TIME HEALS ALL WOUNDS

The longest day of my life was the day, about three months ago now, when I ended up trapped in a time loop in the middle of a war zone. I don’t know how long it lasted exactly, but on that day I got to experience being choked, stabbed, eaten, burned, mind controlled, eviscerated, decapitated, falling to my death, cut into pieces, run through, disintegrated, immolated, and having changeling eggs laid in my brain.

The second longest day was a few weeks later, when I finally opened up to my friends about it. They cornered me in my library and told me in no uncertain terms that they were sick of watching me being torn up from the inside by all the things I wasn’t telling them. They were there to listen, not to interrogate me or judge me but they weren’t leaving until I told them what had happened. I could take as long as I needed, and tell it any way I wanted, but there was one rule; I couldn’t leave anything out.

That rule was amended slightly ten minutes later when I started listing all of the books I had gone through over my second and third trips through the time loop. I just couldn’t leave out anything important.

It wasn’t easy at first. For the first hour or so I had to monitor what I was saying and be aware of all the little details I was editing out just by force of habit. Once I got into the rhythm of speaking the full truth, it got quicker and quicker. Soon I was past the tipping point and I couldn’t have stopped the story even if I’d wanted to. The trickle of words flowing from my mouth turned into a babbling torrent until the buildup of emotions would overcome me and I broke down. I’d cry until I could reassert control over myself, and the cycle would start all over again.

My friends didn’t say very much as I spoke. That was exactly what I needed from them. The important thing was that they were there, to listen and to hold me and to comfort me when the memories got to be too much. Even though it was mid morning when I started telling the story. I was still barely halfway through when Pinkie slipped off into the kitchen to start making dinner for us all.

The five of them had gone out of the room occasionally over the course of the day, just for a few minutes at a time to use the bathroom or grab a fresh box of tissues for me. They didn’t want to bring me to a full stop while they took a break. Maybe they weren’t sure whether or not I’d be able to start up again. I was never with less than three of them.

I talked straight through dinner. I think Rarity was more horrified by my table manners than what I was telling her about being pulled apart by a pair of changeling drones, but she had the good sense not to interrupt or tell me to chew with my mouth closed. It wasn't until late into the night, well after Spike has fallen asleep on the couch despite his best efforts and certainly sometime after midnight, that I finally finish my tale.

For the second time that day I felt like an empty and hollow shell of myself. This time though? That was a good thing. All the toxic fear and anxiety I’d been carrying around was... well I can’t say it was gone, but a burden shared is a burden sixthed.

It was several minutes before anypony spoke. Finally, Fluttershy broke the ice.

“Wow.”

That summed it up pretty well.

“Twilight, we all knew that you had been through a lot, but we had no idea it was... like that,” said Rarity. “That first night after the invasion, we were all joking and laughing together about it. That must have been just awful for you.”

“It’s OK, girls. You couldn’t have known. I was lying to you to make sure you didn’t. I’m sorry I did that, but I wanted to protect you. I didn’t think it would hit me this hard,” I said.

Rainbow Dash gave me a curious look, like she wasn’t quite sure what to make of me after all she’d heard. “Did you really let us all get killed or eaten or mind controlled or whatever on that one loop just so you could go back and bang Luna? While we were dying on that train? Not cool, Twilight.”

I winced. It had just been a stupid impulse I’d gone ahead and indulged without thinking at the time. After all, consequences had been something other ponies dealt with and not anything I had to care about. I’d never expected that I’d one day actually be called out on it.

“Rainbow, ah don’t think this is the time for that kinda thing. Can’t you see she’s plumb tuckered out?” asked Applejack.

“She’s right though, Applejack. I treated all of you like you were disposable tools when I should have been treating you like friends. I even started to think of myself that way. Whenever I made some little mistake I’d cut my own throat open to jump to the next loop if I thought it would save me an hour. How could I do that to myself?”

“It sounds like the whole world got all crazy on you for a while, but it’s all back to normal now. Just because you were crazy in the crazy world doesn’t mean that you’ll be crazy back here in the normal world. If you do act crazy we’ll be here to talk to you, and then you can ask us how you’ll know you’re not crazy anymore, and we’ll tell you that just because you were crazy in the crazy world doesn’t mean that-”

“Pinkie, what have we said about being recursive?” I asked.

“I haven’t even figured out how to talk in normal cursive, much less recursive.”

