Chapter 4

"How large do you think the sky is?"

Dashie shrugs, laying down next to me with a wistful smile. 

"Who knows? But as long as I get to fly in it, I'd say it's fine at whatever size."

I roll my multi-colored eyes.

"Ya know those are the kind of questions that if a pony in a book asks, the other pony would respond with some type of dream they want to achieve."

She rolls her eyes as well. 

"So what? We're not in a book."

My body shifts. "True."

Dashie sighs, turning on her back to look at all the night stars that danced across the sky. Her hooves go under her head, like she was relaxing in some sort of way. 

A twinge of anxiety sparks in my chest as she closes her eyes. 

"I'm still worried that we'll get in trouble." I admit cautiously. 

She sits up, her hoof rests on mine as she gives me a reassuring smile. 

"As I said before, we're going to be fine. Ya know, sometimes I wish you were more of a risk-taker. Maybe that's why I'm around then?"

The small smile pushes across my face, but I could only hold back my doubts for so long. A couple of seconds passed, words rising into my throat and leaping across my tongue. 

"Dashie?"  

Dashie's face shifts from reassuring to concerned. 

"Yeah?"

I take a deep breath, my eyes hazing over. 

"Promise me that you'll never leave me!"

I grasp her, my hooves holding her tight as I felt the tears rise and spill down my face. Her warmth was, well, warm. In the nice kind of way. Not the hot and stuffy warm, but the butterflies in my stomach warm. 

Dashie soon hugs back, her hooves wrapping around me as she pulls me in closer. I rest my face in her neck, trying not to cry all over her. 

She pushes me away after a minute, and looks me right in the eyes. Her stare serious, yet sympathetic. 

"I will never ever leave you. We're best friends forever, that's longer than life. Why would I ever want to leave you?"

"Promise?" My voice dropped to lower than a whisper. 

"Misti, I freaking love you. You're smart, creative, beautiful, and perfect. Even if you are a goody-two shoes. Your also funny, caring, and love nature. Not a lot of ponies care about the environment around them, but you do!" 

She pauses, pushing thick, teal strands of mane out of my face. 

"And I promise with the essence of my very soul that I'll never leave you. Ever."

The words filled my stomach, and I felt as light as air. I was left with this happy feeling in my gut, an unsecured piece of my heart had shifted back into place. 

She pulls me back into a hug, but I had stopped crying as fast as I started. I was just so stunned by Dashie's words, I felt like I couldn't move. 

When the shock wore off, I smirked at her, pulling away from her grasp. 

"Wow, Miss Danger actually said something partly sappy. Why didn't I get this audio recorded?"

Dashie laughs and gives me a light push. 

"Hey! Don't be like that."

"Mhm," I say with a giggle. "Alright then."

~~*~~

If somepony told me that I was shot and ran over by a carriage, I'd believe them.

Pain trickles from my chest, seeping into the other parts of my body and searing across my flesh. Even if I could move, I didn't want to. 

It hurt too much. 

My vision is blurred from tears, my ears hollowed out the sounds until words pricked with their sharp thorns. 

"Is she going to be okay doctor?" One of the voices whispered, and it only made my heart ache ten times over again. 

A pause. 

"She'll make it out okay. Just make sure to ease her into things. No surprises, no bad thoughts, and nothing out of the ordinary."

"Yes, of course doctor. I'll tell the others."

And silence reigns once again. I close my eyes, I can't see anyways. 

Everything in my head is a jumbled mess!

It hurts to think; it hurts to breathe.

Everything I do is causing me pain. 

The silence breaks - the ponies close the door behind themselves. 

I open my eyes, trying to take everything in. 

It's obvious that I'm in a guest bedroom, since from what I can tell, there's no personal belongings in here besides a picture with a golden picture frame hanging on the wall. The rest is kind of organic: a vase on the far dresser, the tall lamp beside me, glassy flooring.

Ugh, it feels like hell hit me atop the head. Geez....

Though my pain was great, I knew I couldn't stay here. I had to go right back home. That is my mission. 

My stomach rumbles and groans, making a creaking noise I never knew it could produce. 

I guess this is what starving feels like. 

But it's never this bad. 

For a while, I stay there, letting the sensations of emotions rushing by roll over me. The silence begins to whisper, whistling tunes of harmonious joy through my ears. 

Everything's gonna be alright. 

That's what I like to tell myself. But I'm not fooling anypony, nothing was gonna be alright. 

My heart has never ached so bad, not even for my parents. My chest has never been stabbed that much, not even when I beat myself up over the smallest of things. My mind has never been so broken. 

I swear on Celestia there's something wrong with me!

And again, I cried. 

I couldn't help it! The pain was too much for me to bottle up. 

A knock on the door. 

Tensing, I don't know whether to get up and attend to it, or ignore it. With a wavered sigh, I do my best to roll over, but I fall onto the glassy ground. 

Ow!

The pain! The pain! The terrible pain!

Once I'm up on my hooves, I take a few agonizing steps towards the door. 

