MLPFiM Original characters created by Lauren Faust & Studio B. MLPFiM © Hasbro
This fan work is in no way designed to infringe upon the rights of Hasbro and Studio B. It is, completely and utterly, a fan-based concept and intended for free distribution for the promotion of My Little Pony.
~o~O~o~
METANOIA
Arc 1 - Perturbation
Part 3
~o~O~o~
"—never thought about it all that much... not nearly as much as I should have. I... I should have thought about it then... I thought about it a lot in between, but after that... I didn't think I had to anymore. I'm sorry I wasn't there when... you know. I should have been there. You shouldn't have had to go through all that alone..."
"..."
"Y'know... I went back to your house afterwards... you weren't there anymore... I had to hear it from some jerk at the weather factory what happened."
"..."
"I... I didn't mean it like that... sorry. But... I don't think you ever told me either... you'd just change the subject or I'd get distracted or you'd distract me... makes me wish I had a bit more focus, y'know?"
"..."
"Yeah... of course, you'd know... I think you knew me better than I knew myself back then... you knew how to work me too... maybe I should be mad, but I can't be mad at you... I don't think anypony could... I mean... how could they?"
"..."
"Think you freaked me out a little at the gala, y'know? Don't think I ever expected to see that... or you with a stallion's voice... or staring down a dragon... past year's been weird, hunh?"
"..."
"Twilight said I should keep talking like this... but I'm running out of things to say. I'm not good at this stuff. I... I just want you to wake up..."
"..."
"Please... just wake up..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"I'm sorry to interrupt, but visiting hours are almost over."
"Can I stay, please?"
"I'm sorry, hospital policy."
"I'm sure it wouldn't violate the policy if we have a moment to say good night, will it?"
"..."
"..."
"No, ma'am... that'll be just fine."
"..."
"Thanks, Rarity..."
"Go say good night, dear."
"..."
"..."
"Good night, Fluttershy... see you in the morning..."
"..."
"..."
"Ready to go?"
"Yes, nurse, we're ready."
"Right this way."
"..."
"I know you can hear me... we will find you a way. I promise you that. I will pay my debt to you."
~o~O~o~
"Sometimes, after a big ol' storm like the one we had last night... yeh gotta get out there in the forest and track them critters down," her grandma dictated, the yellow pegasus trotting close behind her.
The pegasus kept the old earth pony in front of her as much as possible, her head bowed as her mind formed threats from every shadow to be found amongst the trees. With a quiet meep, she shrunk down, slowing to a crawl as thunder rumbled somewhere in the distance.
The weathered mare simply smiled as she looked over her shoulder at the shaking pegasus, "Can't be gettin' scared o' yer own shadow there, Flutters."
"I'm not scared of my own shadow, Grammy," she bristled as much as possible even as she crouched lower to the ground, wings half-unfurled as her body prepped itself to flee, by air or by ground, "I'm just scared of what's out there."
"T'ain't nothin' tah be afeared of here, Flutters, this ain't Everfree proper anyhow," Grammy articulated, stopping to nudge the pegasus onto her hooves, wearing a knowing grin, "'Sides, you can always fly away... yer ol' granny's gonna be the one runnin' fer her poor ol' life."
"Oh... I'm sorry..." Fluttershy shrank down again, avoiding the earth pony's gaze.
"Cripes, Flutters, I'm jus' joshin' yah," Grammy muttered, putting a hoof to her head before motioning the pegasus to her hooves once more, "Yeh really do have yer daddy in yah... he couldn' ever take a joke neither," Grammy recollected with a mischievous grin.
"Really?"
"Darn straight, did my best with that boy... turned out mostly alright I think..."
"But... why did he—"
"Fluttershy."
"Yes?"
"What'd I tell you 'bout that question?"
"Not to ask it?"
"Not quite... but honestly, Flutters... Ah jus' can't answer it. Ain't nopony able tah answer for another like that." Fluttershy's face fell as she leaned heavily against her grandmother, pressing her head beneath the elder pony's chin.
"But I just don't understand it... we were doing alright... weren't we?"
"Were you?"
"I think so..."
