UNDER THE NIGHT SKY

Part 2

Author's Foreword

   I thought it only fair to warn, the story starts getting dark toward the end and into the next chapter, but this isn't a grimdark story, so don't worry about it going too far.

   The flitting of small birds was carried by the warm summer breeze as it flowed over the town of

Ponyville. At Sweet Apple Acres, the typical scent of apples and wood mixed well with the warmth of

the breeze, but less so with the dry metal screech of rust.

   "Consarn it!" Applejack exclaims in frustration, raising a fore-hoof to brush her brow. She

looked more disheveled than usual, strangely already tired for such an early hour and a bit

frazzled, as she unhooked herself from the applecart's harness.

   Striding around to its side, she quickly identifies the problem, "aw heyseeds, the axle's shot.

What foal left it out'n the rain anyway!?". Twilight grimaces with an embarrassed blush as she

observes this, raising a fore-hoof to cover her face, "uh...I think that...was the one I was

pulling yesterday..."

   Applejack furrows her brow at this and steps away from the cart, stomping her hoof down in

frustration, "darn it Twi, y'know how hard these things are t'fix? Ah told y'it had to go in the

barn...", she pulls herself up as she realizes her tone, and the dejected look on Twilight's face.

   "Aw shoot..." Applejack sighs, relaxing back on her haunches, "don' worry 'bout it sugarcube,

these things'll happen". Inwardly she wondered how a pony as fastidious as Twilight could make such

an oversight...but then, she hadn't been quite the same recently.

   Applejack trots over to Twilight and carefully rubs her cheek with her own, "ah'm sorry I yelled

at ye...ah know y'didnt mean to do it". Twilight closes her eyes and gently brushes her cheek into

the earth pony's in kind, her spirits lifted a bit by the gesture, "sorry, AJ. I guess I'm not as

into this yet as I thought..."

   "Well ah dunno 'bout that" Applejack returns warmly, gesturing out to the fields with a hoof,

"y'dun'a pretty sweet job so far, 'specially for a pony not accustomed to this kinda work", she

turns her gaze back aside to Twilight, "an' I ain' about to complain 'bout all yer company lately

neither".

   Twilight blushes faintly at this, moving over to lay her head lightly on Applejack's back,

"getting to spend so much time with you is the only good thing to have come from this", Applejack

smiles at this, then stands up on her hind-legs and pulls Twilight into a proper hug, which the

unicorn promptly latches into firmly. "Y'all doing strange things to mah thinkin'..." the earth

pony whispers softly, securing Twilight against herself, "why'd'it take y'this long...?"

   The ringing of the bell of her boutique's door rouses Rarity from sleep, initially garnering

little more than a yawn, though she momentarily realizes the meaning of the sound and promptly

scrambles out of bed.

   With far less than her typical grace, she levitates her brush and frantically tries to set her

mane, calling out "j-just a moment!". She bites her lip in conflict, torn between the state of her

appearance and the possibility of loosing a sale, but ultimately puts her pride aside and rushes to

the shop floor.

   She takes a moment before arriving to adjust her pace and at least present some dignity as she

trots in, "welcome! How can I hel-..." she trails off at the sight of Trixie before her, and a long

few moments of awkward recognition pass between the two unicorns.

   Clearing her throat, Trixie levitates her old costume out from her saddle-bag and suspends it

before the white unicorn, "Trixie would like to know-..." she pauses, lowering her nose and taking

a deep breath, softening her tone, "I would appreciate it if you could mend some damage to the

garment".

   Rarity almost slips off her fore-hooves onto her face in shock, but quickly regains her

composure and offers an awkward, thoughtful smile, "no problem at all dear. How soon will you need

it?". Trixie crosses a fore-hoof past herself to gesture toward the door, "I will...be leaving the

area for a while, later today. Will a few hours be long enough?".

   The white unicorn turns her keen eye for detail to inspect the damage more closely - it was

largely superficial, but evident the garment had seen jagged branches and mud at some point, and

never been attended since. "That will be just fine" she responds with a thoughtful smile, "I can

have it ready in a couple of hours at most".

   Trixie relinquishes the garment into Rarity's own magical manipulation, momentarily uneasy in

thought, but then presents a weak, polite smile in return, "thank you". And with that, she turns

and leaves, as Rarity makes her way back to the rear area of the boutique.

   Setting the garment down on her work table, she turns her attention away to the long mirror in

the room, observing the sorry state of her mane. "Staying up all hours dancing like a

hooligan...what was I thinking...?" she mutters to herself in self-conscious concern, levitating a

different nearby brush and setting to fixing herself, "how I let that pegasus make me loose

possession of my senses I will never know".

   "Funny, you seemed to be having fun last night" Rainbow Dash retorts with a disgruntled tone

from the nearby window, currently protruding halfway through it, balanced on the windowsill. Rarity

startles slightly in surprise, promptly turning to face the pegasus and raising a fore-hoof to her

chest, "oh but darling I did!".

   It was only now Rarity noticed the carefully picked out bunch of flowers hanging in one of

Dash's hooves, and the hurt look in her eyes. "Honestly Dash...I did have fun" the unicorn insists,

raising her other fore-hoof to her chest "it's just that I stayed up too late for my own good, and

now I look a mess. And I almost missed a customer by oversleeping..."

