Refusal

Disclaimer: I do not own My Little Pony, nor am I profiting off this literary venture.

----

It wasn't getting better.

He'd been given bottles and bottles of pills, told to come back and talk to doctor after doctor.

He was tired.

It had been weeks and he was still exhausted.

Magic had never done that to him before. It had made him tired, sure, left him feeling worn out of course.

But that had faded off after a few hours at most.

It hadn't left him hurting before, at least not on the inside. A slight pinch when the scales came out at most before he got used to it.

Not... Not feeling like something had taken a handful of something underneath his skin and twisted it, made it burn and throb to his heartbeat.

School had been iffy for a little while.

His grades had certainly dropped.

And Twilight was worrying herself sick when she wasn't mumbling about adjusting this or that to pick up better on something or other.

She'd explained her project to him, he just... Hadn't had an easy time focusing.

Today was going to be difficult enough. Even if he managed it without another episode.

----

He placed one hand on the glass door and pushed.

Sugarcube corner was a new place for him, at least here it was. It certainly looked different.

For one thing, it was actually on a corner. And it didn't look like cake.

Still, it had its own kind of charm.

Especially the interior.

Booths, tables, stools and even a few couches against the walls. It was a lot more eclectic than the Sugarcube Corner in Equestria. It was comfortable, even kind of homey.

"-The princess of Friendship!" Spike, the dog, the dog from Equestria, was standing on Fluttershy's lap.

And being loud.

Hadn't he known better?

No, no probably not. He hadn't picked up on trying that until he'd had a mental breakdown outside Carousel Boutique.

When Rarity hadn't recognized him.

Lovely.

"You might want to tone it down a bit." He said as he walked up to them.

Spike jumped and barked, trying his best to look like a normal, non-talking dog.

"Nah, come on, I'm kidding." He rubbed the top of the dogs head before flopping down on a nearby chair. His eye drifted lazily over the nearby menu before he blinked and brought it back into focus.

"Thorn." Sunset Shimmer was looking at him oddly, almost like she was seeing a ghost. "We weren't sure what happened to you."

"Pardner, ya ain't lookin' too hot." Applejack was staring too, but she didn't have a stricken look on her face.

He flinched when Pinkie Pie put her hand in his face, her palm on his forehead.

"Gosh, you feel like the side of a stove!" Even Pinkie Pie looked worried!

He couldn't look that bad, could he?

"I'm fine, alright? I-" His left hand gripped the armrest of the chair he sat in, his knuckles turning white as his hand shook. He pitched forward slightly before he got his reflexes under control and leaned back, breathing heavily. "I saw a couple of old problems in town recently and thought I should find you. Well, Sunset Shimmer."

He leaned back, his grip relaxing and the coiled muscles slackening in his abdomen. Holding down a coughing fit always left him feeling miserable.

"Wait, me?" The girl in question pointed to herself. "Why me?"

"Figured you'd best know about Starswirl's old accomplishments. You figured out his notes, right?" Sunset nodded as Twilight turned starry eyes on her. "You probably read about the Sirens then, yeah?"

"I... No, I don't think so." Sunset shook her head, a distant look in her eyes as she tried to remember musty old tomes. "A recipe for eggs, a five page ballad on Celestia's... nevermind and uh, some notes about the mirror and how big a pain it was chaining the spells in it together."

A personal journal then, and probably an early one.

"That's alright." Spike stood stiffly. "All I really know is that it's Sirens. Never thought it was a good idea to seek them out myself. Dark magic and all."

A really, really bad idea. He'd rather be here for a decade than ask them for help.

"Hey, Sunset?" He knew that this wouldn't matter much.

"Yeah Thorn?"

"I'm sorry you had to see that. I don't like doing that, fighting. I suppose you're probably going to think I'm just another of the monsters Starswirl banished here." He didn't want to stick around for this. He just didn't have the stomach for it at the moment.

"Thorn." He glanced over at Sunset when she said his name. "Thanks... Thanks for trying."

"No problem." He shuffled past her, stopping for just a moment next to the 'Princess of Friendship'. "Twilight, I'm sorry."

He didn't stop to listen, not when Sunset called for him.

He was just so tired, his bed was calling for him.

He almost missed it when Twilight asked the group something.

"Who was that?" Almost made him pause.

Almost.

----

A figure in a purple hoodie stood up after the group, the 'Rainbooms' settled back down. She closed her journal and gathered her things, leaving unnoticed.

----

"Who was that?" Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her ears. "We've been trying to figure that out since he fought Sunset Shimmer here to a standstill!"

"Indeed dear, while certainly no Knight in Shining Armor he put on quite the display!" A mysterious figure, confident and powerful? Rarity had said several times that he had been 'Practically Storybook!'.

"Wait, fought Sunset and made a display? Do you mean before the whole crown incident?" Twilight didn't want to remind them of... That. But they weren't making sense!

"Twilight, are you serious?" Sunset Shimmer put her shake down on the table, looking into Twilight's eyes.

Confusion. Sincerity.

She had no idea.

"Twilight, Thorn was the one who stood up against me when I corrupted the element of magic." Sunset looked down, she didn't want to remember this. "He fought me while you and the rest of the girls were getting your bearing together. He tanked the fireball I threw at you!"

"But..." Twilight hesitated. "But that's not what happened!"

Author's Notes:

Posting this late.
Writing this late.
The day was supposed to be fun, was for the most part.
Learned about some serious, serious drama in my girlfriends best friends life.
Stuff that should involve the authorities.
Can't say much else. Unlike 'Identity Crisis' it's not my story.