"Fluttershy?" The pegasus glanced up into the soft eyes of her grandmother. "Now, I want yah ta be honest. If not with me, then with yourself."
"No... we weren't..." Fluttershy replied, staring down at the damp path below.
"Flutters... I can't pretend to understand it," Grammy stated, lifting the yellow pegasi's chin so that she could look at her eye to eye, "But I can tell you that yer daddy loves you and thought this was for the best."
"Maybe..."
"Ain't no maybe, young'un. We gonna git a smile on that pretty little face or my name ain't Grammy."
"But it's not—"
"Hush, darlin', we gotta get back to the work at hoof... what're we out here for again?"
"Searching for injured animals?"
"Good to know you were listenin'," the old earth pony said as she tousled the young mare's mane, "Now, how 'bout you get to checkin' the brush on that side. They like ta hide when they get scared. Now, you've got to be gentle with 'em an'... aw, heck, look who I'm talkin' to."
"Okay, Grammy."
"There's a girl," the old mare chuckled, nudging the pegasus on her way.
With a small smile, Fluttershy trotted over to the side of the path to root around the brush, her grandmother doing the same on the opposite side. She'd had a difficult time believing her grandmother. Sure, Fluttershy felt comfortable with the old mare, she knew her to be sincere and genuine, but still she didn't want to believe anything at the moment. She wanted to be confused. It was a confusing situation. She had the right to not understand.
She felt her hoof strike something soft before she felt a sudden pressure on her hoof. Drawing it out she let out a sudden gasp as she found a tiny little bunny dangling from her hoof by its teeth.
"Oh!" Instinctively, she shook her hoof rapidly in trying to dislodge the rabbit, the bunny flying off the hoof and crashing to the ground some feet away with a loud squeak, "Oh, no! Oh, I'm so sorry!"
"Fluttershy, what're y'doin'?"
"It bit me and I threw it and... oh, no, are you okay, little bunny?" Fluttershy asked as she felt herself beginning to hyperventilate as she drew closer to the now stunned rabbit.
As soon as she was within a foot of the little bunny, the rabbit leapt to its paws, jabbing its paws threateningly at the shaking pegasus. It growled and hissed angrily as it hopped from foot to foot, daring the pegasus to come closer.
"Don't be scared, little bunny, everything will be okay," Fluttershy cooed as she made herself as small and non-threatening as she could. Slowly, she crept towards the rabbit, extending a hoof in a gesture friendship.
A hoof the rabbit immediately beat away with a powerful jab of his leg before bopping the pegasus on the nose with a forepaw.
"Ow!" she cried out as she recoiled from the feisty little lagomorph, her nose as well as her pride stinging from the blow, "That wasn't very nice."
"They ain't always," came her grandma's voice from behind, a suppressed chuckle underlying the sage knowledge.
"You shouldn't be mean, little bunny."
The rabbit simply stuck out its tongue and blew a raspberry at the pegasus before it resumed its fighting stance.
"Come here, little guy," Fluttershy cooed, once again reaching for the bunny which hopped back a step as it continued to bounce up and down before her.
"Gotta be tough, Flutters."
"Come here now?" Fluttershy could hear the sound of hoof meeting forehead behind her.
The rabbit simply took advantage of the pegasi's confusion to jab at her once again with his leg, connecting solidly with Fluttershy's cheek.
"Hey!" the frustrated pegasus cried out as something in her just... snapped, "That wasn't very nice."
The rabbit began to stick his tongue out again at the pegasus, but quite suddenly found itself frozen in place, vision filled by a pair of glaring blue eyes as its tongue lolled limply out of its mouth.
"You shouldn't be mean to other creatures. It's not nice," the pegasus stated in an oddly motherly voice as she glared down at the now petrified rabbit, "You especially shouldn't be mean to creatures that are just trying to help you. Now what do you have to say for yourself?"
The rabbit fell back stunned, laying on the ground for a moment, even after the pegasus took a step back, holding her glare steady. Slowly he rose to his paws, squeaking out a stuttered apology.
"Good. Now you should run on home now... um... if that's okay with you..." the yellow pegasus muttered as her normally meek demeanor reasserted itself, her cheeks flaring a brilliant red, "Go on, bunny."
