Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star

by Brother Roga

Rating: everyone
Tags: Slice of Life
Length: 6266

Twinkle Star, the daughter of Fluttershy and Oathbound, has been living in Ponyville for all her life. Working as a life consultant, she is going to experience things that will change her life forever...

This story takes place after the events of The Tales of The Mountain Hermit. It is recommended that people read that story first, otherwise some elements in the story will not make sense.

Twinkle Star has grown since then, her life having been stable ever since her father sacrificed his own life. After a brief reunion with her father, Twinkle finds herself in situations she would never have thought possible.

*Author's note: This story also has Twilight Sparkle turned into an alicorn, on the assumption that Twilight was coronated after the events of the previous story.

Published 1970-01-01 00:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2013-03-31 11:43:00 UTC

Prologue: To Make A Father Proud

'Just make sure to let him know how you feel! If he wants to make amends, then you know that he is a keeper.' Twinkle Star said to Vinyl Scratch, who was in need of her services.

'Yeah! You're right! I'll go do that right now! Thanks, Twinkle!' The musician said, dropping a small pouch filled with bits onto her table. With that, she stormed out of the building to look for her partner who was somewhere in town.

She smiled at Vinyl's enthusiasm. Another relationship dealt with. She liked it when ponies took her seriously in matters that seemed most trivial. Some ponies think that there are "plenty of fish in the ocean", but there is always this one certain fish that matters most. Twinkle had made it her job to make sure that everypony can find their special somepony.

She looked beautiful to those who were into pegasi. Her yellow skin was a perfect comparison of her mother's, while her light blue mane swayed in the wind. She looked at her cutie mark, three pink hearts of differing sizes decorating her flank, partly hidden by her wings. The amulet she wore swayed around as well when she turned her head, which made her sigh as she remembered the pony she got it from. Her father, Oathbound had sacrificed himself apparently to rid the world of some threat. She was never told what it was about, but she missed him. Strangely enough, even though Oathbound had been able to use magic despite not being an unicorn thanks to his amulet, Twinkle hadn't learned how to use it. To all concerned, she was just a pegasus with a pretty neckpiece. Some of them had tried to buy it from her, but she bluntly pushed those requests aside as she angrily went into detail about what she had gone through to obtain it. This made her somewhat unpopular. When she was happy she was like a shining beacon of light that everypony flocked to. When she was angry she was sure to make everypony know. When she was needed for her skills when it came to relationships and dating however, there was nopony who could do her job better. She was the most successful love consultant in the town, even though she called herself a life consultant, since she provided advice on other matters as well.

But for all her expertise, she had not found her own special somepony. Yet she had not cared about it. She was content living with her mother, surrounded by friendly ponies who understood when to give her personal space and when to come and give her comfort. Her mother was the most passionate pony she had ever met and it was she who made her become a love consultant in the first place. In fact, if she wouldn't have chosen that way of life, her cutie mark could have turned out a lot different.

She didn't know much about her father's past. Only things she knew was that he was a friend of Princess Celestia, Princess Cadance and the Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor. That was all she had to know. Oathbound was a great father to her when he lived. She wanted nothing more, nothing less.

Once her day was finished at work, she went to her mother's cottage where she lived. The cottage was as tranquil as ever, it's animal inhabitants giving the room a somewhat wild feel, but it still felt like all the animals knew what was expected of them, like organized chaos. Fluttershy gave her a welcoming hug, which Twinkle took with pleasure. The pink-maned animal lover was in the middle of calming a bear couple down when they were fighting. With that many animals around it was a miracle that Fluttershy was able to keep order at all. It just went to show how much she loved what she did.

Twinkle gave her a bit of assistance, being a lot of help according to Fluttershy but in reality she didn't share her mother's connection to the animal kingdom. Regardless, the situation was quickly brought back under control.

When it was done, Twinkle decided to retire to her quarters, as it was getting late. The guest room was redecorated to suit her needs, the crib where she spent her baby years was gone, likely somewhere easily accessible. Her father's picture was framed and hanging on the wall, a warm smile on his features. Twinkle took the amulet off and put it on the table before taking a smaller frame which had another picture of Oathbound. She gave it a brief kiss.

'Goodnight, Father.'

As she went to bed, she didn't see the frame on the wall glow, the pony in the picture moving his lips, voicelessly wishing the mare a good night.

