you had been admiring; at this angle it is nothing out of the ordinary. As your gaze returns forward, you are surprised to see that the ground is much closer than expected. The trees of Whitetail woods are barely 50 hooves below you when you begin to pull up. The gravitational force of changing flight direction at this speed is excruciating. You can feel your muscles strain against the pressure to hold your wings outstretched. A chill is sent from the tips of your wings, all the way up your spine as cold water droplets form and are immediately blown off of the furthest tips of your longest primaries, leaving two trails of white condensation in the air behind you. When you finally level out, the sight before your eyes is a sea of endless green, blurred beyond recognition by your immense speed. Every so often the tickle of a passing leaf catches one of your hooves as you skim along the treetops back towards town.

The forest quickly gives way to the organized gridding system of a maintained orchard. You can see the plumage of the massive oak tree that is the Ponyville library before you can even see the town over large orchard trees. As you pass into Ponyville proper you dip below the rooftops, barely feet from the ground and still carrying immense speed. You swerve around a small purple bipedal fellow with an outrageous moustache; his white hat is pulled along in your wake and strikes a rear leg as you pass. When you reach, what you believe is a safe stopping distance from the library door your wings flare and you press your hooves into the ground. It’s easy to see that you misjudged your speed as your hooves slide along the dirt road towards the door of the arboreal archive. Fearing the worst, you pull your forehooves up to, hopefully, cushion your impact into the hard-wood entrance.

*THUD*

A pair of small screams come through the library door not long before it is flung open in a purple magical aura. Up until this point, you had been catching your breath and steeling your nerves with your forehooves pressed into the supportive structure. With your balance broken, it is your turn to scream, as you tumble into the library on your face.

“You should really learn to knock correctly.” Twilight’s voice emerges from a room to your right, followed abruptly by the purple magician herself. From your position on the unpolished hard-wood floor, you clearly see the two mares you left here earlier do a double take. A sigh escapes Twilight’s mouth as her horn lights up with her lavender aura. A small teacup levitates its way out of the room she had just emerged from, a trail of steam following behind it slowly. Nurse Redheart quickly trots over to you and cranes her neck down close to you.

“Are you alright?” Before you can stand up or reply, the annoyed purple pony cuts you off.

“Don’t worry about him. Between Rainbow Dash and Ditzy, pegasi crash into my library at least once a day. I can’t recall one instance when they’ve gotten injured.”

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just misjudged my speed,” you say, motioning with your head to the 25 hoof long skid mark outside the door. Twilight was pre-occupied with her tea, and couldn’t be bothered to respond. The mare of your affection, on the other hand was quite shocked.

“What had you in such a hurry?”

“I had something that I thought you would like to see. And I don’t think it will last long. We won’t be able to enjoy it from the ground, though.” You turn towards the door, motioning for the mare to climb on your back. You can feel her pulling herself up over your rump and onto your back ever so gently, as if she thinks you would break if she were more vigorous. It really is quite cute. Your mind explodes with joy when she wraps her forelegs around your neck. The warmth over her body pressed fully up against yours fills your entire being with feeling of bliss. Once the warm white mare is situated, you start into a full gallop towards the door.

“Thanks, Twilight!” The pink maned pony yelled over your shoulders as you exited the library, the door closing itself behind you.

“Hold on,” you say, unfurling your powerful wings; it only takes two flaps before you are flying back towards what you hope is still a beautiful view. Each flap of your wings propels you higher and faster, the extra weight of Nurse Redheart’s lean body is barely noticeable. As your altitude increases, so does the strength of the white mare’s grip around your neck. You can feel her heart racing, and the uneasy quivering of her breathing. When she presses her head firmly into your neck, you slow your pace considerably. “You’re afraid of heights aren’t you?” The only answer you get is her face sliding up and down the sensitive hairs on your neck. It’s difficult supress your laughter from her unintentional tickling, but it’s hard to imagine how much it would hurt if she thought you were laughing at her fear.You wrap your forelegs around hers, gripping them firmly. “I won’t let anything happen to you.” Her grip tightens and then loosens at your reassurance. Reaching the far edge of the whitetail woods, you begin spiralling upwards in order to reach the cumulus you were resting on earlier. It’s not long before you are, once again, standing near the edge of the puffy cloud; the natural scene of perfection before your eyes doesn’t seem to have changed at all. In fact, you’d swear that the mare in the moon just winked at you.

“Our night is for lovers.” A regal mare’s voice pushes into your consciousness. Quickly, you look around and see nopony else around. Just you and the white mare pressed up against your back, her eyes tightly shut. You turn back to her and nuzzle her face softly.

“We’re here. It would be a shame if we came all this way and you didn’t at least open your eyes to see what I wanted to show you.” Hopefully that was as comforting as it sounded in your head. You gently lay down on the wisp of cool water vapour below you, and rest your head on your forehooves content to take in the situation. The dichotomy of sensations at this moment is amazing; on one side of your body, the cool embrace of your heavenly cushion, and on the other the endless warmth provided by the mare on top of you. Nurse Redheart begins to shimmy around on your back, loosening her grip on your neck and scooting backwards off your flank.

“Wait!” you yell as you flare your wings, and grip onto her forhooves tightly with your own. “We’re up on a cloud, very high in the air.”

“Calm down, Twilight cast a spell on me that allows me to interact with clouds like a Pegasus for a day.” Her voice was unexpectedly composed for a pony that nearly choked you earlier, even though you wouldn’t admit it.

“And you trust her?”

“She’s Princess Celestia’s star pupil. When it comes to magic, everypony trusts her.”

“Ok,” you concede, “but be careful, it’s really easy to lose your footing and fall.” The white nurse continues to slowly slide off of your back until all four hooves are firmly resting against the cloud. You watch her every movement. Thankfully, she is taking your advice to heart, and is slowly moving up beside you staring at her hooves the whole way.

“This is like walking on Jello,” she says as she lays down next to you. “Ooh! Its cold!” The white mare sidles tightly up to you, shivering. You wrap your wing around her, even tucking the tip under her belly.

“You know, I didn’t bring you up here for you to fidget around with the cloud all night.” While you did find her poking and prodding of the cloud adorable, the moon wouldn’t wait forever.

“But I’ve never seen a cloud up close before, let alone sit or lay on one.”

“And you’ll probably never see something like that again.” Stretching a hoof out, you point at the scene that still brings awe to you. When the white mare finally pulls her gaze from the white wisp below you, a gasp of amazement reaches your ears. Surrounded by a sea of twinkling stars, Luna’s moon is larger than it’s ever seemed to be; it must cover half of the western sky. Its orange glow bathes the landscape in light not unlike a candle’s. Looking down further, a large, pristine lake has formed at the end of a small river running down from the Swayback mountains. The mirror like surface of the water perfectly reflects the moon’s image. Directly below you, a field of grass slopes sharply away from the highland lake shielding it from the light of the moon, giving the illusion of blackness. In the shadows, hundreds of fireflies flash before your eyes. Above you, and below you are mirror images of the wonders of Luna’s Night.

“I think I understand why you like the night so much, now.” The white mare beside you finally broke her trance, but her statement leaves you confused.

“What do you mean? I do enjoy this, but this is the first time I’ve ever been outside during the night.”

“This morning, when I told you that you talk in your sleep, you were talking about how beautiful the night sky was. It sounded like something a poet would write.”

“Hm. I guess my brain knew I enjoyed this even before I knew... Still, any pleasure I get from this,” You motion a hoof infront of you. “is infinitesimal compared to what I feel when I look at you.”

“You said that too.”

“Oh… Well, I guess my brain knew it before I did.” The mare at your side lets out a short giggle at your repetition.

“You know, that was really corny.” You’re not quite sure if she was kidding, and let out a quiet sigh as your heart sinks a little.

“I know, but it’s the truth,” you say, meekly.

“And that didn’t really help.” This time, her light-hearted tone doesn’t even register in your mind. Disappointed in yourself for thinking that this was a good idea, you turn your head away from the mare beside you and place it back onto your forehooves.

“Yeah. Maybe this whole thing is a bit corny.” Not wanting to see the world around you anymore, you let your eyes drift closed.

“It’s ok, I think it’s beautiful. It was a sweet gesture.” As Nurse Redheart softly speaks, she nuzzles your neck reassuringly.

“Really?” Pulling your head off of your hooves, you turn to see the white mare next to you cast in the light of the moon. As it left the horizon and made its way across the sky, its colour has changed to the purest white. The collection of dew on your coats shimmers brightly. You’ve never seen the pink maned pony any more beautiful than she is now, under your wing, under the moonlight. Returning your gaze, she plants a quick kiss on your lips before resting her head against your neck with a contented sigh. You can feel her whole body erupt in a quick shiver, spraying tiny droplets of water all over you.

“You must be getting pretty cold up here. Maybe we should go.” As much as you want this to last forever, you would really hate yourself if she got sick from being up here too long.

“I am. I really want to stay, though. It’s been so long since I’ve just sat and admired the beauty of our world, the perfection of the sky, and the perfection a pony that invokes these emotions in me.” If it were possible for your heart to literally explode with joy, you’re sure it would have at this point. Her shivering has caused her mane to shift over her right eye. Reaching out a hoof, you brush it back over her ear revealing her brightly shining, ice-blue eyes. As you run your hoof from her ear down her jawline to her cheek, her own hoof meets yours, holding it softly against her face. The way her sapphire eyes gleam in the moonlight draws you in closer until your lips are pressed together in a kiss. This is a moment you know that you will never forget. Everything other than the mare beside you ceases to exist. The softness of her lips, the warmth of her tongue and the extraordinary taste that she leaves behind make this one moment of perfect serenity. When the kiss is broken a long moment of silence follows, both of you content to simply gaze into the other’s eyes.

The white mare scoots over closer to you and lays her head on your neck. “Please, just hold me. I don’t want to leave. I just want to enjoy this.” Rolling over onto your side, you wrap your legs around her and pull her in close. Her coat feels so cold against yours. Extending both wings, you wrap her in a cocoon of your warm feathers from the neck down. With a sigh of contentment she nuzzles deeper into your neck. Her hot, humid breath tickles your sensitive coat. You press your chin against the top of her head, enjoying the sensations that echo through your being. In this embrace, you’re not sure how much time passes, but sometime later it became apparent that she had fallen asleep in your hooves. Your heart melted when you realised; this couldn’t be any more perfect.

The Morning After

“Ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh, ohmygosh!”

Your eyes slowly drift their way open, a deep orange veil is cast over the blurry figures in your morning vision. Warmth radiates from your outstretched wings; against your chest, you can feel the epicenter of heat as warm waves of air rush over a portion of wet, matted fur. Blinking your eyes a few times to clear your vision, you are met with the sight of your favourite ivory coated mare, who has completely retreated into the span of your wings. Her sleeping form is curled tightly into a ball with her head resting against your chest, a small line of drool drips from her partially open mouth into your fur. You can’t help but smile at the sight, and wrap your wings around the sleeping mare more tightly. Movement at the periphery of your vision brings pulls your thoughts away from the mare you’re holding. A cyan Pegasus mare is about 5 hooves away from you; the way she is bouncing up and down on the cloud causes her rainbow mane to bounce in front of her rose tinted eyes. A giant smile is plastered to her face. When the Pegasus notices that you’re looking back at her, she lets out a high pitched squeal and begins bouncing faster. Raising a forehoof to your mouth, you shush her quietly. The sleepy white mare stirs, burying her head deeply into the down feathers of your lower wing. A moment later a sneeze rings out; ruffling feathers on both of your wings.

The Pegasus’ expression quickly turns to one of disbelief. “Did your wings just sneeze?” Clearly, she didn’t understand what your shushing meant.

With that same cute little yawn from a few days ago, Nurse Redheart pokes her head slowly out from your embrace. “Is that Rainbow Dash?” she says, pulling a hoof up to wipe the sleep from her eyes.

“Nurse Redheart? How’re… Why… What?” The cyan mare nearly falls off the edge of the cloud in her confusion.

“You two know each other?” You’d noticed Ponyville was a small town by now, on second thought, this should have been expected.

“Rainbow Dash here is probably my most common patient. She’s always crashing while practicing to be—”

“SSHHHH!” the accident prone pegasus interrupts, shaking her head back and forth in a manner that you assume to be a failed attempt at being subtle.

“So, What’re you doing up here, Ms. Dash?” the white mare asked as she wriggled out from your embrace and got to her hooves.

“I work here, duh. I should be the one asking why you’re here.”

“We were up here admiring beauty of the night. We must have fallen asleep, though.” The memories of last night bring a smile to your face as you climb to your hooves.

“Ugh… A Stargazing date? Are all Wonderbolts that cliché?” The rainbow maned mare sounds a little disappointed.

“Cliché or not, it was wonderful.” Hearing that the pony of your affection enjoyed herself makes the smile on your face grow wider.

“What’s a Wonderbolt?” you inquire.

“Uhm… You.” She deadpanned. Your smile fades as confusion overtakes your mind.

“Come again?”

“You are. Nighthawk, the Wonderbolt.”

“Who, the what”?

“The blue Pegasus in front of me. The one that is a famous acrobatic flier.” Looking down at yourself, you are blue. And you do have wings, so you’re probably a Pegasus. You can’t seem to remember anything about that last part, though.

“Would you two slow down a minute?” the white mare interjects, taking a few steps closer to the brightly colored Pegasus.

“Dash, are you trying to tell us you know who he is?”

“Duh, I know all the Wonderbolts.”

Continuing to advance on the Cyan mare, Nurse Redheart did not relent from her impromptu interrogation. “You’re saying that you know him, AND that he’s a Wonderbolt?”

“Uhh. Yeah, Jes. What’s with the third degree?” Rainbow Dask paused and took a few steps back. “And how do you not know who you went on a date with?” Taking this advantage to turn the tides of this confrontation, the cyan mare advances, stopping when her face is only a few inches from the white nurse. The anger in her voice was easily noticed.

“Dash, this is the stallion that was buried under that building a week and a half ago. No one knew who he was,” Nurse Redheart said, with a sigh. “If you knew him so well, why didn’t you say something when we canvassed everypony in Ponyville with his picture?”

“I was busy at the time. I didn’t get a chance to look at the picture.”

“What could you have possibly been doing that had you so busy? It was sunny all day that day, which means you weren’t doing weather patrol duties.” The white pony’s annoyance was quite evident.

“I was gathering strength for that awesome thunderstorm we organized 3 days ago.” The cyan pegasus puffed up her chest, taking pride in her accomplishment.

“You were napping?! Dash, of all the lazy, self-centered, things…” Nurse Redheart was glaring daggers at the rainbow maned mare, causing her to deflate and adopt a pained look.

“Hey, I would have got around to it. And besides, I’ve told you who he is now. Everything worked itself out.” The cyan mare waved a dismissive hoof as she walked to the edge of the cloud, looking down over the edge.

“I don’t believe you. There’s no way that I can be a world famous wonder… whatever you said. Nopony else in town said anything.”

“That’s because you perform with a flight suit covering your entire body. No one can ever see anything but your mane and tail.” Laying down on the edge of the cloud, Rainbow Dash placed her face between her forehooves. Her voice drained of the previous passions it had held.

“Then how do you know me?”

“Because I got to spend the whole day with you and Soarin’ after I won the Best Young Flier competition in Cloudsdale last year.”

Her explanation had made sense, but the word of one pony couldn't possibly change things. Your past was gone forever, and believing in someone you just met, with nothing other than her word would just lead to more trouble. “I still don’t believe you.”

“Gahhh… I can prove it. I’ll be back.” She leaps from the edge of the cloud and begins to spiral downwards, back towards Ponyville.

“Wait a sec, Dash!” Nurse Redheart yells. The cyan mare slows to a stop, still in earshot.” We’re going to get some breakfast. Meet us at that café that Twilight’s Coltfriend runs.” Without even turning back to face you, the rainbow maned flier nods in acknowledgement and flies off in a blur of colors.

“Buck, she’s fast.” Is all you can manage to say.

***

You took the flight back to Ponyville at a leisurely pace, soaring just above the treetops.

Once again, thoughts of confusion were working their way through your mind. If Rainbow Dash was right, what would happen? Would things change from how they were? You liked how things have been over the past few days. Spending time with Nurse Redheart made you feel so happy, and that was something you never wanted to give up. So, she can't be right. She must have just been imagining things.

On the way back into town, the rumbling stomach of the mare on your back tickled your fur, and by the time you had made it to the small, unassuming café, both of your stomachs were begging for sustenance. You were seated at an outdoor table by the chef/owner whose name you did not catch; you were too busy devouring the menu with your eyes. It was a simple 1-page affair consisting of a wide variety of breakfast foods, from pastries and fruit, to all different types of oatmeal. Your stomach had settled on something else though, a simple bowl of cream of wheat and cinnamon, brown sugar toast; your dining companion had chosen a rather complex sounding fruit tart with strawberries, elderberries, mulberries, and fig. Once the Unicorn chef/owner had taken your order, he trotted quickly back into the kitchen to prepare your food. Looking around, the other tables were completely empty; you must have been his first customers of the day.

“You’ve been awfully quiet since Dash left. Are you ok?” The white mare seated across the table had a look of concern on her face.

“I don’t know. I thought things were getting better. Yesterday was so… amazing. Now I feel like that might be taken away from me again, like I might be expected to drop everything and return to a life I don’t remember.” You sigh and prop your head up on a forehoof.

“You’re still in control of your life. You always have been. Knowing who you were won’t change who you are. We’ll worry about what happens WHEN it happens. You’ll go insane if you worry about every little thing that might happen.”

“Your breakfast, sir.” The sudden voice of the proprietor of the café causes you to nearly fall over backwards; you didn’t even hear him walk up. As you try and determine if you are having a heart attack or not, the unicorn places both of your meals on the table. Nurse Redheart thanks him as he leaves. Your meal looked completely mundane. The Berry tart on the other-hoof was a plethora of sweet berries, mixed with exotic figs blended together in a bowl made of waffles. It was brightly colored and it smelled like something that Celestia herself would eat. Grabbing your bowl of what can only be described as light brown paste in your mouth, you begin to slowly pour the thick amalgamation onto a piece of toast. Thirty seconds later, the entire mass of goo splatters onto the plate, completely coating both pieces of your toast, as well as a portion of the table. Your groan of annoyance is accompanied by a fit of feminine giggling from the mare across the table from you.

“Buck it, I’ll do it the old fashioned way,” you say, burying your face into the pile of deliciously sweet gruel and toast. The feeling of being watched sneaks into your consciousness, but you ignore it. You’re sure that anypony who could see you would be trembling from your severe lack of table manners. You don't care, right now, your stomach is in control of your body anyway. A gale-force wind nearly knocks your table over entirely, leaving the small vase of flowers in the center as a vase full of stems. Rainbow Dash must have arrived.

“Wow… You’re sure you’re not related to Soarin’, right?” You pull your muzzle out of the half devoured mound of toast and off-white goo, using your napkin to make yourself presentable again. The rainbow maned pony is standing between you at the table with a pair of saddlebags on, wearing a devious smirk.

“I don’t even know who this Soarin’ is.”

“Oh, right. It’s just that’s exactly how he eats apple pie… and othertypes of pie,” the cyan mare says with a wink to Nurse Redheart. “You’re lucky.” The white pony’s face fills with a blush brighter than her mane. After some amount of hemming and hawing, the embarrassed pony tries to change the subject.

“S-so… Rainbow, you said something about proof of your theory.”

“Oh, yeah. It took me a little bit to find it, but take a look at this. Night, here,” the cyan mare says, pointing an accusatory hoof in your direction, “gave it to me last year after the Best Young Flier competition, that I won.” Her voice is muffled as she buries her head into her saddlebags, but you can still understand the whole sentence. She places a small framed picture on the table and pushes it over to Nurse Redheart, whose face has returned to its normal hue. The white mare picks it up in her hooves and looks at it carefully.

“I don’t believe it,” She says, her voice more full of surprise than disbelief.

“It’s true?” you ask.

“See for yourself.” Placing the picture onto the table Nurse Redheart slides it over to you with a hoof. When it gets close enough to see, your jaw nearly hits the floor.

The pony before you is an exact match down to the last detail, with a couple exceptions. You're wearing a blue flight suit with yellow lightning bolts all over it and you’re a member of a world famous acrobatics team. You quickly begin to back away from the table, but your hindhooves hoof gets caught on the compacted pile of hay you’ve been sitting on. Trying to use your wings to counter-balance yourself just makes the situation worse, and causes you to flip head over hooves backwards. A sharp pain wracks the back of your head, and the world around you is veiled in a constant blur. A high pitched ringing is all you can hear. When you try and get up, your hooves feel weak, but you manage to stand and slowly walk back toward your table. A few steps away you feel a warm body press up against your side and a hoof press gently, yet firmly against the back of your warm, wet feeling mane. Turning to look at the pony next to you, you see Nurse Redheart with a look of fear in her eyes. She motions to the hay you were sitting on, and says something you can’t distinguish over the ringing in your ears. You decide that sitting down would be a good idea, the ground shouldn’t be moving back and forth like it is. Walking in an earthquake this bad must be dangerous, especially since the hay pile you would like to sit on is now flying up to your face.

On Lavender Winds

Sounds pierce the haze of darkness in your mind. Not sounds, voices. Two familiar voices, that speak in incomprehensible words. You aren’t in pain, but you have a constant feeling that something is wrong. It’s as if you mind is working in slow motion, what senses you do have are dulled or distorted. A warm liquid drips off the tip of your ear. Your mind is overwhelmed with a bright white light. Slowly, the light dims until you can see a silhouette of a pony standing over you. As quickly as the light came, the darkness returns, and your senses fade into complete nothingness.

***

Warmth, it’s the first thing to register in your mind as you return to consciousness. As your eyes flutter open, you take in your unfamiliar surroundings. You’re lying on your side on a large couch wrapped the worlds warmest blanket; the light brown suede couch-cushions are as plush as a cloud. The sound of running water can be heard over the whooshing of a quickly spinning ceiling fan, the only other noise present. When you try and lift your head to get a look around, a throbbing pain fills your mind. Gasping, you return your head to your pillow, but the pain does not recede. After a few minutes of trying to will away your throbbing headache, you realise, that for the time being, it’s here to stay. Picking your head up once more, you attempt to roll yourself into a normal laying position, with your legs under your body. However, your reflexes are still slow, and you end up rolling onto the hard-wood floor in an unceremonious heap of groaning pony. You notice an acrid, acidic smell coming from your coat and you can feel a dried, congealed liquid matted into it. Slowly, you work your way to your hooves using the couch for support as you go.

The sound of running water stops, and noises of drawers opening, closing, and the like begin to echo down a hallway at the end of this room. Now that you are more confident on your hooves, you begin to explore around the room. As you move around, the dark cherry-wood flooring produces audible hoof-clops that resonate off the off-white walls. In the far end of the room is an open door, leading into the kitchen. Opposite it is a large bay window bathes the room in light of Celestia’s sun; through it is a tiered hill, with varying lengths of highly maintained grass spotted with patches of light brown sand, ponds, and creeks interspersed in somewhat random positions. A few Ponies are slowly moving from place to place with large bags slung over their bodies. Every once and a while, a pony will stop, retrieve an object from their bag, and swing it in their forehooves, all before returning to their endless trek along a well-trodden path.

“I never understood the appeal of that game.” You’re taken by a bit of a surprise when you hear the voice of your favorite mare right next to you. The way your hooves clopped on the flooring, you thought you’d hear anypony a mile away.

“How did you do that?” you ask, looking over to her. Her soft pink mane is covering the right side of her face as it freely flows down just past her shoulder. A nervous smile spreads across the white mare’s face and she looks at her hooves. Each hoof is adorned with a fuzzy pink sock, extending up to just above the ankle. “Hoof socks?”

“I don’t know what it is about this flooring, but it always seems so cold on my hooves.”

“Don’t worry, you look adorable in them.” Placing a hoof against her chin, you pull her head up to look at you. Gazing into her ice-blue eyes you move slowly forward to plant a soft kiss on her lips. Her warm breath carries the soothing scent of lavender to you. Just before your lips touch, the white mare quickly pulls away from you, her face contorted in disgust. The sight nearly causes your heart to stop, and you feel like you just got hit by a ton of bricks.

“I’m sorry. You need to take a shower and brush your teeth.” She motions a hoof for you to follow her. The white mare leads you down the hallway further into her home. “When you hit your head on that table, I was worried you’d given yourself another concussion. Rainbow Dash and I carried you back here so I could check on you. On the way, you vomited all over us.” At the end of the hall, you turn into a bedroom and the decor abruptly changes. The walls are painted a bright blue, and the flooring is a very light shade of yellowish-brown. All of the furniture is white washed, and the bed is on a low platform, covered in deep blue linens. “Once we got home, I couldn’t find any sign of concussion other than the vomiting.”