The rabbit didn't move, a blank look on his face as he stared up at the pegasus, scratching at his head idly.
"Shewt, Flutters, dun know where you got that stare from, but dang it if it ain't useful," Grammy said, clopping her hooves together in a slow, quiet applause.
"Stare... oh, um... I'm sorry... I don't really control it... it just kind of happens sometimes... when I get, um... mad," Fluttershy excused herself, shrinking down in embarrassment as the old mare trotted up beside her.
"Sorry nothing, Flutters, that was a bit of the ol' remarkable. I can see why this is yer talent, you've got a gift for 'em... even the little, ornery varmints," the old mare stated, the bunny sticking its tongue out at her before cowering beneath the pegasi's shifted gaze, "You best be gettin' along there, little bunny."
"Your family is probably worried about you..."
The bunny didn't move. It just stared up at her with the same unreadable expression.
"Don't you remember where your home is?"
The rabbit's look didn't waver even a bit as the pegasus stared into his eyes.
"You don't have a home... do you?" The rabbit nodded quietly before hopping directly up to the crouching pegasus, giving a gentle pat on her nose in apology before nuzzling himself against her hooves.
"It happens, Fluttershy. Nature's got its nasty habits... storms ain't any different."
"But we can't leave him here, can we?"
"Well, he dun look injured an' normally I only take in the injured," Grammy scratched at her chin thoughtfully before turning to the rabbit, "He gonna have to pull his weight if we bring him back. I don't give free rides, rabbit."
The rabbit gave a sharp salute, standing tall as the old mare scrutinized him, feet locked together in a position that seemed quite unnatural for lagomorphic anatomy.
"He'll need a name too. What do you think, Fluttershy?"
The yellow pegasus examined the rabbit a moment. A soft beam of light shone down on the bunny through the storm ravaged canopy of the forest. His white fur shone rather brightly amidst the dull brown of the forest, his presence in it seeming almost celestial when the light caught him just so.
"How about... how about Angel?"
~o~O~o~
Eyes slipping open slowly, Fluttershy awoke to her head throbbing mercilessly as the harsh sun poured in through the window. Immediately, she closed her eyes as tightly as she could, fumbling for a pillow to cover her head as she waited for the pain to cease. Her hoof found blanket and she immediately buried her head in its comforting darkness.
Ugh... what did I do last night?
Did I drink something?
Do I normally drink?
Confused thoughts roamed her psyche as she quietly willed herself back to sleep where her aching head might be mitigated. Sleep was not forthcoming, however, and, reluctantly, she rolled off of the couch and onto her hooves, keeping the blanket draped over her head. Opening her eyes naught but a sliver, she began to trudge towards the door only to stumble to the ground.
Sighing, she lifted the blanket off her head to find her hind hoof tangled in a basket filled with blankets.
She must have left it out last night for... some reason and forgotten about it when she fell asleep on the couch.
With a groan, she stood back up, grasping the basket in her mouth as she made her way to the kitchen for some breakfast, eyes closed as she felt her way around.
Maybe I'll go see Twilight today... maybe she'll have something for this headache... a spell, a potion, something.
Maybe some company would do me some good.
~o~O~o~
"Twilight?" Fluttershy called out softly as she trotted nervously into the Ponyville Library. The streets of Ponyville had been completely deserted, the loneliness of the town putting the pegasus on edge. The state of the library itself didn't help matters.
It seemed that some sort of localized tornado had torn through the shelves. Most of the books had been stacked in disorderly piles around the main floor with further stacks and piles trailing up the bookcase, loose paper and other debris scattered across the floor in between.
"Fluttershy?" came a familiar voice from the library's hidden-away kitchen. A little dragon jogging into the foyer.
"Oh, hello, Spike... is Twilight in?"
"Well... yes... but it's not real pretty up there right now," the little dragon said, jabbing a claw towards the ceiling before glancing around, "I guess it isn't real pretty down here either, is it?"
"It is a tad... um, messy... is something wrong?"
"Twilight's a little uh... stressed... keeps talking about going back to the beginning and stuff like that," Spike answered with a soft sigh, his shoulders sagging as his sigh turned into a yawn, "Been keeping me up with harmony this and that. Can't follow a word of it to be honest."