When the morning arrived Twinkle was already up and about, preparing to make breakfast for Fluttershy. She didn't know how she did it, but Twinkle Star knew that her mother's tea was absolutely divine. As the pink mane-toting mare came down the stairs, her frail voice let Twinkle know that she had woken up. As she sat down to prepare for her tea, Twinkle's face appeared from her right and gave her brow a light kiss before she took an almost Pinkie Pie-ish demeanor.

'Did you have a good night, mother? I know I had! It was about this completely awesome trip to Canterlot where I went to meet Princess Celestia on a special assignment. Then, when I reached the palace, I found Twilight and Celestia in the middle of a ritual, see? And while they were doing it, I was told to give the amulet father gave me.' She toyed with the amulet a bit before continuing.

'Really?' Fluttershy said, interested even though she had just woken up.

'And when the amulet was taken off, it began to fly on its own! Crazy right? It flew towards this big circle with marks that glowed. When it was inside the circle, the light blinded me and then...'

She began to shed a tear unknowingly while looking at her amulet.

'Then... I saw Dad. He.. He came to hug me.. Then I woke up.'

Without warning she began to cry, laying her head on her mother's shoulder as she comforted her with pats on the back.

'I miss him so much..' Twinkle said once she managed to control her tears a bit, wiping a stray blob of liquid with her hoof.

'I miss him too, sweetie. But... I've accepted that he is gone. Hanging to the past will not fix anything.' She said, looking at a picture hanging on the wall. This one had Oath and Fluttershy and all their friends in a huge group photo.

'But I just wanted for him to be proud of me before he died!'

Fluttershy gave her a hug.

'But you already made him proud!'

Twinkle was not so sure of that.

'Are... Are you sure?'

'There is nothing that I could be more certain about, Twinkle. You are my little girl and I do not want to see you sad like this.'

She believed herself to the core. Twinkle was comforted by that. As their embrace was broken by Twinkle, she nodded to Fluttershy.

'Thanks, mom. I couldn't have asked for a better mother.'

Fluttershy closed her eyes and gave a smile.

'And I couldn't have asked for a better daughter.'

No sooner had she left the cottage, Twinkle felt all the braver, ready to face the challenges of the day. She spotted Rainbow Dash amidst the clouds, kicking them until there were no more spots of white in the sky. She took to flight and towards the cyan-skinned pony, who gave her a wave when she came near.

'Hey there, Twinkle! Up and early again, eh?'

'Hi, Rainbow Dash. Looks like I was not the only pony who decided to start early.'

'Are you kidding me? I was making sure you have an even playing field!'

Twinkle rolled her eyes at that before smiling to RD, whom she had agreed to race with that day.

'You ready, Twinkle? I'm not gonna make it easy on ya!'

'Bring it on, Dash. I'm going to win this time!'

'Brave words. Let's see if you can back them up!'

With that, she disappeared in a streak of colors, taking Twinkle slightly off guard before she blasted off in pursuit.

Though the sky had no clouds to hinder her movements, Twinkle noticed how Rainbow Dash was flying downward, where there were trees that would make her flying quite difficult unless she could dodge them. After Dash had gotten through the woods, Twinkle gritted her teeth as she prepared to mimic the rainbow-maned pony's perfomance.

She managed to twist and turn past the first two trees but then she hit an oak with a loud "thunk".

Twinkle's vision was blurry. She couldn't see any specific shapes, just differing colors. In the corner she could see a mix of blue, red and other colors, like a painter mixing up different colors to create new ones. She heard voices, but she wasn't sure if it was her head just making things up. She shaked her head a bit. It seemed to work for despite the increased throbbing in her brain she managed to make out more of her enviroment. The voices cleared up too.

'-ou hearing me, Twinkle? Twiiinklee?'

'Who-wha? What happened?'

'I thought we were racing, not crashing headfirst into trees.'

'Oww, my head...' The yellow-skinned mare said, rubbing her hoof on her head which had a small bump, hidden by her blue mane.

'Careful Twinkle, I think you might have a concussion.'

Shaking her head a bit to clear the dizziness, Twinkle rose up, a bit wobbly at first before she regained her balance.

'I think I'm fine.'

'Well I think you should see a nurse, that looked very painful.'

'Thanks, Dash, but I'm ok.'

As she said that, Twinkle heard a voice in her head, telling her to watch out. As if forced, she pushed Rainbow Dash out of the way before jumping in her direction as two axes hit the ground where they had stood moments before.