You were led into the master bath, a very spacious room that could not be any more different than the bedroom it was attached to. The air was still hot and humid, with an overpowering smell of lavender. The walls were a very light pink, so light, in fact, that you’re not sure it wasn’t just Nurse Redheart’s mane reflecting off of white walls. In front of you is a grey-blue stone counter top holding an inlaid sink with a large mirror hung over it. A small army of bottles and hair-care instruments occupy its spacious reaches. To your left are two alcoves, one holding a large shower, with the same grey-blue stone surface as the counter, the other houses a very large bath that looks to have all sorts of jets and controls.

“This has to be the most luxurious bathroom in all of Ponyville.” And you mean it, even compared to Aloe and Lotus’ spa, this is far nicer.

“Yeah, it gets the job done. Well, there’s all the soap you’ll need in the shower, and a towel you can use on the door, there.” She begins to leave the room. “And I keep an extra toothbrush in the drawer to the left of the sink, feel free to use it.” You climb in the shower as she shuts the door behind her.

***

A formation of three Pegasi flies from Canterlot, their lazy speed not betraying their ability. In the lead is a bright yellow mare, her orange and yellow mane and tail flowing gracefully in the wind. Flanking her is a light blue stallion with a darker blue mane and a cyan mare, who has a pure white mane accented with light blue highlights. Their flight path takes them well above a normal Pegasus’ flight altitude in an attempt to draw as little attention as possible. After what happened to the last teams, the team management decided it would be best to keep a lower profile while not at official events. Their full-body flight gear hid their identities fairly well during flight ops and publicity events. So, all but the most hardened fans would walk right past a team member none-the-wiser. Ponyville was always trouble, though. A certain Pegasus, and prospective recruit, named Rainbow Dash could always spot them. Spitfire even tried wearing a ridiculous mustache around town once; needless to say, it didn’t work – for one reason or another. It made planning and executing shows very difficult when being constantly harassed by the locals.

As usual, the team had sent its advance flier out to the event site to get things set up before the rest of the team arrived, 3 days prior to the show. Spitfire and Alpha wing would arrive by lunch. Bravo wing, led by Rapidfire, had to fly in from Manehattan, and would arrive later that evening. Spitfire loved it when a plan went off without a hitch.

She would really hate today.

***

Lavender. Lavender soap. Lavender shampoo. Lavender hoof-rub. It was the only flavor that she owned; not that you mind. Now with every breath you take, your mind replays a moment of bliss. After you're done drying off, you meander out of the shower and hang the towel on a bar. Pulling the drawer to the left of the sink open, you quickly find a new toothbrush, still in its packaging. After a bit of faffing about trying to get it out of the package, you set about the task of finding the toothpaste in this sea of hair product. Finally, you find a small, pink tube labelled ‘toothpaste’. It has a picture of a flower with purple petals growing vertically around a central stem; behind it is a slightly jagged green leaf.

Lavender mint. “How is that even possible? This is going to taste terrible,” you say under your breath. Squeezing out as little as possible onto your brush, you quickly brush your teeth. The minty warmth spreading through your mouth brings back flashes of last night’s impassioned kiss. Nurse Redheart pressed between the spa wall and your body. The way her tongue quivered when you brushed your hoof across her cutie mark. By the time you’re done brushing, you realise that you really, really like this flavor. Not sure where to put the toothbrush, you rest it over the edge of the sink before leaving the bathroom. Passing through the bedroom, you emerge back in the hallway and move back towards the main living area of the house.

Right before you reach the end of the hall, her voice calls out to you. “There you are!”

Looking into the room at your left, the golden walls shine brightly with the light from an ornate crystal chandelier. Nurse Redheart is sitting at a large, dark wooden table in the center of the room, eating a small fruit salad. With a smile, she pushes a floor cushion out from under the table for you to sit on. You gladly take a seat next to her, where a plate is already laid out for you with a mix of sliced apples, pineapple, cherries, and pears. Taking a small bite of the fruit salad, you’re surprised. It’s not just a bit of mixed fruit; there is a thin glaze on each piece that seems to complement the flavors and turns a simple dish into heavenly ambrosia.

“This is amazing,” you say, as you take a bigger bite into your mouth.

“Thank you, it’s an old recipe my grandmother taught me.” You can see the white mare beaming as you devour your food with reckless abandon. After no time at all, you finish off your entire plate with a contented sigh.

“So, I’ve been a bit curious. Where did you manage to find lavender flavored toothpaste?”

The white mare was still daintily eating her salad with a fork, and had to pause a bit before responding. “I have to order it from a specialty shop in Canterlot.” Forks were a tool normally reserved for unicorns; hooves usually couldn’t manage the precision needed to grasp one. Yet she was handling the instrument with practiced precision, even without magic to aide her. You figured it had to do with years of practice with medical instruments. You mentally scold yourself for getting off on bit of a tangent while trying to converse.

“It’s a bit of a curious flavor, why go through all the trouble?” She places her fork down on the table before speaking to you.

“I guess it reminds me of home and family.”

“How so?”

“It’s not a short story, and not terribly happy. Are you sure you want to hear it?”

“If you want to tell me, I can’t think of anything I’d rather do right now.”

“Ok, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” The white mare closes her eyes and takes a slow breath in, holding it for a moment before letting it out just as slowly. “Back when I was a filly, my family lived just outside of Allbunny, which is a fairly large city north of Manehattan. My father was a very successful doctor, with his own practice in the city. One summer, my mother got a terrible case of pneumonia. She refused to be taken to the hospital. So, my father brought home nearly a whole hospital’s worth of machinery to treat her. Even with all of the treatment, she kept on getting worse and worse. One day, my father found out that mother had given up. They both cried for hours. Joy and I had no idea what was going on at the time, we were way too young. The next day, my father hired a group of farm ponies to plant an entire field of lavender around our house. It was mother’s favorite flower." She pauses for a moment, taking a few slow, deep breaths.

"That evening, my father prayed to Celestia, asking her to just make his wife happy again. He couldn't bear the thought of her suffering any longer. He pledged to our princess, that if his wife was allowed to die at ease and in comfort he would dedicate his life to helping ponies that were truly needy. The next morning Joy and I awoke to the sweet smell of lavender blowing through the house. Somehow, overnight, the seedlings had grown into flowering bushes nearly 4 hooves high. Just before breakfast, my father brought us in to see mother. She looked so weak and frail, she was crying. When she saw us, she looked so happy, even through her tears. She told us how much she loved us, and wished that she could see us grow up.”

At this point, you could tell that the pink maned pony was trying very hard to hold back her tears. Her face had flushed a bright red and her voice was wavering. The sinking feeling in your heart made you regret pushing the subject. “She said that no matter what we became she would be proud of what we accomplish…” You see a stream of tears roll past her closed eyes, and down over her red cheeks. Using a forehoof, you gently wipe the tears from her eyes. Much to your surprise, her forehoof meets yours and pulls it down to her mouth, where she plants a soft kiss on the sensitive sole. Using your hoof as leverage, she pulls you into a tender kiss, sending lightning coursing through your body. After she breaks the kiss, you nuzzle the side of her face, and pull her into a hug. After a moment, she breaks the silence.

“And then she said goodbye,” the white mare says, her voice soft, but now steady. “We were so confused what she meant. Goodbye was something somepony says when you won’t see the other for a while, and she wasn’t leaving and neither were we. My father told us to say goodbye to her, and to give her a hug before we went to have breakfast. I think I remember going to her funeral, but the rest of that week was a blur of tears and sadness.” She pauses for a moment, taking a few shaky breaths. Still holding her close, you move your hoof up to run it through her magnificent silken mane in an attempt to comfort her, and repay her for satisfying your own selfish curiosity with so much pain.

“Joy and I were brought here to Ponyville to live with our grandmother. It wasn’t until sometime later that we were told that my father had sold the house and left us all of his bits. Which is enough where I never would have to work a day in my life, and probably the same for my children, If I ever have any. After that, I was told that my father had moved to Timbucktu to help treat an outbreak of NEIGHDS*. We still get letters from him from time to time from different places in Africanter. He almost always encloses a flower of lavender, and tells us how well it grows in that part of the world.” As you pull your head back to look at the sad mare in front of you, you are met with her ice-blue eyes, still tinted pink and glistening with tears. You plant a quick, soft kiss on her lips, before pressing your forehead against her own.

“I’m so sorry about your mother. She gave the world something truly special, though. And, someday, I hope I get to thank her for it.”

She pulls her head away from you, her eyes boring into yours, apparently trying to read your thoughts. “What do you mean?”

“She gave us the most wonderfully perfect mare in all of Equestria.”

Before you realise it, the white mare you’re holding leans forward quickly, forcing both of you to fall onto the large floor cushion you had been sitting on. Her lips press against yours with untold vigor, surprised by the assault you gasp. Her waiting tongue takes the opportunity to press past your open lips, bringing with it a fiery passion that you’ve never seen from the gentle nurse. Some minutes pass as your primal emotional exchange continues. Soon enough, every nerve in your body is in overdrive. The slightest touch from the mare on top of you causes fire and lightning to course through your mind. Moving a hoof up to run through her mane, you gently brush against her ear, causing her to shudder and gently bite on your lower lip. Her chest pressing against you as she breathes presses your wings firmly into the cushion below you. Through the hyper-sensitive appendages, you can count every fiber of the fabric. 86,437 to be exact, but without a second thought, it fades back into the bliss on top of you.

Finally, she pulls her lips away from yours, a fine thread of saliva still locking your mouths together. It snaps, leaving a tiny cold dot in the place it was anchored, sending a chill down your spine. Her pink mane hangs down over you, shading your faces from most light in the room, but you can still see her blue eyes glimmering with joy. She places another quick peck on your lips before sliding downward, laying her head onto your chest, and wrapping her forehooves around your neck. Closing your eyes, you contentedly take in the sensations of the mare on top of you as the last of the fire in your veins fades into a sense of happiness.

***

As soon as her destination came into sight, Spitfire knew that something was not right. The yellow mare hit the ground at such speed that an untrained flier would be left in a pile of bleeding pony parts. The air given off by her high speed impact threw dead grass and leaves over 15 hooves into the air.

“You really shouldn’t do that Spitty, it’s going to come back to bite you in the flank one day,” Soarin’ said, touching down much more gently next to her. Fleetfoot followed suit shortly thereafter, looking around nervously.

“The unicorn guard does it deploying from chariots, no reason I can’t Soarin’.”

“They have magic that can negate gravity, boss.” Really, they were both co-captains of the team, and ranked the same in the guard, but Spitfire was less insufferable if Soarin’ stroked her ego every once and a while.

“And I have wings that can,” she snapped, glaring daggers at her wingpony. “Let’s get back on task ponies, we need to know why in the buck Nighthawk hasn’t got this place cleared out and set up yet. Show’s in 3 days! Soarin’ you and me need to find the payload. Without it, there’s no way we can salvage this operation. Once it is secured we will begin CSAR. Fleetfoot, get on the horn and tell Rapidfire to get his flank down here, double time. Local contact name is Sparkle, Twilight. Alright Wonderbolts, We’re the best of the best, get it done!”

“But Night could be injured or in danger somewhere!!” Fleetfoot shrieked.

“We are Wonderbolts. We are political targets, a military force, and a show team meant to defy all odds. He knew what he signed up for. Now, Do as I say!”

Both Soarin’ and Fleetfoot responded in unison. “Yes, Ma’am!”

Fleetfoot immediately took wing, circling the field at an increasing altitude, her head sweeping frantically across its immense size. She could see no sign of a crash landing, aside from the crater Spitfire was still standing in. And the brown and green would do little to hide the dark blue coat of her Night. In her panic, she failed to notice the yellow mare fly up in front of her until they almost collided.

“NOW!!” the fiery maned captain yelled.

Without a second thought, Fleetfoot took off at full speed toward town to meet with the contact. She recognised the name. Twilight Sparkle lauded student of Celestia, Element of Magic, and Bullitzer prize winning author. She was the town librarian by day. The cyan Wonderbolt was the fastest on the team. For her, the flight to the library took only a few moments. She could see a skid mark leading to the closed door of the library.

“Too slow,” she muttered to herself. A small, round window was open on the upper story.

“Perfect.”

By streamlining her body, and pulling her wings in at the last second, the blue mare just barely slipped through the window and shot into the library. With a powerful flap of her wings, she came to a hover in the center of the main floor. Unfortunately, the air given off by her abrupt halt was enough to knock a veritable wall of books over. A small yelp was heard as they came crashing down into a heap. It wasn’t long before the entire pile of books erupted into a bright lavender aura and moved themselves back to their respective positions on the Library’s shelves. As they move away, a purple unicorn, one Twilight Sparkle, emerges from the pile, her horn glowing brightly.

“Celestia Damn it, Rainbow Dash! How many times–” she halts upon making eye contact with a cyan Pegasus mare that happens to be lacking the expected rainbow mane. “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you were my friend Rainbow Dash. Can I help you?” Rainbow Dash, Element of Loyalty, prospective recruit, and fastest known flier in Equestria. The purple pony looks more than a bit embarrassed from her crass outburst.

“I need you to send a message, authorization code Harmony-six.” The faster Fleetfoot got this task done, the faster she could help with the CSAR.

“SPIIKE!” the purple unicorn yelled, taking a scroll and quill up in her aura. “Urgency?”

“Maximum.” The pitter-patter of non-hoofed feet was followed by a small purple dragon entering the room from upstairs, wiping his eyes tiredly. Spike, Twilight Sparkle’s assistant, backup Rainbow Dash, and NOT Mare-do-well.

“I thought it was my day off?”

“No time, Spike! I need you to send a message; somepony’s life could be at stake.” Turning to the cyan Pegasus, Twilight asks, “What’s the message?”

“Double time, the target will know what that means,” Fleetfoot stated, as quickly as she could spit it out.

“That just leaves… The recipient’s name?” The lavender mage asked, as if following a mental checklist.

“Rapidfire.” With that, a purple glow encases the scroll completely, rolling it neatly.

After a few minutes of intense concentration, Twilight breaks the silence. “Spike, Send it.” Without question, the little dragon spits a green flame at the scroll, quickly devouring it and leaving it as a cloud of smoke that quickly flies out the open window on the second story. “Ok, he should have it.” A look of relief floods the cyan mare’s face.

“Thank you, Twilight Sparkle.”

“Anything for the REA, you guys keep us ponies safe. It was the least I could do.”

“I wonder if I could bother you for another favor.”

“Sure, like I said anything for the REA.”

“I need you to use that sending spell to locate a pony.” Sensing that he is being ignored, and no longer needed, Spike mumbles, yawns, and begins the trek back up stairs.

“That should be easy enough. Name?”

“Nighthawk.” With a flash, Twilight’s horn lights up again. The lavender glow grows brighter as the minutes drag on. A full fifteen minutes later the glow fades from the purple unicorn’s horn. She takes a deep breath before speaking.

“I can’t find anyone by that name in Equestria.” A look of despair flashes across the cyan mare’s face, replaced quickly by a blank expression. “If he’s under a hide identity spell, it’s possible that I couldn’t find him by name. I can try by cutie mark, if he’s alive that will find him.” Twilight regretted her words instantly; she had noticed the saddened expression on the cyan mare earlier. This time, the hardened warrior fell to her knees and hung her head low.

“His cutie mark is a full moon with a silhouette of a Pegasus in front of it.” Twilight pressed a comforting hoof against the downtrodden mare’s shoulder.

“I’ll find him.” As soon as she finished, her horn lit up with a fierce purple aura. It quickly grew until a second brighter aura emerged from the mare's horn, contained completely within the larger aura. After nearly twenty minutes the glow of her horn brightened again, the aura growing in size and creating a third tier.

Fleetfoot was completely broken by this point; it was all she could do to contain her sobs of sorrow. A soldier does not cry, not on duty, not ever. She was the best, and the best would NOT give in. A half an hour passed. In her near perfect memory, she relived every moment of their childhood together. They had joined the REA together, always pushing each other to be better, faster, and stronger. It wasn’t long before they got noticed and recruited into the Wonderbolts. They were the perfect team. She had speed, he had strength; two bodies, one mind.

Nearly forty-five minutes in, something strange happened that surprised the reminiscing mare. Twilight closed her eyes, only to re-open then moments later with nothing but a blinding white glow shining through them. Her body lifted completely in the air as if she was being hung by the neck. The cyan mare was in awe, she had never seen a unicorn wield this much power. This reminded her of when she was allowed to watch Celestia raise the sun. Moments later, the light faded and the purple unicorn came crashing to the floor, panting heavily. Fleetfoot looked on with pleading eyes. As if sensing the unasked question Twilight slowly shook her head without looking up from her hooves.

All of the willpower that the cyan mare has used to fight back her tears was worthless against the raging torrent of despondency that was flooding her mind. She buried her muzzle in her forehooves as she wept loudly on the floor. Twilight sidled up against the blue mare and wrapped a comforting hoof around her shoulder. For once, she didn’t know what to say. So, she sat there, reassuring the crying mare that other ponies would be there for her. The open sobbing eventually gave way to periodic outbursts, and eventually it became sporadic sniffling.

“Thank you *sniff* again, Twilight Sparkle”

“You were really going there. He must have been very special to you. Who was he?” The unicorn’s voice carried as much kindness as possible, but the mere thought of it sent Fleetfoot back over the edge. She once again devolved into a helpless sobbing mare. It was some time before she tried to speak again.

“H-he was… my… *Sniff* coltfriend.”

*Noxious Equine ImmunoGlobulin Hypermutation Deficiency Syndrome - If you paired all of this together, you'd have something relatively close to pony Aids. Immunoglobulins are basically the targetting system of the immune system. Hypermutation is the effect that allows them to adapt and become better at fighting disease (eventually to the point of near immunity). If a being had a disease preventing this, very soon thier immune system would be so far behind, that infection would be nearly assured.

Those Three Words

Serenity. It’s the only word you can use to describe what you’re feeling right now. You are pressed into the same floor cushion that your impromptu make-out session began on. The mare of your affection lies on top of you with her forehooves wrapped around you; her slow rhythmic breathing ruffles the short hairs on your chest. You move a forehoof up from where they rest, just above her withers, and brush it through her soft, pink mane.

“I was thinking.” Softly, her voice breaks your shared reverie. “You don’t have anywhere to stay right now. At least, until things get sorted out.” She lifts her head away from your chest, and looks directly into your eyes. Her ice-blue sapphires, burning with primordial passion, bore deeply into your soul. “I want you to stay, here, with me.”

You’re left completely speechless, gazing into her eyes for what feels like an eternity. It’s not until she nervously bites her lower lip, that you can put together some semblance of a complete thought. “I love you, and I never want to leave your side. “ It’s not a direct answer, but you hope it’s good enough to get your point across. As the white mare’s muzzle presses down to yours, in a passionate kiss, something tells you that it did.

She breaks the kiss, and nuzzles the side of your face, whispering in your ear, “I love you, too.”

You gently nip at her ear, eliciting a small gasp from the white mare. Moving slowly, you plant three small kisses along her jawline before meeting her lips again. Her breath races over your face in short pulses. Sliding your active forehoof down to her lower back, you pull her tightly into your body, rolling to a position on top of her. As soon as your wings are free of the obstructing pillow, they spread widely; the tips of one wing brushing the edge of the cold, varnished table, sending a chill down your spine. The unexpected stimulus forces you to jerk your body away from the cold surface behind you, inadvertently pressing your lower body more forcefully into the mare beneath you. Her forehooves slide down your back, grazing the base of your wings, until they come to rest on your croup. While trying to move your hindhooves for stability, one finds purchase on her silky pink tail, pulling it roughly as it slides along the surface of the floor. The mare beneath you quickly pulls away from your mouth, with a loud gasp that evolves into a shuddering sigh. She slides her hooves up your back barely in contact with your coat; the tickling sensation causes you to squirm. Looking down at her, you see her gorgeous eyes half-lidded. A devious smirk flashes across her face, as her hooves reach the base of your wings once more. You let out a deep sigh as her hooves massage the strong muscles around the joint. When she begins to move her hooves up the leading edge of your wing, your brain is flooded with sensations as her hooves slide over the hyper-sensitive feathers.

*POP*

A bright flash floods the room with blue light for a moment before it fades, leaving the room around you bathed in complete darkness.

***

Spitfire let out a relieved sigh, grabbing the dull green canvass duffel bag that enclosed ‘the payload.’ It had been lying mostly out of sight, behind a tree at the edge of the field. A strange lump at the tree’s base had caught her eye; ‘tree cancer’ they called it in training. It was generally the result of a sniper unicorn placed in a bad position, using a tree for cover. Throwing the bag over her shoulder, she brought it back to the center of the field.

“I found it!” Soarin’ yells from right behind her. Throwing the heavy bag to the ground with a dull thud, she turned to see her co-captain hovering just above the ground, an apple pie held between his forehooves.

“You really are the most ridiculous pony ever,” the yellow mare deadpanned. “How they ever let you into the military, I’ll never know.”

“I was going to offer you some of this pie, but since you’re being that way, I’ll just have to eat all of it myself.” In a move that would put most competitive eaters to shame, Soarin’ buried his face completely into the warm apple-y goodness that is a Sweet-Apple Acres pie.

Spitfire rolled her eyes; this wasn’t the time for his antics. “Mors stupebit cum resurget creatura*” Ever since her training, she had always liked that phrase; Latin was a mysterious language, from the ancient Pegitalian Empire. It was something that was generally known by arcane scholars because certain spells had incantations to trigger specific effects after the spell was cast. This specific phrase caused the green duffel to move on its own, flying into the air to a position about 15 hooves away from the Pegasi. Once there, the green canvass peeled back, revealing a small wooden block. Slowly at first, the block began to spin. As it rotated, a growing yellow aura radiated from its core. Just as the block became nothing more than a blur, it halted abruptly; the bright yellow aura violently fell in on itself.

“I love this part,” the yellow mare says with a smirk, unfurling her wings. Soarin’ is able to pull his face out of the pie just in time to see the event unfold. His mouth falls open in a look of horror, dropping a half-chewed apple back into the sticky mess with a wet plop. A sense of tranquillity fills the air as the aura completely disappears. The blue captain quickly folds his wings, in an attempt to get a stable footing for what comes next, but he’s too late.

“Buck.”

A massive shockwave of magically charged air bursts forth from the block. Spitfire’s smirk grows as the wave slams into her with a force more powerful than DJ-Pon3’s best drop. The magically charged air rushing over her wings pushes her into an adrenaline fuelled over-drive, slowing the world to a crawl. Her body is left dripping wet from head to hoof from the rapid air compression. When magical explosions caused a shockwave this powerful the humidity in the air would create a dense wall of fog at the shockwave’s leading edge. In the calm inner-circle of the spell, the grass is flattened facing away from the epicenter of the blast. At the spell’s point of origin resides a large wooden stage filled with the Wonderbolts gear and merchandise. The sky above is lit with the same yellow aura, but clouded by the fog-wall; Spitfire can barely make out the Wonderbolts crest that appears in the sky as the spell subsides.

“Uuuuggghhhhh.” A low groan draws the wet-maned mare’s attention behind her. She can’t help but chuckle as she sees Soarin’ dripping wet and lying in a heap twenty hooves away with a pie paned fused to his face. Just as Spitfire reaches him, he gathers the wherewithal to pry the pan from his face.

“You could have let me finish eating that pie, or at least warned me.” The stallion points an accusatory hoof at his co-captain. ”You owe me a replacement pie!”

“Oh?” she returns, quirking an eyebrow. “I’ve got a pie you can eat, later.” Satisfied – or annoyed, she hasn’t decided yet – that he’s not dead, she turns to walk back to the stage, but not before running the tip of her tail over Soarin’s chest.

A trio of Pegasi land just in front of the stage, their leader is a white stallion with an orange and white mane. Spitfire rapidly canters over to the second group of Wonderbolts.

“Rapidfire. I need you guys to get this place set up. You’ve got two days to get two weeks’ worth of work done.”

“You got it boss. What happened to Night?” Soarin’, who has finally recovered from his earlier folly, trots up, most of the pie filling having been wiped from his face.

“We’ll tell you, if we find him.”

Like a ‘bolt, they were off, heading towards Ponyville. Within seconds, they pass over town hall, and are well on the way to Twilight’s library. Soarin’ could barely keep up with the pace set by his co-captain.

