The chronicles of Almanac

Chapters

A different kind of magic
One Good turn
Old Bonds
A new mare in town

A different kind of magic

Google Docs. version is here
A different kind of magic

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Dr Helpinghoof stated, as he examined the unicorns cracked horn in the emergency care unit of Ponyville hospital “and you say you girls found her like this?”

“Well, us and every other pony in town.” Applejack replied to the doctor “She just limped into the middle o’ town, an’ collapsed in a heap. And I ain’t ever seen a pony in worse shape than her.” Twilight cut off Applejack and asked the doctor “Will she be ok Doc?” Leaning over to look at the broken mare lying unconscious in the bed “It looks really bad...”

“I’m not sure, Miss Sparkle,” Helpinghoof answered, looking over to the dark blue unicorn in the bed “the malnourishment, cracked hooves and scars are treatable,” the doctor paused for a moment to adjust his glasses, then turned back to twilight “But her horn seems to have sustained an unknown injury that has caused her magical energy to congeal into a kind of liquid form, and is draining from the crack in it.” He pulled a jar of the ‘Liquid magic’ from the unicorn’s horn out of a draw next to her bed. The pink, congealed liquid in the jar seemed to sparkle and glow as Helpinghoof held it up towards the light. Twilight admitted it was rather pretty, but also disturbing at the same time.

“For now, the best thing for her is rest,” Helpinghoof continued, putting the jar of liquid on the desk next to the blue pony’s bed. Applejack was obviously upset by the whole ordeal, despite the brave face she had put on, and turned to leave.

“If anything changes doc,” Applejack said to the doctor “Ya’ll let me know ok?” Helpinghoof nodded to Applejack as she left down the hall, tears forming in her eyes. As Twilight turned to leave after her friend, she heard a slight groan from behind her. She immediately turned her head back around to see that the blue Unicorn was regaining consciousness, and was blinking her eyes back and forth as doctor Helpinghoof rushed over to his patient’s bedside, a nurse following suit. Twilight smiled. The blue unicorn caught Twilights gaze and smiled back. Twilight waved the blue unicorn a goodbye and left the room as Dr. Helpinghoof attended to his patient.

A few weeks later and Twilight Sparkle was out with her friends on their annual pet play date. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash were laughing as Gummy was biting onto Tanks hard shell, while Tank futilely tried to shake the toothless alligator off him. Fluttershy was feeding Angel Bunny a carrot, who looked rather grumpy as usual. Applejack and Rarity, meanwhile were sitting under a tree while Opal was hissing at Winona who was sitting at the base of the tree, looking rather perplexed.
As Twilight approached Applejack and Rarity, it was clear that Applejack was explaining the traumatic events of few weeks earlier. “Oh, my,” Rarity said rather dumbfounded, “That poor dear, being in such a state like that! Is she okay?”
“I’m, not sure,” Applejack replied, “Doctor Helpinghoof said he’d keep me informed,” Applejack lowered her head a little “But I haven’t heard nuthin’ from him for a good while now.”

“I’m sure she’s just fine,” Twilight interrupted, putting a hoof on Applejacks shoulder to comfort her. “Dr. Helpinghoof is probably very busy at the hospital, taking care of all the other patients. He probably hasn’t got a lot of time to be writing letters.”

“I suppose you’re right Twilight,” Applejack sighed, looking a little happier “I really shouldn’t be getting in a fuss about all this. Oh, and by the way,” She turned her head to face to Rarity and asked “Where were you durin’ all this Rarity? Home come you didn’t come to see what the commotion was about?”

“Oh,” Rarity replied “I was out of town on a business trip to Canterlot that week. Ditzy Doo was kind enough to offer to mind the shop for me while I was gone. Speaking of which...” Rarity pointed down the path towards the familiar grey Pegasus floating toward them, mailbag, full to brimming “Here she comes now.”

“Hi Rarity, Hi Twilight, Hi Applejack!” Ditzy Doo Yelled as she approached the threesome. “Hey there Ditzy!” Twilight replied to the wonky-eyed pony in front of her “What’s up?”

“I got some mail for you Twilight!” Ditzy replied, giving of a little snorting chuckle as she reached into her mailbag, pulling out a strange, cyan enveloped letter in her mouth, which Twilight proceeded to catch with her levitation spell. “Thanks Ditzy.” Twilight said with a smile as the Pegasus trotted off down the path. Twilight opened the letter and read the message inside out loud:

'Dear Twilight Sparkle,
My name is Almanac; I’m the pony you took to the hospital the other week .I can’t remember much from that day but I do remember the two ponies that I saw as I was waking up.’