   It takes a few awkward moments, but Rainbow Dash finally concedes her disgruntled look,

"well...okay...I guess", she climbs the rest of the way in through the window - and seeming to

remember them herself just then - holds out the flowers to the unicorn, "I uh...picked these for

you...".

   Rarity takes the flowers and cradles them in her arms with a warm smile, "oh, Dash. They're

lovely, and they smell divine. Thank you". "Yeah...well..." the pegasus returns awkwardly, rubbing

the back of her neck with a hoof, "they looked and smelled pretty...and that made me think of

you...so..."

   Rarity stifles a giggle at how hard Dash was trying to act romantic, sparing her the

embarrassment by leaning in and placing a soft kiss on her lips, "it's a wonderful thought. Thank

you, dear".

   A soft, enchanting melodic humming wafted from Fluttershy as she delicately hovered above the

ground, gliding from spot to spot with no great urgency picking summer flowers and placing them in

her basket.

   She pauses abruptly in confusion at a rather crudely uprooted section of the ground, potted with

hoofmarks from a reckless and unpolished attempt to pick flowers, though within a moment she seems

to recognize the handiwork and give a small approving smile.

   The yellow pegasus only dwells on this briefly before returning to the activity at hand,

beginning her melodic humming anew with a different tune, though as her collection efforts drew her

about the field she comes across a less inspiring patch of damage. It looked to be the deep end of

a pegasus crash mark at speed, the torn dirt track in the grass still holding onto small tufts of

cobalt fur and a few feathers the friction had pulled out.

   "Oh my..." Fluttershy remarks...quietly, but in concern, her gaze lifting to scan the

surrounding area, "I hope they're okay". She inspects the ground closest to the skid, locating a

trail of hoof-marks leading away from it toward the nearby forest, and sets off following them

slowly.

   The stride and actual size of the hoofprints seemed to get gradually smaller as the trail

continued, and changed from an awkward gait to a labored three-hoof limp as it neared the tree-

line.

   Her concern growing deeper at this, Fluttershy sets down her basket before proceeding into the

forest, continuing to track the prints. The dirt was harder in here, and the light level

drastically lower due to the canopy of the forest itself, making the hoofprints almost

indistinguishable.

   The yellow pegasus furrowed her brow in mild frustration as the trail become all but impossible

to continue following. She wanted to help, but under these conditions, it was unlikely should even

find the injured pegasus.

   A spark of conception flashes through her eyes a moment later, and she promptly flies back

toward to the original impact skid. She picks up once of the pulled-out feathers from it, and

hurriedly continues on back to her cottage, where she taps on the thatched roof of one of the small

animal houses.

   "Come on now, little one" she coaxes gently, but with determined concern, "I need your help". A

small gray fox slinks out of the animal house cautiously in response, turning it's nose to the

feather Fluttershy holds before it, "can you find this pegasus for me?". The fox puzzles over the

scent of the feather for a long moment, then takes off like a liquid shot into the forest, with the

yellow pegasus following close behind.

   Even at the pace the agile fox was setting, it still took a long several minutes of weaving and

bounding through the dense overgrowth before the critter finally stopped. Fluttershy drifted to a

pause above it, surveying the scene quickly, "is it here?". The fox takes a step forward and angles

its body to point its nose indicatively at a tree ahead, the yellow pegasus following the cue to

proceed forward.

   A pegasus smaller than any of her friends, but not as small as any of the fillies she knew, was

in a heavily slumped seating position at the base of the tree. She had a cobalt coat, a white

streaked pastel blue mane, and a cutie mark made of a star set into the opening of a crescent moon,

but it was so faded the colours could barely be made out.

   Fluttershy didn't recognize the little pegasus at all - but she did recognize the sorry state

they were in - scuffed up and bruised, one of her wings and an ear bent at an odd angle, one of her

front legs cradled against her chest protectively.

   The yellow pegasus quickly but carefully glides over to the smaller one, taking to the ground

gently in the process and leaning down to inspect her, giving her a shoulder a gentle nudge,

"hello? can you hear me?". The small pegasus doesn't stir - her chest was still moving, but her

breathing was clearly very weak. "Oh my...this is worse than I thought" Fluttershy exclaims in

concern, scooping the small pegasus up in her arms, "don't worry, I'll take care of you".

   Twilight was out in a field of Sweet Apple Acres under the afternoon summer sun, on a small hill

amongst the trees. The purple mare herself laid on her side, curled partway into a ball, with

Applejack laid behind her, her own body curled to lay her head and a front-leg over the top of

Twilight's torso. A gentle breeze flowed across them as they lay peacefully in the affectionate,

but relatively conservative embrace.

   "Y'sure this is awlright?" Applejack muses nervously in a quiet tone, glancing across at the

purple mare without moving her head. Twilight seems a little dejected by the question, "you don't

like this...?". "A-..ah like this plenty..." the earth pony admits nervously, but turns her eyes

down a little, "jus'...din' think of mahself this way before..."

   Twilight regards the admission with a reassuring smile, "I didn't either, to be honest", she

turns her gaze toward the distant, vague sight of Canterlot, "not only did I think little of the

value of friendship before I came to Ponyville, for the longest time I never had the slightest

thought about the potential for romance..."

   The gears in the purple mare's head visibly tick over after this, but she turns her gaze back to

Applejack, "actually it was you and Dash that made me start thinking about it. After the running of

the leaves, I couldn't help but imagine something was going to happen between the two of you".