“Spitty, wait!” the blue stallion yelled between heavy breaths. She turns to face him with a veritable deluge of sweat running down her face, panting heavily. “You only fly like that when you’re punishing yourself. What’s up?”

“I’m just mad at myself for being such a mule to Fleetfoot earlier.”

“Yeah, your reaction really surprised me. I mean, we are technically military, but out of public eye we’re more like family.”

“I just thought that if she was mad at me, she wouldn’t worry herself to death over what may have happened to Nighthawk.”

“So then, what’s the problem? You tried to help her at your own expense,” Soarin’ questions, shrugging.

“I don’t know. This whole situation just feels bucked up. It feels like it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

“It may, Spitty. But we’ve just gotta take things as they come. Now, let’s go make sure the Fleet is ok.”

“That really is a sad excuse for a nickname, you know,” she says through her facehoof.

***

You’re still trying to catch your breath as the last drops of chemically induced bliss work their way out of your system. The cushion beneath you reeks of sweat and lust, but right now you can’t be bothered to move from under the panting mare that has collapsed on top of you. She’s got her forehooves buried in your mane, and with every breath she takes, her face involuntarily nuzzles against yours. As you stare upwards into the pitch black above you, an obvious question comes to mind.

“What happened to the light?”

“Huh?” Nurse Redheart asks, rolling off of you and coming to rest on the cushion at your side. Her close hoof is still fidgeting with your mane. You can feel your flesh contract forcing your coat to stand on end as the cool air of the room rushes over your sweat slicked chest.

“The light was on before.”

“Oh, it must have blown.” That light wasn’t the only thing. Quite frankly, you’re surprised you recovered from that mind blowing experience. “After that, I think we need another shower.” You can hear her sniff something. “And I think I need a new floor cushion as well,” she says, with a laugh.

“Nah, I’m sure it will wash out.”

“It’s ok. I really like going shopping for furniture anyway. That Ikea pony is always so nice, even if she is a little obsessed with hex screws. Oh, and I really like her mane!”

“So about this shower, you first?” you ask, getting to your hooves.

“Now that I think about it, I really feel like soaking in the bath.” You can hear her climb to her hooves as well. “You’re welcome to join me, if you like,” she whispers in your ear. Her warm breath washing over your coat still fills your heart with warmth. She plants a quick kiss on your lips before heading to the bathroom; even in the darkness, you swear that you could make out a blush on her cheeks. Your decision is made before you can even think about it.

Leaving the dark dining room, the house is shrouded in the deep orange glow produced by a, no doubt, wonderful sunset. As you reach the bedroom, the sound of running water reaches your ears, and a cloud of steam can be seen wafting out of the bathroom, carrying the scent of lavender with it. You cringe at the sight of yourself in the bathroom mirror; your coat is heavily matted with dried sweat, and your mane flows in every direction except for down the back of your neck.

“I didn’t think you were going to take me up on the offer, at first.” If it’s possible, the mare that stands at the bath side is even more beautiful than she is normally. It’s something about the way her mane and tail are strewn about seemingly at random, or maybe it’s the loving smile on her face. The more you think about it, the more unsure you become, but one thing is certain; you care deeply about the mare in front of you. Because of the short period of time you’ve known her, it’s more deeply than you thought possible.

“Are you going to come in, or just stare?” she jokes, punctuating her sentence with a wink. You managed to daydream long enough for her to turn off the water and climb into the bath. She slides over to the other side as you approach. Slowly, you climb into the water. While it is hot, it seems like ice water compared to the seething cauldron of bubbling plasma that the Spa Sisters let you soak in the other day. Sitting down next to the relaxed white mare, your hoof accidentally bumps a button on the rail, causing a torrent of bubbles to shoot up out of every nook and cranny of the bath. You nearly break into laughter as the tiny air pockets move through your coat on their journey towards the surface, tickling every inch of your body on their way.

A relaxed sigh escapes the mouth of the mare next to you. Looking over at her, she looks as peaceful as the day she fell asleep in your room at the clinic. Now, you’re overjoyed she did. Moving a hoof up to her cheek, you gently turn her head to face you. Her eyes flutter open in time to lock with yours as you caress her soft cheek. In that moment, gazing into her eyes and feeling the racing of her heart through your hoof, you know that you’d happily die a thousand deaths just to see her smile. Your lips meet in a kiss, not one of the lust fuelled snogs from earlier, but a kiss meant to show her the ever deepening pool that is your love. A few moments in, you pull away from the comfort of her lips, once again locking your eyes with hers. Scooting herself over to you, she presses the side of her body against yours, and lays her head onto your shoulder. You wrap a hoof around her shoulders and rest your head against hers. You’re completely content to enjoy the simple pleasure of the passing moments of peace by listening to her steady breathing and feeling her heart beat through your foreleg.

It’s not until she starts to shiver, that you notice how cold the water has gotten. You can’t tell how long you’d sat there, motionless, but your body seems to think it’s been quite a while, evident by the growl of your empty stomach.

“Hey, Red?” you say, barely above a whisper.

“Hmm?” She had fallen asleep in your embrace again. That cute little half-yawned response was all the proof you needed. The idea that she feels safe and comfortable enough to fall asleep like that, is a sensation that causes your heart to explode with joy. In fact, the last two days make you feel like you’re walking on the clouds, –Although, you’re not sure if the earth pony expression holds true for a Pegasus – and nothing can ruin that feeling.

* - Death will marvel as creation rises [again].

A Day of Mourning

Twilight Sparkle sighed and slammed the book on her desk closed. The librarian was torn between the two strong emotions of worry for Fleetfoot, the distraught Wonderbolt, and annoyance that she had the nerve to lock herself in the shower for over TWO HOURS. The purple pony rubbed her forehead with a hoof, wondering what exorbitant amount of bits would be accrued on this month’s water bill by her uninvited guest. Just as she got up to check and make sure the white pony hadn’t drowned, a powerful trio of knocks erupted from door. A muffled mare’s voice could be heard through the thick wooden portal.

“Cool your jets, Soarin’. You sound like you’re trying to break the door down.”

Just before Twilight could unlock the door, an even more powerful set of knocks shot through the quiet of the library, the door hinges rattled loudly with each rap. After the rapping ceased, the dull whump of a hoof hitting a surface much softer than the door could be heard, followed by a fit of coughing.

Opening the door, the unicorn was met with two ponies she recognised, one of which seemed to have a terrible case of being punched in the gut.

“Oh, hello Spitfire, Soarin’.” Twilight Sparkle was one of the few ponies who knew the co-captains of the Wonderbolts. During her time in Canterlot, she had met lots of high ranking members of the guard, and even to this day her word held more weight than most other nobility combined. “What are you two doing all the way out here in Ponyville?”

“We actually have a show scheduled in three days.” Spitfire said coolly, hiding her nervousness about the unfolding situation.

“Oh, so you’re going around advertising, huh?”

“Actually—”

“You should probably tell Rainbow Dash,” Twilight interrupted.

“That’s not why we’re here, Twilight.” The yellow mare’s words went unheard by the librarian.

“She could have the town in an uproar in 10 seconds FLAT.”

“Twilight…” A bit of annoyance crept into Wonderbolt’s voice. She rose a hoof to rub her forehead, as she sighed.

“Her cloud-house is on the edge of town, towards Cloudsdale if you want to pop in and let her know,” she finished with a smile.

“TWILIGHT SPARKLE, WE ARE NOT here to advertise…” Spitfire tried to interrupt, but halfway through she noticed that the purple pony had finished her statement, making her yelling unnecessary. The awkward silence afterword was only filled with Soarin’s laboured breathing.

“I’m sorry for rambling.”

“I’m sorry for yelling at you,” they both said at the same time. Twilight blushed, looked away, and nervously kicked a hoof. The yellow mare simply stared at the librarian, blushing lightly herself. Soarin’ gave one final cough as he climbed to his hooves, breaking both ponies from their trance.

“So, if you aren’t advertising, what are you doing here?”

“We’re looking for Fleetfoot. I sent her here, to send a message, hours ago, and we haven’t seen her since.”

“Oh, her…” The purple pony slowly walked back into the library, hanging her head. “So, that means you knew Nighthawk as well?”

“Yeah, he’s part of the team,” Soarin’ responded, following the mares into the library. Twilight sat on a strangely out of place fainting couch upholstered in red silk, with a back in the shape of a half-heart. She motioned with a hoof to the other, more Spartan, couch across from her own. The Wonderbolts each took a seat at opposite ends of the drab brown sofa.

“After I sent the message to Rapidfire, she asked me to use a locating spell to find her coltfriend. She was clearly worrying, and I wanted to help her; so I searched all of Equestria, and I couldn’t find him by name or cutie mark. After that, she broke down and locked herself in my bathroom.” Spitfire immediately got to her hooves.

“So, he’s…” The Wonderbolt’s eyes pleaded Twilight not to make her say it. A gesture the purple pony recognised and answered with a small nod. “She’s got the best memory I’ve ever seen, and she has known him pretty much all of her life. If we leave her alone, she’s going to drive herself insane.” Twilight’s horn lit with a dim purple light momentarily.

“I’ll let you two deal with this, I don’t even know her. I’ll just get in the way. The bathroom is the first left upstairs, and the door is unlocked. She might be in the shower. It’s been running a while now.”

“I’m terrible at this emotion thing, Spitty. I think this is probably the right situation for ‘mare time’ anyway.”

“You’re probably right. Right now, I'm not sure if she would kill you if you walked in on her in the shower, not that I’d object.” Spitfire moved up the stairs, taking her time, in an attempt to prepare herself for the task ahead.

“So Miss Sparkle, I’ve never understood how it’s possible to use magic to find someone based on their name,” Soarin’ stated, curiously.

“Well, it’s actually based off of how ponies are named. As you might have noticed, our names are almost always related to who we are. Whether they know it or not, a pony’s parents are gifted with a form of foresight. That allows them to give their foal a name that is special to them. If this magic didn’t exist, you might have ended up named Crashin’ or something else completely contradictory to whom you are.

“That magic resides in us, for the rest of our lives, deep in the memory centre of the brain, along with another form of magic that manifests when we receive our cutie marks. Using a spell, I’m able to feel the resonance of that magic, and I can search through them until I find a match. Once I find the resonance I am looking for, I can then use another spell to triangulate the pony’s position using the magical ley lines of Equestria. It is a really complicated process; very few unicorns have the mental and magical focus needed to complete the task.”

The blue Wonderbolt shifted a hoof to his chin, thoughtfully. “So before a foal has their cutie mark, one could only find them by name. Is there a point where a foal is young enough to be not found at all? Like right at birth, does the magic need time to fully develop?”

Much to her surprise, Twilight’s guest seemed to follow and understand her long-winded summary of a much more complex spell. An intellectual was the last thing she had expected a career soldier and stunt flier to be. It must have shown, because before she could respond, he offered an explanation.

“There is more than way to become good at flying, Twilight. Your friend Rainbow Dash for example, she is a natural. Her ability comes from physical discipline and strong instincts. Nighthawk was the same way.” He let out a quiet sigh, looking off, out a window.

“Myself, on the other hoof, - despite what ponies think of my careless demeanour – I fly by being able to think my way through it. I’m not sure if you know just how sensitive a Pegasus’ wings are, or not.” A slowly shaking unicorn head was all he got for a response; her urge to absorb information from an unexpected source overpowered her chatty nature. “Right now, I could tell you exactly how many fibres of the fabric in this couch arm are touching my wing. Or the temperature, down to the hundredth of a degree.” Twilight simply mouthed a breathless wow in reaction. “I use that information to think my way through tricks, pushing physics to its limit, not my body.”

“Wow, I’ll have to add Pegasus wings to my list of research topics.” The librarian said with a smile, her horn lighting up to fetch a ‘to do’ list. “To answer your earlier question, the magic that determines a ponies name starts to form at conception, and is completely developed by birth.

“The only known ponies to be completely undetectable are those with severe degenerative brain conditions and those who…” The purple pony’s eyes shot open wide as she jumped to her hooves. “Soarin’, come on, we need to get Fleetfoot and Spitfire,” she said, as she ran upstairs.

“Why?” the Wonderbolt called after her.

“Nighthawk might still be alive!”

***

The sound of rushing water filled the upper level of the library, creating a separate world from the intellectual conversation downstairs. Spitfire placed a hoof softly against the bathroom door, steeling herself with a deep breath. She knocked quietly, leaning in close to the door to listen for a reply. After a few moments of worry, she pushed the door open slightly, speaking in a soft tone.

“Fleetfoot, it’s just me. I’m coming in.” As she fully opened the door, Spitfire was hit by a wall of humidity. The chilled air made her shiver and fluff up her wings instinctively. It was a feeling she recognised; a shower long gone cold, but whose bather was too preoccupied to escape its clutch. A low sobbing echoed through the room among the muffled pitter-patter of water splashing down on fur and feather alike. Venturing further into the room, Spitfire found the shower/tub combo pressed into the far corner of the library’s bathroom, just past a small porcelain pedestal sink poised in front of a small mirror. A translucent curtain blocked the shower from clear view, but a blurry cyan ball could be seen against the white floor at the far end of the tub. The concerned Captain threw the shower curtain aside with a hoof, a metal screeching accompanying its movement along the bar.

“Fleet-“ Frigid mist assaulted her face as Spitfire stood wide-eyed taking in the sight of her friend; she found herself unable to continue her sentence. Before her, the cyan mare is sprawled out, seemingly unaware of the pony right next to her. The shower’s cold water pelted every inch of her body, causing her mane to cover her entire face. The poor pony shook violently. Spitfire was unsure if it was from the cold or the intense, but quiet, weeping. Every few moments a fit of coughing overwhelmed the distraught pony as some of the flowing water was drawn into her lungs. Water had begun to pool at the base of the tub, where a small mass of cyan feathers blocked the drain.

“Fleetfoot,” Spitfire said sadly. She reached a hoof up and turned off the water, starting with the cold tap before moving on to the warm. Grabbing two to towels from a nearby rack, she quickly began to dry the exposed areas of the shivering mare before her. Once satisfied, Spitfire grabbed her friend around the torso and lifted her out of the tub. The cyan mare’s body hung seemingly lifeless in her hooves, if not for the mournful weeping, she would have feared that her friend had succumbed to hypothermia. Two quiet words echoed through the room.

“He’s gone…”

As she was set onto her hooves by her teammate, Fleetfoot’s legs began to wobble, and immediately gave out. She crashed to the floor with an unceremonious *whump*. Spitfire quickly wrapped the dejected mare in a dry towel, worried for her safety; the cyan Pegasus had felt so cold in her hooves. Two cold, wet hooves quickly wrapped around the yellow mare’s neck pulling her down into a powerful hug.

“Tell me he’s ok. That he just got lost, and that Twilight doesn’t know what spell to use to find him. Please, just tell me that this is all a nightmare, and everything will be ok.” For her part, Spitfire returned the hug, and pulled the cold mare in tighter.

“Shhh… Everything will be ok. But I can’t tell you he’s ok. It would be wrong for us to lie to ourselves.” The clatter of hooves drew their combined attention to the open doorway. Twilight Sparkle skidded to a halt right in front of the Wonderbolts with a hopeful look on her face.

“Spitfire, you two need to come with me. This could be very important.”

“Twilight, I hardly think this is the time for–“ The Wonderbolt was cut off as the librarian whispered into her ear. Spitfire’s eyes went wide in shock when her brain processed the message. She put on her most soothing voice, and spoke into the cyan Wonderbolt’s ear. “Fleetfoot, we need to go with Miss Twilight.”

***

It was unanimously decided that a late diner was in order, followed by a shopping trip. Now, you walk the streets of Ponyville alongside your marefriend, holding her in your wing. The sun had already set and only a few ponies were still out and about. Nurse Redheart had explained that most establishments closed at sundown, but when Vinyl Scratch had moved to Ponyville, a small nightlife seemed to follow her. Across the street was a line of at least twenty ponies. At the head of the line was a large, angry-looking stallion clad in all black with white lettering across his chest reading ‘Staff’. He stood in front of a large, unassuming building with a set of simple metal doors. The ground beneath your hooves trembled with each hit of the bass.

“When Vinyl transformed the old warehouse into that club of hers, late-night shops just popped up. Their owners were no doubt looking to cash in on the drunk and recovering ponies that visit ‘The Scratching Post’, as she calls it,” the white mare explains as you trot onwards, to a location unknown to you. “There’s a noodle restaurant just up here that’s open all night. I go there after late shifts sometimes.”

After a few minutes, the restaurant comes into sight. It is a run-down old convenience store that seems to have been converted into a make-shift eatery. You pull the door open, stepping aside to allow your marefriend through first. She looks at you with a soft smile as she enters the restaurant. As she looks back ahead of her, she lets out a startled gasp and stops short.

“Oh, hi Twilight, you surprised me, there.” You hear her say.

“You haven’t seen–” The purple unicorn stops mid-sentence as you move to the inside of the door. She appears to be accompanied by three Pegasi. A yellow mare and a blue stallion – that looks quite similar to you – support a cyan mare with a forehoof each. The cyan Pegasus’ head is hung low, her nose nearly to the ground. A glimmer of light draws your vision to her muzzle; a steady stream of tears run from each eye, eventually dripping from a single point at the tip of her nose. A tinge of sadness rises to your heart. Clearly, this mare has been through something terrible. You’re happy to see that she has friends to help her through it, though. You would have been much worse off if you didn’t have Nurse Redheart to help you through your troubled times.

Twin gasps reach your ears, both supporting Pegasi look at you with wide eyes.

“Nighthawk!”

“Night,” they say in unison. You immediately remember what Rainbow Dash had told you earlier today. Uncertainty worms its way into your mind causing your wings to shift nervously. The cyan mare looks upward ever so slowly. Through her white mane, you can barely see her green eyes welled with tears and red as a beet. For a split-second your eyes lock, and you can feel a deep sadness wash over you.

“Birdy!” she yells, shrugging off the helping hooves of her fellow Pegasi. With a single flap of her wings, she roughly pushes past Nurse Redheart and collides with you full force. You hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of your lungs and causing your head to spin. Her face is just inches away from yours as you try to catch your breath. You can smell her breath; it reminds you of the calm of a spring rain. Small droplets of cool liquid hit your face at an increasing pace. You blink a few times while taking another deep breath to stop your world from spinning. When you open your eyes for the last time you are barely able to catch a glimpse as the cyan mare dives in, pressing her lips against your open mouth. Your body and mind is in complete shock when her tongue slides its way into your mouth; she prods your tongue with her own, trying to coax it out, the same way you do with your marefriend. With an adept swipe of her tongue against a sensitive point in your mouth, she makes you gasp. As she pours passion into your mouth, her tears slow to a crawl.

“AAAAAHHHH!” That familiar voice’s shrill shriek clears your mind instantly. Summoning all your nerve, you use press your forehooves against the cyan mare’s chest, and lift her away from your body. Looking over to Nurse Redheart, her face is contorted in anger and awash with a bright red tint.

“Birdy?” a cracking voice says. The cool splash of liquid on the side of your face increases to a veritable torrent. Fear overtakes your mind as the white mare you love opens her mouth in an attempt to speak, but nothing comes out. Finally, she lets out a huff and gallops off into the night.

The world blurs and your eyes burn as tears of your own well up as nearly every emotion overwhelms your mind. A cyan hoof gently pulls your vision back to her green eyes. A cold tear drops into your eye, causing you to flinch, but you never break eye contact.

“Birdy, what’s going on?” The Pegasus gazes down at you with a look of mixed emotions.

You don't know.

A Day of Wrath

“I’ve got to find her,” you say to yourself. As you fly just above the rooftops of Ponyville, the wind rushing past your face drowns out any chance of the words reaching your ears. An emotional fire burns in your heart, and freely-flowing adrenaline pushes your flight to extreme speeds.

You close your eyes briefly, if only to relieve the stinging sensation of the cold wind. Tingling numbness overtakes your right forehoof as it smacks into your stomach with a dull thud. Pulling your eyes open and daring to look behind you, a tan brick topples from a chimney that you just passed; a bright red stains its surface. A yellow glint catches your eye, as well.Your thoughts keep repeating the phrase over and over again.

You’re going to lose her.

You slow your flight, realising that at this speed you could fly past your quarry without noticing. Sweeping your gaze back and forth, Nurse Redheart is nowhere to be seen.

“She can’t have gone—”

An immense force drives your body downward. From behind, a pair of light-blue hooves rotate your body mid-air, just before you are slammed into a small patch of grass near the Ponyville park entrance. The forceful impact disorients you, but your adrenaline-filled body recovers quickly. Perched atop you is the same Pegasus stallion that you had seen at the noodle restaurant; rage fills his eyes. In his hooves, you are held completely immobile.

“Nighthawk, what the buck is wrong with you?!” a commanding female voice yells from your side, but your attention is focused on wriggling out of your captor’s grasp. You are barely able to wrench your right forehoof away. With all of your strength, you swing it at the stallion atop you. A cracking can be felt through your hoof, and a deep red liquid sprays out onto the ground. The force of your blow throws the stallion onto the ground beside you, knocked out cold. Before you can move a, yellow hoof pins your bloodied forehoof back down to the ground. The mare presses her toe violently against the bottom of your sole. Within seconds, your body is completely paralyzed in immense pain. It takes all of your mental focus to supress your body’s urge to uncontrollably vomit.

“I’m going to ask you again! What is going on?!” The fiery mare yells into your face, her hoof pressing into yours even harder. With the pain completely overwhelming your mind, you answer to the best of your limited ability.

“I need to... find my marefriend... She’s crying…” You can feel as your cognitive ability slows, and darkness creeps into the corners of your vision. The pressure on your hoof relaxes, bringing your senses back to normal.

“She’s outside that damn restaurant, where you dumped her flank in the dirt”

“What? She ran off when your friend shoved her tongue down my throat!”

“Wait, what?”

“You heard me! I used to be a Wonderbolt, so, if you don’t want to end up like him,” you motion your free hoof to the completely unconscious Pegasus next to you, “I suggest you get the buck off of me!” The pained moans and gasps throughout the statement detract from your threat.

“Used to—” A blinding purple flash erupts from nowhere and deposits Twilight Sparkle and that crying mare in its wake. The fiery-maned mare’s gaze is drawn to the two new ponies.

“Spitfire, get off of him! Can’t you see that you’re hurting him?” The cyan mare roughly rams into the yellow torture-master. Kneeling down by your blood soaked hoof, she gently cradles it in her forehooves before speaking to the yellow mare again, sounding devastated. “You broke his hoof?”

“No, he did that when he ran into a chimney,” Spitfire responded, still quite cross sounding.

“And you still crushed it. He might not be able to walk for months, now!” You're confused as to why this mare is being nice to you after you tossed her into the dirt.

“He was out of control—”

“JUST TAKE YOUR SORRY FLANK AND LEAVE US THE BUCK ALONE!”

“Fine, you’re on your own with this…” The peeved pony throws her unconscious compatriot onto her back and trots off into the night, with a confused and stunned Twilight Sparkle in tow. The cyan pony examines your hoof more closely, gently trying to brush away some of the blood-soaked mud that has adhered to your fetlock.

“You need to see a doctor about this.” A certain Nurse, that you would really like to see, comes to mind. “But for now, we need to wash it out.” She looks down at you with those big green eyes; tears no longer hide their stunning beauty. Something about them calms the nagging in your mind. “There’s a stream over here that we can clean it up in. Follow me.” Pushing yourself to your hooves, you take wing behind her. You’re not sure why you end up following the complete stranger into the park, or why you trust her at all. After a quick flight, you alight at the edge of a small stream that cuts a path through the entirety of the park. Benches and varying forms of fauna line its banks, cool air seems to radiate off of it, and a light fog clings to the water itself. Kneeling at the water's edge, you dip your injured hoof into the surprisingly cold water; it seems to dull the pain that throbs through your broken appendage. Luna’s large moon gives off enough light to see the red-brown tint downstream from your hoof. The cyan mare kneels next to you. Once again, she grasps your hoof in her own, and begins caressing it ever-so-gently as the cold water washes away your pain.

“You don’t remember me, do you?” Her voice pierces the silence, bringing her apparent sadness to the calm of the night.

“I don’t remember anypony.” She pulls your hoof from the water, inspecting it again before putting it to rest on your uninjured forehoof.

“I’m sorry Spitfire and Soarin’ were so rough. We didn’t know what happened to you, or why you were acting so strangely.” The cyan mare scoots in closer to you and rests her head on your shoulder. At first, you want to shrug her off, but when you see her face, you just can’t bring yourself to do it; her emerald eyes return your gaze, their sorrow is clearly evident.