"Can I see her?"
"Knock yourself out," the little dragon said dismissively as he stared at the mess of the main floor, "I've got my claws full down here."
"Thank you, Spike," Fluttershy whispered, giving the little dragon a little nuzzle before carefully making her way up the cluttered stairway.
"Just be careful, Fluttershy... she might be a bit... off," Spike called after her before the pegasus disappeared into the second floor.
The second floor looked to be in an even more chaotic state than the ground floor was.
Several desks were stacked with papers, quills, jars of ink, scribbles, veritable skyscrapers of books and equipment the pegasus wouldn't have thought out of place in a Canterlot or Manehatten laboratory. Between the desks were even larger stacks of books, these having been arranged into haphazard rows. She couldn't even see the other side of the room for the forest of books before her.
Fluttershy could hardly even comprehend the amount of books.
I didn't think the library even has enough shelves for this many books?
Does Ponyville even need so many?
Somewhere, within all the stacks and piles Fluttershy could hear somepony muttering to herself. It wasn't an unfamiliar sound to the pegasus, having arrived in the library to find the purple unicorn deep in her studies many times before, but the rate of her friend's speech and her tone were worrisome.
"Twilight?" Fluttershy had been around the unicorn enough while studying to know when she was deep in her readings. This somehow seemed to be beyond that, more akin to the unicorn's anxiety at the princess's visit. "Twilight, are you um... busy?"
"Oh! Fluttershy? Good, you're here! Finally," came the unicorn's voice from somewhere across the room, sounding as if she were calling up from a well. Fluttershy could hear a scramble of hooves and the shifting of papers echoing off the walls.
"You were expecting me?"
"Well, where else would you go?" the voice was closer now as Fluttershy wandered carefully through the stacks as they precariously leaned and swayed above her, "Well, maybe SugarCube Corner, but really, where else?"
"What do you mean?" Fluttershy cocked an eyebrow as she glanced through the stacks, trying to home in on the unicorn's voice.
"Not important. You're here. That's good. We can fix everything now," Twilight rambled on, appearing around a corner, nearly bumping into the pegasus.
"Twilight, what happened to you?" The unicorn's mane was a ragged mess, her teeth grinding subconsciously, her breaths coming in ragged, frustrated gasps as she stalked towards the pegasus.
"Oh, nothing. Just been busy. Oh so busy. Busy, busy, busy," the unicorn muttered as she stood, her eyes seemingly unable to look straight ahead, darting about the room, "But that's not important. Like I said... we can fix this now."
"What do you mean?"
"Everything's going away. Can't you feel it. This place isn't stable," she stated, waving a hoof about demonstrably, nearly knocking over a nearby stack, "Too much doesn't make sense, too much is missing. We have to fix it. We have to fix it now."
"Stable? Fix... Twilight, are you feeling okay?"
"Never better! Well, that's not true. I've been better. But I'm sane, I know I am. Even if I disappeared last night. It was only for a little while... just a little while... I got better!" the unicorn yelled out suddenly, her breaths coming in heavy pants as she grabbed Fluttershy suddenly with a flare of purple magic, dragging the pegasus through the stacks quickly.
"Twilight, what are you doing?" It was a minor miracle that the stacks of books held their composure as the pegasus was roughly pulled through through the veritable maze of books.
"We've got to get moving. No time to chat!" Fluttershy could feel a familiar panic settling over her as she was dragged forwards, wings flaring in panic as she struggled against the purple aura.
"Twilight, you're not making any sense..." Fluttershy stated as they stopped in front of another desk, more organized than the three by the stairs, only a few papers laid out on its surface in a neat stack.
"You know I'm not crazy right? You feel it too, don't you?" the unicorn demanded, spinning to face the pegasus as the aura faded away, "We're all just barely here... we have to get her back... it's the only thing that makes sense right now."
"Get who back... Rar—" Fluttershy was abruptly cut off by a sudden, piercing pain, her next words forgotten as she rubbed at her temples. Every spike of pain reminding herself why she had come to library in the first place. "Get... who back?"
"You see it! You feel it! It's happening. You know it... even if you don't," Twilight mused, her crazed tone fading as it was replaced by a the more normal, collected tone that the pegasus was familiar with.