Twilight was interrupted by Applejack asking “Who’s it from Twilight?”

“It’s from that pony that we took to the hospital the other day, her names Almanac.” Twilight answered her friend. Applejack shot up on her hooves and raced over to Twilight asking frantically “Is she ok? Does she know why Helpinghoof hasn’t been keepin’ me updated on her condition?”

“Calm down Applejack,” Rarity said sternly, trotting over to the two ponies “I’m sure that Twilight hasn’t got that far into the letter yet. Please continue Twilight.” Twilight nodded and cleared her throat to continue reading the letter:

‘I asked the doctor that’s treating me who you two were, and he told me that it was you and your friend in the hat, Applejack. He also told me that Applejack wanted him to keep her informed about my condition, but he’s been so busy looking after me and the other patients, that he didn’t have time to write a letter to her regarding my condition. Nevertheless, you should let your friend know that I’m a lot better now. Speaking of which, you and your friend should come and visit me in hospital sometime, I’d love to see you. And feel free to bring any other friends that want to come see me too. Anyway I’ve got to go; Doctor Helpinghoof is preparing the next round of treatment for my horn.

Yours Sincerely
Almanac

P.S. Bring some muffins, the hospital food doesn’t agree with me at all!’

“Well she seems nice.” Rarity commented as Twilight put the letter back in its envelope. “I for one would love to come meet this Almanac character.”
“As would I!” Applejack exclaimed loudly “Besides, it’s only natural I come along anyway, being at it was both of us that saved her life and all.”
“Um, would you mind if I came along too?” the soft caring voice of Fluttershy asked as the others turned around to face her “I mean, if it’s okay, if not then...”
“Sure it’s ok Fluttershy,” Twilight remark, walking over to her shy friend “She said I could bring any friends that wanted to come along with me.”

“What about Rainbow Dash and Pinkie?” Rarity asked “Should they come along too?”

“Naw,” Applejack replied “RD’s Gonna be real busy with the weather later all week, and, not to be mean or anything, but I don’t think it would be good idea to bring pinkie coz of her tendency to be all hyper an’ all.” The others nodded In agreement. Maybe bringing Pinkie to see a recently recovering patient wouldn’t be a good idea. “I know!” Twilight said brightly “Why don’t we get Pinkie to bake some muffins for Almanac? She did say she wanted some, and Pinkie is one of the best bakers in Ponyville.” Everypony could agree to that. “It’s settled then, tomorrow, we go to see Almanac at the hospital!” And the four friends set off out of the park to make preparations for the visit.

Author's Note

Sorry about the title. Im not good with those. Keep your eyes peeled for the next chapter coming next week. It's about to get much more interesting...

One Good turn

The Google docs. version is here

One good turn...

Almanac lay awake in bed. It was early morning, and all the other ponies in the ward hadn’t
woken up yet. Almanac was gazing longingly out the window. She was thinking of the two
ponies that had saved her, Twilight Sparkle and Applejack. Sure, Doctor Helpinghoof was the
one that had kept her alive the past few weeks, but those two mares had offered to help
a pony they didn’t even know in a time of crisis. To Almanac, that took some guts, maybe
more guts than trying to attempt...

Almanac cast the thoughts of her past behind her and focused on the now. If their first
meeting had been of any indication, then the letter she had sent Twilight Sparkle would
surely mean that she and her friend would be coming to visit soon. She had heard rumours
of Twilight Sparkle of course; that she had her five friends had vanquished not only
Nightmare Moon from Equestria, but also the evil creature known as Discord as well. But
Almanac was smart enough to know not to use rumour and scuttlebutt as a reliable source
of information. Heck, with a book for a cutie mark, she was smart enough to know that the
real truth would have to be from the horse’s mouth herself, metaphorically speaking. And
with that thought, she turned to the face of the ever-cheerful Dr Helpinghoof, who was
coming in to check on the patients.

“Good morning, Miss Almanac,” Helpinghoof said quietly as she approached the dark blue
unicorn “How are you feeling today? Any better than yesterday?”

Almanac glanced down at her bandaged hooves, which had almost recovered due to the aid
of Helpinghoof and the nurses. “Lots,” She replied whisper-quietly “I think I’m ready to try
walking on my own four hooves again doctor.”

“Well, I’ll be the judge of that,” He said in disbelief, standing next to Almanac in her bed
“Let’s take a look, shall we?” He rhetorically asked as he started to unwind the bandages
around Almanac’s front hooves. As he was doing so, he continued talking “The healing
process will be slower, due to your permanently damaged horn, so I doubt you’ll be walking
about any time soo...”