“She’s right though, Twilight,” said Fluttershy teasing out the core of sanity from Pinkie’s... Pinkieness. “You aren’t in a place like that anymore. You’re home.”

“What if...” I wasn’t sure how to phrase it because I wasn’t even sure how I felt myself. “What if I feel like doing something self-destructive like that to myself again?”

“HEY!” Applejack grabbed me and yanked me over to her. I’d never seen her so upset before. “Don’t you dare even think about doing something like that, Twilight Sparkle. Ah swear to the Princesses, if you go and hurt yourself ah will come over to this library and beat you half to death with my own four hooves, understand?” Her glare softened just a little bit. “Ah’m dead serious Twi, you ever think about doing something like that to yourself, you come over and talk to me, or any of us. Morning, afternoon, or dead of night, we’re there for you.”

“Yeah,” said Rainbow Dash, “but if you do decide to come to my house when you’re like that, which you’re totally welcome to do anytime, just remember to cast the cloud walking spell on yourself first. Otherwise the situation would end up being all ironish, or whatever.”

I chuckled. “You mean ironic?”

“Sure, that. I know you explained that to me but I’m still not exactly sure what it is,” said Rainbow Dash. She muttered something about how if a pegasus let it rain on another’s wedding day that pony would be out of a job before the ceremony was even over.

“This ain’t somethin’ we’re joking about, Twi,” said Applejack. “If you ever, EVER think you might hurt yourself, you promise me you’ll talk to one of us first.”

“AJ, I’ve never-”

“PROMISE ME!”

Her insistence blew me back a bit. My first thought was to tell her to go buck herself, to tell the truth. They were only thoughts. But on reflection I realized that I really had considered it. Idly, never in a serious way, but it had crossed my mind more than once. The realization that I might have been only a few weeks or even days away from violently ending myself shook me to the core.

“I won’t. I promise I won’t. Oh Celestia, Applejack, I thought about doing it. Please don’t... please don’t hate me for that. I just wanted all of this to stop. I’m...”

She just wrapped me tighter in her arms and my words devolved into sobs. I hated myself for even thinking that. I realized that I’d hated myself for a long time.

“I’m sorry,” was all I managed to choke out between sobs.

“Don’t blame yourself. And don’t think that any of us love you any less just because you might have felt that way, hmm?” said Rarity .

“I know,” I said, without really believing it. How could they not hate me, after what I’d done? What I’d kept from them?

I didn’t speak for a while. The five of them must have sensed how I felt, because they didn’t leave to go home. They just laid down by my side, comfortably close, and wordlessly let me know that they were there.

We fell asleep like that. I was cramped, too warm, and twisted all wrong by the bodies pushed against me.

Best night of sleep I’ve ever gotten.

-------------

I didn’t dream that night. I didn’t relive anything or imagine what might have been or see myself suffering one of my many horrific deaths from some creative new angle and I thank the Princesses for that.

When I woke up, refreshed for the first time in weeks and surrounded by the ponies who loved me, that might have been the first time I truly realized how blessed I was. Not twenty four hours ago I would have honestly considered ending it all to find the sort of peace I’d just had. Yet waking up, with five slumbering bodies pressed against mine I knew that oblivion was a cowardly and feeble substitute for what I had every moment of my life, without ever properly appreciating it.

In that second when I woke up, I swore to myself never to take my friends for granted ever again.

I laid there for as long as I could pretending to be asleep. I’m pretty sure that Fluttershy and Applejack woke up not long after, but didn’t know that I was already awake so they didn’t move. I would have loved them forever just for that, as if I needed another reason.

It couldn’t last forever though, and soon enough Pinkie stretched and rolled over. Rarity, who had been balancing her head comfortably but precariously on her shoulder woke up with a start as her face collided with the wooden floor. She, in turn, kicked out in alarm and caught Rainbow Dash in the ribs. Rainbow beat her wings trying to disentangle herself from the pile and the six of us were shoved every which way. There was no pretending to be asleep after that. We all went out to breakfast, my treat. It was the least I could do for them. Then with one more round of hugs and thank yous the other five went their separate ways. They had dropped everything the day before on zero notice to come help me, and probably had a lot of catching up to do.

I tried to turn that day into a friendship report for the Princess, but I just couldn’t find the words to do it justice. Even to this day I haven’t sent it. I’ve sent others, of course, and Celestia wrote back how happy she was that I was sending them again. But that one I won’t send until it’s absolutely perfect.

