Sunset woke with a start, sweat pouring down her face as she checked her body. Once again, she had transformed into her unicorn form, confirming the fact that the spell had worked. She didn’t have much hope in her plan, especially since she was the only one left standing. Thankfully, nothing terrible had happened to them.

They had been transported back to the Golden Oak Library and judging by the position of the sun, it was still daytime. Sunset stood up, ready to go look for the other three, when she suddenly keeled over in pain. She forced back a scream as her entire body screamed in pain. Her muscles had tightened and were burning as if she was roasted on top of a burning pyre, and her bones could have broken with even the lightest slap. Even her brain felt like mush just swimming around in her skull.

It looks like her attempt at sending them back didn’t come without a few consequences.

Forcing back her screams, Sunset pushed herself up off the ground. She didn’t care about the pain she had to go through; she had to make sure that her friends didn’t face the same fate that she did. Only when she finally managed to stand up did she start to hear sobbing coming from behind her.

“Hello?” she called out before clutching her head in pain “Urgh, are- are you okay?”

There was no reply. The sobbing started to get louder, in fact.

The voice sounded distinctively female, so that ruled one pony out. She didn’t peg Quickfix as the type to only sob; she would have made a spectacle out of it. So that only left Redheart, and Sunset could understand why.

Slowly, carefully, Sunset turned around to face the owner of the voice. By the time she managed to fully face the other way, her muscles had already buckled making her fall down with a loud yelp. The sobbing stopped for a moment and Sunset looked towards the pony who made the noise. There, huddled up right next to the bed, was a pale white pony. Her light pink mane was tied up into a bun, and her tail hung down lifelessly. Redheart was facing Sunset, a million questions filling her mind as she tried to make heads or tails of the situation.

“S-Sunset?” she asked, wiping away her tears “Is that you?”

“Yeah, it’s *URGH* - it’s me…” Sunset groaned, fruitlessly trying to get herself back up “You okay, Redheart?”

“I…” Redheart raised a hoof to her face, fear clearly etched onto it “I don’t know,” she finally answered “What happened, Sunset? Why am I a horse?! Where are we?!

The mare started hyperventilating as tears started to well up once again. Oh, how Sunset wished that she could comfort her right now, but in her current state she was in need of immediate medical attention. Maybe inviting Redheart along was a terrible idea after all.

“C-Calm down, Redheart, please,” Sunset said weakly “When I played my song, I opened up a portal to try and send us to Equestria – my old world. It worked, and now you’re a pony. There’s nothing wrong with it, okay? It’s… It’s fine!”

Redheart’s panicking died down a bit and she wiped away some of her tears. She had heard that Sunset’s world was one dominated by ponies, and that she and Twilight Sparkle were ponies as well. She started inhaling deeply, calming herself down from the fear and regret. At least she had friends to help her get her bearings while she’s here. Who knows what would have happened if she came here alone?

“We’re… we’re safe for now,” Sunset had finally given up and slumped down, rolling over to lay on her side “As long as Morpheus doesn’t know we’re here, then we’ll be safe…”

“You seem hurt, Sunset. Hold on, I’ll- Aah!”

Forgetting about her current predicament, Redheart tried to stand up on her hind legs only to fall onto her flank. She then tried to stand on all fours, but found that finding her centre of balance was much harder than it looked. Not being one to give up so easily, Redheart tried to stand back up, only for her to once again fall over. Sunset, feeling apologetic for her plight, mustered up all of her mental strength to levitate the mare towards her.

“I was like that too, you know,” she sighed, remembering when she had first come to the human world “It took me a while before I could actually walk right.”

“Oh yes, you did come to our world alone, didn’t you?” Redheart placed a hoof on Sunset, a worried glance passing through her face “Oh my, this seems rather…” she looked at Sunset “… Why don’t you tell me how you were like back when you first came to the human world?”

“It’s not really something I’d like to remember, really,” she winced as Redheart accidentally pushed too hard on her side “You know how I was like during that time, right?”

Redheart nodded, thinking back to the days where Sunset had been the school tyrant. Students came to the nurse’s office almost every day, each time with varying degrees of bruises and injuries. If she had been in the same shoes as Sunset, no doubt Redheart would have suppressed those memories as well. However, she knew that Sunset was trying her best to amend her old ways.

Already finished with her initial check-up of Sunset’s body, Redheart reached out for the medical kit which she usually brings around, only to notice that it wasn’t beside her. She clicked her tongue in annoyance, wondering just how she was going to try and heal her without it. Even then, could her hooves even hold things? Was she going to have to use her mouth now?

Just as she was about to attempt to get up once again so she could look for a new medical kit, Shade suddenly appeared right next to them. She jumped back in shock, surprised to see the boy in his stallion form. He was beaten and bloody, although she didn’t remember him taking that much damage in the previous battle. That was when she noticed the bookshelf toppled over near the staircase and the stream of blood behind him.