She wanted to take off with Dash, but her wings felt like lead.

'You are not going anywhere, whelp.' A demonic voice announced, causing pain in her head as she forced herself to listen.

'Wh-Who are you?'

A black-skinned pony with red iris', a purple mane and a cutie mark of a shield broken in half and an axe in front of it. He had a black amulet which glowed with a dark light.

He was flanked by two axes, blood-red in color and lightning seeming to arc between them as they hovered above the stranger. She looked at where she had stood a moment before, expecting to see axes there but they had disappeared.

Dash also stood up, looking a bit roughed up but it was understandable considering what Twinkle had just done. She looked over to the mare, then at the target of her attention, gasping as she saw him.

'You!? Why can't you just leave us alone!?' Dash cringed, facehoofing while at it.

The pony with the ebony amulet looked at the cyan-skinned pony, which caused her to swallow nervously. As if contemplating what Rainbow Dash said, the stranger stood there motionless for a second, before raising his hoof and throwing it to the side in one swift motion, causing a magical wind to throw her through the air and into the tree that Twinkle had hit, knocking her out instantly as she slumped to the base of the great oak.

'DASH!' Twinkle screamed, rushing to her side, relieved to feel that she was breathing. She looked at the cruel pony who had hurt her friend.

'Why!? Why do this? Why hurt my friends?' She practically yelled, her eyes welling up, threatening to drop their liquids down her cheeks.

The axes merged into one as the stranger licked his lips.

'Why not?'

With that, the axe started to come at her, the pony charging suite, his lungs expelling the air out of him in a battlecry.

Dash was still unconcious. Twinkle had no idea what to do. She curled up next to Rainbow Dash, her tears beginning to fall as she was panicking like never before.

'DAD HELP ME!' She screamed at the top of her lungs, knowing it was a vain attempt. She knew it was over. Any second now the axe would cut her apart.

Any second now...

She was too scared to open her eyes but was curious when the axe blow had not come.

Eventually she looked at her attacker and saw that a shield of sparkling blue light had blocked the axe. She noticed that her amulet was glowing.

Next the shield began to shapeshift, the mass of energy forming the shape of a pony. She didn't know what was going on.

'Father?' She said, staring intently at the magical power that had taken pony form. It looked at her and nodded.

The stranger looked upon the spectral pony that had appeared and instantly recognised it. He seemed to swell up with rage as his axe floated to the side and also grew in size.

'YOU!! HOW DARE YOU STILL CLING TO LIFE!!'

The spectre looked at the ground before looking back at the evil one's face.

'If I must defy death itself to keep my kind safe, then so be it.'

'You couldn't keep me contained back then, yet you still try!? Why you-'

'You won't break me.' The spectral Oathbound said, summoning an axe of blue power. He continued.

'No matter how hard you try, you can't shake me down. My love...' He looked back at Twinkle, who was tending to Dash. He looked back, his face steeled in determination.

'Is and always will be true. You say you are how I truly feel, I say you are wrong.'

'You wish to die a second time, I will gladly oblige you, fool!' The black-skinned one said before charging at him.

The two began to fight, each axe blow blocked, each parry counterparried. They were the equals of eachother. Eventually their axes started straining against eachother as the two began wrestling, trying to topple their opponent. Eventually their axes separated and clashed again, thunderbolt-like sounds emitting from them as they came into contact. Yet this time they were not so locked as last time and the red axe slipped, flying towards the two mares lying on the ground. As Twinkle was about to be hit by the stray axe, she gasped. Sensing this, Oathbound let go of the black-skinned stallion as he teleported in front of the axe, uncaring of his safety. Impossibly the axe hit him but didn't make him cry out in pain or have any reaction whatsoever. It was like the magical power had hit a brick wall.

'Hurt my kin, will you? Hurt my friends, will you?' The spectre said, almost looking like he was turning corporeal as Twinkle's amulet glowed on its own before coming off and placing itself on it's previous owner's neck. His axes swelled in size as the sapphire in the centre of the jewelry began twisting into a heart-shape, causing lightning to arc out of the amulet which made the black-skinned pony jump back. When it was complete in it's shapeshifting process, it shot out a beam of blue light, the blue axes joining the love-driven force as it passed straight through the blocking axes and hit the evil pony, who screamed in torturous pain as he was slowly losing his form. But like his life would depend on it, he stared at the spectre with hate in his eyes, his pain only intensifying it.

