She sneezed.
It was the first indication that Twilight Sparkle had awakened. But unlike a couple of days ago, it wasn't dirt that caused it, it was simply the musty scent of the pillow her head was laying on.
After remembering what she had last done, she decided that she didn't want to wake up, and thus kept her eyes closed. She had attacked her friend. Not just any friend, but a Princess. The weight in her belly, however, refused to let her go back to sleep and moved, causing a soft whimper to escape from her throat.
"I think she's waking up." Came a familiar voice before her. A hoof was placed one of her own. "Come on, Twahlight. We're here for ya, Sugarcube."
"Mmeh dun wanna..." She whimpered in response. "... hurt ponies..."
"Now, now... there's no need for that." Applejack gently caressed her cheek. "It was that darn-blasted Nightmare who stole you, brainwashed you, and unleashed you back on the world."
At that, she opened her eyes. Applejack was at her bedside, smiling down at her with warm reassurance. She was surrounded by friends and family whom rested on chairs, couches, even a few other beds brought in by the hospital staff. All were glad to have Twilight back.
She blushed. "... I'm sorry..." And buried her face back into the pillow.
Spike's arms went around her neck. "It's okay, Twilight. It wasn't you. The Nightmare forced you to do it."
"I'm still lost." Pinkie piped up from Twilight's other side. "Why did she?"
Twilight hugged Spike back. "I'm... starting to remember. She wanted a new body, and for her, only the best would suffice. But even if she managed to manifest in the world again, the Elements of Harmony would defeat her, so she decided to deal with both problems at once." She explained. "I'm the Element of Magic, a powerful unicorn in my own right, and she figured if she could make me into a perfect mother for her new body, not only would I be taken out of the equation, I would actively defend her if she kept me from realizing what she was." She nuzzled Spike lovingly. "The memories are still foggy, though... but I think the Nightmare was thinking that if I was protecting her, she'd be safe from outright attacks by you."
"It would have worked had I not provoked you by triggering your conditioning early." Princess Luna looked up, seeming no worse for wear considering their fight. "Again, it was the Nightmare who brought this upon us, not you. I do not blame you for what happened between us, my friend." She gave Twilight a reassuring smile.
Twilight nodded. "Thank you, Princess..." She whispered in response.
"But who's the father?" Rainbow Dash just had to ask the million-bit question.
"I... I don't know." Twilight frowned. "One would suspect it would be Nightmare using magic to create the perfect body for herself, but... I wouldn't put it past her to go to the other extreme of abducting a Stallion or even making one." She rubbed her belly nervously. "I was imprisoned for over a year... wherever she hid me... " She squeezed her eyes shut in visible pain, causing a look of concern from Applejack. "I simply don't know, or can't remember."
Twilight didn't want to yet admit that she remembered some of it. She couldn't see who - or what - mounted her, but she could remember that it happened. She could just barely remember being taken against her will, the Nightmare's voice in her mind, controlling her body, causing her to do things that she didn't want to do. Perhaps her subconscious didn't want to remember not because of the brainwashing, but because of the mental trauma.
The big question now was did the Nightmare do the deed herself? Did she have a proxy? Or was there another prisoner, hoof-picked by the Nightmare for special qualities she sought in her new body?
After a few moments of nervous quiet, Rarity cleared her throat; "What of the foal now?"
"Perfectly normal as far as we can tell." Fluttershy answered with a warm smile. "The magic that the Nightmare used to help conceive it was enough to create it, but once she was gone..." She shrugged.
"I'm glad he or she won't have that hanging over their head." Twilight gave a weak smile. "But what then? Where will I go?" She turned her gaze to the Princess of the Sun who gave a warm smile back.
"I can think of a few things..."
.....
And so it was. The mess from the fight took a week to clean up. Twilight didn't get to see any of it, however, consigned to the hospital for observation and how close her time was. For the pregnant unicorn in question it couldn't come soon enough. Celestia's solution was as kind as Twilight had come to expect from her lifelong mentor.
Twilight would live on the farm with Applejack, with Pinkie Pie to help care for the newborn. Rainbow Dash would be transferred to Ponyville with Spike and a small detachment of Royal Guard to watch over them. And of course, Rarity insisted on paying for everything, in addition to her new 'Home Office' located next to the Carousel Boutique. Eventually, Twilight would be able to resume her life once the foal was old enough and Fluttershy had decided that she had sufficiently recovered from her imprisonment. For the moment, however, they were together again and that was all that mattered. That was all that was important as far as Twilight was concerned.
Twilight opened her eyes a month after her return to find Applejack sitting at her bedside. "Mmm?"
"Oh. Sorry, darlin'. Didn't mean to wake you."
"You didn't." Twilight yawned. "What are you doing here? I thought you had a farm to run?"
The farmpony just smirked. "That's the good thing that came from all this." She tapped her bad leg on the tile floor. "I can set my own hours."
"Been meaning to ask... I recall that it took both you and your brother to do all the bucking. How can he do it all himself?"
"Friends." Applejack continued to smile. "When I was in the hospital, A.B. stepped up to the plate. Just like I did when I was a youngin' when our parents died." She gave a weak smile at the memory. "She's not yet strong, but she helped where she could. Princess Luna even managed to cover most of my hospital bills." She chuckled. "Something about me being injured 'during combat operations against an enemy of Equestria' or some fancy-schmancy law to that effect."
Twilight chuckled as well.
"We used the extra bits we saved to hire part-time field hands during applebuck season." Applejack finished, reaching out to caress her friend. "Could save that up next season now, with me running the books and Pinkie Pie helping in the kitchen. Big Mac could now focus on the bucking, and Spike and Rainbow will probably be spending most of their time over anyway."
Twilight smiled and nodded. However, she noticed something odd about the look she was getting from the orange mare.
"It's good to have you back, sugarcube."
She placed a hoof on A.J.'s. "It's okay, A.J." She suddenly winced at a strange tightening in her belly.
"Twilight?"
"I..." She began to pant. "... that's new..." She chuckled weakly and rubbed her belly. "... I think it's time..."
"I'll be right here with ya, Twilight." She turned and called for Fluttershy.
.....
Twilight awoke to remember intense pain and a pounding headache. They were gone, however, now replaced by a warm, gentle sensation pressed against the outside of her belly and pulling gently on her teats.
One eye opened, then another. She was not alone in her hospital room; Applejack had indeed never left, but was asleep on a nearby chair.
Curious as to why the feeling had moved from inside her to outside, she magically lifted the blanket and looked... then she then remembered. The sight that greeted her made all the pain, all the embarrassment, all the feelings of confusion and helplessness over the last month vanish:
A small, amazingly cute, unicorn filly was happily nursing from her mother!
Her coat was dark blue with a soft silver tint to it. Her mane was a lighter silver with a very familiar violet streak through it. When Twilight nosed her gently, the filly looked up with brilliant ice blue eyes and a happy squeak before clinging to her mother and nuzzling in turn.
Twilight's heart melted. "I love you too, my little moon..." She purred and nuzzled her filly.
"... my Moonlight Sparkle..."