“Wait a minute doctor!” Almanac protested as Helpinghoof stopped midway unravelling the
bandages on her hooves “What do you mean my horn is ‘Permanently damaged’?”

“Oh, dear,” Helpinghoof replied ashamedly, realising his mistake, he gave a hefty sigh and
continued to unwind the bandages, continuing “You lost a lot of magical energy during the
process of your horn repair. We’ve managed to replace what you’ve lost, but...”

“But what?” Almanac asked with a rather worried look on her face, to which Doctor
Helpinghoof replied “We weren’t able to repair the surface crack on your horn, meaning
that it will be there the rest of your life. I’m sorry Miss Almanac, we did our best.”

“What about my magic? Can I still use it?” Almanac said, tears welling up in her glistening
silver eyes. Dr Helpinghoof replied rather worriedly “There’s good news and bad news,” He
paused for a moment to start taking the bandage off her other hoof “The good news is that
you will be able to use your magic again,” Almanac gave a sigh of relief. After all, what was
the point in being a unicorn if you couldn’t use magic? The Doctor interrupted Almanac’s
thoughts abruptly “The bad news is that we don’t know how the crack in your horn is going
to affect your magical abilities. From what we can tell, it appears that trauma caused by
said crack has made your magic...” he searched for the right word “Unstable. More so when
you’re in REM sleep, or if your emotions are running high.”

“WHAT?!” Almanac yelled quietly, disturbing the sleep of some of the other ponies in the
ward “Now, Miss Almanac, please calm down,” The doctor replied rather nervously “No
need to get so highly strung about this, it’s just a minor side effect of the procedure.”

Almanac took a deep breath and calmed down, lying back down on the hospital bed “Ok,
I’m sorry for yelling like that. You were saying? I can’t use my magic until it calms down?”

“That’s just it,” Helpinghoof replied “We’re not sure it will ‘calm down’ as you put it. I guess
you’ll just have to learn to control it I suppose.” Almanac groaned and slumped into her
pillow, knowing how hard it was to control her emotions. “Anyway,” Doctor Helpinghoof
continued “It looks like you were right about your hooves Miss Almanac. I’m impressed with
your healing capabilities.” He concluded, taking the bandage off her last hoof, revealing the
new, perfect hooves beneath. “Now, what do you say about putting some pressure on them
eh?”

Later that day, Twilight, Fluttershy, Applejack and Rarity were trotting down the halls of the
hospital. Fluttershy was holding the basket of muffins from Pinkie Pie in her mouth; Rarity
was carrying a bouquet of flowers for Almanac using levitation, while Applejack and Twilight
were discussing what the condition of Almanac might be.

“Ah’ really hope she’s ok Twilight,” Applejack remarked “I couldn’t live it down if she
wasn’t.” Twilight nudged her friend and replied “I’m sure she’s just fine Applejack, she said
so in her letter.” Applejack simply acknowledged her friend with a smile and a nod of her
and that both walked on down the hall to catch up with Rarity and Fluttershy, who were
talking with doctor Helpinghoof, who spotted Twilight and Applejack walking down the hall,
and waved them over.

“Hey there Dr. Helpinghoof,” Twilight said as they approached “How’s Almanac today?”

“She’s near enough fully recovered, Miss Sparkle.” Doctor Helpinghoof replied “I’m just
keeping her here until the end of the week to make sure, and then she’s free to go. In fact, I
was just telling your friends here,” he glanced over to Rarity and Fluttershy then continued
“That Almanac has decided to stay in Ponyville for a while.”

“Really?” Twilight asked rather confused “Did she say why?”

“You’ll have to ask her yourself, I’m afraid.” The doctor replied “She won’t tell me anymore.
Says it’s for you and your friend’s ears only.” And let Twilight and her friends pass into the
patient recovery room that Almanac was staying in.

As the four friends entered the white room, they caught the dark blue unicorn staring
longingly out of the window. She looked a lot different than when they had first
encountered her. Her hooves were no longer cracked and flayed, though the scars on her
right foreleg still remained. She looked a lot healthier, seeming to emanate a radiant glow
(Although that was probably the sunlight from outside.). Her unique silver eyes were clearly
visible this time, the long deep sea blue and cyan fringe of her mane held back with a silver
headband. Her horn still sported the crack, but was no longer leaking ‘liquid magic’. She
turned her head to greet the stunned group of friends.

“Oh, Hello,” Almanac ushered her guests into the room “Please, come in.” She requested
as she sat down on her bed. The four friends looked at each other quizzically, and then
shrugged as they trotted over to Almanac’s bedside, all but Fluttershy, who trotted over to
the chair in the corner. Almanac instantly recognised the purple unicorn coming toward her
right and remarked shyly “Twilight Sparkle and I presume.”