'Begone from this world, never to return!' Oathbound said, slowly making his corporeal presence fade away as the beam died out when the target had disappeared into nothingness.

Eventually the spectre looked at Twinkle Star, who was looking back a bit scared.

'...Dad, i-is that... y-y-you?' She stuttered, unable to believe that her father was here.

'Twinkle. I'm sorry that I had to come back to haunt you like this, but.. I didn't expect him to come back.'

She hugged the ghost's form as much as she was able to, making sure that she didn't fall through him. Her tears fell down her cheeks as all her emotional barriers were crushed after seeing her father come back after all these years.

'I've missed you Dad! I've missed you so much... *sob* So much!'

The spectre stood there silently for a second before laying his hoof around her.

'I've missed you too, Twinkle.' He said, looking intently at her as she raised her gaze to meet his own.

Soon he let go of her and hovered the amulet back to her neck as he took a few steps back.

'I'm sorry but I must go now. Rainbow Dash is going to be fine. She's not going to remember anything about this. It might not be the fairest thing to do, but... You can tell her she hit the oak and you won the race.' He said, smirking at her.

'But dad? Why do you have to go?' She said, stepping forward and towards her father.

He looked to the side, as if ashamed, but his spectral features prevented any of it showing.

'I no longer belong here. My time has passed. You must carry on with your life, for I cannot.'

Twinkle had come to that same conclusion herself, knowing how hard it was for Oathbound to leave his life behind to make sure that all his friends could survive.

'I... I love you Dad.'

'I will always be proud of you, sweetheart. For you are my little princess. Like I said all those years ago however, I shall never be truly gone. I shall always live on in your heart.' He said, pointing at the amulet.

With that, he opened a portal of some sort and stepped through it, leaving an unconcious mare in the care of her friend.

Rainbow Dash was feeling heavy. Her head hurt like she would have kissed a freight train. She didn't know what happened, but when she tried to move, she felt resistance.

'Dash? You okay?'

Twinkle Star. The race...

'Ow, my head...'

'Careful, I think you may have a concussion.' Strange. Dash felt like she heard that before. Talk about déjà-vu.

'What happened?' She grunted a bit, rubbing the back of her head.

'You hit an oak while we were racing. I decided to call the race quits while I tended to you.'

'Wha? But where-' The rainbow-maned pony said before looking around. It was a room with a portrait of Oathbound on the wall.

'You're in my house, silly. I couldn't leave you there hanging.' Twinkle said, blushing a bit.

The door to her room opened as Fluttershy came in.

'Oh, Rainbow Dash, thank goodness you are awake. Twinkle told me everything. You okay?'

'Yea, I think so. Just need to stretch a bit.'

And that she did. Her stretching was like that of a proper athlete. In a few minutes she was done as the two just watched her to make sure they could help her in case there was something wrong after all.

'Thanks for taking care of me while I was out, Twinkle.'

'No problem, Dash. You might want to prepare for the future though.'

'Huh?'

'You have some catching up to do if you wanna beat me in a race again.' She said, holding her tongue out playfully.

Rainbow Dash grinned at the mare with the cream-yellow skin.

'Oh you can bet on that!' She said, before blasting off.

Fluttershy came outside just in time to see her take off, rainbow colors following her as she did stunts of all sorts now that she had a chance to unwind.

'Mom, I've been thinking about what you've said.'

'Hmm?'

'You're right. Dwelling in the past won't help anypony. I've gotta move on. It's what he would have wanted.' She said, looking at the sky more than at Rainbow Dash's receding form.

[FILLER] Way Under The Weather

Please note that this chapter is a filler, not meant to be meaningful in any way to the actual story but I just want to give the readers something to read for the sake of reading. Once I come up with some inspiration to bring the plot line forward, I'll get down to it ASAP.

Twinkle Star was sleepy. She wasn't sure why she would be so damn sleepy on such a fine day. Yesterday she had gone into the Everfree Forest to help Zecora with some herb collecting which the zebra was very thankful for. It also gave her some first-hoof experience with the plant known as poison joke. An owl had landed amidst the plants and for it's intrusion it was given a pair of bulbous pieces of blue stuff that stuck to the tips of its wings. It looked like as if it was carrying grocery bags. She had laughed at the bird's dilemma for a second before Zecora reminded her of how easily it could have been her with something happening to herself, which made her quickly shut her muzzle before apologizing to the bird.

