Troy's Fate

As the morning came by, Twilight was in a fatigued state. She had not slept well throughout the night, due to the events that had transpired in the last 24 hours. The storm had decreased in intensity and now, it only rained slightly. She wanted to stay in bed, but part of her knew that staying in bed won’t solve anything.  She groaned as she got up and looked at herself in the mirror. Her coat was unkempt and her hair was a mess. Her eyes were bloodshot from the lack of sleep. She yawned as she brushed her hair and fixed up her coat. Once she was done, she was expecting Spike to be asleep. When she looked at him, she was surprised to see that he was actually awake. He was still in bed with his eyes as equally bloodshot as Twilight’s.

“Spike?”  she voiced with concern. “Are you okay?”

Spike looked at Twilight with a tired expression on his face.

“Of course I am!” Spike replied wearily. “I feel like a million bits!”

Spike, however, didn’t feel like a million bits. Instead of being cheerful and filled of energy, he felt malcontent and drained.  Much like Twilight, the events kept him awake as well. On top of that, he was still thinking about losing Twilight.

Twilight got closer to Spike and she spoke again, “You don’t look like it. What are you hiding?”

“Nothing!” pleaded Spike. “I swear, Twilight! I swear!”

“There is something you’re hiding. Usually, you’re asleep and I wake you up almost every morning.”

“For the last time, Twilight, I’m not hiding anything!”

“Tell me!”

At this point, Twilight became cranky. Spike, feeling defeated, finally told her what’s on his mind.

“Twilight, what happened last night hurt me greatly. I looked out the window, waiting for you. When you didn’t come back, I became worried! Twilight, I thought that something bad happened to you! I thought you were hurt or worse…”

Spike couldn’t bring himself to finish his sentence. He broke down before he could do so. He proceeded to hug Twilight tightly and bawled onto her. Twilight place her hoof on his head and consoled the little dragon.

“Spike,” she replied. “I’ll be fine.  Like what I said before, I’m sorry.”

Twilight grabbed her bag and headed for the door.

“Wait!” Spike shouted. “Where are you going?”

Twilight paused. She felt bad because she lied about being fine, but she didn’t want to upset Spike further. Still, she had to see somepony.

“Where do you think?” she answered at last. “I need to see him again. Don’t tell anypony about this. Promise me that, okay?”

Just as she opened the door, she was greeted by the innocuous face of Fluttershy.

“Hello Twilight,” murmured Fluttershy.

Twilight panicked inside.  She wasn’t expecting Fluttershy to be there.  In her anxiety filled mind, she didn’t want to bring anypony into this. This was her problem, not theirs. She didn’t want it to tarnish them.

“Hey Fluttershy,” Twilight said uneasily. “What are you doing here?”

“I came to return this book, “Overcoming Shyness”.”

“Sure! Just give it to Spike. He’ll take care of it.”

As Spike walked over to fetch the book, Twilight grew more and more nervous. She wanted Fluttershy away from her and her problem. Sweat drops formed on her forehead and the sound of her own beating heart was getting louder.

Louder and louder.

Fluttershy was watching Twilight as she grew more and more anxious. She became concerned for her friend.

“Twilight?” Fluttershy said softly, “Did I catch you at a bad time?”

“I’m fine, Fluttershy,” lied Twilight. “It’s just I have to get going or I’ll be late!”

“Late for what, Twilight?”

Twilight had to think of an excuse and she thought of it quick. “I’m going to meet somepony in town. She has a rare book and I’m coming over to take a good look at it.”

“Is that so? Well, I’ll just look for other books on the shelves. That is, if you don’t mind.”

“It’s okay, Fluttershy. Take them at your heart’s content!”

While Fluttershy was distracted by the bookshelves, Twilight gestured the Pinkie Promise at Spike: “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”

Twilight walked away, out of Fluttershy’s sight. The light drizzle ran down her fur as she stepped outside.  She then began to run. She wanted to get to the hospital immediately. She wanted to see him again. After several minutes, she made it to the hospital and her legs were aching badly.

“Please don’t die, please don’t die,” she repeated in her head as she approached the front entrance. She stepped in and walked into the ICU unit, where the pilot was held. A nurse was present in his room when she arrived.

“How is he?” asked Twilight.

The nurse shook her head. “There’s little improvement since yesterday. I’m sorry, but this is the best we can do.”

“I see…” Twilight got closer to the pilot as the nurse left her alone.

“Why me?” she thought melancholy. “Why?”

A single tear ran down her cheek as she held his left hoof, hoping for a breakthrough.