“Yes,” Twilight replied “That’s right. You must be Almanac.” The dark blue unicorn nodded
back at Twilight, blushing slightly. Almanac then turned to the orange pony in the cowboy
hat and asked “That must mean that your name is Applejack, correct?”

“It sure is!” Applejack replied with a smile “Nice to meet you while you’re conscious
Almanac.” To which Almanac proceeded to giggle a little. Rarity and Fluttershy Glanced
onwards at the happy unicorn that was sitting before them, before Rarity eventually spoke.

“My name is Rarity dear; it’s so nice to meet you.” She said, holding out a hoof, which
Almanac proceeded to shake and comment “A pleasure to meet you Rarity. I must say,
that’s a rather impressive mane you’re sporting there.” Rarity giggled slightly before
replying “Why thank you Almanac. That’s very nice of you to say.” The pair both laughed
before Almanac turned her attention to the faded yellow Pegasus lurking in the corner with
a basket in her mouth, her face covered with her flowing pink hair. She asked “Who’s that
bashful Pegasus in the corner?” Fluttershy let out a small squeak and looked up to face
Almanac though her one uncovered eye.

“That’s Fluttershy,” Twilight said looking over to her shy friend “She gets nervous around
new ponies.” Almanac got off of the bed and walked over to Fluttershy, who had her face
buried in her fore hooves. Almanac brushed the shy Pegasus pink hair over to the side of
her face, realising she was welling up with tears and said to her in a reassuring voice. “You
poor dear,” Putting a hoof on Fluttershy’s shoulder “Whatever is the matter?” Fluttershy
suddenly and unexpectedly threw her front hooves around Almanac’s neck, embracing her

in a tight hug. Almanac hugged the now whimpering Pegasus back, patting her on the back.
Over her shoulder, Almanac heard Rarity say softly over Fluttershy’s teary sobs, “Fluttershy
was the most worried about you over this whole ordeal. The poor dear could hardly sleep,
after seeing you in such a state as she did.” Almanac recalled the day she limped into
Ponyville, and remembered seeing the same Pegasus who was now sobbing next to her in
the crowd shortly before she passed out.

Almanac shed a tear before pulling away from the soft-hearted Pegasus’ embrace, before
wiping the tears off of her face and saying “You have such a kind heart Fluttershy, but I’m
fine now,” Fluttershy opened her eyes to look at the caring, silver eyed unicorn that stood
before her who then continued “So there’s no need for you to be getting in a state, alright?
Now pull yourself together and why don’t you tell me what you’ve got in that basket for
me.” Fluttershy wiped away the tears from her face and nodded, picking up the hand woven
basket which was filled with muffins and a pink card that said ‘Get well soon!’ on it. “These
muffins are from one of our other friends.” Fluttershy remarked in her usual, soft voice,
passing the basket over to Almanac. “You said that you would like some muffins in your
letter, and Pinkie Pie is one of the best bakers in town, so...” The basket of muffins crashed
to the floor, and Fluttershy let out a surprised yelp to see that Almanacs face that was deep
blue a few minutes ago, had suddenly turned bright red, her horn glowing a dark violet
colour. Twilight, Rarity and Applejack rushed over to their new friend, Applejack asking
quizzically “You okay hun? What’s wrong?”

Almanac’s memories came flooding back to her in a surge of electricity. A silo on a farm
scatted with rocks, floating balloons and party hats, and a poufy pink mane of hair rubbing
against her neck... Surely it wasn’t that Pinkie Pie that she knew all those years ago. She
lifted the card from the pile of muffins that had spilled onto the floor and opened it. Her
eyes turned into pinpoints, looking at the inside of the card. Surely enough, there was a
picture of a smiling pink pony inside the card with the same head of poufy pink hair of the
good friend she had known all those years ago. The pony in the picture definitely looked like
her, but here was only one way to be certain...

Doctor Helpinghoof came rushing into the room “Is everything okay in there?” He asked
rather flustered “I thought I heard a crashing sound coming from in here,” The five mares in
the room turned to look at Helpinghoof, and Almanac asked rather nicely “Is there any way I
can check out today, like, right now?!”

“I-I suppose I can organise something,” Helpinghoof replied, surprised by the blue unicorns
urgency. “But why the rush to leave Miss Almanac, if you don’t mind me asking?”

Almanac sighed heavily and replied the doctor quietly “There’s someone I need to see...”
Doctor Helpinghoof nodded to the blushing unicorn and ushered everyone to the reception
area. ‘Whatever Almanac had seen in the picture of Pinkie Pie,’ Twilight thought to herself as
she followed her friends out of the room, ‘I think we’re going to find out soon enough.’