   Applejack blushes at this, turning her gaze away again, "ah...ah did have a crush on'her fer a

little while after that..but ah knew it weren' serious". She furrows her brow for a moment in

embarrassment, but seems to swallow her pride, "whenever ah got to thinkin' anythin' of the

sort...you kep' poppin' into mah head".

   Twilight blushes profusely at this and looses some of her considered tact, "m-me!? But you

never...I'm not...", she catches herself up, softening her expression "I didn't...think I was your

type". The purple mare can't help but sigh as she turns her gaze away, "I'm not athletic...I'm not

easy-going...I fuss over the small details...I overthink everything..."

   Applejack reaches her other fore-hoof around from the back and gently covers Twilight's mouth,

looking her in the eye. "Yer honest, y'don' give up easy, y'all go to the ends of Equestria fer a

friend, y'cain leave a problem un-fixed, an' you got more strength on the inside than a whole rodeo

of colts. If you ain' mah type, I don' have one".

   The earth pony releases her hoof from Twilight's mouth, and slides her head over to lay over her

closer to her own, presenting a warm reassuring smile, "ah maybe nervous, but I ain' turnin' back

now".

   Closer-by than either of the two ponies realized, Celestia and Luna stood on adjascent clouds

overlooking the scene, the former wearing a slightly pained look, but a proud smile. Luna raised

her head from observing the scene closely, though she kept looking down at them, "this is what you

meant. I see now..."

   The white alicorn gives a small, sage nod of her head, "powerful as it may be, her heart is

still growing. This was the piece she needed right now". Luna regards this for a moment like a

valuable lesson, but promptly gains a skeptical look over it, "but Tia, you said this was a piece

you could not provide...that is hardly true".

   Celesita takes a faintly solemn look to this, and gives a slow shake of her head, "our

responsibility is to all of Equestria, not any one of its particular inhabitants. Some say the

excess of my time and attention I've already invested in Twilight was improper...anything more

would be simply unacceptable".

   Luna doesn't seem convinced, her tone shifting from skepticism to pointed doubt, "that sounds

more like an excuse, than a reason. Are matters of the heart not meant to be beyond such trivial

limitations?".

   The white alicorn seems almost proud her sister put the question to her, as in part she was that

Luna had begun to learn such lessons; unfortunately, right now it conflicted with her own point,

and she presents a solemn glance aside...but it breaks to make room for a simply saddened one,

"they are...but I will always put what is best for Twilight first".

   Luna thinks over the response for a long few moments with a skeptical stare, then gives a shake

of her head and looks back down at the ponies below, "you're a foal, Tia. I hope she never finds

out, for your sake".

   "I'm afraid that's all that can be done" Nurse Redheart announces as she looks over the small

cobalt pegasus in concern, currently laid up in a hastily prepared spare bed in Fluttershy's

cottage. Her bad wing, bad leg, and parts of her torso had been bandaged, and her bad ear plastered

back to its natural position.

   The nurse pony gives a slow shake of her head, "her injuries are serious, but nothing that wont

heal with time. She is dreadfully exhausted, however, and should be made to stay in bed as long as

possible".

   "Thank you" Fluttershy returns with concern, carefully draping a blanket over the wounded

pegasus, "I wasn't sure what to do myself". Nurse Redheart offers an affirmative nod in turn,

before leaving through the front door.

   The yellow pegasus sat by a few feet from the makeshift sickbed, simply staring at the small

pegasus for several long minutes silently. She couldn't shake the notion she knew her from

somewhere, but was also confident she wasn't a resident of Ponyville. She so rarely left Ponyville,

though, that she couldn't imagine where else she may have met her before.

   Pondering this, Fluttershy takes her attention finally from the wounded pegasus to pull a large,

shallow case out from under the sofa, and fights its old temprimental lock open, flipping the lid

to reveal the trove of photographs, hand-drawn pictures, journals, and preserved flowers inside.

   From the seemingly indecipherable mass, the yellow pegasus produces a simple book, which she

lays on the nearby sofa seat and begins to flip through. It was full of photos from her school

years as a fillie.

   The many pictures from the start had a common feature; Fluttershy had always been a bit bigger

and awkwardly lankier than other pegasi, and she was always distant from any sort of group in the

pictures. As the pictures progressed to later years, a new noteworthy common trait emerged; after a

certain point, every picture featured Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash together, albeit still apart from

any other group.

   As she reaches the end of the book, the very last picture was of her and Rainbow Dash alone - it

seemed to depict them having a home-warming party the day Fluttershy moved into the very cottage she

lived in now.

   Though she wore a warm smile at the memories from the later pictures, Fluttershy regained her

puzzled look as she closed the book and rested her head on one upturned hoof. She had hoped it was

as simple as having gone to school with the smaller pegasus, though even a casual observation of

the apparent age difference between them rather insisted otherwise.

   The yellow pegasus found herself beginning to wonder if the wounded fillie was perhaps just the

child of somepony she had met before, and the familiarity came from that. That is, until she is

struck by a spark of realization - her thoughts over the many ponies she had met in her life

eventually wind down to the most recent days, and she recalls her encounter with the night-time

runner from the other day - who as she thought of it, had almost the exact same features as this

wounded little pegasus, save for having a larger style of wind and being significantly older.

Perhaps this fillie was 'her' child?