I expected life to go back to the way it had been before, and that since my friends had lifted me out of the worst of my slump they wouldn’t need to do anything else. Life, it seems, had other plans. The next day there was a knock on my door and when I opened it there stood Rarity. Her saddlebags were full to bursting with color swatches, lengths of ribbon and lace, and other assorted samples and dressmaking supplies.

“Hello again, darling,” said Rarity as she walked into the library without waiting for me to invite her in. That was what threw up the first warning flag in my head. It wasn’t like her to ignore a point of etiquette so blatantly like that. Looking closer, I noticed that she was a bit on edge. “Twilight, I was hoping you would do me a small favor if you have a moment?” she asked. It wasn’t like I could say no after everything that had just happened, even though I was suspicious.

“Of course, Rarity. What do you need?”

Rarity undid the strained clasp and dumped the contents of her bag onto the table in the middle of the library. “I was just brainstorming ideas for a new line of dresses, and I was hoping to get a little bit of input,” she said as she lifted two color samples up from the pile. “Which of these colors do you like better?”

I froze. One of the things that I’d been having trouble with since getting out of the loop was making decisions. Even little ones seemed to be impossible for me, as if the fate of Equestria hung on which one of two books I should read first or something equally ridiculous.

“Come on, dear. There’s no wrong answer. Just pick the one you like better.”

“I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Rarity, but I don’t think that this is-”

“SURPRISE!” Pinkie popped out of the kitchen I would have sworn had been empty not five minutes before. The sudden noise sent me into a fresh panic attack, gasping for breath and shaking my head to clear out the way it was throbbing in time with my heartbeat. “Guess what Twilight? I’m in charge of making you get used to things surprising you again! So every day I’m gonna find a new way to surprise you until being surprised isn’t so surprising any more, and then when you’re back to normal I’ll throw a surprise party and you’ll be all like ‘yay I’m better’ instead of freaking out the way you are right now. Doesn’t that sound like fun?”

“I think we need to coordinate this a little bit better Pinkie, I was right about to start with the decision making therapy,” said Rarity.

“Wait, you two planned this?”

“Not very well, apparently. Yes, the five of us spoke again after we left you yesterday. I apologize on all our behalfs if that seems a little bit underhoofed to you, but we simply will not stand idly by during your time of need. Perhaps you would recover fully on your own with time, but we intend to speed the process along whatever way we can. I am going to help you get used to making decisions again, starting with little ones and working our way up. Pinkie-”

“SURPRISES!”

“Indeed. Fluttershy is preparing a guest room at her cottage and making a spare key for you so if things here ever get to be too much or overwhelming you have a safe place. She isn’t going to let you abuse it, though, so don’t think you’ll be able to hide yourself away like you were doing before. Rainbow Dash is coming up with a physical fitness regimen for you, and she’s going to make sure you follow it. Not only will a little exertion do wonders for your mood, but if I’m being completely frank all this sitting around and moping is making you pudgy,” said Rarity. She poked me in the belly with her horn ignoring my yelp of protest. I did seem to be a little bit jigglier around the middle than I used to be. “Besides you’ll want to be fit and trim again for Applejack’s effort. She’ll be-”

Pinkie cut her off. “Nope, hold it right there. As Ponyville’s chief surprisologist I’m afraid I have to insist that we not tell her about that yet. You can’t just administer a prescription strength surprise like that. We have to build up to it.”

“I don’t suppose it matters that I don’t want you to do any of this?” I asked.

“Sorry, Twilight. This is tough love, baby!”

“Come now, we’re not doing this to make you miserable. We’ll do it in whatever way is most comfortable for you, but Pinkie is correct. This is happening,” said Rarity. “Forget the colors and ribbons for now, why don’t we just go out to lunch? I know this is probably a lot to take in.”

“That would be nice. Maybe you’ll see that I’m just fine and the rest of you are overreacting. Where are we eating?” I asked.

“Well that’s the catch, isn’t it?” asked Rarity with a hint of a smile. “You have to pick.”

--------------------------

The weeks wore on and my friends were as good as their word. The very next morning, and every other morning thereafter I was awakened at the crack of dawn by Rainbow Dash pounding on my window. She practically dragged me out of bed and told me that we were going for a one mile trot. As our warm up. I had never known until that morning what it was like to be on the receiving end of one of Rainbow Dash’s ‘pep talks.’ She’s a little bit terrifying when she thinks you’re standing between her and something she wants.