You’re going to lose her.

A single shudder passes through your body and the stinging heat of tears forces your eyes closed. You turn your thoughts to the happiness you had with Nurse Redheart. When trying to find the serenity in the memory of her sleeping face, it only brings is more fear and uncertainty.

“Twilight Sparkle told us you were dead, but then she dragged us out of her library without a word as to why. And after hours of, what I thought was meaningless wandering, there you were, alive and seemingly fine." She pauses, taking a deep breath "And then, my entire world shattered, for the second time today.” As they reach your coat, drops of cool liquid mix with her warm breath. The words Spitfire spoke earlier play through your mind, bringing even more confusion in their wake.

“Who are you?” she pulls away from your shoulder. Her white mane still covers most of her face, but behind it you can see her eyes glistening with tears, yet again.

“Echo Fleetfoot, the fastest Wonderbolt flier,” she says, flatly.

“…To me. Who are you, to me?” She looks away, staring upstream, seemingly at nothing.

“For the last 12 years, I was your marefriend.” She brushes her mane out of her eyes, and turns back to gaze into yours. For a moment, at least, those shining emeralds lull you into a sense of calm. Slowly, she presses her forehead against yours; her breath washes over your face again and brings the cool of a spring rain to this autumn evening. “Even if you leave me for Redheart, I always have and will love you with all my being.” Her lips press against yours in a soft, loving kiss that your heart burns to return, much to your brain’s chagrin.

You’re going to lose her.

You quickly pull away and your eyes shoot open wide upon realisation of what you just did. Your quick movement seems to have startled the cyan mare, as well.

“I’m sorry, Birdy. I don’t want you to resent me for forcing you to kiss me, but this is so hard. Just seeing you like this hurts so much.”

“Echo, I’m sorry—” Her cyan hoof stops you, before you can finish.

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for.” She pulls you into a gentle hug and nuzzles your face softly. Her frazzled mane tickles your ear, causing it to twitch reflexively. “Birdy,” she speaks quietly into your ear, “I want to go with you, to find Redheart. I want to explain this to her.”

“Are you sure? I haven’t seen her angry. So, I don’t know how what she will do when she sees you.”

“I want you to be happy, and if I have to bore the brunt of her anger so that you can. I’m fine with that.”

You nod, rise, and unfurl your wings, ready and eager to find your marefriend.

***

It didn’t take you long to search every viable location in Ponyville for the pony you were trying to find, but your hunt was fruitless. You gingerly touch down outside Nurse Redheart’s home and find the door left wildly open; it bangs against the wall as the autumn wind pushes it around roughly. Moving into the living room slowly, the darkness enshrouds you. As you limp over to the hallway, a deep blue glow can be seen through the bedroom door.

“Wait here,” you say quietly, to your accomplice.

The sound of muffled sniffling and ragged breathing emanates from the room as you carefully approach the open door.

“Red, are you ok?” You try to sound as calm and soothing as possible, but it mostly comes out as a worried whimper. Finally taking in the view of the dark room, deep blue-purple light – that is strangely similar to the colour of your coat – floods a large square recess in the ceiling and bathes the room in an eerie purple glow. On the Far side of the bed is a pony sized lump under the linens, trembling at random. As you move to her, your three hooves make an uneven clopping on the floor. You sit on your haunches when you reach the edge of her bed.

“Please go… I don’t want you to see me like this.” The way her voice wavers, from her weeping, nearly causes your heart to stop. Without hesitation, you throw back the corner of the linens; even if you draw her anger for ignoring her wishes, you had to act. The despondency in her voice was something you felt she should never experience. Much to your relief, Nurse Redheart doesn’t seem angry; she simply shrinks back further into her refuge and hides behind a mass of her own brightly glowing pink mane. A florescent cyan stain was left where the bed had absorbed its fair share of tears. Careful not to lie on your injured hoof, slide yourself into the bed in front of her and clear the weeping pony’s mane from her face. Your vision is assaulted with a wave of bright colours when the strange light meets the troubled mare’s eyes. Her eyes shine with an ethereal azure framed by the fluorescing cyan of tears matted into her face. If the situation were different, you could get lost in her accentuated beauty. With your good forehoof, you pull her into a tight embrace, nuzzling her damp cheek.

“I’m sorry, Red. I can’t imagine how bad it must have felt to see me kissing another mare.” You try to straighten out the tangled mess of a mane in front of you to comfort her. As you run your hoof through it, she reflexively presses into your grasp, whimpering softly.

“Please stop crying. I love you so much, and a couple of kisses from a mare I don’t know won’t change that.” You nearly die when you realise what you just said. The white mare pulls her head back quickly, to look you in the eyes; the glare you’re given did kill you, you’re sure of it.

“A couple?! YOU KISSED HER AGAIN?!” With all four hooves, she roughly shoves you out of the bed and onto the floor. You land on your right hooves; searing pain shoots through your leg. As you climb to your hooves and begin following her, you can hear the clopping of hooves as she canters into the living room and turns on the light.

“What in the hell are you doing here?! You have the nerve to kiss my coltfriend, and then come into my house!!” You pick up the pace, scurrying as fast as you can on three legs. Entering the living room, you are just in time to see Nurse Redheart slap the cyan mare in the face, not once, but twice; each impact sends a loud clop through the large room. Moving quickly, you absentmindedly grasp the white mare’s right forehoof in your own before she can lash out a third time. Shortly afterward, her hoof bats yours away forcefully, as she stares daggers at the cyan mare in front of her. The power of the impact throws blood from your newly re-opened wound in a wide arc; some of it lands on the couch and floor, but most of it sprays onto the Pegasus’ face and mane. It slowly mixes with her own blood, dripping from the corner of her mouth. Upon seeing the red liquid, the nurse’s mood changes immediately.

“Oh my goddess,” she says, rushing off towards the bathroom. She returns moments later with a towel and a large, red duffel sporting a white cross, with a look of determination on her face. The white mare hands the towel to Fleetfoot, who immediately begins to wipe the blood from her face. Dropping the red bag on the couch, Nurse Redheart throws the bag’s zipper open with her teeth. It spills open, revealing enough medical supplies to keep the clinic running for a week.

“Sit,” she commands coldly, as she grabs a large piece of gauze. After wiping the pooled blood from your hoof, the white mare applies a liquid to the gash. You bite your tongue in an attempt to dull the stinging sensation it brings. Fetching a needle, she sutures up the gash in your hoof, and under her expert care you barely feel the needle enter the tender flesh. Once finished, she packs up the first-aid bag, and goes to put it away.

“Are you ok, Echo?” you ask, a little concerned that she had tagged along.

“Heh. I’m a Wonderbolt, remember. I’ve survived a lot worse than being slapped by some filly.”

Moments later, the pink-maned pony emerges from the hallway, and leans against the wall where the hallway meets the room.

“So, you knew each other before the accident, then.” Her expression lacks any emotion and the calm, coldness in her voice brings you more fear than her anger.

“We knew each other for 12 years.” The cyan pony responds, somewhat cautiously.

“And you were clearly close.” Fleetfoot nods in acknowledgement. The white mare’s blank gaze shifts to the floor in front of her hooves. Her legs start to shake as she speaks again. “And you came back here to tell me that you were leaving me for her.”

“What? No!” you exclaim, rushing over to her. You reach her just as her legs give out, and are barely able to catch her in your forehooves. As her guise completely fails, she weeps softly into the crook your foreleg. placing a hoof on her cheek, you raise her face from its resting place; pressing forward, you softly kiss your marefriend, showing all of your love for the wonderful mare. A female whimper can be heard in the background, but your mind is too pre-occupied to take note. You watch as her blue eyes lazily slide shut, and she returns the kiss full force. You break the kiss before either of you get too carried away. For a moment, you happily gaze into the lovely mare’s eyes, before wiping her pooled tears away. A sniffle draws your combined attention back to the second present mare. She has taken a seat on the couch, and stares out the bay window at Luna’s stunning moon. You can see its light reflecting from her teary eyes.

“So why are you here?” Nurse Redheart says through squinted eyes, anger fills her voice.

“I don’t know,” She says, her voice cracking as she fights back tears, “but I think it was a mistake.” The Pegasus leaps from the couch and charges out of the house. Before your brain can react, your body is following her. She stops just outside, and looks into your eyes one more time.

“Goodbye, Birdy.” Her wings flare, she turns, and begins to take off; your throat clenches with the familiar feeling of sadness.

“Echo,” you choke out. She pauses and cocks her head over her shoulder, listening. “This doesn’t have to be goodbye.”

With a sigh, she responds, “Yes, Birdy, it does.”

You barely see when she mouths three very important words, and then flies off into the darkness, without looking back.

When you re-enter the living room, Nurse Redheart is nowhere to be seen, and looking down the hallway, the bedroom door has been shut. You sigh, taking a seat on the couch. The crinkling of smashed paper surprises you and causes you to bolt back upright. Taking the paper in hoof, you read it to yourself.

"You can sleep on the couch, we'll talk in the morning."

Genuine

As Celestia’s sun broke the horizon, it brought its warmth to the cool, moist air of another beautiful autumn day. Overnight, a large nimbus cloud had brought a torrential flood to every corner of the Everfree, but in the early hours of the morning the monstrous wisp had calmed, its reserves drained, and its unsuspecting controller calmed.

The orange light of the sun radiating through the massive heavenly body roused a certain cyan Pegasus from her induced slumber. Multitudes of tiny droplets of cold water had formed on her coat overnight, leaving a strange tickling sensation on every inch of her stiff body. She laid there as long as she dare, too tired to get up but too uncomfortable to go back to sleep. Fleetfoot used her hooves to wipe the sleep from her tired eyes, hoping that they would be more prone to stay open afterwards. Carefully, she rolled over, looking at the multi-colour sky through blurry eyes. Her stomach was less queasy today than most mornings; she would usually spend her mornings with her hooves wrapped around the toilet bowl, retching any of the previous night’s leftover meal from her stomach. An uncomfortable groan left her lips as she brushed her hooves through her dishevelled mane.

It would still be months before she began to show, but as she ran her forehooves over her well-toned belly, she could feel a certain firmness that had developed recently. A feeling of awe overtook the mare as she considered the marvellous event taking place inside her body. Tears of joy were brought to her eyes as she pictured herself, cradling their foal.

Her foal…

It was a distinction that changed literally everything. A river of fearful tears replaced the much more welcome tears of joy. She was trembling as she spoke with her voice barely above a whimper, “Birdy, Please… I need you. I don’t know how to live without you, let alone handle this…”

***

You found, that night, that nothing makes time drag on nearly as well as a mind full of worry. Minutes felt like hours. Hours felt like weeks. By the time the first light of the morning sun began to crest the horizon, you felt your mortal life stretched on as long as the immortal princess Celestia in the span of one night. You take a seat in the cushioned bay window that overlooks the golf course. On the horizon, Celestia’s sun is barely beginning to emerge from behind the, barely visible, Everfree. The simple, majestic sight seems to calm your frayed nerves when the sun’s warmth is absorbed into your dark coat. Your gaze is drawn to a cloud, far above the forest; the morning light cast it in the brightest orange glow you’ve ever seen.

As you stare, thoughtlessly, at the heavenly body, your heart sinks to the lowest low you’ve ever felt. No matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to look away from the sight before your eyes. As the room around you fills with the bright, orange rays of the sun, the cold radiating from your heart spreads to every inch of your body.

“Why do I feel like this?” you question aloud, the shivering of your body clearly evident in your voice. Weakly, you rest your head against the cool glass of the window; your ragged breaths cause a haze of fog to spread outward from your muzzle. Overnight, you had thought about all of the differing possibilities that could happen today, but none of the feelings that they had invoked were this powerful. And now, all of this terrible emotion was brought to the surface, for as far as you can tell no reason. To say you’re confused is an understatement.

A warm, soft object brushes over your shoulder. ”Hey,” Nurse Redheart’s soft voice coos, “Come have some breakfast.” With the gentle coaxing of the white mare, you are able to pull yourself away from the window. As you carefully climb down onto your good hooves, you are able to take in the sight of the mare accompanying you. Through your blurred vision, you see her mane is terribly dishevelled, and the dark bags under her eyes reveal her apparent lack of sleep. She is wearing the same set of cute, pink socks that you caught her in yesterday, a sight that helps quell the tempest of sorrow in your heart. She raises a hoof to each of your eyes and wipes away tears that you never noticed you had shed; the fluffy clothing covering her hoof warms your seemingly frigid skin as it caresses your face gently.

The white mare turns and silently leads you into the dining room, where two steaming bowls of oatmeal have been set out for your breakfast. You take a seat at the table, on the same cushion that had played host to your impromptu romance. The musty smell wafting up from it brings back beautiful memories of your previous day’s exploits. As you eat your bowl of oatmeal, you can’t keep your eyes off of the tired mare across from you. You wish that you knew what was going on in her mind right now, but her face betrays little.

Any immediate hope of feeling better is quashed with the words that finally come out of her mouth. “You still have feelings for her, even without your memories, don’t you?” Her voice wasn’t angry, like it was in so many of the situations you thought about last night; it was sombre.

“I don’t know.” It’s the truth; you have no idea why you wanted to return her last kiss or why you chased after her. “When I look at her, I feel like something is missing. It’s like my body and mind don’t agree. My mind told me I was crazy for even thinking of returning her kiss, but my heart yearned for me to press back, to savour her breath washing over me, and to reciprocate her feelings. But, all of that is completely and utterly irrelevant because I do know I have strong feelings for you, and I do know that my heart wants those same things for and from you.” The ice in your heart melts as you finish speaking.

"It's not irrelevant, though, because I feel like I took something wonderful away from you,” the mare argued, her face contorting in sorrow. “And—”

“Red,” you interrupted. “There might have been and might still be something I feel for her, but…" Your momentum breaks, and you stumble momentarily. "now, right now, I am completely and totally yours, body, mind, and soul. And whatever you may have taken away from me, you have given me back something even more radiant and beautiful.” You reach across the table and cup her cheek in your hoof; a look of relief washes over her. You lean in for a quick kiss, watching, through half-lidded eyes, as her worries wash away. When you pull away, she smiles, genuinely. “I don’t regret anything that I’ve done since I woke up in the hospital because I’ve acted earnestly on my feelings for you. And if you have as well, there is nothing to be remorseful about. What we’ve done may have hurt that poor filly, but could you honestly say that your love for me is worth any less than hers?”

After a moment, she answers, “No.” Staring blankly into her oatmeal, she takes a deep breath and continues, “You know, I spent all night worrying about how much trouble and pain I caused her. It seemed so wrong for me, a pony whose entire being is devoted to helping ponies, to cause harm to another. I still feel terrible about what I’ve done, but I didn’t know I would hurt somepony. The thought had crossed my mind that all I would have to do would be push you back into her hooves, and you could both be happy again.” She looks up and meets your gaze with her oh-so-beautiful eyes. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be stronger f—” Wrapping your hooves around your emotional mare, you lean in and silence her with a gentle kiss. As expected, she melts into your hooves, a feeling that overwhelms your mind with ecstasy.

“I am happy,” you say, as you break the kiss, “and I just want you to be as happy, here, in my hooves as I am holding you close.”

“But then,” she says, seeming to continue her earlier thought, as if she were uninterrupted, “you always say such beautiful things that make me feel so good. And it makes me realise how utterly, hopelessly destroyed I would be if I went through with it.”

With your injured forehoof, you lovingly stroke your marefriend’s mane, an act that elicits a soft murmur from the mare. “Shhh… You acted genuinely on genuine feelings, and you’ve helped me so much. You shouldn’t be doing this to yours—” You cut yourself off with a sharp hiss, as you foolishly put too much pressure on your hoof and a spike of pain shoots through your appendage. Immediately, the pink maned pony grasps your hoof with an all too common look of concern. She dabs her napkin over your stiches; a small red patch can be seen on it as she sets it back onto the table.

“You need to be careful, you almost tore the stitches.” She releases your hoof, and you rest it softly around her again, content just to hold her in your hooves. And for a time, she is content to simply be held. “We still need to go get that hoof looked at, and if you still want to stay with me…” Her voice trails off, sounding unsure.

“I’ve told you once; I never want to leave your side, Red. That hasn’t changed.” Releasing your grasp, you sit on the same floor-cushion as Nurse Redheart, close enough where your coats rub softly against each other’s.

“Thank you, I just needed to hear it again,” she says through a smile. “And in that case, we should do the shopping we had planned last night. Hopefully, without any problems this time.” A nervous laugh escapes Nurse Redheart’s lips. “I swear every time we go out in public, something dramatic happens.”

“Actually, I think it has. Celestia must really hate us,” you joke, trying to lighten the mood.

“Oh, if this was all some setup, some elaborate life lesson… I will smack a filly, again.” The vision playing through your head makes you double over in laughter.

Before you is the immortal Sun Goddess, her multi-hued mane blowing in some unknown wind. The welcoming smile on her face does nothing to quell the unimaginable anger of the mare next to you. You watch as your pink-maned mare approaches the regal Alicorn. Without warning, a white hoof collides with the royal jaw. The look of shock and surprise on the Princess’ unchanging face is absolutely priceless.

Your laughter recedes as the vision fades, and you realise that you have completely collapsed to the floor in your fit. Nurse Redheart stares down at you, smiling widely. “I’m glad you enjoyed that picture. Now, get up.” She prods you in the side as she rises to all four hooves. “We need to stop by the clinic to get an x-ray of that hoof. Though, we should probably shower first. I don’t know what my sister would do if we turned up looking like this.” The fatigue in your body makes itself well known as you try to make your way to the bathroom. When you enter the bathroom, you pause a second looking in the mirror at the pony looking back at you. It’s not a pretty sight.

Nurse Redheart walks passed you and climbs into the shower. The sound of running water fills the room, and before long a great gout of steam gushes forth from the stall. The white pony’s head pokes back out of the open door, speaking through a coy smile. “You know, there is plenty of room for two ponies in here.”

“U-uhh… isn’t that a bit… uhh, private?”

She leans over and whispers seductively in your ear, “Do I need to remind you what we did yesterday, in the dining room?” You feel heat rise to your cheeks as you try to hide your expression from the enticing mare. She pulls her head back into the shower and her playful voice echoes out to you. “Oh well, your loss.” After a light chuckle at your marefriend’s antics, you step into the shower and close the door behind you.

***

The sun was quite a bit higher in the sky when Fleetfoot recovered the strength of will to calm herself down.

“Miss Fleetfoot?” A soft, yet regal voice called out from behind her. Turning to the pony addressing her, the cyan mare was immediately taken aback by her visitor. Before her was the pink Alicorn, Princess Cadence with her curly, tri-coloured mane swaying lightly in the breeze. “Aunt Luna told me that you might wish to speak with me. Though, she failed to mention why, but it’s quite clear to me now.” The royal took a seat next to the blue mare. “Who is he?”

A moment of silence passed before a response was given.

“His name is Nighthawk… Or, it was. He came to Ponyville about a week ago to set up for the Wonderbolts show. From what I’m told, he nearly died and has permanently lost his memory.” The mare paused for a second before she continued, “But that’s not the worst part. I had made plans to tell him the most wonderful news of our lives after what would be my final show. When he was recovering from his injuries, he fell in love with another mare.” Cadence winced visibly at this. “I wanted to try and get him back, but I couldn’t bring myself to hurt him by breaking them apart.”

The cyan pony paused. When she continued, she sounded crushed. “He could never hide anything from me… It was always his eyes, and I could see how much he loved her in them.” With her tale finished, the defeated mare turned her eyes to stare blankly at her hooves.

“True love is eternal. His mind may not know it,” the royal said, placing a supportive hoof gently against the blue mare’s shoulder, “but his body and soul still love you, Miss, and they will until the day he dies.”

The princess’ horn began to glow a bright teal, and a smile formed on her face. As her aura receded, she spoke tenderly, under her breath, “Little Aria…” She continued at a normal level, “Oh, Miss Fleetfoot, your foal is going to be so beautiful.” The cyan pony looks up to her princess, a glint of happiness forming in her eyes. “Would you like to see her?” Cadence was truly beaming, now. She had changed this mare’s mood from one of sorrow, and was about to bring her happiness beyond measure, evident by the mare’s glowing smile and furiously nodding head.

The Princess leaned over, pressing her long horn up against the cyan pony’s forehead. Fleetfoot’s vision was encased by the teal aura of magic. Out of the sea of blue, a small, pink form grew. As it moved closer, tiny legs could be seen. In time, every detail could be seen on the tiny filly. Her body was still mostly hairless, with only a small portion of her coat around her nose having grown in. It was a pale periwinkle. A few hairs of her mane had come in as well; she had her mother’s white mane. And then, as the spell began to fade, the foal seemed to turn to her look upon her mother, and the sight brought tears of joy to the mare’s eyes. Her foal had the same beautiful golden eyes as her father.

When she was returned to reality, Fleetfoot lunged forward at the Alicorn, wrapping her in a tight hug. Once the shock of the attack hug wore off, Cadence returned the hug fondly, and a smile returned to her face. “Thank you so much, Princess. That was the most wonderful thing I could have ever hoped to have seen.”

“You are so very welcome,” the royal responded. “It makes me so happy, to show you that no matter what happens with this stallion, beauty and love are still all around you.” The cyan mare released her grasp on the Alicorn, beaming.

Fleetfoot ran her hooves over her belly again, letting them rest on the familiar firmness. Tears of joy continued to slowly roll down from her closed eyes as she focused on her own heartbeat and the joy of the thought that it would be soon joined by another.

After a moment of silence, the rejuvenated mare spoke, “You did, Princess. And thank you again. I’m going to go tell my teammates. I think they will be happy to hear the news.” She said, eagerly getting to her hooves and preparing to take flight. “Goodbye.” The Princess bowed her head in acknowledgement as the cyan mare took wing, heading back towards the Wonderbolt’s stage and towards her new life of love.

***

The steamy heat is oppressive. Releasing the cool, metal doorhandle from your mouth, you turn to see Nurse Redheart standing with her head directly in the flow of water. As the warm liquid passes over her mane, the hairs seemingly melt and flow downward, no matter the strange, messy state they were in previously. Her head is bowed slightly, allowing the fringe of her hair to channel water away from her closed eyes, and she’s lightly panting with her cute, little tongue lazily lolling out of her mouth. Not wanting to interrupt her moment, you sit on your haunches against the far wall of the shower. The cold tile feels amazing against your body in the extreme heat of the enclosed space. More than once, you catch yourself tracing the lines of her toned body as she runs a soapy brush over her coat.

She even catches you once. You can feel the heat in your face as she flashes you a sultry smile and swishes her tail playfully. You decide the best way to avoid gawking is to close your eyes and lean your head back against the cold wall. It’s about that time that you realise how relaxed and utterly tired you are.

You awake to a completely bone chilling torrent of cold water. Gasping loudly, your eyelids shoot open so far that you are certain it will take surgery to recover them from the back side of your eyeballs. Nurse Redheart stands before you with the detachable showerhead in her mouth, giggling like a school-filly; her laughing fit has causes a respite in the frigid onslaught, and you rush over to her, intending to give her a taste of her own medicine.

Playfully trying to wrestle the showerhead away from the laughing mare, you box her into a corner and flare your wings, halting her escape. You smile impishly at your quarry. Closing your eyes in an attempt to shield them from the painfully cold spray, you lunge forward and grasp at the offending object with your mouth. However, you mouth meets something much warmer than expected. A loud clatter can be heard as the shower head slams to the floor, spraying cold water in every direction. Before you can recoil, a set of warm, wet forelegs wraps around your neck and pull you forward. It’s just then that you realise what – or more aptly, whose lips – you’ve latched onto.

The white mare’s tongue slides into your open mouth and passes over a sensitive spot, eliciting a shudder from the deepest portion of your mind. Regaining your senses, you passionately return the embrace. The lavender scent coming off her freshly shampooed mane and coat fills your chest with fire with every breath you take. You are pulled down by the neck as the impassioned filly slides down the wall into a laying position beneath you, all without breaking away from your lips. The urge to feel her body pressed against yours is overwhelming. You begin to lower yourself down onto her when searing pain from your forehoof breaks your concentration. Luckily, you were able to roll onto your side as your legs give out completely, barely avoiding crashing down on the pony beneath you.

