Twilight's eyes began to open, or at least, that's what she was trying to do. The more consciousness she regained, the greater the sting felt. All of her limbs, her head, and even her eyelids felt sore and painfully heavy. The girl slowly started becoming aware of her surroundings, sense by sense. The first thing she felt was the cold, humid grass she was lying on. She felt it underneath her entire body, except her head, which was resting on something softer. It felt like some sort of fabric, probably cotton. She breathed through her nose and she could tell she was still in the park when she caught the familiar smell of the oak trees, the fountain, and the afternoon breeze.
She began hearing something. A muffled sound she couldn't quite make out at first. Twilight was struggling to separate her eyelids, and it took her eyes a few seconds to get accustomed to the light.
"Easy," she made out a single word between the jumbled sounds, which were starting to become clearer and clearer. What wasn't becoming clearer though, was her sight. Her eyes were fully open now (if anything, a bit squinted), and all she could see was a grayish blur. Her glasses must have fallen off. Great.
"Twi, can you hear me?" a male voice above her head asked, which she immediately recognized as her friend Flash Sentry. With all the time she had been spending with him lately, at school, chemistry club, and even with the math tutorships she gave him every Thursday after school at the Sweet Snacks Café, the girl had become familiar enough with his voice to recognize it even if all he appeared as was an orange and blue smudge.
"You feel okay?" the young man asked Twilight as he carefully put one hand beneath the girl's nape, gently lifting her head as he cradled it.
The lavender skinned girl felt a bit lost and confused for a second, but the wheels in her head were adjusting and began working at their normal pace once more. As the memories of what had happened right before she blacked out returned to her, her worry grew. Her unseeing eyes opened wide, and she let out a gasp as she quickly sat up. Flash, who had been kneeling beside her, barely avoided receiving an accidental headbutt from the frantic girl.
"W-what's hap... where is the...!?" Twilight asked hysterically as she looked around without actually seeing anything, unable to finish her sentences due to how out of breath she felt and how taken aback she was. "I was just about t...!"
"Shh! Shh, sh," Flash quickly began hushing the girl in order to calm her down. He moved in front of her and put a hand on each of her shoulders, gently rubbing her skin with one of his thumbs. "Take it easy. That was a pretty bad hit you took," he said to her softly, barely above a whisper, setting aside some of the girl's strands of indigo hair that were covering her face.
Flash's soothing demeanor encouraged Twilight to slow down. She closed her eyes and took a few calming breaths. It was no use getting frantic, much less if she had a concussion. She put a hand to her head, which still hurt a little. She moved her hand to the side of her face and opened her eyes when she felt one of her pony ears. She then proceeded to feel and open her wings. She was still transformed. She touched the top of her head and noticed that the tiara that usually appeared when she "ponied up" was missing. Turning around, she also noticed that the braid she sported had become undone, and all of her magically elongated hair was now hanging loose behind her like a cape, with well over six feet in length.
"Oh! I almost forgot," Flash exclaimed out of the blue, as he took something from beside him and held it up as he leaned closer to Twilight. "You might need these," he said with a slight chuckle. The young man placed Twilight's glasses on her face, and her sight adjusted back to normal as the first thing she saw was the boy's crystal-clear face, smiling warmly at her. This gesture reminded the girl of the very first time she met Flash about a year or so ago, during those Friendship Games, but the less remembered about that day, the better.