Pinkie’s “surprise” that day was that she was waiting for me inside my shower when I got home. As soon as she realized I was back she jumped out and given me a big hug, undeterred by the fact that I was sweaty and half dead with exhaustion.

The next day, her surprise was hiding between the library bookshelves.

The day after that, hiding inside one of the books.

How did she even get into that pot of stew? It was boiling hot!

I guess that ponies really can get used to anything. After a week, I was resigned to it happening every day. After three weeks, there came a day when Pinkie’s surprise was that there was no surprise, and I found that I actually missed it.

The workouts pushed me to my limit, and then some, but I can’t deny that they were effective. I dropped the extra weight I’d put on pretty quickly. Spike helped with the meal planning, and the ratio of broccoli and cauliflower to heavy pastas and hayfries in my diet became depressingly one sided for a while.

I expected to use the hideaway Fluttershy had set up for me a lot more than I ended up needing to. Sure, there were days when I felt like I was overwhelmed or that I couldn’t stand to go on but I never wanted to sequester myself from everything the way I had before. I actually felt a little bad that she’d gone through all that effort on my behalf and I wasn’t using it. The solution turned out to be the occasional sleepover at Fluttershy’s cottage. First it was just the two of us, but later on the whole gang would join in. I’m pretty sure her little rabbit friend didn’t appreciate the intrusion, though.

I got better a whole lot more quickly than I’d ever expected to, and I’m sure I never could have made half this much progress on my own.

So that’s why I’m sitting here today, three months after I escaped from the time loop facing Pinkie’s latest surprise. Apparently I’m practice-dating Applejack now.

We’re sitting across from one another at the little coffee shop in the center of town, having just ordered drinks. “Alright, Twi. We’re all really impressed with how far you’ve come in the last couple of months. So now ah wanna help you too. We’re gonna get you a date, but first we’re gonna practice a little bit so you’ll be ready when it does happen.”

I nod. I was a little hesitant when the girls told me they were going to help me find a fillyfriend, but now the prospect actually sounds like a lot of fun.

“Before we start, can ah ask you a question?”

“You just did.”

Applejack gives me her best ‘Really?’ face but continues with her question anyway. “This may be kinda personal, but are you attracted to me? In that way ah mean.”

I think about the question for a moment. “Would it make you uncomfortable if I was?” I ask.

“Well, yeah, it kinda would if ah’m bein’ completely honest. Ah mean sure it’d be flattering and ah’m not saying that there’d be anything wrong with it, but at the same time ah don’t want our friendship to change or for you to want something from me that ah can’t give you. If you thought you had those kind of feelings for me then this fake practice dating idea is just gonna end with one or both of us gettin’ hurt. That’s why ah’m askin’,” says Applejack.

I look her up and down, trying to study her with fresh eyes. When I don’t say anything for a minute or so she starts to shift uncomfortably in her seat. “Well, based on your facial structure, general level of fitness, and social standing within the community I would put you between the eightieth and eighty-fifth percentile of overall attractiveness, assuming it can be modeled as a single variable function with a roughly normal distribution,” I eventually conclude.

Now it’s Applejack’s turn to stare. “If that’s the way you’re gonna talk this is gonna’ take longer than ah thought,” she says.

“It was a compliment! You’re cute, but no I’m not nursing a secret crush or anything like that. My turn for an embarassing question though. Have you ever been attracted to another mare? What makes you qualified to help me date one?”

Applejack shakes her head. “Ah’ve only had eyes for colts and stallions, but maybe if the right mare came along ah could fall for her. Ah’d keep an open mind, at least.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I’ve always kind of wondered if you and Rainbow Dash had a bit of a thing,” I say.

Applejack laughs. “Funny you’d say that. When you told us all about you likin’ mares the first thing ah wondered was if maybe all those times Dash’d gone over to the library to read with you hadn’t been cover for somethin’ else. Guess there’s just something about that filly that gives off that kinda’ vibe.”

“I don’t think she’s interested in anypony not wearing a Wonderbolts uniform,” I point out.

“If you’re interested in her that might not be a dealbreaker. You might be surprised what you can find over at Lingerie & Refrigerators off Main street. As for what ah’m gonna be teachin’ you, the stuff ah was thinking of is pretty universal. If you want a teacher who’s got experience with mares though, we can always go see if Cloud Kicker’s offer still stands."