***

At the crash site, the ETSB investigators were on scene again. With the pilot in a coma, they were trying their hardest to solve the mystery. Eventually, Air Marshall decided that it would best to wait for the pilot’s awakening.

Then, one of his colleagues had an idea. “What if we reassemble the plane? It’ll give us a better view of what the plane looks like. Heck, it could give the aviation industry a huge boost. Scientists and engineers would love to learn how to build better airplanes with this one. What do you think?”

Air Marshall pondered for a second and a smile began to show. “All right, stallions! Gather up all the pieces you can get your hooves on!”

“Yes sir!” they all said in unison.

While this was going on, Zecora was sipping her cup of tea in the comfort of her hut. She was still thinking of the crash and how it affected Twilight. She knew just how much it hurt her mentally. She feared that Twilight was going to feel guilt for the rest of her life. Zecora even knew that Twilight was at the hospital at that moment. Zecora felt that her strength wasn’t enough to snap Twilight out of her darkness. So, she decided to visit the ponies that could; her best friends. She finishes her tea and sets off to her destination, the library. She didn’t exactly know why the library was the very place she thought of, but it felt right in her mind. When she arrived at the library, she was surprised to see Fluttershy.

“Oh hello Zecora,” uttered Fluttershy in her quiet tone. “What are you doing here?”

Zecora noticed that Spike was looking quite tired. He was organizing some books on the selves as Zecora began her rhyme filled speech. “Spike, I see that you didn’t rest well during the night. Does your fatigue have anything to do with Twilight?”

Spike nearly dropped his books. He caught them just in time and placed them back on the shelf. Fluttershy was surprised at all of this. She starts to notice that Spike was yawning and was doing his work a little slower than usual.

“I am not tired!” voiced Spike. “I’m in tip-top shape!”

“You cannot fool me with that little lie. Why did you lie to me…why?”

Spike realized that she was right. He had been lying and was terrible at it too.  He couldn’t break his promise, but he remembered that the promise only concerned her visit to the hospital.

“Okay, okay. I admit it. I am tired. It’s just I got these dark thoughts since last night and I couldn’t sleep well because of it. I thought about what would happen if Twilight died. Where do I go? Who will take care of me? Will I be able take care of myself?”

Zecora and Fluttershy showed sympathy on their faces. They had never seen this side of Spike before.

Zecora stepped forward. “I see that death is in your mind too. This is something Twilight is also going through.”

“What do you mean that Twilight is also going through death?” whimpered Fluttershy. “She said that she was going to see somepony for a rare book.”

“Fluttershy, I’m sorry, but you were being misled. She is actually visiting somepony at the hospital instead.”

Spike’s mouth dropped. Zecora had spilled the beans about Twilight’s visit. He now wondered if Zecora was able to read minds.

Fluttershy gasped at the truth. “The hospital?! What happened to her? Is she going to be okay?”

Zecora approached her and explained everything to Fluttershy.

“Oh my!” exclaimed Fluttershy. “So, I have to gather the others to help her?”

Zecora nodded and told her to do it quickly. Fluttershy left the library in a rush and headed for the Carousel Boutique, Rarity’s shop.

***

Rarity was enjoying herself. She was pleased with the new dress she had finished making. It was covered with sapphire gems and it looked like a dress fit for a princess.  She marveled at the sight when Fluttershy opened the door behind her.

“Oh Fluttershy, there you are!” Rarity said in her Mid-Atlantic accent. “You’re just in time to see what I feel is the most majestic dress I’ve ever done! Isn’t it magnificent?”

“Yes, Rarity,” muttered Fluttershy. “That is nice and all, but—”

“But?! What do you mean “but”!? There is absolutely, positively nothing wrong with this masterpiece of a dress! ”

“It’s not the dress, Rarity.”

Fluttershy walked over and explained the events. Afterwards, Rarity grabbed her couch and wept in dramatic fashion.

“This is the worst, possible thing! We must tell the others!”

***

At the park, Rainbow Dash was trying to break her ball bouncing record while Pinkie Pie was keeping score, just so Dash can be 100% sure. Pinkie also made preparations to celebrate the record-breaking event.  As the ball kept bouncing off her, Rarity and Fluttershy had arrived.

Fluttershy spoke to them in her soft tone, “Rainbow Dash! Pinkie Pie! We have a serious problem.”

“Of course we do!” yelled Rainbow Dash. “I have yet to break my ball bouncing record! How many bounces so far, Pinkie Pie?”

“Three hundred and twenty nine and counting!” screeched Pinkie Pie.

Rarity was enraged. “Rainbow Dash! This is something far more serious than some idiotic record!”