There were also some weird mushrooms that Zecora said they should avoid. Though, in truth, Twinkle had taken one of the mushrooms with her. She had seen her mother make mushroom soup before and thought that this could be a great addition. In the end, aside from the poison joke, the trip to the forest was rather uneventful. The pony, the zebra and the owl all had a herbal bath at the spa which Zecora had arranged in advance, but it seemed like the poison joke did something to Twinkle, even though she didn't get in contact with the plant. And it was not a prank-like feeling either.

She felt like she was going to pass out, like her brain was slowly turning off.

She looked at the mirror. Nothing wrong. She turned to the side, her flank presented to the image-reflecting glass. Nope. Her hind-leg had a magnificent ribbon, made from golden thread according to Rarity, that she had gotten from the fashionista after she had gotten out of the herbal bath yesterday following her trip to the forest.

She scratched her head confusedly but a bit wearily. Perhaps her mother could help her? Stepping out of her room and going down the stairs, Twinkle entered the living room where Fluttershy was grooming Angel, who was enjoying his treatment.

'Mom?' Twinkle said, her voice a bit weak.

'Hmm?' The cream-colored mare with the pink mane said, not diverting her gaze from Angel.

'I... I don't feel so good.' The mare said as her vision was blurrying rapidly.

Fluttershy was a bit worried now, looking at her daughter who's legs were shaking. She was trying her absolute best to keep herself standing.

'Oh my! Come lay down here honey!' She said, taking Angel away from the couch, causing the rabbit to pout a bit before accepting the fact that his grooming session was now officially over.

'Can I get you something to drink? A wet towel?' Fluttershy said as her daughter was wobbling towards the couch.

'I... I dont...' It was the last thing she said before she went completely unconcious, falling to the couch almost like Rarity during her drama queen moments.

'Twinkle!? TWINKLE!' Fluttershy almost began to panic as the words left her lips but she soon regained composure and put a hoof on her daughter's head to feel it almost burning. One could have cooked an egg on her head without a problem.

'Oh my...' She said, her eyes so open they looked like they would have popped out if she would have been looking at the ground.

Acting on experience, Fluttershy took a towel and put it under cold water for a while before laying it on her head. As she managed to do so, the door was knocked upon. A familiar face appeared when she got to the door.

'Greetings Fluttershy, may I ask where is Twinkle Star? I am guessing by your presence she must not be far.' Zecora said, smiling as she finished her sentence.

'Oh, hello Zecora. Twinkle... Well, she isn't feeling too well. You see, she just passed out on the couch, she's got a fever.'

Stepping inside, Zecora could only nod as she saw the mare lying on the couch, one of her hind legs slightly drooping out.

'Well well well, what have we here?' Zecora said, laying her own hoof on a part of her head that wasn't covered by the towel.

She quickly recoiled as she realized how hot she was.

'A fever hot enough to have your hoof almost seared?'

She turned her gaze to Fluttershy, determination on her face for some reason.

'If you would let me, I could be of assistance. After all, natural remedies are easiest to apply when there is no resistance.'

'You mean herbal medicine? Is there anything that can help with this kind of fever?' Fluttershy said, somewhat skeptical but eager to have any and all assistance she could get.

'Many cures exist for many ills. Some for fever, some for chills.'

'Umm... Okay.' Fluttershy said, nodding slightly. Zecora nodded back before rising and going for the door.

'Then I shall momentarily return to my abode, to prepare the ingredients for her long and weary road.'

Twinkle felt like she was drifting through the air, a very comforting feeling and very unlike what it felt like when she was soaring through the air. She had to put no effort into staying afloat, she just was. She didn't want to move at all, yet when she tried, she couldn't muster the strength for it.

It was her surroundings that gave her the chills. A purplish background with blobs of blackness here and there.

She could see hazy images of ponies looking at her, the enviroment around them or at eachother. Were those other ponies trapped here as well?

Suddenly one of the black blobs started moving towards one of the hazy ponies. A stallion. He didn't see it coming but when the blob came into contact with him his cry for help was so loud that Twinkle would have had her ears cut off if it would have meant she wouldn't have to hear that noise anymore. More cries followed as more ponies were swallowed by the blackness, causing the blobs to swell in size with each pony. Eventually she was swallowed also as she still couldn't move. She cried for help like all the others, hoping for somepony to help her, but it was in vain. She fell into a dark hole and could see flashing images. Her 10th birthday... The picture was taken when she was about to blow the candles, her muzzle almost bursting from the inside with all the air in it. She couldn't do anything but manage a fond smile.