Old Bonds

The google docs. version is here

Old Bonds

It was rather quiet at sugar cube corner that afternoon. The lunch rush had come and gone;
leaving Mr. And Mrs. Cake exhausted and they were taking a nap upstairs. Pinkie Pie was
humming a tune as she prepared to make another batch of cupcakes. Rainbow Dash was
sitting in the corner, sipping on a milkshake that she had got earlier, exhausted from being
on weather duty all day.

Rainbow dash looked on as her bubbly pink friend started mixing ingredients into a bowl for
the cupcake mixture. Then, an odd thought rushed into Dash’s head. Even though she and
the others had been friends with Pinkie for years, no one actually knew about the real Pinkie
Pie. Sure, they all knew about her family and how she got her cutie mark, but between then
and now, they all knew almost nothing about her. Dash’s curiosity got the better of her.

“Hey Pinkie,” She called out around the corner. The Pink energetic pony poked her head
around the corner “Yeah Dashie? What’s up?”Pinkie responded to her rainbow maned
friends call.

“How come you've never told me and the others about what happened between your
childhood and coming to Ponyville? I’m curious.” Rainbow asked, looking at her friend’s
suddenly surprised face.

Pinkie’s expression turned from surprised into somewhat annoyed one simply stating
gruffly “I don’t think that’s any of your business Rainbow Dash!” He let out a small huff and
returned to her cupcakes humming to herself as if nothing had happened. Rainbow dash got
up and trotted over to her friend with an apologetic look on her face.

With a hefty sigh, she remarked “I’m sorry Pinkie Pie. I didn't mean to pry. I was just curious
about your past is all...” Pinkie looked back over to her rainbow-maned friend and uttered “I
forgive you Rainbow. But sometimes even best friends have to have secrets...”

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy were trotting along the path
to sugar cube corner, Almanac was lagging behind. She was extremely nervous; her heart
was pounding in her chest trying to make sense of the mix of emotions she was swimming in
right now. Twilight looked back on Almanac who was tossing her head back and forth with
worry and decided to hang back and talk to her.

“You guys go on ahead,” she said to her friends “I’m going to talk with Almanac.” Her friends
looked back at the nervous, deep blue unicorn and nodded to Twilight as they went onward
to sugar cube corner, as Twilight turned around and trotted alongside Almanac.

“Nervous?” Twilight asked Almanac who snapped out of trance-like state with a jump.

Almanac let out a small groan “Just a little.” She replied, laughing nervously. Twilight didn't
buy it. “So how do you know Pinkie Pie?” She asked inquisitively “It’s obvious you two were
at least friends at one point.” Almanac blushed brightly.

“We were close friends.” She replied quietly.

“How close?”

“Very close.” Almanac was as red as a ripe apple.

“Oh...” Twilight finally replied after an awkward silence. She realized that she was blushing
now and asked “So what happened to you two, I mean, did you have fight or something,
because from the way you’re blushing...” Almanac’ eyes shot wide open and turned to face
twilight, her face still glowing bright red.

“I’m not, blushing!” She said defensively “It’s just really hot out here. Why would I be
blushing? I mean it not like...” Twilight looked back at her, unconvinced. Almanac sighed
heavily and continued calmly “We didn't have a fight, she just left. I went over to see her
one day and her parent’s (Who thought we were only friends by the way) told me that she
had left that very morning. They said she had sent me a letter, but I never got it.” Almanac
had tears welling up in her eyes, she stopped and fell on haunches, rising up her right
foreleg to show Twilight “That’s where the first scar came from,” she continued. Twilight
sat down next to the distraught Unicorn, looking at the oldest of the four scars that lay
upon Almanac’s foreleg. She was scared for the mare sitting next to her. What could cause
a pony to harm themselves like that? Almanac must have been through a lot to have these
everlasting reminders of pain marked upon her foreleg. Twilight found herself putting a hoof
around the neck of the now bawling unicorn sitting beside her, who intently leaned against
Twilight’s chest, which was a little uncomfortable, but she let it slide.

“I’m scared, Twilight,” Almanac cried through her glistening silver eyes sniffing sadly “I’m
scared of what will happen when I walk into that cafe,” she pointed to the nearby sugar
cube corner, now looming in the sunset. “What if she says she doesn't want to see me?
What if she freaks out and runs off, what if...” Almanac felt Twilight’s hoof press softly
against her lips followed by a comforting “Shhhh...” from Twilight as the purple unicorn sat
her back up.