“Oh?” snorted Rainbow Dash. “And what would that be?”

“It’s about Twilight. She—”

“Is this about that Daring Do book? I said that I would give it to her when I’m done with it!”

“It’s far worse, darling! Have you heard of the plane crash?”

“Yeah! Some doofus flew it into a storm! Why?”

“Well, the pilot is badly hurt…and Twilight is watching him just now. She’s depressed and blames herself for it.”

As soon as Rarity was finished, the ball suddenly dropped to the ground. Rainbow Dash no longer felt like breaking the record. Pinkie Pie’s hair had deflated and dropped into straight hair.

“We need to get going!” ordered Rainbow Dash. “Twilight needs us!”

They head off to found Applejack.

***

At Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack took a fresh scent off the apple trees. “Ahhhh. Nothing's better than the scent of fresh apples!”

Just then, she saw her friends, minus Twilight, rushing towards her farm at fast speed.

“I wonder why they’re here?” thought Applejack.

“Applejack!” cried Pinkie Pie in her high pitched voice. “Twilight is in super, duper, ginormous trouble!”

“Why? What’s the matter?”

The group explained the situation and as they did, Applejack’s face grew more and more shocked.

“Sweet Celestia!” feared Applejack. “Big Mac! You watch the farm. I’ll be at the hospital. Twilight needs me!”

***

In the room, Twilight was heavily down. She couldn’t help, but cry at the pilot’s comatose body.

“I let you down,” she whimpered. “This is my fault. My fault!”

As she cried, she didn’t notice the ponies that all stood in the hallway.

“Twilight!” they said in unison.

Twilight jumped and she got into a panic attack. She wasn’t expecting any of her friends to show up, let alone all of them. “Why are you all here? This is my problem! Get away from me!”

“Twilight.” Fluttershy began. “Zecora told me to gather up the rest of the gang and we’re here to help you.”

Twilight’s heart pounded loudly on her chest. She didn’t even think of Zecora. “It’s just…I wanted you all out of this. I allowed this to happen.  Zecora told me all about fate and now, I believe I know my fate. This pilot will die because I was there. I…I didn’t want you all to become depressed because of me. That’s why I didn’t tell.”

“Twilight,” Rarity continued. “I understand how much this hurts you, but you shouldn’t feel responsible for this. You didn’t cause this accident. Nopony ever did.”

“And you shouldn’t hide your problem either!” resumed Rainbow Dash. “Hiding it will only make it worse!”

“Nopony wants to see you suffer,” replied Pinkie Pie. “If you do, we suffer as well. We want you to talk to us if you have a serious problem.”

“And don’t forget, we’re here for you.” expressed Applejack. “We support you and you support us. We will help you cope with this problem in any way we can. We’ll watch him for you when you ain’t there. What do you think?”

Twilight, conflicted in her emotions, rushed over to her friends and hugged them. Tears formed around her eyes.

Tears of happiness.

***

Days passed. Weeks passed. Months passed.

Now, three months has passed since the crash. Twilight and her friends, including Zecora and Spike, have been trying their best to cope with the situation. They all visited the hospital to watch the pilot. Despite the fact that his skull, ribs and lung have been fully healed, there were no signs of the pilot waking up. Twilight was watching over the pilot and she was having second thoughts. She remembered what Applejack had told her the previous night. Applejack was telling her story from when she pulled the plug on her uncle when all hope was lost. Twilight was appalled by the idea and yelled at Applejack for saying something so controversial.  Now, she was looking at the plug that was mounted on the wall.

“Is it really worth it?” thought Twilight. “Is this what fate wants me to do?”

Twilight took a deep breath and prepared herself. She raised a hoof and she slowly moved it towards the plug. She closed her eyes as she readied herself for the inevitable.

“Mother?”

Twilight’s eyes shot open and she looked at the pilot. She could not believe it. The pilot’s eyes were opening. His body slowly moved back to life.

Twilight’s mouth dropped as she hyperventilated. “Oh my Gosh! Oh my Gosh! Oh my Gosh!”

The pilot slowly moved his eyes towards Twilight, who was shaking from sheer excitement.

“Who…who are you?” struggled the pilot.

“My name’s Twilight Sparkle. Zecora and I saved you from that horrible plane crash.”

The pilot was confused. “Plane crash?”

“Yes. Your plane had crashed.  You’re safe now. What’s your name?”

The pilot began to open his mouth, but no words came out. His eyes started to fill with pure anxiety and he began to pant heavily.

“What’s wrong?” asked Twilight.

The pilot spoke at last. “I…I don’t know my name!”