“Shade, are-”

“Am I okay? I don’t know. I mean, a bookshelf just thought it would be funny to fall on top of me, after all. My face is bleeding, I think I broke a few ribs, and I’m pretty sure I should be admitted to a hospital. But other than that, I’m great! Brilliant, even.” he answered quickly “But enough about me, how’s Shimmer?”

Redheart’s face scrunched up, her face glowing red in anger.

“Shade, I don’t think this is the best time for you to be sarcastic. I think-”

“Redheart, please,” Shade cut her off once more “As long as I’m not screaming in agony, then you shouldn’t worry about me. So please, is Shimmer alright?”

Furious that her concerns were pushed aside, Redheart merely harrumphed and faced Sunset. She was slowly starting to lose consciousness from the pain, and Redheart really needed that medical kit. As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Shade had a point, at least until Redheart could get walking on four legs right. She envied how quickly he and Quickfix mastered walking on two legs so quickly.

“The first time I met you, you were losing consciousness,” Redheart retorted “But I guess mental exhaustion is another thing altogether.”

Shade laughed, wiping some of the blood off of his face.

“She’s gravely injured right now, but nothing that could take her life,” she answered curtly

“Must be from the huge amount of magic she had to channel to send us here,” Shade muttered as he shrugged and sat on the ground right next to Sunset “I should know, I’m a unicorn.”

“… Anyway, I don’t know where my medical kit is, so could you please find one for me?”

“Medkit? Sunset keeps them downstairs near the kitchen. I could probably go pick it up on my way down. I needed a glass of water, anyway.”

He stroked Sunset’s mane, his eyes glassy and calm. Moments pass, and Redheart was starting to grow tired of waiting. Although, she couldn’t really fault him. She knows that look very well. After all, she used to do the same thing as well. But right now, time was of the essence.

“Ahem, Shade?”

“Eh?”

“Medkit, remember?”

“Oh!” he suddenly jerked up “I’ll be back in a little bit. You just make yourself comfortable, okay?”

After a mock salute, Shade bolted towards the staircase, only to trip over a step and come crashing down the stairs. Redheart watched on in fear, wondering just how the boy could take that much abuse. She silently wonders if Shade was actually just putting up a brave front. Yet at the same time, she couldn’t quite see him as the kind to do that.

“Shade’s really nice, huh?” said Sunset, bringing Redheart’s attention to her

“Yes, he really is,”

Hopefully, she wasn’t wrong about that.

Shade held his head in place as he tried to stop the world from spinning around. After all this time, he should have known about that step. Really, how did he miss it? Putting aside the question for a later date, Shade quickly headed for the kitchen. He wondered if Sunset had restocked on medical supplies since the last time he came over. Celestia knows he uses them up so fast. Maybe he should have followed Redheart’s suggestion and bring a kit everywhere he goes.

The first thing he did when he reached the room just beyond a doorway was to open up the sink and wash away all the blood dripping from his face. Shade wondered what he looked like in a mirror. No doubt he looked like he had just come back from a warzone right now, what with all the bruises and blood. Maybe it was a good thing that there isn’t a mirror in the kitchen.

Once he was sure that he looked slightly more presentable, Shade opened up the drawer and started sifting through its contents. He finally found the small kit tucked way in the back of the drawer. Opening it, he noticed that they were running out of rubbing alcohol. He should probably get that restocked sometime soon. Maybe when all this is over, he’ll go and ask Pizzelle for some more. She has a nice large stock of them.

“Shade,”

“Hm? OOF!”

A large body suddenly pushed against Shade, knocking him and the contents of the medkit onto the floor. Panicking at the thought of being attacked, Shade tried his best to conjure a teleportation spell, only to be prematurely stopped when the body crushed against him even harder, this time wrapping its hooves around him. In the end, all he could do to try and get the attacker off of him was to scream and flail around in spot.

“Shade…”

“I DON’T WANNA DIE! PLEASE, I HAVE SO MUCH TO LIVE FOR!!”

“Shade…!”

“I’ll tell you anything you want, just please let me go!”

“SHADE!!”

The attacker grabbed Shade’s mane and twisted his head around, forcing him to look behind him. His panic died down when he noticed who it was. Quickfix was lying on top of him, and even Shade could tell that she had just been crying. Knowing his past experience with crying girls, Shade knew that this was not going to end well for him.

“Umm, hi… Quickfix…” he gave her one of his best fake smiles “How’re you doing today?”

Silence.

“Well, can I… help you with anything, I suppose?” he asked once again.

Once again, silence.

Shade was starting to get worried. He knows Quickfix quite well. He did work as her assistant, after all. If one thing he was sure about it was that she was never this quiet. Speaking of which, he doesn’t even remember the last time he’s seen Quickfix of all ponies crying. Even if he was scared of her sometimes, Shade couldn’t just leave her like this.