   Her train of thought was promptly derailed by a knocking at the door, as well as causing her

head to slip off her hoof in surprise and bounce off the sofa-cushion below with a startled squeal.

Fluttershy quickly picks herself up and heads to the door, opening it while still rubbing her chin,

"hello?".

   Rainbow Dash tilts her head at her friends action, but shrugs it off casually, "hey Shy. I was

uh...hoping I could talk to you about something". Fluttershy's eyes open wide at this and she

begins to nod, grabbing her friend's hoof with both of hers and yanking her inside, "of course! You

can always talk to me! Are you okay? Is something wrong?"

   Dash was slightly dazed by the sudden reaction, she could swear her head whipping back from the

yank was what closed the door behind them, largely as she found herself having to rub the sensitive

back of her head a moment later, "uhh...wrong? No, not wrong exactly. Wait...is it?".

   The yellow pegasus seemed even more confused than her cyan friend at this response. Dash

promptly furrowed her brow and reassessed what she was trying to say, "so, basically...I've sort

of had thi-..." she trails off as the over-accommodating yellow pegasus makes her sit down on the

sofa, then bounces off to make some tea, and returns a few moments later like nothing she had just

done was questionable.

   "...right...so anyway" the cyan pegasus starts again, shaking off her friend's behavior - truth

told, this was actually how Fluttershy acted every time Dash came to visit, but no matter how many

times it happened, she still couldn't reconcile it with the yellow pegasus' normal behavior.

   "I've...kind of started this thing with Rarity...and I'm not sure it's working out" Rainbow Dash

continues, visibly having to think over how to say what she was trying to say. "At first it was

like, woah!" she articulates with her front hooves, "I was so impressed and everything, I didn't

really think about it. But then afterward I started thinking...and...."

   Fluttershy tilts her head lightly to the side, "you're worried that your personalities are too

different?". Dash almost jumps out her chair in the process of pointing a hoof at her friend,

"exactly! I mean..." she slumps back into the sofa seat and slouches, "most of the time it's like

we come from different planets. And I don't see how that's supposed to work, you know?".

   Fluttershy takes a cautious glance around the cottage ... though why exactly, one could only

guess, before looking back at her friend, slightly wide-eyed, "if I tell you something, do you

promise to keep it a secret?". Dash raises a brow at this, clearly confused what baring it had on

what SHE was saying, but submits a nod anyway.

   "Well you see, I've been friends with Rarity for a long time. We spend a lot of time together

actually" Fluttershy explains, gesturing a hoof, "you guys all met her after she changed. You see

she wasn't always like she is now".

   Rainbow Dash just sort of nods along to the story - she was interested, but she still didn't see

what it had to do with anything. "She used to be a totally different pony. Oh making clothes was

still her passion, but it was clothes for parties and dancing, and costumes for performances"

Fluttershy continues, her eyes going wide again as she leans toward her cyan friend, "but she never

got much done. She was always out dancing and partying".

   Dash has to restrain herself from blurting out how impossible that sounded to her, she picks up

her tea cup and - with little per-conception of the consequences - slurps down enough to promptly

burn her tongue, and then have to suffer trying to hide it to remain cool.

   "Then one day, there was a big formal event in town" Fluttershy continues, she points in the

direction of a picture on the wall, but it was too far away for Dash to actually see, much less

while trying to pretend she didn't just burn her tongue like a foal.

   "Rarity really wanted to go. And she wanted to make her own dress for it" Fluttershy explains,

her voice now had gained a more solemn tone after her energetic musings before, "but she spent most

of the evening leading up to the formal event at a party, and left herself with very little time to

work on the dress. She got the dress finished, but she rushed it, and left herself almost no time

to actually get ready".

   Fluttershy pauses, finally, largely because she seemed to be a bit out of breath at this point,

before continuing a moment later, "so when she arrived at the formal event, her dress was rough,

and she looked even rougher. The upper-lip sophisticate types at the party laughed and sneered at

her, and said terrible things about her behind her back. She finally couldn't take it any more and

ran away, crying her eyes out".

   "She went through a really, really rough time after that..." Fluttershy furthers, though she

seems to hesitate going into too much detail about this part of the story particularly, momentarily

gazing out into space with a haunted look, before turning her attention back to Rainbow Dash, "a

couple of weeks later, there was another formal event. It was a lot smaller than the previous

one...but Rarity dedicated a whole week to making her dress, and most of that day to preparing

herself. When she arrived, she was the most stunning, elegant pony in the room, and everyone saw

it".

   The yellow pegasus has to stop to catch her breath again momentarily, she actually looked a

little dizzy from overdoing it at this point, but she calmed and slowed considerably now, "she

changed completely after that experience, becoming the pony she is today. But I know somewhere

inside, the fun-loving unicorn she used to be is just fighting to get out more often than she lets

her".

   Fluttershy pauses for a long few moments staring at Rainbow Dash with her hooves open like she'd

just delivered some amazing revelation. The cyan pegasus, however, was completely oblivious, and

possibly starting to go deaf.

   The yellow pegasus eventually realizes Dash has completely missed the point of her story, and

firmly applies her hoof to her own face, before then grabbing the cyan pegasus by the shoulders and

shaking her lightly, "don't you get it? You're exactly what she needs!"

   After a moment or two, Fluttershy realizes her cyan friend's eyes are just rolling around in her

head after being shaken up, and promptly shrinks back to her side of the sofa, shying beheind her

own mane, "o-oh..s-sorry..."