“Calm down Almanac,” Twilight consoled softly, “I’m sure she’ll be happy to see you again.
Besides, you know how bubbly Pinkie Pie is; she could never stay mad at one of her closest
friends.” Almanac laughed through her now drying tears, remembering a time when she had
started a mud fight with Pinkie and acidentically hit her square in the face. She remembered
Pinkie laughing it off like it was nothing and then giving her a big hug and giggling;

‘I could never stay mad at my bestest friend in the whole world!’

“There’s a smile!” Twilight cheerily commented as Almanac snapped out of the happy
memory. She sniffled once, wiped the tears from her face and said confidently “You’re right
Twilight Sparkle, I shouldn't get so worried about it.” She turned red again, scraping a hoof
in the path “I’m still a little nervous though...” She said shyly, covering her eyes with the
long fringe of her mane, as she realized that her hair band had fallen off her head. Twilight
gave out a slight chuckle and picked up the silver hair band that had fallen on the ground
next to her. She gave it back to Almanac who put in back in her hair, blushing. Twilight gave
her new friend a hug and then replied “Well then, it’s a good thing you've got a friend to
go in with you.” They both Laughed before setting off towards sugar cube corner ready for
Almanac to meet her old, dear friend.

Meanwhile, back at sugar cube corner, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy were sitting at a
table as Rainbow Dash listened intently as they told her about their visit to Almanac in
hospital. As they finished their story, Rainbow Dashed leaned in and whispered;

“I know you guys said that this Almanac was a good friend of Pinkie’s,” she turned around
to check on Pinkie Pie, who still busily cooking an apple pie for her friends. “But why all the
secrecy; surely we should be telling her that an old friend is coming to visit.”

Applejack interjected quietly “Coz’ Rarity here has inkling that Almanac and Pinkie were
more than just friends at one point. Why don’t you explain Rarity?” she finished, looking
over at the white unicorn sitting beside her. “Well,” Rarity started, “I could tell something
was up when she opened the card Pinkie had sent her at the hospital, why, she was so red
that she might as well have been a giant apple!” She snickered quietly, and then continued
“The thing that confirmed my suspicions is that on the way here, she was looking incredibly
distraught, so I put two and two together and deduced that Pinkie Pie and Almanac must
have had a romantic relationship at some point, but something went wrong and they must
have split up.” Rarity paused “This is all guess work mind you; Twilight should be able to fill
us in with the truth once she gets here,”

“Speaking of which,” Rainbow Dash asked “Where is Twilight?”

“Oh, she went back to talk with Almanac.” Fluttershy said. She didn't need to whisper, her
voice naturally quiet. “Almanac looked very upset; I hope she’s OK...”

With a *ping* of the oven timer, Pinkie pie yelled to her four friends “Pies done!” as she
brought over the steaming hot Apple pie to the table they were sitting at. As she put the pie
on the table, Twilight came through the door of the cafe and Pinkie turned around to greet
her “Hey Twilight!” She said in her usual cheery demeanor to her content looking friend
“What up?”

Twilight took a deep breath and replied “Hey Pinkie Pie, you know that pony that collapsed
in town a few weeks ago, well...” Pinkie bound up to Twilight and interrupted “Ooooo,
you mean that one with the cracked horn and scars? At first I thought it was some random

pony that needed help, but when you mentioned her name was Almanac I thought it
was someone I knew a very long time ago, but then I thought ‘Nah! It can’t be!’ because I
haven’t seen her in a very long time and she probably wouldn't even recognize me if she
saw me again,” Her long sentence was interrupted by the sound of hooves trotting through
the door of sugar cube corner, followed by the soft voice of a blue pony that Pinkie had
completely forgotten about all these years say...

“Pinkamina Diane Pie.”

Pinkies eyes shrank to points as she looked behind Twilight to see the beautiful Dark Blue
pony behind her, the one she had called her friend all those years ago. Pinkie could feel
herself welling up with tears. She couldn't move, she was caught, transfixed in the Blue
Pony’s sparkling Silver eyes. “A-Ali?” Pinkie Pie brought herself to whimper through a
curtain of tears. Almanac giggled at the nickname Pinkie given her in their childhood and
replied through teary eyes “It’s good to see you again,” Standing on her hind legs she invited
Pinkie Pie in for a hug and soon found herself wrapped in the arms of the overjoyed pink
mare. They cried over each other’s shoulders, Almanac pulling Pinkies Fluffy pink mane to
her nose and inhaling deeply. It smelt like cotton candy, just as she remembered “I See you
still use the same shampoo on that hair of yours after all these years,” Almanac laughed,
pulling her head away from the embrace to look into Pinkie’s sapphire blue eyes. Pinkie
simply nodded and the two began laughing through teary eyes, then locking themselves
back into the meaningful embrace hugging even tighter onto each other this time. Rarity
was at the table with her friends, bawling at the beautiful scene that unfurled before her.