It opens right before I get to it. 

Though that was aggravating, I was in too much pain to care. All I truly care about is getting myself out of here!

A tan orange mare walks in. She has a blonde mane that was long enough to cover her neck, but not so long that it went to the floor. Her eyes were a dark emerald green, while a brown hat sat tipped back atop her head. 

"Oh no sugarcube. You should be lyin' down." Her accent was thick, but not too thick that I couldn't understand her. 

"I'm sorry, but you don't understand." I say, my voice only coming out as a hoarse whisper. "I'm not supposed to be here."

She cocks her eyebrow, but then smiles soon after. 

"Ah'm glad ta see that fainting didn't knock out yir sens of humor."

Ugh....

I sigh, placing my hoof on my forehead, which only worsened the pain by a significant amount. 

"No, I'm serious!" It hurt to talk, but re-explaining this might rip out my voice all together. "Princess Celestia made a mistake! She sent me here to 'fix me' but I don't need to be--" 

My voice cracks. 

"Fixed..."

The mare looks at me with an unconvinced look, and as if on cue, my stomach makes a sound that I can't even place - that's how weird it was. 

She stares at me once more, a look of concern and worry soon spreading all over her. 

"Since when did ya last eat?"

I tried to think. 

"Um... A week ago?"

Her face shifts to shock. 

"Wait right here, ah'll be right back."

And with that, she shuts the door. Leaving me to wait in silence. 

My body is aching, yearning for me to get back in the bed, but my mind is pleading for some information on what in the whole wide world of Equestria is going on?!

I turn back to the bed, noticing the bedside table that was nearby. On it, laid an unmarked red and white pill with a small water cup and a straw, standing perfectly still. 

The only thing that came to mind was thank the heavens! 

A painkiller!

Hallelujah!  

But try as I might, the pill slipped through my hooves and onto the floor. 

I mean, the floor isn't dirty. It was so glossy, hard to imagine that they don't clean their floors daily. 

So, it won't matter. Right?

Regardless of my choice, I still try to pick up this pill. I'm too exhausted to use magic right now, and it's a lot more satisfying if I do it myself. 

I don't know why, I guess I prefer if I don't rely on magic to do everything for me. 

Just as I finally got the pill in my grasp, the door opens again, making me jump, and I lose my concentration. 

The pill falls on the floor again. 

Come on! Can nopony leave me alone long enough to let me pick up a stupid pill?! And they wonder why I don't want to live with other ponies!

The orange mare is back, but this time, she has a porcelain cup filled with an extremely dark green mixture in her hooves. 

I'm scared as to whatever she's planning to give me, but unless it's something to help with my pain, I'm not drinking it. 

"Here," She announces as if I asked her to bring that mixture. 

I hesitate. 

"Uhm... What is it?"

Her knowing smile scared me a little. 

"Tea. It'll help ya with yir pain."

Though it looks disgusting, if it was gonna help me with pain, then I'll take it! I immediately lunge for the cup, taking it in my hooves and sipping up every last drop. 

Relief instantly flowed through me, starting at my throat. I think I can speak without straining myself now. It coursed through my veins, sending tingles down my spine from the warmth. Once it settles in my stomach, I tilt my head. 

Weird, she's gone. 

At least the tea doesn't taste horrible. It's sweet yet, a twinge of sour still lingers in the aftertaste. Kind of like certain candies or unsweetened honey. It was warm, and yet, it left a weird feeling in my stomach. An uncomfortable but warm feeling.

I spontaneously dislike it. 

But maybe that's just the negativity talking...?

Two for negativity. 

I set the empty cup on the dresser, glancing at myself in the mirror. I look the same, I guess. Despite how frizzed my mane is and how my normally white coat looks like somepony spilled dirt on it, it's still me. 

New me. 

I guess not really new, but the me I've been for a while. 

Just staring at my coat makes me despise white more and more by the passing seconds. I always hated white, mostly because that was my shade. 

Everything that had to do with me, I hated.

Everything except her. 

Just thinking about her makes my head spin in all sorts of directions. My stomach is doing so many somersaults, it would take a miracle to want to eat at this point. 

My hoof grazes the antique wood of the dresser, it's smooth but rustic. It has the smell of something old, but the texture of something new. 

Then again, everything seems new in a castle. 

It's a castle for a reason. 

I suddenly remember the painkiller, and bending down for a second, I pick it up. Or, at least I try to. 

Is the pill seriously this slippery?! Or am I just a big butterhooves?!

Regardless, it falls onto the floor, and I can see a little bit of white powder around it. 

Darn't. 

A minute later, the mare is somehow back. 

"C'mon."

I cock my eyebrow. 

"Where are we going?"

Not answering my question, she walks out the room, leaving me with a conscience that makes me rudderless to follow her. 

She leads me down a hall that leads to another hall, and that hall lead to another one. It kept going at least two more times before she stops in front of a door and opens it. 

Oh my goodness!

It's literally a feast!

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