Next came the day when she got her cutie mark. This was far after her father had died, but she didn't have the amulet on her neck at the time. She had watched an angry pair have an argument before the mare stormed off in the other direction, crying as she disappeared behind a corner. Her crying was still heard for about 2 minutes after that before it faded. It made her feel like she wanted to make sure that it happens to nopony. Nopony deserves to have their hearts crushed like that.

Twinkle was surprised, nopony had taken a picture of her at that time. Perhaps she was seeing images of her memories?

Back in the "real world", Fluttershy opened the door hastily as Zecora stepped inside, a certain cyan pony following her.

'Oh, Rainbow Dash. I didn't expect to see you today.'

'I heard what happened to Twinkle so I decided to help Zecora out with her "natural cures". And I also thought I should check on her. How is she?' Rainbow said, looking at the mare lying on the couch, her face twisted in a mixture of fear and confusion.

'It must be indeed a sickness of great magnitude for our mare, to be under such distress in her nightmare.' Zecora said as she went towards the kitchen and started grinding some of her ingredients with Fluttershy's mortar and pestle.

'Shouldn't we wake her up?' Rainbow Dash said, stepping towards Twinkle's recumbent form. Fluttershy held her hoof in front of her which stopped the rainbow-maned pony's advance.

'Oh no no, don't you know what happens to ponies that are waken while they are having nightmares?' Fluttershy said, her eyes looking to the sides warily before she leaned closer to whisper something to Rainbow Dash.

The athlete rolled her eyes at whatever she heard before blowing some air at her mane, a "pfft" noise coming forth as she did so.

'Yea right, Flutters. You still believe in those old mare's tales?'

'There's a gem of truth in every story.'

'Except those kinds of stories.'

As the two were arguing, Zecora was finished with her potion, which she made Twinkle drink, unbeknownst to the two.

Twinkle felt like she was drowning. She tried to catch her breath, but something liquid-y forced itself down her mouth, which she had to swallow before she tried to breathe again. Once more she had to swallow. In the blackness she could see a flickering light, slowly growing in size when it came closer. She had to squint to look at it, but when it came close she saw the images she had seen before, along with other images, passing before her eyes faster than she could see. Eventually the light encompassed her whole field of vision and she had to close her over-agitated eyes, the light leaving a color-shifting blob in the same manner as you would get when you look directly at the sun for too long. She felt like thrashing about.

She heard voices in the distance, slowly growing closer. The light became more and more unbearable, but she forced herself to open her eyes. It was then that she realized she had woken up. The light she saw was the lamp in the ceiling of her mother's living room.

'Twinkle!' Fluttershy said before hugging her like a bear.

'I'm so happy you're awake!'

'It's just a fever, Fluttershy, not something to get so riled up about.' Dash said, before waving at Twinkle who noticed her.

'The fever is lowering, that I can see. But until it is gone, outside you must not be.' Zecora said, before replacing her towel with a fresh one.

'How long was I out?' Twinkle said, looking at Fluttershy.

'The sun is going down soon, so not too long, I presume.' The zebra said, planting the new towel on Twinkle's head, which made her slightly recoil at the coldness, but soon enough she adjusted.

'But for now you have a deep rest. By the end of the week you should be at your best.' Zecora said as she walked out the door, her left-over ingredients in her bag.

'A whole week!?' Twinkle pouted, a bit angry at the unfairness of her fever.

'Don't worry sweetie, I'll make sure you have the best week ever until you get better!' Fluttershy said, clapping her fore-hooves together a couple of times.

'That's what I'm afraid of...' The feverish mare muttered under her breath, smirking at herself. She predicted that her mother would probably have a tea-party in the living room so she could join in with all her animal friends. They were nice when you had them once in a week or two, but a whole week of having to be around all the animals when she was sick was not something she was looking forward to.

Ah well, at least she won't have to help Zecora with anything for a week. And if she was completely honest, she looked forward to the party Pinkie Pie was surely going to throw for her. Even as she thought of this, she drifted into sleep.