“Of all the things I have ever seen,” She sniffed “This is perhaps the, most, beautiful,
THING!” She continued, Wailing at the top of her voice as her friends huddled around her,
tears also running down their faces as well. Even Rainbow Dash, who was normally an
emotional rock, had turned to a pile of sobbing mush before the two old friends.

Almanac couldn't have been happier in that moment. The emotions in her head were
running wild, so overjoyed that she was reunited with her friend. Suddenly, she realised
that her head was pounding, and not in a good way, as she winced at the pain and looked
over to the old friend she held in her forelegs. Pinkie Pie suddenly opened her eyes, her
Pinkie-sense kicking in. Ear flop, tail twitch and... Hoof Stomp? ‘That’s odd,’ Pinkie thought ‘I
haven’t had that combo since...’

“Oh no...” Pinkie whispered looking up at her old friend, still locked in their tight embrace,
to see that her eyes were wildly darting about the room, her breath panting in panic. Pinkie
looked up further above Almanac’s head, and backed away from her friend, horrified to see
her cracked horn arcing bolts of violet electricity all around the ground floor of sugar cube
corner.

“What’s going on Pinkie?!” Twilight shouted across the room, her other friends cowering
behind an upturned table as the bolts of electricity struck all around them. Pinkie looked
over to her confused and panic stricken purple friend and yelled “We need to get Almanac
outside now!” Almanac’s scream of pain interrupted Pinkie as the bolts of electricity
emanating from her horn increased in number and velocity. Twilight nodded nervously and
galloped over next to her pink friend, as they slowly pushed the hysterical Almanac out of
the now singed cafe.

Almanac was in agony, her head felt like a thunderstorm of pain and anguish. She tried to
thrash the pain out of her, but to no avail. All four of her legs, now planted firmly on the
ground, refused to budge, paralyzed by the fear she felt now as Pinkie and Twilight were
slowly pushing her out of the cafe into the cold night air inside. She looked up to see her
two friends, now panic stricken back away from her now static-charged body. The pain in
her head intensified as she felt a howl of pain escape her mouth, but she couldn't hear it
over the now almost solid wall of violet electricity enclosing around her. She managed to
open her eyes through waves of tears and now tunneling vision to look over into the poufy
pink unicorn’s brilliant blue eyes before the violet wall of energy sealed her away from the
rest of the world. She closed her eyes as the storm in her mind reached its climax, thinking
softly to herself before succumbing to the pain inside her;

‘I’m sorry Pinkie...’

Almost everypony in Equestria saw what happened next. The blue unicorn inside the curtain
of bright violet energy let out a long, loud, bloodcurdling scream that seemed to drown
out all other noises of the night as the wall of electricity around her retreated to a singular
point on the tip of the ponies cracked horn, glowing as brightly as the sun. Suddenly, the
poor unicorn continuing to scream, her back and head arched toward the sky, causing the
singular point of mass energy to explode into a huge bolt of lightning that shot directly into
the cloud covered, pitch black sky. As the powerful bolt of energy disappeared from sight,
the sky erupted into a brilliant aura of violet light, showering Ponyville and the surrounding
fields and towns in its magnificence.

Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy marveled at the
splendor of the spectacle that occurred above them, then looked back down at its source;
the deep blue pony that was now surrounded in a ring of black scorch marks which steamed
as it began to rain heavily above them. The paralyzed blue unicorn in the middle was staring
at the sky through the rain, unmoving, her eyes glazed over and wide. Almanac blinked once
to clear the rain from her eyes, before collapsing in a heap, and falling into the darkness of
her mind...

A new mare in town

Google docs. version is here
A new mare in town
It was a quiet day in Ponyville, not much was going on. Fluttershy was at sugar cube corner with Pinkie pie, discussing what icing flavor Pinkie should put on her next batch of cupcakes. Applejack was at the market with Apple Bloom, trading this year’s crop of zap apples. Rainbow dash was, as usual, taking a nap on a cloud above Ponyville. Ditzy Doo was delivering the mornings mail, with her usual cross-eyed, happy look on her face. Meanwhile, at the library, Twilight Sparkle was busy studying away, this time’s topic: dental medicine for ponies. She was suffering from a toothache brought on by one too many apple pies from Applejacks birthday party yesterday. Spike popped his head around the corner and asked “Anything yet?”