“Quickfix…” he slowly tried to push her hooves away, but Quickfix was adamant about holding him in place. In the end, he sighed and resigned to his fate of being her body pillow “Is… Is this about what happened back there? The whole grenade thing?”

A few more tears dropped from Quickfix’s face and she hugged him closer, making Shade feel a little bit uncomfortable. This wasn’t the Quickfix that he knew, and he was terrified.

“It’s all me fault…” she sobbed, letting her tears stain Shade’s shoulder “Ah was the one that almost killed us all… Ah hurt Shimmer’s friends…”

“To be honest, you kinda did do all that – HURK!”

Quickfix hugged Shade even tighter, almost suffocating him from the lack of oxygen. He responded by trying to push her away, but it was no use. She was a Northerner, after all.

“But it’s not your fault!” he screamed even louder, trying to get the crying unicorn off of him “You were just doing what you thought was best for everyone, right?”

“Ah never hurt innocents before!” she finally let go, allowing Shade to inhale the oxygen he so desperately needed “How can ah be the damn Element of Inspiration if ah’m the one hurtin’ me friends?! What if ah keep hurtin’ innocents, Shade?! That makes me no better than the guys ah’m tryin’ to kill! Ah’m a monster, Shade… Ah’m a monster…”

“No, you’re not…” Shade crawled out from underneath Quickfix and continued to regain his breath “Quickfix, you’re a lot of things. You’re crazy, you’re violent, and you tend to go overboard with your experiments. But if there’s one thing I know you’re not, it’s a monster. You’re more than just a warrior, Quickfix. You’re a protector.”

“But-!”

“And hey, even if you do turn out to be a monster, you still have us! We’re your friends, all. Me, Sunset, Coco, everyone!”

Quickfix fell silent, not knowing how to react to that question. Meanwhile, Shade was quickly levitating the contents of the medical kit back into its box. Once he was sure that he managed to get everything, Shade turned back to look at his employer and friend. He had a lot more to say to her. There was no way that Quickfix was this weak. She was Quickfix Aperture; Bearer of the Element of Inspiration, after all. Weak wasn’t in her dictionary.

Just as Shade was about to open his mouth, Quickfix suddenly slammed her face onto Shade’s own. She stayed there for a moment, forcing Shade into a kiss that he didn’t ask for. When she finally let go of him, her horn glowed and she performed a teleportation spell, leaving nothing but a bright flash where she used to be. Shade blinked, wondering just what happened. He subconsciously moved his hoof to his lips, realising that Quickfix had stolen his first kiss. A flurry of emotions rushed into him; joy, sadness, anger, but most of all confusion.

“Shade!” he heard Redheart calling from above the staircase “I heard screaming, did something happen? Is Quickfix down there?”

“… I’m fine…!” he slowly replied “Quickfix… She went back home to pick up a few things. I’m coming up with the medkit right now. Need anything else from downstairs?”

“I’m good, thank you very much,” Redheart’s voice started to calm down “Come on, Sunset’s fallen asleep. I’ll have to treat both of you right away.”

Shade looked at the medkit once more, and then towards the doorway. He really wanted to go check up on Quickfix, yet he also had to go and give the kit to Redheart so she could patch up Sunset. When he weighed them both, Shade finally agreed that helping Sunset was the right thing to do. Quickfix was a big mare, anyway. She could probably take care of herself.

Probably.

As he trotted upstairs, his mind was still caught up on his one-sided talk with Quickfix. Redheart did not miss this, easily seeing that Shade was far too distracted. Still, she had far too much on her plate to worry about that now. Sunset had fallen asleep, her injuries finally getting the better of her. If anyone walked in right now, they would be crushed by the sheer weight of the silence.

Being used to working in silence, Redheart continued to try and get her hooves to work the way she wanted them to work. They certainly weren’t as useful as hands, but for some reason she could still hold on to things if she concentrated hard enough. As she managed to bandage up Sunset’s body, Redheart allowed her mind to wander.

In the span of one day, so many things had already happened to her. She never would have guessed that she would be facing an omnipotent God that controlled dreams when she woke up this morning, and to be honest, she never wants to do this ever again. She felt a little annoyed seeing that she didn’t have a horn like Sunset and Shade, but seeing as she can’t even walk straight, maybe this was for the best.

Redheart yawned. The silence was starting to get unbearable, and she has been using a lot of energy. Maybe if she just… took a light nap…

Closing her eyes, Redheart barely noticed the mist that started to fill up the room.

Author's Notes:

Something tells me this story COULD be considered a failure, all things considered. But hey, I'm not the kind of person to end something prematurely. I think I should just stick to one-shots next time. At least I won't have to worry about long, drawn out plots with one-shots.