You nearly retch as the pain crushes your mind, but the soft touch of Nurse Redheart’s hooves against your injured leg calms your mind. You begin to feel lightheaded as you hear her voice call out to you. “Hey, look at me!” You weakly turn your head to see the determined face of your love staring back at you. “I need you focus on me. No matter how tired you feel, I need you to stay awake. Look into my eyes, I can tell how much you like them.” A soft smile forms on her face with the last portion of her command.

Something in her voice makes you do as she says, without question. She quickly straddles your form, wraps her forehooves around you, just below your withers, and lifts you completely off the ground. Your forehooves hang limply over her shoulders, they’re too weak to do anything else. You gaze into her sapphire eyes as she carries you, walking on her hind legs only, over to her bed. With a feminine grunt, she sets you down on the soft, blue linens.

“What’s going on, Red?” you ask, through panting breaths. The pink-maned pony grabs a pillow in her teeth and violently whips her head to the side, effectively throwing the cushy missile from its case and into a wall. She drops the white cloth from her mouth, bringing her face back up to your level.

“Don’t worry, hun. Everything is going to be ok.” You can see her forelegs moving in the corners of your vision and begin to trace them down. "Hey,” Immediately, your face is pushed back upwards by her hoof. “I’m up here. Remember what I said.” She takes her hoof away from your cheek, leaving a warm liquid behind. You feel a heavy pressure on your aching hoof. Just as your body begins to shiver, the white mare wraps you in a cocoon of linens and looks you straight in the eyes.

“I need to call a carriage, I will be right back. Don’t try and move” Nurse Redheart begins to leave, but does a double take before locking eyes again. She grasps your head between her forehooves and kisses your forehead gently. “I love you, so much.” As she pulls her hooves away, you catch a glimpse of deep red stains and smears up and down her forelegs. She quickly disappears from your vision, and you hear the rapid clopping of galloping hooves on the hardwood floor.

You feel so warm, now that you’re wrapped in an entire bed of blankets. You fruitlessly fight against your heavy eyelids as they slowly slide closed. As soon as your world is completely enshrouded in nothing but warmth and darkness, you feel hooves press against your face again. A frantic mare’s cries can be heard some distance away.

“Hey!”

“Wake up!”

“Please, just wake up…”

Cool liquid drips against your face.

Focusing all of your strength, you force your eyes to slide open momentarily. Nurse Redheart is standing over you, looking off towards the door of the bedroom. ”Gurney! In here!” she yells, her voice sounding so far away. Your eyes begin to slide back closed as her gaze returns to you.

“No, no, no!” Her voice barely registers in your mind as your eyes completely shut.

From the End of all Things

Nurse Redheart stood solemnly, surrounded by a sea of ponies, in a field dotted by some of the most masterfully carved and meaningful stones in all of Equestria. A light fog had set in, bathing the field in a serene glow as Celestia's sun shined brightly overhead, but the morning air still held a chill of the previous night. The downcast mare was wearing a sprig of lavender in her flowing, pink mane and the most beautiful dress that she had ever seen; the pleats of its black fabric flowed gracefully over her body.

Rarity had insisted that she take the dress for no charge, stating, "No pony should have to go through this absolutely horrid event twice in their lives."

The pink-maned pony unsteadily walked up to a deep, mahogany box, placing a forehoof against its rounded lid. She stood there a moment, feeling all of the warmth of her body stolen through her contact with the object and replaced by a cold emptiness. Tears escaped her shining blue eyes, and she did nothing to stop their flow. After a moment, a blue mare emerged from the crowd, joining the white pony at the forefront. Nurse Tenderheart wrapped her sister in a hug.

A golden aura enveloped the intricately detailed wooden vessel and it slowly levitated into the air. The ever-warm voice of Princess Celestia could be heard as her magic guided the departed to his final resting place; her words fell on deaf ears as the sisters wept loudly in each other's hooves.

As the golden glow faded from the princess' horn, a loud crack and rumble of thunder was heard from above. High in the air, a group of four Pegasi flew in an offset V formation, trailing their trademark smoke and lightning behind them. Just as they pass overhead the Pegasus to the right of the leader breaks off and begins to climb vertically into the heavens. Just as the Wonderbolt passes completely out of sight, an explosion fills the sky with every colour of the rainbow.

With the ceremony over, the crowd of mourning ponies dispersed quietly, leaving only a few closer friends and relatives behind. The sisters stood silently, staring at the newly carved gravestone.

Careheart

In loving memory, we lay our dear father to rest. His life was devoted to helping all ponies, no matter their ills.

We love you dad,
Your Hope and Joy.

A deep blue Pegasus approached the sisters, limping slightly as he walked. He placed a soft kiss on the white mare's cheek and wrapped his wing around her as he quietly stood at her side.

***

You had watched from the front of the crowd as your marefriend's father was buried. She had asked you to give her a moment alone with him, to say her last good-bye. As much as it hurt you to stand by, watching her bear so much anguish, you did. But when the service ended, you decided that you had stood by long enough.

Your leg had been healed for several months now, but the damage had become so severe that it would never be completely problem free. You would have a limp for the rest of your life and the range of motion in that ankle would be limited.

So, you limped forward to your mare, placing a gentle kiss on her wet cheek. To this day, you were always taken aback by the warmth of her body as you placed a wing over her. The three of you stood there, silently for quite some time, and you were, by far and away, the last ponies to leave.

The carriage ride home from Manehattan was much less tense than the previous day's ride. In the regally decorated carriage, you held the white mare in your wing. The sisters regaled each other with joyful memories of their father during their childhood. From time to time, your marefriend would nuzzle your neck from her position leaning against your shoulder, and you would lean down to lovingly kiss her forehead in return.

Your carriage arrives in Ponyville just after sundown. Disembarking the carriage first, you offer a helping hoof to the sisters as they step down. The two mares share a quick hug in farewell before Nurse Tenderheart begins to trot away, home. You make your way into your shared home, your marefriend trailing just behind.

"Thank you for everything you did today, Hun," she says, taking a seat on the couch. You yawn, the long ride and emotional day taking its toll on you. Walking into the dining room, you open a small cabinet and withdraw a bottle from the criss-cross latticework. Tucking it under your wing, you grab two crystal glasses from where they hang, on the cabinet door.

Returning to the living room, you uncork the bottle and fill the glasses with the dark, purple liquid. The room is filled with the scent of grapes and blackberries, along with the sharp tinge of alcohol.

"You're welcome, Red," you say, offering up a glass of the soothing liquid to your marefriend. "I was just happy to be there in case you needed me." The white mare accepts the glass, swirling the liquid around before taking a short sip. Sitting next to her, you take a sip from your glass as well. The cool liquid tastes like berries and has a hint of black tea as you swallow. The two of you sit for a time, simply drinking the wine in a comfortable silence. After a number of glasses, you lean against the arm of the sofa and pull your marefriend over to you, resting her back against your chest and wrapping your forehooves around her stomach. The sensation of her coat up against yours still makes you feel like your heart is on fire. You continue drinking in this position until you finish two bottles.

"I love you, Hun. Please, don't leave me like the others in my life have," the white mare says weakly, rolling over to face you while she speaks. For a moment, you're mesmerized by the shining of her breathtakingly-beautiful eyes. Regaining control of your mind, you raise a hoof to her cheek.

"I won't ever leave you." With your reassurance, she dives in, pressing her lips against yours sloppily. A few cool drops of liquid fall on your face, dislodged by her sudden movement. You open your mouth as you feel her tongue slide along your lips; running your tongue over her warm, wet appendage, you can taste the lingering berry flavour of wine on her. Her hooves make their way to the side of your face, pulling you deeper into her kiss, and her breath washes over your face in deep, powerful waves. The gentle lavender you know so well is completely replaced by the stinging of alcohol.

Too lost in the pleasure of such an emotional kiss to keep a steady breathing pattern, you're left gasping for air when she finally does break the embrace. As you lay there, the intense, burning sensation in your lungs is only matched by the longing of your lips to be against hers again, the heat of your heart beating furiously against your chest, and the ardour in those blue eyes. You pull her closer to you, and with your free hoof, you stroke her mane gently. A gasp of pleasure escapes the white mare's lips as you ever so slightly brush her ear with your hoof.

She leans down once again, placing her lips against yours. This time, her ministrations are determined and precise. You slide your tongue against her lips, savouring the lingering flavour of wine. Parting her lips, the white mare's tongue emerges, moving slowly and sensually around yours. Her kiss lights a fire in your chest that isn’t easily quenched and from the look in her alluring, half-lidded eyes, she knows it. Too soon, the embrace ends as she bites down on your lower lip roughly and pulls away; there is an audible pop when your lip breaks free of her grasp. The pain was bearable, and the sadistic smirk she flashed afterwards was always worth it. The pink-maned pony plants another quick kiss on your lips before extricating herself from your hooves and climbing to the floor.

Walking past the arm of the couch, she drags very near the entirety of her silky tail across your face. Instantly, you are enveloped waves of sweet lavender; another familiar, musky scent makes your heart beat harder against your ribcage. You watch as your lover saunters down the hallway, swishing her tail seductively. You feel your face burn as you blush deeply at the surprising show. Climbing to your hooves, you trot down the hallway, following your mare into the bedroom. You're left completely slack-jawed and stammering by the sight before your eyes as you close the door.

***

The sensation of the world around you slowly slips back to you. The quiet tones of a radio are barely heard over the rhythmic breathing of two ponies. Your body is encased in a cocoon of warmth, and the uncomfortable bed in which you lie is only offset by the relief of the warm pony you are pressed up against. As you open your eyes, a sea of pink envelops your vision; the sweet scent of lavender is just barely recognizable over the stale odour of sweat.

Carefully, you roll away from the caring mare, rubbing your eyes with your uninjured forehoof as you stare up at the white ceiling. The full-length cast adorning your dominant foreleg has been a hassle since you woke up in the clinic three days ago. Yesterday, the nurses let you use a set of parallel bars to try to walk on three hooves. It was quite difficult to keep your balance with the extra weight of your cast, and you found yourself using your wings on the bars to keep from toppling onto your face quite often. It was slow, discouraging work, but the beaming smile you received, from a certain nurse, after walking a full length of the bars without faltering made it all worth it.

A tired groan from the mare beside you pulls you from your thoughts. Sensing that you were no longer cuddling up against her, she pats the small space in between your bodies a couple times with her hoof. The worried mare then rolls onto her back and her hoof comes to rest on your chest; you place your hoof on hers, gently holding it to your heart.

Scooting your way back over to the waking mare, you nuzzle her face affectionately. "Good morning," you say, just above a whisper. In response, she places a small kiss on your cheek and rests her head up against yours. You spend an indefinite amount of time like that, savouring the warmth in your heart and the peace in an otherwise hectic world.

Your ears perk as the door opens, and a surprised gasp can be heard. Openning your eyes, you are just in time to catch a glimpse of Nurse Tenderheart. She wears a devious smirk as she begins to speak.

"Oh my Goddess! Red, how could you take advantage of a poor, helpless patient like this?!" Startled, Nurse Redheart immediately rolls out of the bed and lands on the floor in an unceremonious heap, from the sounds of it. You quickly scurry to the edge of the bed, and look down at your marefriend, worried she was hurt. Your fears are assuaged, though, when she climbs to her hooves, looking a little shaken but none the worse for wear.

"Good morning, you two," the blue mare says, still fighting back giggles from her prank.

Nurse Redheart sighs, as she runs a hoof through her dishevelled mane, trying to control what she refers to as 'hospital hair'. "Did you really have to ruin such a beautiful moment in such an uncouth manner?" You feel heat surge to your cheeks at the thought of her enjoying it as much as you did. Chuckling, the periwinkle pony approaches your bed.

"You two have all the time in the world to cuddle with each other," she says, grasping a blood pressure cuff in her mouth and motioning to stick out your foreleg. When you oblige, she pumps it up and takes a reading. Jotting down the number on your chart, she continues, "It's already quite late in the morning, and we need to get you breakfast and your morning painkiller before it's off to physical therapy."

"Oh, dear. It is late," your marefriend states, glancing at the wall clock. Looking at the device yourself, you can't seem to focus on the clock's hands. You shrug and chalk it up to the constant haze of the painkillers they have you on.

"The last few days have been hard on you guys," Nurse Tenderheart says, wrapping her sister in a soft hug. "I did all my other rounds before I came here, so you could have some more time try and catch up on your sleep." The blue nurse retrieves a wheelchair from a corner of the room and brings it over to you. As you climb down from the bed and into the wheelchair, your marefriend is there to steady you and guide you into the chair. "Alright, looks like you're all settled in. First stop, the cafeteria."

The pair of nurses and you leave the room and move toward the clinic's small food court. Entering the cafeteria, the smell of hot maple syrup prevails on the air. As the three of you move over to the serving area, your marefriend speaks to a portly tan unicorn with a short-cropped, curly black mane, "Good morning, Short. What's on the menu today?"

"Today, we got alfalfa pancakes or Prench toast, both served with a lil' bit of my own special seasoning to give'em a lil' kick," the pony said, holding a spatula in his magical aura.

"Sounds good, can we have two orders of pancakes please?"

"And an order of Prench toast as well," Nurse Tenderheart added.

"You got it, ladies," the cook answered as he levitated some batter over to the griddle. "Go 'head take a seat, I'll have 'em out in a minute."

You're rolled over to a circular table not far from the cook. The mares take a seat across from each other, leaving the three of you placed in a triangle around the table. You catch a glimpse of Twilight Sparkle at a neighbouring table, as always, reading from a large tome that hangs in her magical aura. Curious, you squint, trying to pick out the title from the book's cover. Even after blinking a few times, you can only see a blur of unfocused text on a perfectly focused book.

"So…" the periwinkle pony says, looking directly at you. "Ponies normally try and stay out of the clinic, but this is the second time in two weeks that we've had you in here in critical condition. What happened this time?"

"The short version is that I clipped a brick chimney while flying really fast. Red stitched up the gash I had from the impact, and we thought it could wait until the next day to be fully treated. It probably would have, but I kept forgetting about it and using the hoof like nothing was wrong.

"Then—"

"BAM… BAM… BAM…" the shouts of the chef interrupt you. But sure enough, your food is delivered via magic right afterwards. Taking a deep breath, you are rewarded with a sinfully delicious smelling breakfast. All three ponies at your table dig in with varying degrees of dignity in their method of eating breakfast.

"So, you were saying about your hoof?"

Moving your muzzle out of the mapley mountain of masticated mush, you continue, "Well, I tried to lay down in the shower, and I guess I put too much weight on it. I felt something pop and something rip. I could barely keep from collapsing on top of Red." The green-maned pony's quirked eyebrow leads you to believe you might have said too much; you nervously look away, trying to find something else to focus on.

"Really? And, what, pray tell, were you doing on top of my sister?" she coaxed.

"As I was saying!" you proclaim, much too loudly. Your eyes almost naturally lock onto your marefriend's beautiful sapphires. "After that, I was pretty out of it. I remember being so scared at first, the pain was just so terrible I couldn't think." You reach your hoof across the table, where it is joined by hers as she gently rubs your fetlock. "And then, she carried me out of the shower and kept me from seeing what I can only assume was a large amount of blood. She made me feel so safe, like nothing could ever happen to me." You force a smile. "I felt like, as long as I could look into those eyes, and as long as I could see that glimmer they have when they look back at me, I had something that would keep me going to the ends of the earth."

You pull your hoof away and rest your head against it; the latent warmth of her touch still seeps into your being as you rub your hoof against your forehead. "I failed her, mis…" You falter as your ragged breathing interferes with you speech.

Nurse Redheart uses a hoof to pull your face up to look at her. "Ssshhh… you did fine," the white mare coos, gently rubbing her cheek against yours in tiny motions. Like a siren's song, she's washed away any doubts you had, and after a few moments, the warmth in your chest has you feeling like you could take on the world single-hoofedly.

Just as your marefriend pulls away, you could swear you saw her sister staring wistfully at the two of you. Before you could act on your suspicions, the green mare speaks up, in her normally teasing tone. "So, should I drop you off in your room for a quickie before PT?" If the heat in your cheeks is any indication, both you and your marefriend blush brightly. After a chuckle, the green-maned mare continues, “You two are too easy, really. But it’s adorable, and I’m happy for you, Red. ” The two mares share a smile. “Now, enough mushy stuff, time to get to work.”

After a quick stop at the clinic’s pharmacy for your painkiller, the three of you make your way into the physical therapy room. The white on white room is littered with all sorts of training and weight lifting equipment. You’re pushed over to the parallel bars once again, where Nurse Tenderheart addresses you. “I’m going to go check on some other patients. I trust you can take care of yourselves?”

“Yeah, we’ll be fine. Thanks, sis,” your marefriend responds, helping you out of the wheelchair. The periwinkle pony begins to leave, but halts at the door, calling back to you.

“And try to stay out of my sister’s flank long enough to get some training done, will you?” Before the nurse can be caught in your lover’s glare, she’s already made her way into the hallway, laughing.

"Ok, Hun," the white mare states, as you move into position at the end of the bars. "Yesterday you got accustomed to having the weight of the cast on your leg while walking on only three legs. I want you to do a couple trips down and back while I get the next portion of your training ready." You begin to shuffle your way forward steadily. The first length, you stumble a few times. If it wasn't for the extra support that you received from your wings pressed up against the bars, then you would have fallen face first onto the ground. But, by the end of the second lap, you feel comfortable enough to walk without the support of your wings.

As if on cue, Nurse Redheart returns to you with what appears to be a set of saddle bags. "The next step is quite a simple process. You'll carry these weights just like normal saddle bags, and as you get more comfortable with them, I'll move them forward more and more until they are directly above your shoulders. Once you are comfortable walking with the weights in that position you should be ready for anything you'll encounter over the next six weeks in that cast." Your nurse carefully places the weighted saddlebags onto your flank, fastening it securely. When she's finished, she climbs under the bars and positions herself just in front of you. Without hesitation, she presses her muzzle gently against yours. Your eyes reflexively slide closed from the beauty of her silky lips sliding over yours, but all too soon, she pulls away, hovering her muzzle just barely apart from yours.

Your eyes slide open, taking in the dark room around you. A nuzzle against your side has drawn you from a dreaming memory that feels so real, you hadn't realised you were even dreaming. Looking through cracked eyes, you see the source of your disturbance. Your marefriend has her face buried into the side of your torso, sleeping soundly. You lean down and kiss the top of her head before allowing yourself to return to the dream state from whence you've come.

The world around you seems so familiar, yet completely different than expected. You are still in the physical training room, but the mare in front of you is wearing her mane in a different style than you remember. And yet, none of this causes you to think twice.

"You can do this," she states just above a whisper. Her lips graze yours with every word, it's something that she's learned over the last six weeks, and she knows it drives you insane. As the mounting need to press your lips against hers reaches a fever pitch, you press forward, expecting to meet her lips and extinguish the fire in your chest. But, she deftly retreats, leaving you in a perpetual advance, that is, until you realise how off balance you feel. Reactively, you tense your wings in order to keep yourself from falling, but when you find that you aren't plummeting towards the floor, you look quizzically at your marefriend. Upon her face is a proud, yet somewhat smug, grin.

"That’s one," she says, motioning to your front hoof. Looking down, you see yourself standing with most of your body weight on a scrawny, wobbly forehoof. It was strange; you had almost forgotten that it was there. After a month and a half of trying to remember that you couldn’t use that leg, it was just as hard to remember to use it again. "Now, just 29 more before we're finished for today." The white mare backs away a few steps. "Ok, Hun. Make your way over to me using both forehooves, but take it easy."

You reset your hooves to a normal standing position before taking a tentative step forward onto your noticeably weak hoof; shimmying forward, the next four steps you go smoothly, and leave a slight burning sensation in the muscles of your leg. With the two of you smiling at your accomplishment, you're rewarded with an affectionate nuzzle on your cheek.

Giving you only a few seconds to rest, the pink-maned pony moves to a point three-quarters of the way down the bars. Without waiting for further instruction, you begin to slowly shuffle your way forward. The burning sensation in your leg builds into a raging wildfire by the time you reach the waiting mare. For no reason other than the struggle of walking, you find yourself taking deep, powerful breaths as your heart beats furiously in your throat.

"That was perfect, Hun. Now, the last few steps will be harder than all of the others combined."

"I don't think I can," you choke out between breaths. "It feels like my leg is going to give out if I put any weight on it."

"I know you can do this." Again, she moves her face in, brushing her lips over yours ever so slightly as she quietly speaks. The combination of her silky lips running lightly over yours and her lavender laced breath overwhelm your mind with desire. But once again, when you press forward, she expertly maintains her distance as she continues speaking.

"I watched as the light faded from your eyes, but you came back to me. Defying fate, you came back to me from the end of all things, and seeing the spark return to those eyes…" Trembling, she halts your advance by gently placing her hoof against your cheek, and looks deeply into your eyes. The fear and despair of your first meeting and the emotional tempest of those fleeting memories edges its way into your mind, but they are quickly quashed by the mare's next words. "– Those amazing golden eyes – it lit a fire in my heart, a fire that becomes an inferno every time I see you." She removes her hoof from your cheek and you unconsciously try to close the gap between your lips. Much to your dismay, this never happens.

The entrancing mare continues, "And when I see that fire in your eyes, I know that you can do anything." As she finishes, your lips finally meet and the result is explosive. Sliding your eyes closed, you pour all of the pent-up passion into your kiss; your tongue immediately darts past your lips, where you find hers eagerly waiting. You notice a hint of her lavender toothpaste still lingers in her mouth as your tongues slide along each other. Using her tongue, she toys with one of the sensitive spots in your mouth, and her constant attention draws a gasp from you. As your diaphragm reactively contracts, you try and pull away, to avoid inhaling your lover's tongue, but she presses forward, keeping your muzzles firmly locked together. The resistance to your provoked inhalation fades as you feel her breathe into your mouth slowly; her sweat, warm breath passes over your tongue and into your lungs. When you feel like your lungs are going to burst, you gently exhale into her mouth, refilling her lungs with life giving air.

You break away from her, letting your eyes slide open. The sight you are met with is none other than the icy sapphires that you treasure so much, burning with passion. They draw you back in for a set of increasingly shorter lingering kisses.

"Red, that fire that you see in me, it's you," you say shakily, your unsteady breathing during the entire event has made you a little light-headed. Nurse Redheart smiles softly.

"And you did something that you didn't think was possible, without even knowing you were doing it." Confused, you look around and find yourself a couple steps past the end of the training bars. After a moment of stunned surprise, your marefriend wraps her forehooves around your neck in a tight hug; rising to your rear hooves, you return the gesture. "I'm so proud of you, Hun."

"I love you so much, Red," you say, blinking back tears of joy and nuzzling against the warm mare's cheek.

"You're such an amazing stallion, and I love you, too."

"Whoa!" Nurse Tenderheat's now familiar voice calls out, a set of choking coughs racks her body afterwards. Surprised by her odd entrance, you mutually break your hug and look to the coughing mare. Her face is lit in a bright red blush as she continues, "So, it must be pretty… uh, mind blowing, eh Red?" You're completely lost, and from the look on your marefriend's face, she's just as confused.

"What are you on about?"

"uhm…The sex. It must be pretty good?" the nervous blue mare explains, trying furiously to look at anything but you.

"What?!" your lover screams, blushing a couple shades lighter than her sister. "That's completely out of the blue, even for you, Joy."

"Out of the… Wait a second, are you telling me you didn’t notice the wet, sticky spot just above your belly button?" the green-maned sister prods. Nurse Redheart's face contorts in a confused scowl – which is completely adorable – and her forehoof travels down to her belly. When it returns to your view, there is a small build-up of a viscous, clear liquid on the tip. The white mare brings her hoof up to her nose, gently sniffing. "And don't tell me you didn’t notice that?" the periwinkle nurse continues, waving a hoof at your legs. As the white mare's gaze shifts towards you, her tongue slips out of her mouth and towards her hoof.

"Oh goddess, are you…" Everything seems to move in slow motion for you. Within an instant, the pink-maned pony's eyes lock onto your hind legs, her tongue touches the unknown liquid, and her pupils shrink to a nearly non-existant size when her mind processes what she sees. The expression on your marefriend's face is one of morbid mortification as she quickly pulls her hoof away from her face. "I can't believe you did that, with me watching!!" her sister yells, turning away and unsteadily galloping out of the room, nearly hitting every piece of equipment on the way out.

Still completely oblivious to what is going on, you twist your head around, trying to find what is so surprising about them. That's when you find the biggest embarrassment of heavily impassioned kissing in public places. Too little, way too late, you snap all four of your legs closed and lower your tail to the floor in an attempt to hide your shame. Nurse Redheart is standing completely motionless, her jaw agape. Your mind reels, and your breaths come in quick pants. Soon, your head begins to spin, and you quickly fall from your awkward standing position to the floor.