   Rainbow Dash shakes her head clear, then raises a hoof to rub the side of it lightly, "nah, it's

cool. But...uh...maybe you're right. I hadn't really thought about it that way". "That's the other

thing" Fluttershy returns, gesturing a hoof at Dash, "I think she's what YOU need, too. Somepony to

help you remember to think about others more often. Somepony who inspires you to slow down once in

a while and actually enjoy the moment".

   Rainbow Dash slowly rubs her chin with a paw in visible contemplation, "that DOES make

sense...". Fluttershy nods sagely, "and besides. You take pride in your appearance when people

compliment you for it. Rarity could show you how to get those compliments more often". One could

swear a light bulb actually springs up out of Dash's head at this notion, as she takes an excited

smile, "hey yeah! that's right!".

   Lost in clearly excited thought over the possibilities, and her new-found perception of her

budding relationship, Rainbow Dash is only finally brought back to reality when her vision finally

falls over the small wounded pegasus in her makeshift sickbed nearby, that she somehow hadn't

noticed until now.

   "Uh...Shy? Care to explain THAT...?"

  The sun was low in the sky now, barely clearing the top of the distant mountains, and would set

soon. The temperature had finally relented and the evening drew cool, cooler still by the gentle

breeze that swayed the trees of the orchard.

   Twilight and Applejack were still together on that hill, though now they sat upright, side by

side, watching the sun. The purple mare had her head rested against the orange mare's neck, the

earth pony's head rested aside atop hers.

   "It's...probably time for me to head home..." Twilight submitted softly. Applejack gave a small

nod of her head, without moving it too far, "ah know...". They didn't move though, remaining as

they were for several long minutes yet. "...I don't want to go..." Twilight reports softly, closing

her eyes and turning her head further inward against the earth pony.

   Applejack bends her closer front-hoof upward to cradle Twilight's head against herself, lowering

her head down to rest nearer it "w-well...why-...why don' y'just-...", she falters, Twilight could

feel the orange mare's heart beating through her chest at a race-horse pace, she didn't notice her

own not far behind it as her mind finishes the question the way she wants it to.

   The earth pony summons up a gut-full of the courage that normally came so easily to her, but

right now was harder to grasp than water, "why don' y'just stay here ton-", she falters again as

the courage slips away, a faintly ashamed look crossing her face.

   Twilight gently knocks Applejack's head upward off her own, but in turn reaches a hoof up to

gently cradle the side of her face, resting her forehead gently against the other mare's. "It's

okay...you're just not ready yet" she breathes gently, pulling her head back a little now -

Applejack opens her eyes, full of apology, but is met with Twilight's as they open in turn, holding

nothing but affection, "I can wait".

   As they slowly made the walk to the edge of the farm together, Applejack's mind still swam with

the fear of disappointing Twilight that kept holding her back. The overheard sign that indicated

where the farm essentially started, or from their perspective ended, loomed closer and closer, no

matter how slow they walked.

   There was a lot of pride wrapped up in that old sign, but right now, Applejack hated nothing

more in Equestria - once they reached it, she would have to watch Twilight leave. Those last few

steps to the imaginary line the sign drew felt heavy and hard to make.

   When they finally reached the boundary, Twilight stood on the "outer" side of the imaginary

line, while Applejack stood on the "inner" side of it, facing each other. Only a few inches

separated them, but in the orange mare's mind it was an ironic and slightly painful reflection of

the way their lives had grown so close, but were still separate yet. That meaningless imaginary

boundary still drew a line in the dirt between them.

   And Applejack wanted that to change. As she looked into Twilight's eyes, and knew she was about

to say goodbye for the night, a powerful spark of something the orange mare didn't recognize lit up

in her chest - she didn't care what it was, for that one moment, her fear was driven back and she

had no intention of wasting it.

   With almost reckless determination she pushes her head forward while twisting her neck just

slightly and presses her lips to the purple mare's, testing their resistance with her tongue. A

swell of fear of rejection and disappointment coursed up her body, but it was promptly driven away

as Twilight responded almost immediately, welcoming her tongue into her mouth and greeting it with

her own.

   The kiss probably only lasted a matter of moments, and the purple mare demonstrated nothing

resembling skill, practice, or even basic knowledge of how it works, but Applejack didn't care. In

her mind it could have been hours, and the notion it could only get better made it even sweeter.

   When the kiss finally broke, Twilight was slightly out of breath and visibly woozy, but had the

dumbest, sweetest smile the orange mare had ever seen on her face. As she smiled contently in

return and stared into the purple mare's eyes, that imaginary line felt much less substantial now,

even if it was still there.

   Night had fully set in now, the sun had gone to rest and the moon took up its place. The breeze

had died out, but it was cool enough now not to need it, though the clouds above were dark and

suggested rain was scheduled tonight. It might have been foreboding, or suggested a cause to hurry

for most ponies, but Twilight was far too lost in her content thoughts of what the future would

bring.

   Against seemingly ever fiber of her obsessive nature to plan everything in consideration of

every variable, this thing she had with Applejack ran to no checklist or schedule. It at once

scared her, and made it all the more special, to finally let something just play out without trying

to control it.

   She wondered if her compulsion to plan and schedule every day was the reason she had never tried

anything like this before. It had certainly never occurred to her to add "explore the potential for

romance" to any of her checklists or schedules, it was only since arriving in Ponyville that she

even realized such a thing could hold any interest to her, and only in the last few months she

found herself thinking about it as a genuine possibility.

