HiE - A Hollow in Equestria

by Charlie_K

Chapter Seventy Nine

"Gah, my back..."

Waking up in pain was something that Rainbow Dash had an on again/off again relationship with. Being an athlete -and Wonderbolts hopeful- it was something she'd accepted long ago as being just another fact of life. Some days that fact was more prevalent, and some days it was just plain more painful.

She grunted as she slowly sat up, stretching as she yawned, until she felt a satisfying pop in her vertebrae, which earned a satisfied sigh. That was better, but she was going to need to stretch her muscles to get any genuine relief going on.

"What the hay did I sleep on last night?" she asked herself as she absentmindedly scratched at her ribs with her hoof. Looking down, she discovered that it was one of the benches the royal library had scattered about. It was funny really, she sure didn't remember deciding to sleep on one of them. But then again she didn't remember going to sleep at all either, so who was she to doubt what might've happened?

Looking around the room, she quickly realized that she wasn't alone. Besides Ulquiorra standing with his back to her -likely reading a book if his posture was any indication- Luna was currently sitting at one of the tables, looking quite haggard, and nursing what smelt like a cup of coffee.

"Wow, you look terrible," Rainbow Dash stated, not even thinking about her own words as she swung her legs over the side of the bench to climb off from her impromptu perch.

"If we are being completely honest with one another, you do not look all that fine yourself," Luna shot back without even hesitating, before sipping at her drink. "No offense intended. It has been a rough night for all of us, I am certain."

"Definitely," Rainbow Dash replied, before extending her wings to the furthest possible length in order to stretch them, before tucking them back in at her sides again. "Wait a minute. What're you doing here? Is this a dream?" she asked, before turning to look in Ulquiorra's direction. He hadn't moved an inch since she'd woken up. "Hey, Ulquiorra, say something funny."

"Something funny," Ulquiorra replied in his usual dull tone, never turning around to face her. "I can assure you, this is no dream that you're experiencing," he continued.

"How do I know that for sure though? How do I know that you're not a part of the dream, and you're just telling me that it isn't a dream?" Rainbow Dash asked him. She could certainly see him doing something like that, even if it was her dream.

"Because if I were ever given the choice on where to be, I wouldn't be caught dead in one of your dreams," Ulquiorra stated bluntly.

"... But aren't you already dead?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"... A fair point," Ulquiorra eventually replied.

Off to the side, Luna laughed at the exchange going on. It was the first real laugh she'd been able to have in a while, and oh how it felt good.

"It is no dream, Rainbow Dash, I assure you of such," she stated, before levitating a second cup of coffee over to her, hoping the aroma would alleviate any remaining doubt that she was currently awake. "I must apologize for last night. It was not our intention to force you to spend the night in the library."

"Eh," Rainbow Dash replied and shrugged, before taking the offered cup of coffee to sip at. The Princesses always did have the best coffee. "It wasn't all that bad. But I do have to ask, what was going on last night?"

"I am afraid that I cannot reveal such details. Not yet anyway. There is still so much to try and understand, and I do not wish to put out any false interpretations, of what little that we do currently understand," Luna explained as calmly as she could. She certainly didn't want Rainbow Dash to think she was being evasive with her answers, but at the same time she knew how important this was, and what was at stake. The way the country currently was, information had to be carefully guarded, even among friends.

"You can't even tell me about it?" Rainbow Dash asked as she looked at her, hoping to get at least some idea of what was going on around here.

"I could," Luna replied slowly. Although she highly doubted that Rainbow Dash would be able to understand the complexities of it all, when even she barely understood it all. Even with Celestia's help, there was still so much she didn't fully grasp just yet. But how did she go about saying something like that, without unintentionally making Rainbow Dash believed she was saying that she was stupid? "But it would be mostly speculation. And Celestia has advised me to not be putting out any unverified information just yet. I cannot even share with Ulquiorra Cifer, what we are trying to piece together, until such time that we can better confirm facts," she explained.