Quiet, feminine giggling overtakes the silent room; it gives way to the uproarious laugher of your marefriend. Looking over to her, she's got her – other – hoof nearly shoved into her mouth in an effort to stifle her amusement. It's not long before you are chuckling and eventually you lose yourself to raucous laughter, as well. It is some time before the two of you can quiet down enough to speak.

"Oh, goddess," the white mare states, wiping a tear from her eye. "After that, she won't be able to make any more sex jokes for months."

"I don't know… if I'll ever be able to look her in the eye again," you add, still battling rogue laughs and chuckles.

"I think it's worse for her. She always talked the talk, but she was quite prudish in practice." Ambling over to you, the mare offers you a helping hoof up to a standing position. A sticky hoof, in hindsight.

"Awe, come on. You couldn't wipe that hoof off first?"

"Hey, I'm just giving back what is rightfully yours," she responds, playfully wiping her hoof off on your back.

Between your wings.

In the place that you can't reach.

Even with the brush.

"Thanks," you offer, sarcastically.

She winks. "You're welcome. Now, it's back to walking on three legs for you until it's time for more training, tomorrow."

You follow her to the door in the manner of walking you've become familiar with over the last six weeks. You can't help but notice your inability to focus on the clock above the door.

"Red," you call out, as you pass through the door. She turns back to you, smiling. "I just want you to know, I really did mean what I said earlier. I love you, more than anything." She walks back to you.

"Hun, you can call me by my first name, I think we're well passed that phase by now."

"I… uh... Don't remember you telling me your first name," you respond.

Fearing the worst, you cringe a little as your soon-to-be ex-marefriend speaks, "Oh, sorry. I guess I'm not used to getting close enough to other ponies to remember." She nervously rubs fidgets with her mane a bit. "Hope, my first name is Hope." You let out a quick chuckle at the irony of the memory running through your mind, something that seems to annoy your nurse, if her scowl has anything to say about it.

"That’s a beautiful name." A sincere smile spreads across your face, easing the mare's discomfort. "It's ironic… do you remember that first day I left the clinic, when you sent me to the spa?" She nods. "Well, Aloe and I struck up a bit of a conversation about my wings when we discovered they didn’t hurt anymore. I sort of had an epiphany there. I figured out what I felt I needed most in my life was." You look down at your hooves, nervous this will sound weird.

"It was hope. And now, I know that means much more than I thought it did." You bring your eyes back up to your mare, and to your delight she's smiling that smile that you noticed she never gives to anypony else, not even family. The sight warms your heart and calms your nerves.

A clatter rings out from the room behind you. Spinning around, the therapy room is completely empty and everything seems to be in place. Except for one tan brick, laying in the middle of the floor. Curious, you trot over to it; flipping it over with your hoof reveals a deep red stain surrounding a cracked hoof imprint. You shiver as the cool night breeze shuffles your mane soothingly. Sighing, you turn, taking in the beauty of the nighttime in Ponyville Park and completely unaware that you were just in a totally different place. You limp slowly over to a park bench overlooking a small brook.

A cyan Pegasus is waiting for you, sitting quietly and staring idly at the small stream that bisects the park; her white and blue mane drifts lazily in the wind.

"Hello, Birdy," she says warmly, without moving her eyes from the gently flowing water. You take a seat next to her.

"Echo, how are you?" You fight to keep the emotional turmoil, that seeing her again has wrought throughout your entire being, out of your voice. During a moment of silence, you turn and watch as she idly stares.

She sighs, and then she answers, "Better, now. I can't sleep on my back or stomach anymore, but I don't feel sick when I wake up in the mornings anymore. Mostly, I just feel like a bloated cow." You take a moment to take in the sight of the cyan mare. Her frame is just as toned as the last time you saw her, but a large round bump protrudes from her lower abdomen. She's every bit as beautiful now as she was, then. Over the months, you've told yourself that the feelings you felt all that time ago were just from the stress you were under, but the warmth in your heart proves otherwise. You move your eyes back to her face, and she returns your gaze; the repressed longing in her eyes is clearly evident. You decide to address the elephant in the room.

"How long have you known?"

"Since a few days before your accident. I was about 12 weeks into the pregnancy and you scheduled me a doctor's appointment because I had morning sickness."

"So, you knew… I… Why didn't you tell me then?"

"I had already been devastated by what happened. I had already lost you; I kept it secret because I feared that the one pony who unconditionally loved me would reject or resent me. If that would have happened, I might have just jumped off Cloudsdale without opening my wings." That hits you like a stampede, and you have to fight back tears.

After a long moment of silence, straining to control yourself, you're barely able to mutter out, "I'm sorry, Echo."

"Don't say that, Birdy," she says, pulling your face back up to look at her. You're not even sure when you looked away. "You've given me the most beautiful gift a mare can receive. I was afraid at first, but I realised how much I love the little filly growing inside of me. I knew I would have to be strong for her, just like you were always strong for—OH!" The cyan mare jumps a little, startled by some unseen force, and immediately, she starts to smile like a madpony.

"Give me your hoof!" She excitedly motions for you to come closer, something you do without hesitation. As you reach a hoof out to her, she quickly grasps it within her own and places it on her swollen belly; the warmth of her skin against your hoof is amazing. Your next thought is interrupted by a thump against your hoof, a feeling that makes you gasp and pull your hoof away.

"Echo, I can't just let you do this alone." You slide off the bench and stand up. "I've got to—"

"Birdy, stop." She grasps your foreleg firmly with her hoof, causing you to turn to face her. "I wish that you could share this with me, but you know as well as I do, that as soon as you go back to her, your feelings for her will eclipse anything you feel for me. I'm just a ghost of your past. You need to move on."

"I can't just forget about these feelings."

"Please, do it for me, because I can't." the cyan mare gazes deeply into your eyes; the way her emerald jewels shimmer in the moonlight cause you to stumble over your words.

"I just… I ca…" You sigh. "Ok, Echo, I'll try."

"Thank you, Birdy. Thank you for everything," she says, gesturing to her swollen belly as she speaks. A smile spreads across her face as she continues, sounding excited, "I can't wait to be able to hold my little filly in my hooves, or to groom her mane or preen her wings, just like my mother did when I was a foal." Her eyes slide closed, and she places her hooves lightly on the bulge in her lower body. You watch as her lips start quivering. Soon, the tips of her lips have turned upwards in a serene smile, and when she opens her eyes again you can see the glistening of tears in the moonlight.

The cyan Pegasus clambers off of the bench and stands with her face just inches away from yours. "Thank you, again." Her wild, white and blue mane glows brightly under the light of Luna's moon, but ultimately, the beauty of her eyes, filled with joyful tears is what causes you to lose control of the warmth in your heart.

"I love you, Echo." Her eyes shoot open wide, and her mouth forms into a cute little "o" as you slowly lean in. Your lips meet in a series of short kisses with your lips and tongues lapping over each other softly. The kisses become longer and more passionate as you go on. Soon, your tongues are dancing over each other's; her taste is very mild. It reminds you of drinking from a mountain spring.

You break away from her lips, planting a light kiss on her cheek. Dragging your lips across her silky coat, you move your way across her jawline and down her neck. Every so often, you give her a light kiss or a gentle nip. She tilts her head up and away from you, exposing more of her neck for your ministrations. You begin to run your hoof through her mane and down the back of her neck. Through the corner of your eye, you catch a glimpse of her wings rising to attention. Her racing heart can be felt through your lips when you plant a firm kiss on the crest of her neck. Still moving your hoof down her spine, you nip at the nape of her neck just as your hoof reaches the base of her wing. She gasps at your assault on her senses.

"No," she says, pulling away from you and breathing heavily. "I'm sorry, as much as I want to, I can't let you ruin what you have. Goodbye, Birdy." The cyan mare turns and slowly walks away, fading into the darkness.

***

Jarred from your sleep, you bolt upright, reaching your hoof out to grasp at the image of the cyan filly fading into the darkness around you. Your heart beats furiously in your throat, pushing icy guilt through your veins. Desperately trying to catch your breath, you clutch a hoof to your chest. The feeling of another hoof being placed against your side startles you.

"Hun, what's wrong?" Your eyes finally begin to focus on the dark world around you as you trace the white hoof down to your sleepy sounding marefriend; her beautiful eyes look up to you with concern. Before it can take hold, the shame in your heart is replaced by the fires of love.

"Nothing, Red. Just a dream." The white mare inches closer to you, running her hoof over your chest in a way that has always calmed your nerves. As your breathing returns to normal, you lie down and pull the bed linens back over your body.

"It was the dream about her again, wasn't it?" she pushes, pressing her body up against your side and resting her chin on your chest. You drape your foreleg over her body, and you place your hoof just below her shoulder.

"At first, I relived some of the most powerful days of our relationship. But then she was there, and just like the other times, I kissed her." You turn your head away from your mare and stare at the dark wall. Immediately, her hoof pulls your head back around to her.

"It was just a dream, Hun. You know that night went completely differently." As her eyes slide shut, you look down to her with a faint smile, but can't suppress a sigh as the weight of the moment is lifted off of your shoulders. Her eyes crack back open ever so slightly. "Something else wrong, Hun?"

"No. As long as I've got you, everything is fine. I realise that now." You punctuate your statement by softly pecking her on the lips. "Go back to sleep, Red." She wraps her forelegs around your body and shifts her head to the side, nuzzling your chest lovingly.

You watch her tenderly as she shifts and fidgets, trying to get comfortable; after a few minutes, the pulses of her breath across your coat become slow and steady. It always makes you smile when she falls asleep in your hooves.

You lay your head back against your pillow, and stare blankly up at the recessed ceiling, lost completely in your thoughts. Your last words really did hit home; they were something that your heart and mind finally agreed on. As long as you had Hope, your world would be perfect.

And tomorrow, you would try to return the favour.

You would give her everything you are or could ever be.

You would agree to share your entire life with her.

You would show her that she will always be everything to you.

You would strive to better yourself, for her.

You would stand by her side, until the end of the world.

You would do anything for her.

And all she would have to do, is say,

"I do."

The Butterfly Effect (Alternate Ending: Part 1)

This ending will take place, chronologically, after 'Love is Fleeting' and replaces 'Genuine' and 'From the End of all Things.'

Enjoy.

As Celestia’s sun broke the horizon, it brought its warmth to the cool, moist air of another beautiful autumn day. Overnight, a large nimbus cloud had brought a torrential flood to every corner of the Everfree, but in the early hours of the morning the monstrous wisp had calmed, its reserves drained, and its unsuspecting controller calmed.

The orange light of the sun radiating through the massive heavenly body roused a certain cyan Pegasus from her induced slumber. Multitudes of tiny droplets of cold water had formed on her coat overnight, leaving a strange tickling sensation on every inch of her stiff body. She laid there as long as she dare, too tired to get up but too uncomfortable to go back to sleep. Fleetfoot used her hooves to wipe the sleep from her tired eyes, hoping that they would be more prone to stay open afterwards. Carefully, she rolled over, looking at the multi-colour sky through blurry eyes. Her stomach was less queasy today than most mornings; she would usually spend her mornings with her hooves wrapped around the toilet bowl, retching any of the previous night’s leftover meal from her stomach. An uncomfortable groan left her lips as she brushed her hooves through her dishevelled mane.

It would still be months before she began to show, but as she ran her forehooves over her well-toned belly, she could feel a certain firmness that had developed recently. A feeling of awe overtook the mare as she considered the marvellous event taking place inside her body. Tears of joy were brought to her eyes as she pictured herself, cradling their foal.

Her foal…

It was a distinction that changed literally everything. A river of fearful tears replaced the much more welcome tears of joy. She was trembling as she spoke with her voice barely above a whimper, “Birdy, Please… I need you. I don’t know how to live without you, let alone handle this…”

***

You found, that night, that nothing makes time drag on nearly as well as a mind full of worry. Minutes felt like hours. Hours felt like weeks. By the time the first light of the morning sun began to crest the horizon, you felt that your mortal life stretched on as long as the immortal princess Celestia in the span of one night. You take a seat in the cushioned bay window that overlooks the golf course. On the horizon, Celestia’s sun is barely beginning to emerge from behind the, barely visible, Everfree. The simple, majestic sight seems to calm your frayed nerves when the sun’s warmth is absorbed into your dark coat. Your gaze is drawn to a cloud, far above the forest; the morning light cast it in the brightest orange glow you’ve ever seen.

As you stare, thoughtlessly, at the heavenly body, your heart sinks to the lowest low you’ve ever felt. No matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to look away from the sight before your eyes. As the room around you fills with the bright, orange rays of the sun, the cold radiating from your heart spreads to every inch of your body.

“Why do I feel like this?” you question aloud, the shivering of your body clearly evident in your voice. Weakly, you rest your head against the cool glass of the window; your ragged breaths cause a haze of fog to spread outward from your muzzle. Overnight, you had thought about all of the differing possibilities that could happen today, but none of the feelings that they had invoked were this powerful. And now, all of this terrible emotion was brought to the surface, for as far as you can tell no reason. To say you’re confused is an understatement.

A warm, soft object brushes over your shoulder. ”Hey,” Nurse Redheart’s soft voice coos, “Come have some breakfast.” With the gentle coaxing of the white mare, you are able to pull yourself away from the window. As you carefully climb down onto your good hooves, you are able to take in the sight of the mare accompanying you. Through your blurred vision, you see her mane is terribly dishevelled, and the dark bags under her eyes reveal her apparent lack of sleep. She is wearing the same set of cute, pink socks that you caught her in yesterday, a sight that helps quell the tempest of sorrow in your heart. She raises a hoof to each of your eyes and wipes away tears that you never noticed you had shed; the fluffy clothing covering her hoof warms your seemingly frigid skin as it caresses your face gently.

The white mare turns and silently leads you into the dining room, where two steaming bowls of oatmeal have been set out for your breakfast. You take a seat at the table, on the same cushion that had played host to your impromptu romance. The musty smell wafting up from it brings back beautiful memories of your previous day’s exploits. As you eat your bowl of oatmeal, you can’t keep your eyes off of the tired mare across from you. You wish that you knew what was going on in her mind right now, but her face betrays little.

Any immediate hope of feeling better is quashed with the words that finally come out of her mouth. “You still have feelings for her, even without your memories, don’t you?” Her voice wasn’t angry, like it was in so many of the situations you thought about last night; it was somber.

“I don’t know.” It’s the truth; you have no idea why you wanted to return her last kiss or why you chased after her. “When I look at her, I feel like something is missing. It’s like my body and mind don’t agree. My mind told me I was crazy for even thinking of returning her kiss, but my heart yearned for me to press back, to savour her breath washing over me, and to reciprocate her feelings. But, all of that is completely and utterly irrelevant because I do know I have strong feelings for you, and I do know that my heart wants those same things for and from you.”

"It's not irrelevant, though, because I feel like I took something wonderful away from you,” the mare argued, her face contorting in sorrow. “And when I saw you staring out the window, my heart shattered. The longing I saw in your eyes wasn’t for me.” Your own heart plummets to the depths of your stomach when you see the look of abject regret play across her face. “I was selfish. I’m supposed to be a pony that is good at helping others. Yet, what I did was something that goes against the very fibers of my being. I succumbed to my own feelings, and I subjected two ponies to pain worse than what would have been.” She looks down and stares into her empty bowl.

You can’t believe what you’re hearing. The cold, grief in her words doesn't make it easy to form a response. Bewildered, you reach a hoof across the table and place it gently on hers, hoping to break the ice and fix this. But when she pulls away from your touch, you completely break down.

“Red?” you sputter out, as your vision clouds. “You can’t honestly say that what you feel for me is worth any less than what that other mare does.”

A long silence follows.

“Can you?”

“We’ve haven’t even known each other for a full two weeks. We may care for each other, but what we share isn’t love, not yet. And before the accident, you had spent nearly your whole lives together; that, is truly love.” You can feel the torrential flow of liquid running from your eyes and pooling on the hardwood floor in front of you.

“You don’t love me?” you choke out, your voice barely recognizable through your labored, panting breaths. “But if this isn’t love, why does it hurt so much?”

“Because you are vulnerable right now. After that kind of mental trauma, you are more prone to latch onto the first thing that makes you feel better. I, naively, took advantage of that. I’m sorry for the trouble I’ve caused you.” She gets up and begins to walk towards the kitchen. “I’ll call a carriage to take you to get you hoof looked at. After that, I think you should find the rest of the Wonderbolts and see about going home to recover.”

The cold in her voice mixed with the finality of her words finally did you in, and you collapse into a pile on the floor, crying your eyes out. Just yesterday, you had shared the happiest moment of your life in this very spot, but that was gone now. Just a bitter reminder of what you could have had. A few minutes later, the reserved mare returns.

“The cab is here,” she says, motioning towards the door. Weakly, you climb to your hooves and begin to hobble out of the dining room. It’s not more than a few hooves before you crash, weeping, down to floor. A sigh can be heard behind you, and a pair of hooves roughly pulls you back to a standing position. She guides you out, into the living room. The welcome warmth of her coat on yours no longer registers in your mind; instead, her shoulder is just a thing to lean on, and once you have been placed into the carriage, she wordlessly returns to her home, shutting the door behind her with an audible click.

***

The sun was quite a bit higher in the sky when Fleetfoot recovered the strength of will to calm herself down.

“Miss Fleetfoot?” A soft, yet regal voice called out from behind her. Turning to the pony addressing her, the cyan mare was immediately taken aback by her visitor. Before her was the pink Alicorn, Princess Cadence with her curly, tri-coloured mane swaying lightly in the breeze. “Aunt Luna told me that you might wish to speak with me. Though, she failed to mention why, but it’s quite clear to me now.” The royal took a seat next to the blue mare. “Who is he?”

A moment of silence passed before a response was given.

“His name is Nighthawk… Or, it was. He came to Ponyville about a week ago to set up for the Wonderbolts show. From what I’m told, he nearly died and has permanently lost his memory.” The mare paused for a second before she continued, “But that’s not the worst part. I had made plans to tell him the most wonderful news of our lives after what would be my final show. When he was recovering from his injuries, he fell in love with another mare.” Cadence winced visibly at this. “I wanted to try and get him back, but I couldn’t bring myself to hurt him by breaking them apart.”

The cyan pony paused. When she continued, she sounded crushed. “He could never hide anything from me… It was always his eyes, and I could see how much he loved her in them.” With her tale finished, the defeated mare turned her eyes to stare blankly at her hooves.

“True love is eternal. His mind may not know it,” the royal said, placing a supportive hoof gently against the blue mare’s shoulder, “but his body and soul still love you, Miss, and they will until the day he dies.”

The princess’ horn began to glow a bright teal, and a smile formed on her face. As her aura receded, she spoke tenderly, under her breath, “Little Aria…” She continued at a normal level, “Oh, Miss Fleetfoot, your foal is going to be so beautiful.” The cyan pony looks up to her princess, a glint of happiness forming in her eyes. “Would you like to see her?” Cadence was truly beaming, now. She had changed this mare’s mood from one of sorrow, and was about to bring her happiness beyond measure, evident by the mare’s glowing smile and furiously nodding head.

The Princess leaned over, pressing her long horn up against the cyan pony’s forehead. Fleetfoot’s vision was encased by the teal aura of magic. Out of the sea of blue, a small, pink form grew. As it moved closer, tiny legs could be seen. In time, every detail could be seen on the tiny filly. Her body was still mostly hairless, with only a small portion of her coat around her nose having grown in. It was a pale periwinkle. A few hairs of her mane had come in as well; she had her mother’s white mane. And then, as the spell began to fade, the foal seemed to turn to her look upon her mother, and the sight brought tears of joy to the mare’s eyes. Her foal had the same beautiful golden eyes as her father.

When she was returned to reality, Fleetfoot lunged forward at the Alicorn, wrapping her in a tight hug. Once the shock of the attack hug wore off, Cadence returned the hug fondly, and a smile returned to her face. “Thank you so much, Princess. That was the most wonderful thing I could have ever hoped to have seen.”

“You are so very welcome,” the royal responded. “It makes me so happy, to show you that no matter what happens with this stallion, beauty and love are still all around you.” The cyan mare released her grasp on the Alicorn, beaming.

Fleetfoot ran her hooves over her belly again, letting them rest on the familiar firmness. Tears of joy continued to slowly roll down from her closed eyes as she focused on her own heartbeat and the joy of the thought that it would be soon joined by another.

After a moment of silence, the rejuvenated mare spoke, “You did, Princess. And thank you again. I’m going to go tell my teammates. I think they will be happy to hear the news.” She said, eagerly getting to her hooves and preparing to take flight. “Goodbye.” The Princess bowed her head in acknowledgement as the cyan mare took wing, heading back towards the Wonderbolt’s stage and towards her new life of love.

***

Celestia must have taken pity on you because today was a day that Nurse Tenderheart didn't work at the clinic. You've just barely been able to pull yourself together, and dealing with her would have been a deathblow to your psyche. Today, you're being wheeled around the clinic by a doctor, but truly, you're just letting him do whatever he wants to get your ankle fixed. You couldn't be in a place that you hate more than you do this one. As such, you've decided to switch your brain off and just go with the flow.

After a few stops and being put into more than a few large machines, you're being outfitted with a large, stiff boot that will keep your entire leg immobile. A long winded explanation is given, but the only portion that registers in your mind is being advised to fly as much as possible and walk as little. Once your less-than-fashionable footwear is secured to your leg, the doctor wheels you back out to the main counter and asks you to wait here a moment. He trots over to a second pony, a grey and white mare with a cutie mark that looks sort of like a three branch candelabra. They appear to speak for a moment before the second pony ambles over, smiling.

"Hi there, my name is Helping Hoof. Your doctor told me that you might like to speak with me," the older mare states in a friendly tone. You simply stare back at her, through glazed eyes, neither willing nor able to muster any type of response. "Come now, young one. I can help you with whatever is going on, but you have to give me something to work with."

You rise from your wheelchair. "The last mare to try and help me from this place wormed her way into my heart before ripping it out and shitting on it. That just happened this morning. So, you'll forgive me if I pass on the offer," you spew, spite dripping from your voice. Without another word, you walk defiantly out of the clinic, leaving behind two completely stunned doctors.

As you exit the clinic, you immediately unfurl your wings and take to the skies. A different fire burns in your heart as your remorse turns to hatred, and the world around you is nothing more than that of a multicolored blur as your body is fueled by the seemingly endless emotion. Climbing higher into the sky, you roughly crash through a large cloud, leaving a clean hole through it. Immediately after exiting the vaporous mass, you angle your wings and pull into a tight loop. You can feel immense pressure on the top of your feathers and cool water form on their surface as the compression of the air over your wings forces the humidity to condense on the upper surface of your feathers. To an outside observer, one would be able to see a white cloud of condensation form on top of your wings.

Completing your loop, you glide on a path parallel to the surface of the large cloud you just burst through. Your hooves barely skim across the giant, causing a strange, jolting sensation to run through your body. Looking down, lightning courses through your legs and into the cloud beneath you. The longer you glide atop the cloud, the darker the giant becomes, and when your speed drops to a point that forces you to land, a blinding flash and deafening crack surge forth.

For a time, you stand on the edge of the great maelstrom, catching your breath. The shifting wind throws your mane about in any direction it pleases. Far below, at the edge of the Everfree, an oak tree crumbles, and smoke rises from the once great hulk.

Home (Alternate Ending: Part 2)

Fleetfoot didn't know a pegasus alive that disliked this feeling. Cool air, whipped through her mane, tugging at it ever so slightly. Suddenly, a harsh tailwind vied to blow the mare off course, but her deft skills kept her course straight and true. She turned her head, searching for the source of the unexpected gale. To her surprise, a large cumulus shifted and grew before her eyes. In a matter of seconds, the harmless cloud had become a veritable maelstrom. From her altitude, she could see the wind whip through the trees of the Everfree, tossing the forest's canopy about like a great, green sea during a hurricane.

She only knew one pegasus capable of morphing a cloud in such a dramatic way, so quickly, and no natural phenomena could complete such a task, not even over the Everfree. A bright flash of lightning nearly blinded her, and the concussive force of its thunder knocked the wind from her lungs, causing the cyan mare to cough and sputter. When her vision recovered, Fleetfoot saw a great oak tree slowly crumble into a heap.

Carried by love and undying hope, she turned, flapping her wings quickly and heading towards the precipice of the storm.

That's where he would be.