I shudder at the mention of that name. I’ve managed to avoid her for the last week and a half, ever since she cornered me at the market to thank me for inspiring a new pickup line for her rotation. Even more disturbing, ‘I’m trapped in a time loop and the only way for me to get out of it is for us to bang’ has a non-zero success rate.

“That’s what ah thought. Now ah wanna see what ah’m working with here. Didja notice how our waitress was lookin’ you over when she showed us to our table? Ah think she likes you,” says Applejack. “When she comes back with our drinks ah wanna see you flirt with her a little bit.”

“What makes you so sure she wasn’t just being friendly?” I ask.

“Maybe she was, only one way to know for sure. You gotta start sometime. Just say something clever to break the ice, relax, and act natural.”

“I haven’t thought of anything clever to say yet! I need more prep time,” I say.

“Here’s your first lesson then. You gotta be able to do this on the spur of the moment even if you’re nervous. Only way to get better at that is to practice. Worst that’ll happen is she’ll say no. Ah’m not givin’ you the chance to overthink this, Twi. Better get ready ‘cause she’s on her way over right now,” said Applejack with a wicked grin. She’s enjoying this more than she should be.

Sure enough our waitress, a lime green pegasus mare with a mug of coffee as her cutie mark, steps over and places two piping hot cups in front of us. Something clever. I just have to say something clever. My mind goes completely blank. I look over at Applejack who jerks her head in the direction of the mare and then my gaze drifts down to the table. Cups of coffee. I grab onto the idea like a drowning pony to a life raft. What can I say about coffee?

“Can I get you ladies anything else to go with that?” our waitress asks.

“You,” I say. “Because you’re hot. Like this coffee. Only with sexiness instead of boiling water and dissolved particles of ground up beans. Not that I’m objectifying you. I mean I’m sure you have lots of other nice qualities that also somehow relate to coffee, I just didn’t want to imply that I thought you were literally the same temperature as the coffee even though I guess that’s what I said. If you had a body temperature as high as hot coffee you’d die in agony as you were cooked alive from the inside out oh Celestia why am I still talking?” I clamp my mouth closed before I can do any more damage. The two mares staring at me in silence is somehow even worse. Maybe I can salvage this?

“Wait, no, caffeine! You’re like the coffee because we’ll be up all night, the implication being that we’ll be banging! But then as our relationship goes on I’ll develop a terrible case of insomnia, and I’ll cheat on you with tea to try to wean myself away until eventually a doctor tells me I have to quit you cold turkey because I’m developing heart palpitations and odd muscle tremors.”

“Are you trying to hit on me?” asks the waitress, genuinely confused.

I plant my face down on the table and moan. “Sorry.”

She giggles. “Don’t worry about it dear. You’re new at this aren’t you? At least my fillyfriend won’t feel like she needs to be jealous or protective.”

“Of course you already have a fillyfriend. You’re cute and you’re nice and ponies probably hit on you all the time,” I say without bothering to look up.

“Aww, thanks for saying so! That’s what you should have said in the first place. You don’t have to think of some crazy line to flirt with somepony. All a mare as pretty as you are really needs to do is be friendly and maybe a little playful and you’ll have fillies falling all over one another to get to know you,” she says. Wait... is she flirting with me now? “I met my fillyfriend in this very coffee shop, you know. She was one of our regulars, and one day some rambunctious little colt bumped into me and I spilled coffee all over her.”

“Oh no, she wasn’t hurt was she?”

“No, she didn’t get burned or anything but of course it ruined her dress. I apologized over and over and finally told her that if she came back at the end of my shift I’d buy her dinner. She did and we got to chatting over her meal. I found out what a sweetheart she was and before I knew it, poof, I had a fillyfriend. Nothing to it.”

“What, just like that?” I ask. It’s a nice story, it just doesn’t seem... dramatic enough. Like it shouldn’t count unless somepony saves another’s life from a burning building or a monster attack. Then there’s a heartfelt confession of love at first sight and a passionate kiss in front of a sunset as the scene slowly fades to black. Maybe I’ve been hanging around Rarity too much.

“Just like that. Don’t go making it more complicated than it has to be,” she says. “Now can I get either of you anything else?”

“Thank ya kindly, we’re set,” says Applejack.

“Thank you for the advice, too,” I say.