'She's still asleep? Aww, but I wanted to give her the card right now!' Pinkie Pie said, right behind the door which she had knocked on.

'I'm sorry Pinkie. But if you want, you could stay here until she wakes up.' Fluttershy said, who had come to open the door before informing Pinkie that Twinkle was still asleep.

'Really!?' Pinkie exclaimed, hopping up as if a spring had been unloaded beneath her.

'I don't mind really, I think she would like the company. Harry has not been much of a talking partner to her apparently.'

'Harry?'

'Yes, Harry the bear.'

'Mom? Who's at the door?'

Looking back into the living room, Fluttershy was surprised to see Twinkle up and about, looking a lot better than she did two days ago.

'Oh, Twinkle! Pinkie just wanted to bring you-'

'A GET-WELL CARD!' Pinkie said into a megaphone which she had impossibly stored in her mane. Twinkle had to rub her ears a bit to get her hearing back.

'Eheh, you don't need to make such a big deal about it, Pinkie. It's just a fever, not like I'm going to die or anything.'

'But you could be! And if not today, then you might tomorrow! Hopefully not though. Enjoy life to the fullest while you can!' She said, before hopping back towards the village. Twinkle was astonished at how casually she could bring up things like that and still have her trademark demeanor about.

The card was pink, with glitter all over it, some of which stuck to her hooves when she took it from Pinkie.

Inside the card was a small picture of a cake with letters forming "Get well soon!"

There were signatures from everypony. Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Octavia, Bon Bon, even Braeburn. Twinkle was amazed that they had managed to put all their signatures on to the single piece of paper the card was made from.

She looked outside, speaking more to herself than anypony in particular.

'Thank you everypony. Thank you so much.'

The rest of the week was rather uneventful, though Twinkle had completed the process of counting the amount of hairs in her fur one night when she was bored and sleep just wouldn't come. In other circumstances she would have been interested in hearing how many hairs on average a pony has, but at that time it was as if it was obvious.

When the week had come to an end and Twinkle had given herself the green light to step outside, the first order of business was to get herself to Pinkie's place. She had been waiting to get to the inevitable party that Pinkie had arranged.

Stepping inside Sugarcube Corner, she braced herself for anything. Strangely, nothing happened. She saw a note on the table, which she picked up and read.

'Meet me in the animal den! Come alone!'

'Huh. Weird.' Twinkle said, looking to her sides before stepping out of the store. Carrot Cake and Cup Cake were visible in the distance,  some fresh ingredients for their famous pastries in tow. Deciding to let the party be for now, Twinkle got back towards the cottage.

She was a bit disappointed that there was no party. Perhaps she was just used to Pinkie having parties whenever she could.

Stepping inside, she was scared to half-death.

'SURPRIIIIIIIIISE!' Pinkie Pie yelled, everypony echoing her. Twinkle could feel a tear coming up before she burst laughing.

'Thank you everypony!'

Even Zecora had managed to make it to the party.

'Good to see you, Zecora! Hope you're having fun.'

'Indeed I am, Twinkle dear. But there is something I must tell you. Something sincere.'

Twinkle had no other response than raise her eyebrow at that.

'Huh?'

'It was my fault that you got into this mess, hopefully this won't reduce our friendship to anything less.' The zebra said, her golden piercings jingling slightly as she lowered her head. Twinkle raised it back up with her hoof.

'Zecora, without this I wouldn't be having this much fun. This party is something I needed after all this bedridden time. You have nothing to be sorry about! And... well, it was kinda my fault anyway.' She said before explaining how she had taken one of those mushrooms in the forest. This made the zebra chuckle.

'Oh Twinkle, I knew of that mushroom you picked. But I thought you knew the ill effects it would inflict.'

'I didn't know what kind of mushroom it was. I just saw it and thought it would be great in a stew.'

'The Chilishroom is not so simple to eat. Once it is consumed, it's effects are not easily beat. A fever of great magnitude, only fixed by a week of solitude. But when used as a material for soap, not a single stain will be left, oh nope.' Zecora said, giggling a bit. 'Helps with clothes shrinking too. Rarity is very dependant of that little clue.'

'What? But... But mom had some of that-' Twinkle said, before her pupils shrunk. Quickly storming towards Fluttershy's bedroom, she found a sleeping mare with a thermometer on her mouth. It was heated to the max. A blue towel was on her head.

'Oh boy...' She said, facehoofing. Now it was her turn.