"W-what does that even mean?" Fluttershy asked between pained gasps of air, having slumped to the floor as she clutched at her head with both her forehoofs, "What are we fixing? How?"
"I-I don't know how to explain it... I just know that she's the key!"
"Who, Twilight?"
"Rainbow Dash."
"She's... gone, Twilight..."
"But we can get her back! We have to get her back... everything started with her... things are ending without her. Ergo, we need to get her back. It's the perfect plan, Fluttershy!" The unicorn clopped her hooves together excitedly as she dragged various books onto the table with her magic, the harsh glow of her horn filling the dark stacks of books with purple light.
"No it isn't... that's insane. She's... she's dead, Twilight... I don't want to admit it, but she's dead, she's gone and we just have to... we just have to deal with it."
"No!" the unicorn shouted angrily.
"Twili—"
"No. I will not go gentle into that good night, I will not. I will go down fighting. It won't get us," Twilight mumbled before turning her eyes upward, eyes narrowing as she screamed at the ceiling, "You hear that, whatever you are?"
"Who are you talking to?"
"I don't know... doesn't matter," the unicorn muttered darkly, a sudden air of defeat settling around her before she raised her head, the tiniest gleam of determination shining in her eyes, "Just wait here, I'm going to get some things."
"And then what?"
"Then we're going to go get our Rainbow back."
"Twilight?" Fluttershy called out worriedly as the unicorn disappeared back into the maze of books, the sound of hoofsteps fading away moments later until the pegasus was alone.
"I won't be more than a few minutes," Twilight replied, voice echoing strangely in the cramped library.
"Oh, Twilight..."
The library fell silent for a moment, the musty air seeming to encompass the pegasus as she slumped fully to the ground. Somewhere in the distance a clock ticked quietly, echoing throughout the room as Fluttershy's ears twisted about, listening for any sign of her friend.
Perhaps she went downstairs. That could explain the crushing silence of the room. At the very least, the pain in her head had faded, her thoughts coming unimpinged as she rested her head on her hooves.
Why isn't anypony else here...
Twilight seemed to be losing her mind... maybe she already had.
Fluttershy wouldn't have pegged the purple unicorn as being the one to snap in a situation like this. She always seemed to be the logical, calm one. Maybe the... whatever it had been, had shaken her confidence. Maybe Twilight had needed somepony to help her through everything... maybe...
Oh, Twilight... I'm sorry. I should have been there for you the way...
Another headache cropped up as Fluttershy struggled to finish her thought.
She tried to remember her grandmother... the first funeral the pegasus had ever been to.
She remembered the empty, hollow words from ponies she had hardly known, ponies she wasn't she had even sure had known her grandmother in the slightest.
But somepony had been different.
Somepony that had been sincere... somepony had been honest.
Fluttershy's stomach twisted into knots as she rubbed a hoof in circles on her temple, the coolness of the nail soothing her aching head.
Why can't I remember?
She though back to her second funeral.
It had been overcast, the softened light of the sun setting a somber mood for the proceedings as five ponies stood beside a sealed wooden casket. She remembered the coolness of the day. She remembered leaving the funeral, watching it continue without her from a nearby hill.
Then... she couldn't remember anything else.
Pinkie was there... Twilight was there...
The pain returned full force as she tried to sort through the confused images of the memory... an earth pony, a pegasus, a unicorn and...
Had there been five ponies?
Maybe it had just been the three of them...
I don't like this, she thought quietly to herself, burying her head in her hooves, trying to block out the world.
Thinking about things was getting her nowhere... all it seemed to be getting her was a headache. With a soft sigh, she closed her eyes, concentrating on the ticking of a distant clock.
I just want to go home...
~o~O~o~
The room was dimly lit, a single lantern hanging above an occluded window providing the sole source of light. A young pegasus mare clutched a spoon in her mouth, running it clockwise around a pot, steam rising in ghostly wisps from it as the magically derived flames crackled softly beneath.
The kitchen was simple, barely large enough to house a small refrigerator and a single-burner stove with a sink between them, but she made due with it. It served their needs well enough. She couldn't ask for more.