***

The periwinkle mare let out a muffled giggle as she used her mouth to unlock the door of her sister's home. After putting the key away, the green-maned pony slowly pushed the door open, trying not to startle anypony.

"Hey, you two!" she called out, in a sing-song voice, as she walked casually around the living room. A few minutes pass as the visitor meandered around the room, looking at all the photos of her sister that line its walls.

"Hmm… Maybe they're out," the mare stated, after receiving no response. Wanting to make sure her trip was not wasted, Tenderheart moved deeper into the home, passing the dining room and heading towards the closed door of the bedroom. A low groan passes through the door just as she approaches it.

"Or, they’re just busy." A wry smile spread across the mare's face; it promptly faded when another set of low sounds reached her ear.

Was that crying?

"That bastard!"

No one takes advantage of my sister like that!

With a burst of adrenaline coursing through her veins, the blue mare reared, forcefully bucking the door. The cracking of splitting wood, a great bang, and a high-pitched scream issued forth. The door was left, barely, on its hinges and possibly embedded into the wall, but the angered and fearful pony didn't pay them any mind as she rushed into the room, her eyes ablaze.

Though, the sight before her was not what she expected. There was no stallion lording over her sister, possibly hurting her. Instead, there was a trembling ball of what seemed to be a pony buried in the linens of the bed. Her anger quickly passed, and she began to calm down.

"Honey, it’s Joy. Are you ok?" she asked quietly, trying not to cause any more harm than she already had. After a moment, the face of a certain white mare cautiously slid out from under the linens, and Tenderheart let out a quiet gasp when she saw her sister's state.

To say she looked completely miserable was an understatement. Her eyes were beet red and puffy, the short hairs on her face were matted with what looked like a mixture of tears and mucus, and her mane was going in every direction except for the one it normally did.

"Joy, what are you doing here? And why did you kick in my door?" The mare's voice was weak, and her unstable breathing, a result of her sobbing, caused her voice to hitch a few times mid-sentence.

"It's my day off, and I wanted to come over and see how happy my sister was," the blue mare replied, sounding quite crestfallen.

"Looks like I've ruined that," the dejected mare stated, her tears returning in full force as she continues, "Just like I've ruined that amazing stallion's life and my own." Once again, she buried her head into her pillow, and the room was, once again, filled with the sounds of her sobbing.

Tenderheart's mouth opened and closed time and again as she tried to speak, but every time her reeling mind failed to express her feelings. After a moment and a deep breath, she succeeded.

"Red, what's happened?" The blue mare slowly climbed onto the bed. Positioning herself beside her sobbing sister, Tenderheart began to comfortingly rub her back.

"I lied to him, and sent him away with hope that he finds his way back to his real marefriend," the crying mare spoke, through her pillow. Yet again, Tenderheart's mind was left reeling from the revelation, but to her credit, her hoof never stopped lovingly stroking her sister's back, trying to bring any comfort to the downtrodden mare.

"Real marefriend?"

"They had been together for twelve years!" Redheart revealed, beginning to sound angry. "And I stole him away from her!" Her body rises and falls as she sighs deeply, pushing the anger from her mind. "But, I pushed him back to her, and I did what I'm supposed to. I helped other ponies.

"Now, I just want my heart to be whole again. I want things to go back to how they were."

Tenderheart's hoof stopped its movement, instead reaching under her sister and lifting her into a sitting position on the bed. The two embraced tightly. They stayed like this for more than a few minutes with Redheart's crying never abating. Eventually, a few silent tears rolled down the blue mare's cheeks when her empathy began to show through.

"You poor, stupid mare," Tenderheart said, holding her sister tight and cradling the white mare's head in her hoof. "You'll be ok, Red. It just takes time."

***

Your eyes stare into the vastness before you as violent wind whips around you, coursing over your body like a great tide; the rumble of thunder is a near constant assault on your ears. All of the sorrow and anger has drained from your body, leaving you feeling hollowed and cold.

Soon, the many thoughts going through your mind boil down to one multifaceted question. Why?

Why wouldn't she listen to me?

Why did she have to be so cold?

Why doesn’t she love me?

Your mind travels back to your shared romance, not even two days ago, and you hear your own voice, as if carried on the wind. "I love you, and I never want to leave your side."

You momentarily close your eyes, and your breath is stolen away by the incredibly vivid memory of her lips pressing against yours, in a heated kiss. After a moment, you take in a slow, wavering breath, and somehow, the scent of lavender prevails on these stratospheric winds. You feel a few tears begin to drip from your eyes.

"I love you, too." You begin to sob again when the nurse's gentle voice is heard.

"Birdie," a familiar voice states, barely audible over the wind.

"Why did you have to kiss me, and why do I have feelings for you? I don't even know you!" you say, nearly yelling as another flash of anger spreads through your mind.

"I'm sorry." Nearly instantly, the anger is drained from your body.

Tears still flow from your eyes as you reply, "Now, I've lost you both, and I'm having a conversation with myself." With your eyes still closed, you slowly take a step forward. At the edge of your forehooves, you can feel the cloud drop away, into oblivion. Lifting a hoof, you begin to take another step, but just as you begin to lose your balance and fall, a rough tug at your tail pulls you back, away from the edge. You collapse onto your stomach, and your collision with the edge of the cloud knocks the wind out of you. The sharp pain forces your eyes to shoot open.

"STOP IT!" Echo's voice calls out, wavering. A cyan pair of hooves wraps around your neck and the mare's warm body presses up against yours.

"Wait, you're actually here?"

"Of course I am, Birdie," she speaks, softly.

"But why?"

"Because I knew you would be here, and because I've only ever seen you create a storm like this when you need me." She lets go of you and sits next to you, on her haunches. "What did you mean when you said that you lost us both?"

You pull yourself up into a sitting position matching hers and turn to look upon the mare. Her emerald eyes are tinged with red and her white mane is being blown about, just like yours. "I drove you away—"

"Birdie," she interrupts, "you didn't drive me away. I just couldn't stand to see you so conflicted without being able to help. And, you could never lose me." She places her hoof against your chest, and you can feel your heart jump from the contact. "But what about that other mare?" Your heart falls, and you hang your head, causing your face to brush past her foreleg. After a moment of silence, her hoof travels up your chest, pulling your head up to look at her.

In the end, it's her eyes that give you the strength to talk. "She told me that she didn't love me, and then threw me out." Saying it out loud and in such solid terms is oddly cathartic. It doesn't make your heart hurt any less, but you are able to stop crying.

She slowly leans in, wrapping her hooves around you in a soft hug. "I'm sorry, Birdie."

"It's not your fault," you say, with your head resting on her shoulder.

"Maybe not, but at one point I wanted this to happen. And now that it has, I see how terrible that was of me. No pony should have to feel like this, especially the one I love so much."

"I forgive you, Echo." You're not sure if it's because you've already hit rock bottom or because you really do forgive her but, you don't feel any worse after her revelation. The cyan pegasus wraps a forehoof around you, cradling your head.

"You'll be ok, Birdie"

"No, Echo. We'll be ok." For a time, the only sounds are that of your shared breathing.

"Do you really mean that?" she asks, sounding quite skeptical.

Breaking your hug, you speak, "don't get me wrong. We can't go on like nothing happened, but the way I see it, you lost something in that accident too. You lost me, and I want to give you a chance to get that back. I want to give us a chance, but I need time to get my head on straight. It feels wrong to be so forward, so soon after... That happened."

"Ok, Birdie. I understand." You see a glimmer of hope in her eyes, and it buoys your spirit a little. Though, you're not sure why.

"I do have to admit, that I need your help, though, Echo. I don't have any bits or anything to my name."

"But you do have those things, and just because you don't remember them, doesn't mean that they're not yours. Being a Wonderbolt means you have a ton of bits. You've got parents that love you and that will be glad to know you're ok, even as you are." The cyan mare ever so slightly inches closer to you. "We've got a house in Cloudsdale. And you've got a filly that will always love you." She punctuates her sentence by darting in and placing a quick, soft kiss on your lips.

When she pulls away, you're left with a small smile and a bright blush on your face. In your heart, warmth fights against the cold pain of your loss, leaving you feeling conflicted, once more. However, seeing the mare's soft smile seems to maintain your own.

"Speaking of all of those things, do you think we could go home? I don't really want to stay here anymore."

"Yeah, we can, Birdie. We do need to tell Spitfire what happened, though. She'll be really angry if we disappear more than we already have."

***

Redheart made her way out of her home, passing into the warmth of the day. She cast a backward glance at her sister as the blue mare passed through the doorway. Tenderheart gave a reassuring nod before sidling up to her sister. Slowly, they made their way into town, passing ponies that happily smiled and waved as the well-known care givers passed by.

Not long before they pass into the town square, a cream-colored mare approached the duo with her saddle bags full of flowers.

"Hey you," the mare chimed, her two-toned pink mane bobbing as she trots.

Redheart simply smiled in response, but her sister offered a friendly greeting, "Hi, Roseluck."

"I don't want to hold you up, but I did want to stop and thank you both for helping me feel better after my little run in with that foxglove."

"Oh, it was nothing, dear. Though, you should be more careful about which of your flowers you eat."

"I know, but the blue ones are always so tasty, and—" The nurses' combined glare caused the flower pony to stop mid-sentence and look away, nervously. "I'll be more careful next time." With a forehoof, Rose reached into her saddlebags, still speaking, "I really stopped you because I wanted to give you these." Two bouquets are extracted from her saddle bag and given to the sisters. Each is made up of a different assortment of flowers, and is wrapped in a thin white paper.

"That one," the flower sister stated, pointing to the bouquet held by Tenderheart, "has a yellow rose, yellow poppies, a peony, and some mignonette. Redheart, yours has red and yellow roses, snowdrop, and star of Bethlehem-n-haw."

"Thanks, Rose."

"Thank you, Roseluck," the duo replied, nearly in unison.

"You're welcome, and take care." The three ponies all said their goodbyes before Roseluck made her way back to her flower stand.

The remaining two ponies, once again, began their aimless walk. They happily chatted as they walked, as sisters are prone to do. Soon, they passed by the Clinic and both mares let out a relieved sigh when they saw that it hadn't burned down or exploded in their absence. A distant, yet powerful rumble of thunder temporarily drew their attention towards the Everfree; a massive thunderhead could be seen over its reaches.

"Ooo, that looks nasty." Tenderheart's eyes scanned the sky for other signs of an oncoming storm.

"Yeah, it does. Maybe we could get something to eat and see if it's going to come this way or not," Redheart offered, motioning to the nearby bakery, Sugarcube Corner.

"That sounds good to me, Red." They turned from their original course, pushed the bakery door open, and stepped into the familiar setting.

There were quite a few other ponies inside, and as such, the room was filled with the low murmur of their idle chatter. Upon glancing around, the sisters found that all of the tables inside were occupied, causing Redheart to let out an irritated groan.

"Oh, there's Bon Bon. Maybe she would let us join her," her sister said, beginning to walk towards a table across the room. Redheart reluctantly followed close behind. As they got closer, the white-coated sister saw that Bon Bon was sharing her table with another earth-pony mare. Her coat was a light tan, and she wore a lavender headband accompanied with a white lotus blossom in her chocolate-brown mane.

Both Bon Bon and the mystery mare turned their attention to the sisters as Tenderheart spoke, "Hi, Bon Bon. We were wondering if you would mind if we joined you. All of the other tables are taken."

"Please, do," the candy mare stated. "Sweets, this is Nurse Tenderheart and Nurse Redheart. They run the Clinic just down the street. Nurses, this is my long-time friend, Sweets." The sisters each took a seat at the round table, sitting across from each other. Sweets offered a simple greeting before her friend continued, "And where is that st—"

Bon Bon's sentence was cut short by the surreptitious, but furiously shaking head of Nurse Tenderheart.

"—stupid waiter."

"Here I am, you silly filly," said a previously absent Pinkie Pie, sitting in a fifth chair, directly across from Bon Bon. A surprised silence overtook the group just before they all broke into contagious laughter. When the laughter died down, Pinkie looked to her two new patrons, pulling a notepad and quill out of Celestia knows where. "So, what'll it be?"

After they both placed their orders, the pink mare bounced out of her chair and onto the table, causing the plates, glasses, and silverware to rattle. Next, the pink menace bounced completely over Bon Bon's head, landing on the floor behind her and trotting away happily. A few moments later, Pinkie delivered two croissants, a cup of coffee, an orange cupcake, and a cup of Lady Neigh tea.

Nurse Redheart clutched her glass between her hooves and took a long, shaky breath, hovering her face over the dark liquid. For a while, she stared at her reflection, and it stared back, looking forlorn. The conversation taking place between the three other mares continued without her, but before long, her reverie was broken by a hindhoof, gently placed against her own. Looking across the table, her sister was casting her an encouraging glance, and at an opportune moment, Redheart joined in the conversation.

After what seemed like only a few minutes, Bon Bon and Sweets excused themselves and left, having to reopen their own shop. The time had absolutely flown by, and Redheart was sad to see them go, but she was absolutely ecstatic that their meeting had left her feeling normal and happy again, if only temporarily.

“Thank you for making me do this, Joy.”

“You’re welcome, Red,” Tenderheart said, rising from her seat and moving to one next to her sister. “I wanted to remind you that life goes on, and that you can still be happy, even after something that seems so damning.”

Redheart wistfully glanced at her untouched meal, pausing briefly before speaking, “Do you think we could go to the spa next? I send ponies there so often, but I never get to go myself.

“I think that’s a great idea!” the green mare said. Climbining from her seat, once again, she held out a helping hoof to her sister.

After a moment, Redheart took her sister’s hoof, breaking her eyes away from the plate in front of her and looking up to her smiling sister. They share a quick hug before moving towards the exit, where Tenderheart held the door open for her sister. The blinding light of Celestia’s sun poured in through the doorway, silhouetting each mare as they pass through. The wooden door slowly swung closed behind the mares, leaving the vision of anypony watching bathed in an inky blackness.

***

Thankfully, Spitfire had been more than accommodating when your situation was explained. Truly, she had been very concerned when she learned that you had been nearly killed, and she was curious about what happened afterwards. You had been quite thoroughly vague during that section of your story.

But that was all over with, now, and you are on your way to Cloudsdale, following behind Fleetfoot at a leisurely pace. The cyan mare leads you on, at an increasingly higher altitude; great plains and forests pass below you, and with every flap of your wings, the shrinking expanse of Ponyville gets farther and farther behind. Rotating your head, you glance backward, and you can feel a scowl form on your face as you watch the town mill disappear over the horizon.

The sudden contact of a soft surface brushing against the tip of your wing breaks your glare, and causes you to whip your head around to face it. Fleetfoot has slowed and is now flying along beside you; her wings flap in the exact opposite pattern as yours, causing your primaries to brush past each other with every motion. The sensitive nature of your wings makes it very hard to stop yourself from laughing as the soft appendages touch. Even though the mare is still looking ahead, you can see a mischievous smile on her face.

After a few more beats of your wing, you succumb and begin to snicker. The quick convulsions of your body, resulting from your laughter, disrupt your flight, causing you to begin to lose altitude. As a reaction, your wings shoot out to full length, and you begin to glide as your mirth subsides. All of a sudden, a soft, yet forceful object lands on your back, sending your course into a steepening descent.

A pair of cyan hooves hug your neck tightly as you blurt out a surprised, "Hey!" But before anything could be done, you collide with the spongy surface of a stray cloud and are sent tumbling head over hooves. In the process, the playful mare is thrown from your back; even so, you can hear her laughter as you slowly come to a stop. This situation really does make you appreciate clouds. They're so soft that they can even make crashing feel good.

Slowly, You roll over onto your back, giving your head a chance to stop spinning. Fleetfoot's laugh once again meets your ears as she straddles your body, laying on top of you and pinning you down. She's still widely smiling when your eyes lock, and a sudden stillness overtakes your mind. You can feel her chest move against yours with her excited breathing. After a moment longer, she gently places a hoof to your cheek, slowly leaning in.

"Echo," you say, as the turmoil in your mind returns. But your speech is too little, too late, and her lips connect with yours. The kiss is gentle and slow, and as her breath rushes over your fur, it feels cool, like a gentle spring breeze. She breaks away, nuzzling your face, opposite her hoof, before pulling away and looking into your eyes once more.

"Echo." This time, you speak more firmly. "I told you, I need time to get my head on straight." Her smile fades a little, and she grasps your face between both forehooves. Cocking her head inquisitively to the side, she turns your head to all sorts of awkward angles before returning it to face her.

"It looks like it's ok to me. I think if it were on backwards, or something, you'd have a much better view of your own flank. Though, you probably wouldn’t enjoy the view as much as I do," she jokes lightly, through a wan smile. But after a moment under your unflinching gaze, the mare's façade shatters, leaving her broken and weak looking.

"Birdie, please." She sounds like she is one small step away from crying, and you can feel her body lightly tremble against yours, sending your heart crashing into your stomach. "Ever since I learned you were still alive, I just wanted to be able to hold you and tell you how happy I am that you're ok. I've tried to be strong and not force your hoof, but it's so hard."

"I just want things to go back to normal. We were so happy." She nestles against you tightly, resting her head against your shoulder. You twist your head and turn your softened gaze upon her. Reacting to your movement, she affectionately nuzzles your neck. Without knowing it, a smile begins to tug at your lips.

After a moment of tranquil silence, you bring a hoof up and run it over her multi-hued mane; it's frizzy, wind-whipped nature makes it feel incredibly soft against your hoof. Fleetfoot glances up at you with a look of genuine surprise on her face, as if running your hoof through her mane was the last thing that she had expected would happen. When she sees your expression, she smiles, and that sight seems to melt the ice in your heart, sending a feeling of serenity through your being.

You use your hoof to gently pull her face towards you, planting a light kiss on her cheek; there is no fire or lightning coursing through your body from the act, not yet at least. For now, it just feels good, in that indescribable way that kissing a mare does. When your lips part from her soft flesh, you watch her emerald eyes go wide in surprise, once again.

"Birdie?" Somehow, her voice perfectly conveys a multitude of emotions in just one word, and you know exactly what she’s asking.

“I don’t think I even know what normal is, but I know that I felt terrible every time I saw you cry. I know that seeing you smile made me forget about what just happened, back there, and if that is what normal is, I want that too.” As you spoke, the mare’s expression slowly changed to a uneasy smile. Internally, you hope that your smile hides your nervousness better than hers.

“I really want to kiss you right now, Birdie, but I don’t mmnff—” Her sentence breaks into a muffled mumbling before it is completely cut off as you press your lips tenderly against hers. The kiss doesn’t last long, but when you pull away, the mare’s emerald eyes are shining brightly.

“I thought you’d never do that again.” A single joyous tear rolls down from each of her eyes and soaks into the fur at the base of your neck. Burying her hooves into the cloud below you, Fleetfoot wraps you in a tight hug. “I’ve missed you so much.” Regardless of your memories – or lack thereof – the amount of sincere emotion that this mare is showing you makes you feel so many wonderful sensations. You don’t think that love is one of them, but if this keeps up, you’re sure it will be.

The two of you stay like that for a while, simply enjoying the sensations of holding – or being held by – another pony. Soon, the warmth of the mare on top of you and your lack of sleep surreptitiously begin to tug at your eyelids, sending you into a peaceful rest.

***

Sometime later, you’re awoken by the mare on top of you shifting. A long yawn escapes your mouth, and you pry your watering eyes open. Through the blur, the first thing you see is a set of emerald eyes looking back at you, no doubt watching you sleep. A cyan hoof gently pokes your nose.

“Boop,” Fleetfoot says through a small smile.

You lean forward and peck her on the nose, softly uttering, “boop.” You yawn once more.

“Did you sleep well?”

“Mmhm. I had a wonderful dream about you, too.”

“You sure looked happy.”

You lean in and nuzzle her. “I was,” you say, quietly. Fleetfoot returns your nuzzle affectionately.

“I wish we could stay like this forever,” she says, sounding disappointed, “But I’m really hungry, and It would be really bad for me to avoid eating.” As she speaks, she climbs off of you, rising to her hooves and stretching her stiff leg muscles.

Slowly, you do the same, flapping your wings a few times to get the kinks, caused by laying on them for such a long time, out.

“What did you mean ‘really bad for you to avoid eating’?”

“Oh,” she says, placing a hoof on her belly, and rubbing it gently. “Nothing, really. Just that I’m really hungry.”

Even though it seems a bit strange, you take her for her word and just chalk it up to your, still sleepy, mind making something out of nothing. Now that your extremities are awake again, you move up next to Fleetfoot and unfurl your wings, signaling that you’re ready to go.

“That’s Cloudsdale over there.” She motions a hoof to what looks to be a large cloud bank, far off in the distance.

“That’s home.”

Taking Flight (Alternate Ending: Part 3)

You watch from a cloud as a formation of three Pegasi fly overhead in a lop-sided 'V' formation, trailing storm clouds and lightning as they go. Amid the formation, a pony is missing, leaving a large gap in between the leader and the Pegasus farthest to the left.

"Today, we're here to bid farewell to two of our members," Spitfire's voice blares, through powerful loudspeakers. Even from your cloud, far away from the crowded cloudiseum, you have no trouble hearing her.

"About three months ago, while preparing for a show in a small town not far from here, Nighthawk was involved in a terrible accident. Only through the magic of Equestrian medicine did he survive, though his life has forever changed." When they pass the edge of the stadium, the three blue-clad Pegasi break formation. Each makes its way to a separate point around the large building and begins to fly to the center of the arena at high speed.

"We're also here to say good-bye to Fleetfoot. Who has also had to resign her position due to medical reasons." At the center of the stadium, three Pegasi bank and roll past each other. Nearly colliding, but for the skill of their trade. As their dark trails collide, bright lightning flashes through the clouds. Moments later, the rumble of thunder reaches your ears.

"Enjoy the show!" Spitfire says, the wide smile on her face evident through her voice. At that, a column of fire shoots upward, from the center of the arena. It passes directly through the black cloud that has just begun to form from the remains of the previous trick; the mass of moisture is immediately burnt away by the flier's heat.

"Well, at least they didn't use the 'training accident' bit." You look down to the source of the statement and the source of warmth against your body. Fleetfoot lies with her head perched atop her hooves, looking to the shapes of your friends in the distance. As she watches the show, you watch her. You watch the way her mane blows in the high-altitude breeze. You watch the way her body swells and shrinks with every breath she takes. The way her wings shift and twitch slightly as she mentally goes through the motions of each maneuver that plays out before her eyes.

You're glad that those months ago she asked you to go on a date with her. You're glad that you couldn’t bring yourself to say no, even with the ice that wrapped your heart; a fortress built to protect you from the pain you once felt at the hooves of another mare. You're glad that she broke down those walls of hatred and of sorrow, and you’re glad that those walls are being rebuilt with blocks of love and happiness.

You blink, lifting the veil of fog from your eyes. The realisation that your gaze was no longer unreturned hits you. Those wonderful emerald eyes have been locked with yours for Goddess knows how long. She reaches upward, nuzzling your cheek before placing her forehead against yours. The tiniest pulse of her heart can be felt through your coat as you sit, sharing the breath of your love as it encompasses your face. In the beauty of this moment, a shadow of guilt, at your reluctance to rekindle this fire, overshadows you.

A warm, soft embrace meets your lips, burning out any feeling other than the warmth in your heart.

"I love you," Fleetfoot says, pulling away from your lips. Your response is simple, understandable. You cradle her face in your hoof, gently running it over the short fur of her face, and pull her into another soft kiss.

She told you early on in your dating that she would give you all the time in the world to bring yourself to say those words. 'When you are ready,' she would say. Before long, though, you had begun to show her your feelings, even if you didn't state them.

You break the long kiss, roll onto your side, and scoot as close as you can to her. She does the same, snuggling tightly up to your chest and wrapping her wings around you. As your shared warmth radiates through your body, held in by the downy surface of the cyan filly's wings, you rest your head against the cloud's surface. She nuzzles you softly before laying her head down on your neck, completing Equestria's most perfect embrace.

After only a few minutes like this, you feel your eyes begin to droop. Even as the blaring music and roaring announcer reaches your ears from the far-off stadium, the sounds of the mare's soft breathing and the feeling of her heart beating against your chest lull you into a peaceful, warmth-filled sleep.

***

Small, suppressed giggles pull your consciousness back into the waking world. As your senses return to your body, you notice that your hoof rests against the soft feathers of Fleetfoot's wing, and when you crack your eyes open, you're met with a face full of her radiant white hair. You take a long, deep breath, taking in the indescribable scent that always reminds you of spring rain falling in a hollow filled with silver-barked trees.