   Is this really the firs time? the purple mare seemed faintly confused, but not completely

aware of the voice in her head - it was her own, though it didn't quite sound right. Maybe I

missed something? Could one of the others tried to get close to me before? Maybe I just didn't

notice....

   The voice carried too much weight, it easily overrode the rest of the thoughts in her head,

making them too intangible to grasp. Twilight felt a faint twinge of pain in the back of her head,

like a glance from the beginning of a headache, but it was slowly getting stronger, and the world

started becoming faint...

   "Hey, Twilight!"

   The sudden greeting snaps Twilight back to clarity, the dull ache receding away. Rainbow Dash

swoops in overhead, assuming a casual side-on, slow flight posture beside though a little above

her, "aw I haven't seen you in forever! How are you?".

   The purple mare smiles warmly, casting aside any thought of what just happened, "Rainbow! I've

been pretty good, what about you?". The cyan pegasus actually looked like she'd explode in

excitement for a moment, but instead she flies a ring and a bit around twilight to end up hovering

backwards in an upright position in front of her.

   "You wouldn't believe!" Dash insists with a gesture of her hooves, then rubs her face with both

into a faux-shocked look and leans her head in close, "I'm going out with Rarity now! Isn't that

crazy?". Twilight chuckles softly in return, offering a happy smile and coo, "aww that's so sweet!

I'm happy for you guys".

   Dash rolls over backwards into a slumped-back posture, though while still hovering backwards,

"it almost all went wrong, I was freaking out", she rolls back completely and assumes a slow flying

back-stroke, "but then I talked to Fluttershy and she got my head in the right place. Now I'm just

so pumped..."

   She trails off slightly, then continues rolling backward until she was basically upside-down,

but with her back, neck, and head arched back enough that she was actually looking forwards at

Twilight again, "but hey, what about you and Applejack? I heard you've been spending ALL your time

with her lately".

   The purple mare can't help but gain a deeply content smile as she turns her eyes toward the

ground in front of her, and her voice softens, "me and Applejack? ...well it's...early days

yet...but I think we have something pretty special..."

   Noting Twilight wasn't actually watching, Dash rolls over completely back into an upright

posture and begins performing a victorious mid-air dance, which she promptly stops and places her

hooves behind her back, looking off to the side as Twilight's vision comes back up toward the

commotion.

   "That's cool" the cyan pegasus reports with a forced casual tone, "I'm uh...I'm glad things

are-", she never was very good at fighting her nature, her repression cracks and she throws her

hooves open excitedly, "aw I knew it! When AJ told me she had a crush on you she thought she was

crazy like me, but I told her you guys would work together".

   Twilight can't help but laugh at her friend's behavior, it was normal for Dash to be excitable

and energetic, but it was obvious she had a much larger reason to be happy now, and it hadn't quite

balanced out yet.

   "I should really get home" Dash finally reports, now looking up at the sky, "that storm looks

more worked up than it was supposed to be. We'll have to cut it off early". Twilight follows her

gaze up to the dark clouds overheard, having thought herself they did look a bit over-done - she

gives an affirmative nod, "of course. Hopefully it wont be quite so long before we catch up again,

though".

   The cyan pegasus gives a somewhat inappropriate but, fittingly excitable hoof-pump in

recognition, "you know it! Take it easy Twi!". And with that, she races off through the sky in the

direction of her cloud-home.

   Twilight shakes her head lightly with an amused smile as she continues walking home, she always

liked to see her friends happy, but knowing two more of them were experiencing the same kind of

'special' happiness she was made it even better.

   Her frivolity, however, was soon to be cracked. What a strange choice of words, the voice

in her head chimes in, with an almost obnoxiously amused tone, she said, when Applejack told her

she had a crush on you, she thought she was crazy - like she was. I wonder what she meant by that?

   That dull pain in the back of Twilight's head began creeping forward again. The voice seemed

stronger than before, able to split her thoughts and command her attention. The purple mare furrows

her brow, willing it to go away.

   Oh please, you think you can get rid of me that easily? I'm a part of you. It's just not

going to happen. "Shut...up..." Twilight quietly growls under her breath, thankful the streets

of Ponyville were deserted because of the looming storm.

   Yes because that's SO likely the voice retorts obnoxiously, it was so loud and clear now

it sounded like it was coming from somepony actually standing right beside Twilight, but she was

alone in the street. What are you going to do, prove me wrong again? Oh but then...if you did

that, why am I still here? Hmm...

   Twilight's head felt heavy now, the air seemed to press down on her, somehow making it harder to

move, but she pushed through it, running the last of the way to her library. The door was still

damaged from when Applejack bucked it in days ago - it had been repaired, but with little care or

skill. The purple mare simply kicks it into its own frame, jamming it closed tight.

   The books were still scattered everywhere, and the cake of dust on everything had only gotten

thicker. It was quickly becoming clear that Twilight had been doing virtually nothing but sleep

here each night, and judging from the bedroll set up behind the stairs, not even in her actual bed.

   The inside of the library seemed a world apart from what it had before recent events; once a

lived in and inviting place, it was now cold, dark, almost decrepit. A foreboding pushed in from

the walls, the floor somehow felt like it hung precariously over a terrible abyss. It was as the

building itself had been consumed by some dark presence.