Twilight gave out a sigh of exasperation and replied “no, not yet Spike,” Wincing on the pain that her tooth was giving her, “you just keep your focus on getting that mix ready.” Zekora had kindly given her a mix of herbs earlier in the day to deal with her toothache. Spike shouted from the kitchen “I don’t even know why you ate so many pies; it’s not like you to pig out.”

Twilight rolled her eyes and replied rather irritated “If it weren't for you egging me on in that contest, we probably wouldn’t be in this situation!”

“Yeah, sorry about that,” Spike conceded “I just didn't want you to be beaten by Fluttershy!” Spike chuckled, returning to the potion that was brewing in the kitchen.

“I still can’t believe she won!” Twilight laughed back “She must have been really hungry!” Recalling even the ever competitive Rainbow Dash and the birthday girl herself, Applejack, struggled to keep up with Fluttershy’s voracious appetite, Pinkie cheering her on. Twilight had bowed out of the contest shortly after Rarity, who thought the whole affair of a contest that’s meant to make you throw up, as she put it, was ‘A vulgar and revolting affair!’

Twilight sat her head up from the book she was reading and closed the book in front of her. She trotted up to the bedroom upstairs and looked out of her bedroom window over Ponyville. The Roofs of the many houses in town stretched over the horizon and beyond. Sweet Apple Acres were in bloom, the beautiful pink petals blowing in the gentle morning breeze. While Twilight liked living in Ponyville, she couldn't help but think it could get a little dull sometimes. She just wished there would be a little more excitement from time to time. As she was thinking this, there was a knock at the door. Twilight went downstairs to answer it, to find Applejack standing there with a rather concerned look on her face.

“Hey Applejack,” Twilight asked, noting the concerned look on her friend’s face “What’s got you looking so worried?”

“Twilight, ya gotta come quickly,” Applejack replied rather panicked “Me and little Apple Bloom were returnin’ home from market, when we saw a mare comin’ up the road, and she don’t look so good at all!”

“Calm, down Applejack!” Twilight replied, her face now sharing the same look of worry “How bad is it?”

Applejack looked for the right words to describe the state of the mare she had seen limping down the road, alas she couldn't find them, eventually replying “I think you best come see for yourself Twilight, it’s not something ah’ can describe easily” Twilight banished the thought of her toothache and shouted back to Spike “I’m going somewhere with Applejack for a while Spike, I’ll be back soon!” and rushed out the door.

“But what about you’re...” Spike replied as he looked over to the libraries door “Toothache.” He finished and gave out a heavy sigh, returning to the potion that was brewing in the kitchen. ‘Honestly,’ Spike thought ‘Sometimes I don’t know what that pony is thinking,’

As Twilight and Applejack rushed to the center of town, they took note of all the ponies around them looking on with concerned faces at the dark blue unicorn that was limping into town, even Pinkie Pie, whose normal cheerful demeanour was replaced with a look of worry. Twilight and Applejack edged through the crowd to get a look at the poor mare themselves “Oh my...” Twilight murmured with a gasp, as she looked on at the unicorn in front of her.

She looked like she hadn't eaten or slept for a week. The Hooves of the unicorn were shattered and splintered from continuous walking. Even though her face was covered with the fringe of her short, deep sea blue and cyan tipped mane, it was clear she was in pain, as tears were streaming down her face from her covered eyes. She had several cut marks on her right foreleg, and she was burdening a heavy saddle pack laden with books and instruments of unknown purpose. The worst sight of all was the unicorn’s horn, which was cracked and had pink, luminescent ooze dripping down from it. It was an unpleasant site to say the least. Twilight thought to herself ‘what in Celestia’s name could have done this to her?!’ as everypony looked on at the poor, devastated mare that walked between them.

All of a sudden the unicorn stopped, looked up, revealing her glistening silver eyes, and whispered “Any pony got something to eat...” before collapsing in the middle of the road. All the ponies around let out a loud gasp, and Fluttershy, who had been standing with Pinkie at the time, burst into tears of her own on Pinkie’s shoulder, who was patting her distraught friend on the back to comfort her. Applejack and Twilight rushed over the unconscious mare and lifted her onto their backs “We need to take her to the hospital, now!” Twilight yelled frantically, using her magic to make the unconscious unicorn easier to lift. Applejack nodded to her friend, and they both rushed off, the blue unicorn in tow, to Ponyville General Hospital...

Author's Note

Author's Note: Firstly, I would like to say that this i the first fanfic i have ever written, so please be nice! Also, I will be Submitting a new chapter of this story every Wednesday as often as possible, and with that, thank you for reading and enjoy!