"It's ammost eady," she called out around the spoon in her mouth, glancing over her shoulder at the darkened living room, the soft flicker of their second lantern casting the room in a soft glow, the last rays of the sun filtering in through the front of the apartment. She could make out the form of a pony sprawled on the small couch that dominated the living space, the pony remaining silent, stirring only slightly at her update.
With a soft sigh, the pegasus returned to her stirring, allowing herself a small smile at the scent of boiled carrot and celery wafting from the pot. It was his favorite... it always cheered him up before... even when it had been one of the bad days.
Carefully, the mare slipped the spoon from the pot and into the sink, slipping it through the space between the sink lip and the cutting board that served as a makeshift countertop. With a hoof, she prized open the stubborn sink cupboard, grasping a pair of bowls in her mouth before setting them down on the cutting board. Grabbing a potholder with her mouth, she lifted and tipped the pot carefully over the bowls, doling out the soup into two equal portions before setting the pot back down on the stove and clicking off the flame with a hoof.
"Soup's done," she called softly into the living room, eliciting a quiet grunt from the lump of a pony on the couch.
The pegasus mare gripped the cutting board in her mouth, cautiously balancing the bowls as she walked slowly into the living room, wary of the still packed boxes that littered the outside walls of the apartment. Skirting her way around the maze of boxes she now knew by heart, the mare made her way to the front of the couch, a small coffee table the only other piece of furniture downstairs, the lantern's light revealing the piles of mail and newspapers that littered it. The mare gave a pained grunt as she balanced on three legs, using a hind hoof to clear one corner of the table before setting down the cutting board. She'd have to straighten up later.
"Daddy?" she whispered softly as she turned to face the motionless heap on the couch, his breathing soft and shallow. He'd fallen asleep.
She hardly had the heart to wake him.
She knew that he was working hard, that he was tired, but he still needed to eat.
The months since had begun to show... the skin on his underside running taut over painfully obvious bone.
"Daddy, it's time to wake up," she intoned, shaking the older pegasus with a gentle hoof, a pair of blood-shot eyes flickering open slowly, glowing dully in the lantern's light as the mare smiled down at him.
"Oh... hey, Fluttershy. I'm sorry, I must have fallen asleep," the male stated sleepily, rubbing at his eyes with a hoof as he swung his body into a proper sitting position, a few pops issuing from his body as he stretched.
"It's okay, Daddy. I know you're tired," Fluttershy said with a soft smile as she pressed herself beneath his chin, giving him a long nuzzle, drawing a tiny chuckle from the older pegasus.
"Not too tired, Shy-Shy," he replied, looping a forehoof around the yellow mare's shoulder, drawing her close, "Not ever for you."
"I know, Daddy," she murmured before slipping from his sidelong hug to push the table towards the couch.
"Oh! You made dinner," the bleary eyed pegasus realized, nostrils flaring as he took in the scent of the freshly prepared soup, "It smells wonderful."
"Thank you." Fluttershy blushed lightly at the compliment as she walked up onto the couch. With a soft grin, she nudged her father gently. "Go on. You must be starving by now."
"Oh... I am... I just want to enjoy the smell of my daughter's cooking for a moment," he stated, extending a wing over the smaller pegasus, beaming at her, "Don't let me hold you back though."
"Okay..." the yellow pegasus spoke softly as she gripped the bowl with her lips, the ring of the bowl rubberized as to prevent accidental burnings. She tilted it back slowly, sipping at the still hot broth, the occasional carrot or bit of celery slipping into her maw. As she set down the bowl again she became keenly aware of her father's eyes. Turning her head to the side, she found her father staring at her with a sad little smile on his face.
An all too familiar smile.
"Sorry..." he lowered his gaze with the apology, choosing to stare at the wisps still steaming from his own soup, he lowered his head until it rested atop his hooves just off the edge of the couch. He blew weakly at the still hot soup, watching as the steam danced chaotically before him. "You remind me of her so much..."
Fluttershy stayed silent. She never quite knew where it would be headed. She knew enough
"You're beautiful, Fluttershy... just like your mother..." He looked up at her.
No, not at her. He was looking through her... at somepony else.
That was okay.
"I'm sorry..."