   Twilight stood in the midst of the main room, breathing heavily but keeping her eyes shut tight.

It was cold enough that her every breath came out as a visible mist, yet her coat glistened with a

thick layer of sweat that slowly dripped off onto the dusty floor below.

   Now that we're alone, I'd like to share a thought with you the voice began, it actually

seemed to come from the very walls of the library, actually it's one of your own thoughts. I

found it deep inside here, you seem to have tried to loose it. Luckily, I found it for you. Aren't

I helpful?

   Twilight's shadow appears on the wall, cast by no discernible light source. More importantly, it

began moving around independently of Twilight herself, though it didn't leave the confines of the

walls.

   What happens when you horn grows back? Assuming it will, of course. You'll have your magic

back, and be back to your old self?, the voice resounds with a cruel laugh at this, the shadow

moves about, seemingly trying to find a wall closer to Twilight herself, but what will happen

between you and Applejack, I wonder? Oh sure, she said she likes you just the way you are, magic

and all. But that was before all this happened. Before you started impressing yourself upon her, as

a magic-less, ordinary pony like herself...

   Twilight furrows her brow and shakes her head firmly, trying desperately to block it out. I

mean it seems to me that Applejack is attracted to the idea of you as an Earth Pony, like herself.

She's having enough trouble reconciling that you're both mares. Would the complication of you being

a unicorn again just be too much?

   Tears begin forming at the corners of the purple mare's eyes as she tries to hold her ground.

The voice had forced her to acknowledge that terrible fear she'd worked so hard to bury, and the

terrifying possibilities that came with it.

   First she'll break your heart and leave you. Then she'll be so ashamed of herself, she won't

be able to talk to you again, so you'll loose her friendship too. Oh, I wonder...what if it's all

too much for her to take? There are an awful lot of branches and rope on that farm...

   "NO!!" Twilight screams desperately back at the voice, slamming her fore-hooves onto the floor

with enough force to crack the boards, "you don't stay that! You never say that! You're wrong!

Applejack loves me for who I am! She knows my horn will grow back and she won't leave when it

does!".

   'loves' you? the voice retorts with a cruel chuckle, I don't recall her actually

saying she loves you. And being that she is the element of honesty, I'm pretty sure she'd say so,

if she did

   Twilight tries to refute the voice, but her defense breaks at this; she couldn't argue it's

point, no matter how desperately she wanted to. She'd been taking things on faith alone lately, not

trusting her mind to hold the right answers anymore. Life had seemed so much better without the

usual overbearing logic she normally applied to it; now she couldn't help but wonder if in doing so,

she'd made a horrible mistake. Tears begin to fall freely from her eyes...

   See? I am helpful the voice announces with a cruel pride, as it suddenly trots out of the

wall's limits as a three-dimensional construct of inky substance, and begins slowly walking a

circle around Twilight, And now, I can help you more than ever.

   A pair of intense white pin-pricks of light appear where the inky visage of Twilight's eyes

should be, and it begins to gain more of her physical features, though they're all etched from its

form as a single mass of the same twisted black substance.

   The dark doppelganger raises onto its hind legs and stretches out in mocking relation. One

couldn't help but notice it's form still included the horn the real Twilight had recently lost.

I have to admit, I didn't think this would work out. When I first reached out to you and your

friends managed to pull you back, I thought I was too deep in to get you

   Twilight's mind is assaulted with a force replay of a day months ago, when her fear over being

late with a report to Celestia had made her freak out and cause a problem just to have one to fix.

And then things seemed to go so well. I began to wonder if I'd get another chance...and then low

and behold, your dedication to carry out Celestia's orders brought you to the edge of reason once

again

   The dark doppelganger crosses one arm and supports its head with the hoof of the other, braced

against the first, I wonder, do two instances count as a forming pattern? It seems your need to

appease Celestia extends far beyond the boundaries of sense

   Twilight found herself fighting just to remain stood. She'd lost all sensation of the

temperature, or how hard it was to breathe, or how heavily she was sweating. All she could feel was

an immense weight pushing down on her from every conceivable direction, and a slow, resounding

thump in her chest that wasn't her heart, but something deeper down, and much, much larger.

   Augh that incessant noise. Doesn't it drive you crazy? the doppelganger reports

indignantly, gripping the side of its head, it's always there, never stopping. Even I don't know

what it is. Come to think of it, you have some pretty messed up stuff in here, don't you?

   The doppelganger picks up an arbitrary book from the floor, though it's not the actual book that

comes up with its hoof, but an inky imitation of it much like the doppelganger itself, maybe one

of these things that take up so much of your life has the answer? Do you have many books on the

subject of insanity?

   The doppelganger was growing increasingly ridiculing, but had begun to stray away from painful

topics. With what little conscious thought she could scrape together, Twilight noticed the sound

got quieter and the weight on her lessened, the longer the twisted mimic went. Her focus had begun

to rebuild.

   Of course, that's just wishful thinking the doppelganger announces as it carelessly

throws the "book" away; the matter forming it breaks up and dissipates into nothing shortly after

leaving its hoof, I doubt even Celestia knows much, if anything of the horrible things in YOUR

head. I mean, she hasn't even tried to reassure you since this all started, let alone help....