“You’re welcome. Let me know if you need anything,” our waitress says before she trots off to attend to the other customers.

“That actually went better than ah thought it would. There might be hope for you yet Twi,” says Applejack.

“That was better? The only way I could have made it worse would have been if I somehow lit this place on fire while I was talking.”

“Twi, ah’m gonna level with you here. Ah love you, but you’re a weird pony. You aren’t gonna find a special somepony by hidin’ that though. Heck, bein’ weird is half your charm. Although if you want to leave out the boiling alive from the inside thing the next time that’d be a good idea,” says Applejack. She takes a sip of her coffee. “Now, puttin’ aside how to flirt for a moment what sort of mare are you lookin’ to date? Do you have a particular type?”

“A type? I guess I never really thought about it,” I say. It’s true. Being so nervous about liking mares meant that I always used to avoid that kind of subject even in my own head.

“Well, start thinkin’ about it. Look at our little group. We’ve already gone over me and Dash, but if you had to pick one of the others.”

“I don’t know Applejack, that would be kind of weird. I don’t even know if any of them like mares.”

“Say they did, though. It doesn’t have to be one of them, ah’m just trying to get a sense of what you’re interested in. Maybe somepony on the livelier side, who’d balance out all that quiet readin’ in the library? Say Pinkie grabbed you and kissed you ‘cause we were playin’ truth or dare, or spin the bottle or somesuch. Would you like that?”

“Ooh! I love kissing! It’s like a party in your mouth and somepony else’s tongue is invited,” says Pinkie popping out from underneath our table. It’s a testament to the effectiveness of her somewhat unorthodox therapy techniques that I’m only mildly surprised.

“Pinkie? Where did you come from?” I ask. You would think I’d know better by now.

“Twilight, I really think that’s a conversation you should have with your parents or the Princess, not me. My parents gave me the talk about the stalactites and the geodes years ago,” says Pinkie.

“That isn’t what I-”

“Really, if you don’t know about that then I don’t think you’re ready to be in a relationship. I’m sorry Twilight, but I’m breaking up with you. It’s really important to me that we can still be friends though, so let’s just pretend that we were never dating at all.”

“But we never did date,” I say.

“That’s the spirit! Good luck finding a new fillyfriend!”

With that Pinkie hops off towards Sugarcube Corner. “Maybe some pony a bit less lively than Pinkie,” I say turning back to Applejack.

“Ah see what’cha mean. But that still leaves Rarity or Fluttershy.”

“Look, Applejack, I appreciate the amount of effort you’ve put into this, and I promise I really will think about what I want but could you please stop trying to hook me up with our friends?”

“But you and Fluttershy are just so adorable together!”

“I think we’re done here,” I say and finish the rest of my coffee.

“Fine, fine, just hold on. Ah’ll stop even though you two would be just about the cutest thing in the world together. Here’s the deal though; two weeks from this Saturday you’re going on a blind date. Ah’ve already got a couple ponies in mind, and we’re gonna work on makin’ sure you’re ready by then,” says Applejack. I open my mouth to object but Applejack won’t listen. “Don’t bother arguin’ cause it isn’t going to change my mind. Two weeks.”

I resign myself to being thrown into the deep end of the dating pool to see whether or not I’ll sink or swim. Even though I was ready to leave a moment ago Applejack spends the next ten minutes peppering me with questions, still trying to get a sense of what sort of pony she’ll be setting me up with. I could only give her vague answers and I think we were both pretty frustrated by the time we finished and I left to head back to the library. Applejack promises slash threatens that she’s going to have a date ready for me in a fortnight, whether I like the idea or not.

I head back to the library. There’s plenty of books I can check to get a feel for proper dating behavior and etiquette. I don’t have to let this catch me unprepared. I can’t say I really feel like it, though. Maybe I’ll kill the afternoon with my new Statistics textbook instead, just for fun. At least if I hole up in my library the day can’t get any worse.

I walk into the library to find Spike waiting for me. “A letter came for you while you were gone. It looks important,” he says gesturing to a letter sitting on the table. Unusually, the letter is sealed with both Celestia’s and Luna’s insignias. I think Spike was right about the letter being important. I break the seals and pull the letter open, giving it a quick once over.

“Spike, go get the rest of the girls and bring them back here,” I say.

“Why? What’s going on?” he asks.

“The world is ending. And it’s all my fault.”