"Are you awake, Birdie?" asks the mare that fits so perfectly against your body. Her voice is just above a whisper. Though, it's loud enough to send vibrations through your neck when she speaks. Instead of a verbal acknowledgement, you lift the hoof that you had, in your sleep, draped across her wing and bring it up to run through her mane. She lets out a relieved sigh as her wings immediately retract, leaving your body bathed in a mere shadow of her warmth.

You lovingly wrap your own wings around her, still stroking her mane with your forehoof. Without warning, her hooves begin to mercilessly tickle the insides of both of your wings. You immediately burst into laughter and roll onto your back, trying to escape the hooves of your beautiful tormentor. In hindsight, this was probably not the best idea, though. As you roll, your hooves, that still hold her tight, pull the light mare along with you, and now, she's perched atop your body. A smug grin plays across her face before she stops her assault. It's a few moments before you can force your laughter to subside and longer still before your heart stops thrashing around in your chest or your deprived lungs stop aching.

You're still drawing in large gulps of air when Fleetfoot speaks, "Let's go fly, Birdie. All this lounging made my wings stiff." Her green eyes plead with you to comply.

"I'd like that" you reply, noting the obvious relief on her features. Fleetfoot carefully steps off of you and spreads her wings, taking to the air in a low hover. You climb to your hooves and quickly take to the air, following the Pegasus mare as she begins to fly away from the city. After a ways, she turns back to you with a madmare's grin on her face.

After a taking in a large gulp of air, Fleetfoot rockets off, towards the horizon. You desperately try to keep up, but as fast as you can fly, you're not even close to as fast as she is, and she knows it. Soon, Fleetfoot slows, resigning herself to fly in barrel rolls around you. In an attempt to break her out of the orbit she's established, you begin to fly in different patterns. You do know a few maneuvers, after all. First, you begin to list lazily to the left. Though, when that doesn't work, you do a quick loop. You can tell that she's had to speed up to compensate for flying a longer distance, but she still orbits constantly around you with a satisfied grim on her face. A sense of pride overwhelms you as you take in the speed that this mare can achieve without sacrificing precision.

After many more loops, turns and tricks, your coordinated efforts devolve into something else entirely. You both fly with no pretense or pattern, simply dancing around one another in an aerial display of agility. Before long, a feeling of warmth, of contentment, flows through your body, shown outwardly by the massive grin on your face. You position yourself just above your partner, and craning your neck downward, you nuzzle her as your dance continues. With a quick beat of her wings, the agile mare, once again, rolls around you. Though this time, she softly lands atop your back, wrapping her forehooves around your neck in a tight, but not too tight, hug. She begins to flap her wings in time with your own, sending the two of you hurdling forward at an immense speed. You quickly get the feeling that her efforts are meant to guide you along more than to help negate the negligible extra weight.

You maintain your pace, even after your wings begin to feel tired, and before long, you're being guided down towards a hillside in the Swayback Mountains. The two of you come to rest upon a ridge overlooking a lone bridge. It crosses over a large river that flows down from the snow-capped peaks high above you. The entire valley is bathed in growing darkness as Celestia's sun is hidden by the mountains.

Fleetfoot flaps her wings once, pulling herself off of your back and landing next to you. The wind given off by her wings pushes a scent that you can't recognize into your nose, but as you take each successive breath, you realise that you're completely surrounded by it. It's the smell of the forest, the river, and the rocks. It's the smell of the natural beauty that surrounds you.

"We came here on our second date, two weeks after the Prom." She says, lightly leaning against your side. "My parents were so mad when we came back nearly five hours after I was supposed to be in." You can hear the smile in her voice, and you can almost even feel her happiness flowing, from her, into you. "We were still so awkward, so naïve." She rests her head against your shoulder. In turn, you lay your head across the top of hers amazed by its warmth. "Even then, I was so much in love."

After a few moments where the only sounds are that of the river below and of your breathing, you come to a conclusion. The scent of nature that surrounds you is a near perfect match to that of the mare beside you.

As you breath deeply, your mind plays back over every happy moment that you've shared over the last two months. You had shared so many tender kisses, the first being the one that had surprised her, on a cloud just outside of Cloudsdale. You had shared many moments of comfortable silence that you would not trade for the best conversation you've had with anypony else. You had shared so many things, things you could not have been happier to give so freely. But, there's one thing that you haven't done yet.

"I love you, Echo."

Her response is immediate; she scoots away from you. In tandem, both your head and your heart fall, one due to gravity and the other because of the fear that you've done something wrong. As you turn to look upon your love, you gather that your fear was quite unfounded. Tears shine across the mare's emerald eyes. At once, she grasps your face in her hooves and lunges towards you, locking her lips and yours in the most passionate kiss you've ever experienced. Your eyes immediately close as your mind is overcome by the sensation. Her tongue gently caresses your lips before sliding past to join with yours in a war that has no loser.

By the time the kiss ends, your head is spinning uncontrolledly. You're quite certain that your dizziness would cause you to fall over if you weren’t rooted in place by the mare's hooves against each cheek. You venture to open your eyes again, and you're met with Fleetfoot's own eyes, still glistening. Nonetheless, they're still so inviting and so beautiful. She gently nudges your head downward, allowing her to press her forehead against yours. Your breath mixes with hers as you both come down from the high of your kiss. Her forehooves move from your face and slide down your leg, grasping your forehoof tightly.

"Birdie," She begins. Her voice lacks its usual air of confidence, and you can see her nervously chewing her lip. Her hooves lightly tremble as they hold onto yours. Just as you are about to speak up, she continues, "About six months ago," she trails off again, bringing one of her hooves up to your face to stroke your cheek while the other firmly holds your hoof. A deep breath seems to calm her and restore some of her bravado. "About six months ago, we made love."

You feel yourself blush brightly. However, you remain silent, letting her do what she feels that she needs to.

"Though I didn't find out until months later, something wonderful happened that night." Her hoof draws yours towards her body, resting it softly against her stomach. In that spot, the toned muscles of her body give way to a less firm area. It seems to bulge outward ever so slightly and is incredibly warm, even compared to any other portion of the mare's body that your hooves have wandered.

"What I'm trying to say is… I'm pregnant, Birdie. We're going to have a little filly!"

Even from your head's odd angle, you can see tears flow from Fleetfoot's eyes, no doubt, from her apparent joy. You quickly wrap your hooves around her, drawing her into a deep hug. You're not sure about this, but she seemed so afraid of telling you this. Even as you're having second thoughts about the words you had uttered to her minutes ago, you hold her tight, unwilling to pass on any of your negativities to a mare who just told you something so very important.

In your mind, an eternity could pass between each breath of your lungs. Thousands of thoughts rush through your mind, many of which are obvious to anypony who has faced this.

Fear is heavily represented. You've just started to openly accept this mare back into your heart and now so many things will change. And what happens when the foal comes? Will she realise that you're not the stallion that she fell in love with, and that that little filly is the last gift he gave her? You don’t think that you could survive being left by another mare that you feel so strongly about.

Offering reassurance, Fleetfoot momentarily squeezes you tighter.

Dreams of happiness are equally well represented. Multiple scenes play through your mind in quick succession.

Before your eyes, your love sits in a darkened room with just the moonlight shining through a window to allow you to see. Cradled in her forehooves is a tiny filly, wrapped in a blue and yellow blanket. You can hear Fleetfoot coo soflty as she softly licks her foal's mane, grooming it in the same way that her mother did to her. You quietly move over to the two, and as you navigate the small room, emerald eyes lock with your own. A loving smile is all that is exchanged; it's always enough to convey what needs to be, though. You carefully squeeze into the large chair, in which Fleetfoot sits, just before you wrap your hooves around her and pull her into your lap. She sighs contentedly, laying her head against your chest. Against the odds, the three of you sleep soundlessly until Celestia's sun rises.

The crowd pulses around you. It's as if lightning was about to strike, and you've managed to get three front-row seats to what was rumored to be the most spectacular Wonderbolts show in years. You, however, know better. You met the new recruit well before she was even a recruit, back when she was just a prospect. You're nearly as anxious. Though, it's for a completely different reason. While others look to the sky, you look to your daughter Aria. The little purple filly sits atop her mother's withers, grasping the mare's ears in her hooves. A smile grows on your face as you watch her golden eyes go wide. In those spheres, you can see the reflection of a harmless explosion, tinted with every color of the rainbow.

Your last daydream was much shorter, but no less powerful.

Those words nearly broke you. They were one of the best things that you'd ever heard in your entire life, yet they were so simple. You had hoped that your own words were taken just as seriously, because you really don't want to have to wash your hoof off after you put it where you threatened to put it, if they weren't.

Watching your precious daughter walk off, nuzzling against the neck of a colt that you've just met causes you both great pain and joy. It's not until your love gently wipes the tears from your cheeks that you realise you'd been crying.

"What'd she say?"

"I love you, Daddy."

Your consciousness reestablishes itself in reality just in time to figure out that while you were lost in thought, you had drawn your love into a long, passionate kiss. She pulls away, gasping for breath.

You venture to open your eyes, noting the wetness that resides within them. For a split second, an ethereal pink heart surrounded in a light blue aura can be seen fading out of existence right before your eyes. Shaking it off, you turn your eyes back to your mare just as she begins to speak.

"Thank you, Birdie. I was so afraid I would lose you over this, but I'm going to start showing soon, and I didn't want you to find out like that." Once again, you place a hoof softly against the mare's belly, letting it rest against the soft flesh there. After a quick moment, her hoof joins yours. Your vision is drawn down by the surprising sensation of her hoof holding yours, cradling it into her body, but they quickly return to the source of the wonderful emotions flowing through your body. For a scant moment, your eyes lock, and a silent exchange is made.

In that moment, you couldn't be more certain.

In that moment, words aren't necessary.

In that moment, your touch speaks volumes.

It speaks of your fears.

It speaks of hers.

It speaks of your eternal love.

By her.

For her.

And in that moment, your touch garners her understanding.

Death itself has claimed you, yet you found her again.

You will never stop loving her, and she will never stop loving you.

Love is Fleeting

In the dark of the night, nopony could have seen a blue streak collide with the top of a large thunderhead forming over the Everfree Forest, but everypony within miles heard it. A massive bolt of lightning surged forth from the celestial anvil, arcing and splitting into hundreds of smaller tendrils of electricity. Its thunderclap would shake the windows of all Ponyville and wake most of her citizens from their peaceful slumber. Two such ponies barely even noticed; sleep was the last thing on their minds as the events of the last day were replayed in vivid detail.

Atop her ominous perch, Fleetfoot dropped to her knees with a whimper. At this altitude, the wind whipped her mane around violently. She buried her face into the cool, wispy surface of the cloud in attempt to soothe the stinging in her exhausted eyes. The tears that dripped from her muzzle would be the first drops of a torrential autumn downpour. A bright flash and powerful crack of thunder overwhelmed her senses and sent her reeling backwards.

When her senses returned, the cyan mare found herself in the familiar setting of her foalhood home. It all felt like a dream as her body moved of its own accord. Her hooves took her to the simple, cloud-door. With a hoof, she opened the structure, revealing a young Pegasus stallion with an uneasy smile.

“Hey, Echo,” he said as he nervously brushed a forehoof through his dark blue mane.

“Hello, Nighthawk,” she responded, wondering why her classmate had dropped by unannounced.

“I overheard you talking to Flitter and Cloudchaser at lunch today. You said you didn’t have a date for the Pegasus Prom.”

The cyan filly’s pulse began racing at the mention of the upcoming dance, a bead of sweat tickled her forehead as it began to make its way down through her coat. Wingbury Academy was a wingball school. As such, they had tons of pep-rallies. More than once, Fleetfoot had found herself staring at the blue stallion as his coach hopelessly tried to psyche up the students about some upcoming match. Once, she had been broken out of a daydream by Flitter only to see the same stallion she was dreaming about looking back at her, a soft smile on his face. Ever since that moment, the twins constantly pushed her to do ridiculous things like ‘talk to him’ or ‘sit next to him at lunch.’

They probably put him up to this as a prank. The suspicious cyan mare quickly glanced around, looking for the conspiring sisters, without any luck.

“You don’t have a date, do you?” the stallion continued, made a bit more nervous by the strange look the filly was giving him.

Oh my gosh, he’s not here to do what I think he is, is he? “Yeah! I mean NO! I don’t,” she responds, mentally facehoofing.

“Echo… Would you like to go to the Annual Wingbury Pegasus Prom with me?”

Try as she might, Fleetfoot couldn’t even bring herself to form a word as simple as ‘yes.’ So, she nodded furiously in response. Moments passed where the two Pegasi gazed at each other, and Nighthawk smiled softly at her.

That same cute smile as the pep-rally.

Realising he was staring, the blue stallion quickly looked down at his hooves and spoke again, “So, I’ll pick you up Saturday at six?”

“Ok,” she agreed.

“Ok,” he repeated, turning and taking off into the air at what appeared to be full tilt.

A bright flash filled the room as Fleetfoot closed the door, forcing her eyes to reflexively close. The cold wind blowing through her statically charged coat sent a shiver down her spine. Opening her eyes, she found herself back on top of the violent cumulonimbus that she had crashed into.

That night was such a laugh. We went to a dance, and neither of us had any clue how to dance. A sigh escaped her lips as she rested her head on her forehooves. If we weren’t stepping on each other’s hooves, we were stepping on my dress, or falling flat on our faces. The thoughtful mare let out a quick laugh, picturing herself and her date in a tangle of hooves and clothes. Her parents had never forgiven her for ruining that Hoity Toity dress .

A powerful gust of wind sent the Pegasus pony tumbling along the cloud top. She ended up buried headfirst into a large outcrop of the dense water vapour; the forceful impact sent her head spinning. Upon recovery, she fought her way out of her cloudy tomb. The bright light of Celestia’s sun as it reflected off of a cloud field was truly blinding, but the warmth it brought was worth it. At least, until the blinded Pegasus tripped over a stray bit of nimbus and ended up rolling completely head-over-hooves onto her back. The clouds below her gave a little as a blue Pegasus stallion landed right next to the mare with a very worried look on his face.

“Echo! Please, tell me you’re ok.”

Wow, I can’t believe he’s that worried about a Wingball tackle. He didn’t even really tackle me, just knocked me into the cloud base. “I’m fine Night. Just lost my balance there.” Wait, why are his eyes that red?

“Thank Goddess,” he said, sighing and sitting on his haunches. Gazing down into the mare’s emerald eyes, he continued, “I have something I need to get off my chest, Echo.”

Fleetfoot placed a supportive hoof against his, looking up at him with concern edging its way into her mien.

“I really regret getting you into Wingball. Every time I watch you get tackled, I worry that you’ll get hurt.” The stallion takes a pained breath. “And then when you asked me to help you practice, I was reluctant, but I wanted to help you with something that I know you love. So, I gave it a try." The stallion sighed, fearing what he would say next. "But when I hit you, – even if it was just a glancing blow – I completely lost it. I nearly flew into the stands head first because I couldn’t see through the tears. I can’t do this. I’m sorry.”

“We don’t have to practice, Night. I didn’t know it bothered you that much,” the cyan mare replied, pulling herself to a sitting position next to her coltfriend. Their lips met in a passionate kiss, and the cyan mare pressed her hoof to his chest. Letting her eyes slide closed, Fleetfoot savoured the sensation of his lips against hers, the taste of his tongue in her mouth, and his pulse racing under her hoof.

As the kiss broke, Fleetfoot ventured to open her eyes and look upon the one she loved, but she was met with the sight of Luna’s moon in a vast sea of stars. As she let out a sigh, the warmth in the mare’s heart ebbed and was replaced by the cold, darkness of the night. With the cold overtaking every inch of her body, the mare began to feel unnaturally tired. She softly fell to a laying position, futilely fighting her heavy eyelids.

I can’t sleep here… not now… I’ve got to…

“Rest, my little pony.” A soothing mare’s voice cooed. I must be… crazy… sounded like that came from… the moon. “Sleep, child.” And sleep, she did.

***

Fleetfoot awoke feeling more rested than she ever had. A contented sight escaped her lips as she took in the sensation of her lover pressed against her back. For a time, she would simply lie there, letting the sunlight filter through her eyelids and the rhythmic breathing of her mate ruffle her mane. She gently brought her forehooves to meet his, where they wrapped around her body, and pulled them in tighter. Letting her eyes slide open, the bleak white walls of their Canterlot apartment came into clarity. On the bedside table was a photo from their first date. In the picture, a young blue stallion is wearing a black suit accentuated by white and gold; he is bashfully nuzzling a cyan filly in a deep green gown, its white stitching accents her flowing mane and draws attention up to her beaming white smile and joyfully teary emerald eyes. A smile is brought to her face from the memory of that crazy night. A restrained yawn from her love pulls her thoughts back into the present.

“Good morning, Birdy” she cooed. He responded by kissing her neck and introducing her to his morning breath. “Ughh, you need a breath mint. It smells like you spent all night eating some strange type of pie.”

He laid his head back down and whispered in her ear, “I did.” They both laughed a little at his joke, the cyan mare blushing slightly.

With a tired groan, Nighthawk extricated his forehooves from his lover’s grasp and unceremoniously rolled onto his back. “What did we have planned today, again?” His lover gave a small laugh, always amused at his forgetfulness.

“We both took the day off work to go to the Wonderbolts’ show. I can’t believe you forgot about that.”

“Heh, guess I just had other things on my mind, babe.” He began to roll out of bed, placing a firm slap on the cyan mare’s flank. Before she could roll over to glare at him, Nighthawk had already made his way into the bathroom. With a final sigh, Fleetfoot got up to join him.

***

“That was completely awesome. Right?” Fleetfoot asked, trying to strike up a conversation with her strangely quiet coltfriend. He didn’t respond; he just idly picked at the alfalfa salad that she had made for dinner. After many more moments of silence, the mare picked up her plate, and placed the half-eaten salad into the nearby sink with a jarring clank. Nighthawk didn’t even flinch and continued not eating his dinner. Sitting next to him, she used a hoof to wrench his face away from the plate and force him to look at her. She could see uncertainty and fear in his golden eyes; even after three years, that look still scared her more than anything.

“Please, Birdy, tell me what’s wrong. You’re scaring me.” He immediately reacted, wrapping his forelegs around the quailing mare and cradling her head.

“It’s nothing, hun. Just thinking,” he lied, obviously. Last year, you fought a stallion twice your size without an ounce of fear, yet here you are hiding behind a salad.

“This isn’t nothing. Ever since we came back from that air show you haven’t said a word to me.” She wrapped her own forehooves around him. “Just tell me what you’re thinking.” He took an uneasy breath before pulling back and looking deeply into his marefriend’s emerald eyes.

“I have been thinking a lot about it recently, and being able to talk to the Wonderbolts after the show just cemented it.” Taking another deep breath, Nighthawk steeled himself for the inevitably bad response. “Echo, I want to join the REA.”

There was a long silence before either could bring themselves to speak again; in the end, it was Fleetfoot that was able to form a complete thought. “Night, Do you remember last year when I asked you to help me practice wingball?”

“Yeah.”

“You told me that day that it was torture for you to watch my matches. You were afraid I’d get hurt. I’d have to deal with that pain every minute of every day you were gone. I’d worry if you made it back from each mission.” The mare starts to visibly tremble and is quickly pulled back into her lover’s forelegs. “There may not be any wars going on, but every once and a while guards turn up missing while patrolling the Everfree. Some are found petrified or in a hydra’s swamp, others aren’t.”

“Echo, I’ll be ok.”

“But I won’t be ok, Birdy. I won’t,” she said, weakly.

“I would crawl from Tartarus’ gates to get back to you safe. Nothing could stop me from coming home. Nothing.” As if sharing the thought, both ponies turn their head to the side slightly and meet in a loving kiss. Breaking the kiss, the stallion pressed his forehead against hers and spoke softly, “Echo, I have and will always love you, but this is something I have to do. Please, trust me.”

“I do trust you.”

***

"You'll be seeing Rain Booms!

Ooo-ooo-oooh!

Equestrian Girls, we're kinda magical!

Boots on hooves, bikinis on top!"

UHhhhh… Sapphire Shores… Why have I not thrown that damnable alarm clock out the window? Fleetfoot reached up and flailed around with a forehoof to destroy her blasted alarm clock. All she could reach was another pillow are more bed, though. Realising that she was facing the wrong direction, the mare rolled over and immediately regretted it. It felt like her stomach was trying to escape her body through her mouth and it was doing it NOW. She ran as fast as possible, in her upper Canterlot cloud-house, towards the bathroom. She barely made it to the shower before the remaining bits of last night’s eggplants thermidor was spewed uncontrollably from her mouth; any better option was obviously out of the question. After a few minutes, the acrid tasting purple and brown bile was completely expelled from her aching stomach. She sat there for what seemed like ages, with tears of pain welling in her eyes as the painful dry heaving continued.

When it stopped, the crying mare didn’t even have the will to rinse wretched bile out of the shower. She slowly hauled herself back to the bed, dropping unceremoniously back onto it. Why did I have the alarm set again? Right, doctor at 9:30, and its… 9:15 Ugghhhhhh…

Sliding back off the bed, the unhappy mare made her way through the well-furnished cloud-house and out into the warmth of the sun. She paused for a second, basking in its warmth, before taking flight to her appointment. Her pace was sluggish compared to what she is capable, a testament to how tired her body felt, even after a full night sleep.

Upon arrival at the doctor’s office, she was promptly shown to her examination room. The room was a warmly designed; bright floral wallpaper lined the walls and the most of the furniture was made of tastefully stained wood. The one exception was the same piece of furniture that every doctor’s office had, a strange vinyl bed with a paper sheet over its length. The room would be comfortable to wait in, except the fact that they seemed to set the thermostat on Windigo.

Sometime before Fleetfoot died of hypothermia, the doctor arrived. He was a periwinkle unicorn with a wavy blue and white mane; oddly, his cutie mark was an hourglass “Hello, I’m doctor Heart Beat. But you can call me ‘The Doctor’.” He raised his hoof and it was met for a firm hoofshake. “What’s brought you in today Ms. Fleetfoot?”

“Well, my coltfriend mostly. Most mornings I wake up tired after a full night sleep, and I often vomit or dry heave as well. I keep telling him it’s nothing, probably just stress from our job.”

“Ahh, yes. Being a Wonderbolt must be a very high stress environment.” The Doctor let out a quick chuckle at the shocked expression the cyan mare displayed.

“How did you know? Are you a spy?” she questioned, through squinted eyes.

After another light-hearted laugh, The Doctor pointed a hoof at a manila folder, responding, “The chart doesn’t lie, miss… Well, that and Mr. Nighthawk told us everything when he made the appointment last week.” Using his magic, The Doctor retrieved a small clear-plastic cup from a cupboard on the far wall, floating it over to his patient. “I would like to do one test before I chalk this up to nerves, miss. I need you to fill up this cup, please. You can use the restroom through that door, and I’ll send a nurse in to retrieve the sample.” The Doctor noded goodbye as he left the room. With a sigh, Fleetfoot took the cup and made her way into the bathroom. A resounding click spread through the examination room as she locked the door behind her.

This is going to be awkward enough without somepony accidentally walking in on me. I mean, it’s like they make these specifically for unicorn stallions… How do they expect anypony else to use these things without… that… happening…

When the cotton candy coloured nurse entered the examination room, she swore she heard some un-marelike words coming from the restroom over the rushing water of the sink. A few minutes later, a quite annoyed looking, and soapy smelling, Pegasus fluttered out of the restroom carrying the small plastic cup of bright yellow liquid clutched between her forehooves.

“I’ll take that, dear,” the nurse said, wrapping her powder aura around the cup and placing it on a small tray. “It’ll take us about 10-15 minutes to analyse this. Hopefully, The Doctor will be back in a little bit with wonderful news for you and your special somepony!” The bubbly nurse chimed as she took the tray in her aura and left the room.

“Wait, what?” the stunned mare responded after the door had completely closed. She didn’t mean what I think… Right?

After many minutes of nervous pacing, groaning, and staring at the clock, The Doctor returned to the room with a smile on his face. “Well Ms. Fleetfoot, I just got the test results back, and I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it isn’t just nerves causing your morning sickness.”

“No?” the mare responded, timidly.

The Doctor shook his head in confirmation and continued, “I believe congratulations are in order, miss! By the looks of things, you’re about three months pregnant!” He announced, beaming. As Fleetfoot buried her face in her hooves, the dream faded into the darkness of a deep, peaceful slumber.