   The doppelganger pauses, gesturing aimlessly into space with a forehoof come to think of it,

it almost seems like your letter about not being able to continue as her student even warranted a

single thought. She didn't even reply

   A powerful kick of the thump deep inside physically weakens Twilight's footing, bringing with it

an almost re-doubling of the weight that had been baring down on her before. The doppelganger had

finally found the one thing Twilight hadn't permitted herself to think about since this all began.

   Aha! There it is... the doppelganger announces with obnoxious triumph, that quickly

deforms into twisted amusement, oh you tried so hard to hide it from me, but I knew it was

there, its tone twists again into mocking sympathy, as it leans in closer to Twilight and

lowers its voice, Celestia didn't care...

   Twilight begins to sob heavily at this point, no matter how hard she tries to fight it back. The

resounding thump grew louder and closer, it almost sounded like it was reverberating off the walls

around her now.

   All those years, all the time, attention, and effort you could manage, pushing yourself

beyond healthy and sensible limits, doing things at a speed no one believed possible, all to earn

the approval of a mentor..., the doppelganger throws its arms up and announces, as if mockingly

celebrating, ...who doesn't even care!

   The doppelganger comes down to Twilight's head level again, it didn't seem like it could

actually touch her, but it was trying to rub her back, awww it's sad isn't it? I know. Despite

knowing she'd taught so many before you, and that your lifespan was barely even a footnote in her

own, you still thought you were special to her...

   The doppelganger stands back up and resumes its "thinking" pose, maybe I can make you a big

banner that says "you were wrong!", would that help?

   "ENOUGH!!" Twilight screamed angrily at the doppelganger, her eyes replaced with an intense,

solid white glow that radiated so strongly it lit up the library around her, burning away all the

shadows but the doppelganger itself, "YOU THINK YOU KNOW ME SO WELL!? YOU THINK YOU UNDERSTAND

WHAT'S INSIDE ME!? HOW WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IT!?".

   The doppelganger seemed almost elated at the reaction at first, but then seemed to start pulling

away as it realized just how 'irrationally' angry Twilight actually was; she looked like she was

beyond the limits of any sense or reason at this point.

   Her mane suddenly parts as he horn almost violently reappears on her head, lit up with a

powerful purple aura that was 'corrupt' with murky streaks of red and black that swam around in it;

intense radiant sparks of light flew off it in random directions, as did occasional slow but

horrifyingly powerful "ribbons" of the same intense energy that slide away and burned grooves

through anything they touched.

   Well this can't end well... the doppelganger submits in foreboding, but then suddenly

breaks out in unstable laughter, for anyone!, it gets no opportunity to say anything further

- a particularly long, intense ribbon of the chaotic energy slides off Twilight's horn and smoothly

glides through it at an odd angle, separating it in two very uneven pieces that promptly break up

into their inky substance and dissipate into nothing.

   The resounding thump grew louder and heavier, the books scattered about the library lifted off

the ground and begin tumbling in space at random pitches and speeds, the very structure of the

library groaned and strained. Twilight's hooves left the ground and she slowly lifted into an

upright posture. One of the resounding thumps is particularly powerful and sends to reverberate for

miles, accompanied by the formation of an incredibly intense, but wickedly unstable spark, hovering

in space just in front of Twilight's chest.

   "C-..CELESTIA!" Luna cries out in shock. The elder sister runs to the balcony to find her

younger sibling, but doesn't even need to follow her gaze to find the cause of her alarm. In the

distance, where Ponyville lay, an intense column of light rose from the ground into the sky above.

Even at this extreme distance, they could both see the dark spec suspended in the middle, and the

radiant ribbons of energy swirling around and away from it.

   "Make preserve us...how could I have been so wrong!? What have I done!?" Celestia struggles out

as she watches in mixed horror and sorrow. Twilight rose her fore-hooves to her sides, jutted out

to either side and rose her head. A pair of wings not dissimilar to Celestia or Luna's own suddenly

spread from her back out to the sides.

   "W-what..what do we do!?" Luna demands from her sister frantically. The elder sister's eyes were

wild and unreadable, but her voice had grown weaker, 'we...we pray...we pray she hasn't been hurt

too much..."

   Another resounding thump comes forth, this one far above the others; it was as if the world

itself had a heart and it had just beat. A haunting wail, distant at first, climbs in volume until

it was almost unbearable, as the column of light around Twilight begins to lift away from the

ground and shrink away from the sky, forming into a large sphere around her instead. The ribbons of

energy that had been coming from her now flowed directly into the sphere, the spiral of its motion

growing faster and faster each second as the wail grew louder and louder still.

   Finally, a dreadful scream of pain, anguish, anger, sorrow, all somehow mashed into one issued

across all of Equestria, at the same split second the sphere instantly doubles in size, and than an

instant later transforms into a huge, solid ring that flies outward across the land, engulfing

everything in sight.

   It takes several long seconds to reach Canterlot, and it brought with no pain, it seemed to do

no actual damage, but the light was blindingly bright, the scream pieced to the very soul, and the

Alicorn sisters felt themselves being lifted from the ground by the sheer intensity of the energy.

   In their minds, they saw a flash of Twilight herself, crying furiously and reaching out to them

as everything is consumed in a blinding sea of white...

Author's Commentary

   Gogo pony instrumentality time. I'm joking, but it's actually not that far off the truth in a sense. Actually, there's an intermission first. It won't be like the last one - but don't worry, if you liked that - there's going to be a lot of "that" in part 3.