"It's okay... you should eat your soup before it gets cold," Fluttershy replied, nudging the older pegasus towards the soup gently, but he caught her with a hoof, bringing her into a tight hug.
"I'm so sorry, Fluttershy..."
"I... I forgive you, Daddy..."
"I know you do..." he chuckles sadly, looping his neck over hers as he held her tight, a dampness forming on her mane, "She wouldn't want it to be like this right?"
Fluttershy didn't say a word.
She simply stayed silent, staring at the hooves in front of her face as she felt her father's breaths draw in raggedly, his body shaking slightly as he embraced her.
"She wouldn't want it to be like this... right?"
~o~O~o~
Fluttershy opened her eyes slowly, her mind fuzzy as she took in her surroundings.
She was in the library, stacks of books crowding in on her from all sides.
Her head throbbed lightly as she tried to recall why she had come to the library in the first place. She had come to see Twilight about something.
Why did I come here?
"Something about a headache, wasn't it?" a voice chimed in, one the pegasus was certain she hadn't heard before. Looking over her shoulder she found a unicorn stallion sitting in a rather odd position, his back to the wall and rear hooves crossed as he held a book in his forehooves.
"How...?" Fluttershy sputtered, shaking her head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs from her thoughts, "Who are you?"
"They're very realistic."
"What?"
"The books I mean. Very real. Quite good really," the unicorn muttered, turning the book towards Fluttershy and flipping through the pages, "See. Real text."
"Well... it is a library..."
"I don't know what I was expecting... maybe just cardboard or some such. Or mayhap there would only be text so far into the book," he mused, returning the book to a stack and grabbing another with his magic, "Ah! Another one. And it's one I remember as well. Ah... a Mr. Thomas, I do so adore your poetry. Have you read it?"
"Y-yes... I think so..." Fluttershy stammered as the book was thrust into her face, the pages flipping by as she shrank back from it.
"Ah, well that explains that," the unicorn muttered, snapping the book shut before tossing the book back atop a nearby stack, the stack swaying slightly with the new weight, "Hm... how boring."
"Uh..."
"Oh, not you, my dear. I assure you," the unicorn assured her, giving a respectful nod of his head, "It is rather nice to have some company for a change."
"Company?"
"Quite."
"What do you m—"
"Fluttershy!"
"Twilight?" Fluttershy twisted her head to see that the purple unicorn had returned, a pair of saddlebags filled to bursting draped across her back.
"Who were you talking to?"
"I don't know his na—" Fluttershy began before turning back to find that the stallion had vanished.
But he was just...
"Fluttershy?"
"Didn't you see him?"
"See who?"
Maybe Twilight is the sane one...
"Nevermind, none of that's important. We've got to go back to the beginning of all this, Fluttershy. We've got to fix this," the unicorn stated curtly, levitating one of the saddlebags onto the pegasus, "It's now or never."
"Where?"
"You'll know when we get there, c'mon," Twilight muttered, horn glowing as she pulled the pegasus back through the maze of books and down the stairs towards the door before stopping.
"Twilight? Where are you two going?" Spike asked as he peered down at them from a ladder, a stack of books balanced in his claws.
"Are you ready, Fluttershy? I don't know what happens when we leave here," Twilight asked nervously, a hoof on the door, ignoring the baby dragon's query.
"Um... you go outside, duh," Spike chirped, cocking an eyebrow at the ragged librarian.
"Spike... just shut up," Twilight groaned, staring daggers at the little dragon.
"That wasn't very nice."
"There's no time for nice, Fluttershy," the unicorn pleaded, motioning toward the library door, "We have to go."
"Okay... I guess I'm ready, Twilight..."
"Okay, let's g—"
She didn't get to finish as the door slammed inwards, admitting a blur of pink as Twilight was slammed into a nearby, thankfully empty bookcase.
"Ohmigosh, Fluttershy, I'm so glad I found you! We have to go! Now!" Pinkie yelled out, trotting in place before hoisting the thoroughly confounded pegasus onto her back and taking off down the street, Twilight's cry of frustration following them.
"Piiiiinkiiiieeee!"
~o~O~o~
Last Updated:
October 20th, 2011