"Oh..." Rainbow Dash replied slowly. She guessed that made sense. At least enough sense that she couldn't argue otherwise. Instead she simply returned to her coffee, as it gave her something else to focus on. After a moment of thought, she continued. "Does it have anything to do with why you were in Ponyville yesterday?"

Luna tensed up at the question, inexplicably feeling like she was a foal caught with her hoof in the cookie jar just after being told that she couldn't have one. How had Rainbow Dash known about that?

She very nearly asked that question, before stopping short of doing just that. She could only assume that Ulquiorra Cifer had said something to her during the night. That theory would certainly make a great deal of sense. Although it left her wondering just what sort of conversation had been had during the evening between the two of them.

"In a way. But so far our efforts have yielded us nothing but frustration. If I had a fist, I would be sorely tempted to be putting it through the wall right now," she replied and sighed. "On top of our failures in the evening, we must now face the frustrations that the day will surely bring with it. The number of ponies seeking our counsel will be significant. And I, in all good conscience, cannot leave my sister to face them alone in her state. We will need to work in shifts today," she finished, before finishing off the remnants of her coffee, and making a mental note to get another helping before the start of today's court.

"Can't you just... I dunno... close the castle for the day?" Rainbow Dash asked. She fully admitted that she wasn't the brightest pony around, but surely it wouldn't hurt if ponies had to go one day without stepping before the diarchy, and seeking their help with their problems. Equestria wasn't in such bad condition, that one day would hurt... right?

"Much as we would love to do just that, Rainbow Dash, it is simply not an option for us. There are a great many intricacies that are in play regarding the role we serve in government. And while some responsibilities can be delayed, and others can be -and have been- delegated to councils acting in our stead, there are some matters that we are simply obligated not only to address, but do so in a timely fashion," Luna explained, thinking to herself that if things had turned out differently with Chrysalis, they might've used her as an impersonator during the more involved court sessions. "Sadly I must be making myself ready for my first shift. I simply wished to make sure you were alright, before facing the public."

"Luna, wait," Rainbow Dash spoke up as the lunar princess was pushing herself up from her seat. "Maybe now's a bad time to be asking... but could I get those writing supplies? I'd like to get at least something written to the others, before Ulquiorra has to go back to Ponyville," she explained. But then she thought better of it, and turned to look at Ulquiorra... who still hadn't turned around to face either of them. "Er... that is if you don't mind taking it with you..." she added, realizing that she hadn't asked him if he would.

"I do not," Ulquiorra replied, before tucking the book under his left arm, and reaching around to open his satchel.

Rainbow Dash watched as Ulquiorra rooted around in the bag, before pulling out a notepad and pencil, and more or less casually tossed them onto the table she was sitting at.

"I'll be leaving for Ponyville in one hour. Use the time wisely," he stated simply.

Luna blinked at what had just transpired, having not expected this development to occur. She hadn't even considered asking Ulquiorra to volunteer his own supplies for this, and yet he had without any hesitation. She'd been fully prepared to summon some from her own study, but he'd beaten her to the punch. And she didn't have a clue as to what his motives were, whether it was out of expediency, or simply because he was there and could respond first, or something else entirely.

Whatever it was, she'd be sure to thank him later.

Applejack yawned, totally exhausted from not sleeping for the better part of the night, and too tired to grimace at the stoutness of the cup of coffee she was nursing at the table in what served as the library's lounge area. She couldn't tell if the brew was stouter when it was fresh -as it was not, from Spike picking up a fresh batch of coffee beans yesterday in the market- or when it had time to set and age.

To her left was Twilight, barely able to keep her eyes open as she drank her coffee, and showing absolutely no hint of aversion to the brew.

In the kitchen, accompanied by a clatter of productivity and busywork, they could hear Spike moving about with no hint of exhaustion, or even a slight bit fatigue. And right now they resented him for that fact. Why did he get to be well-rested when they didn't?

It wasn't nightmares that had kept them up for the better part of the evening; they were pretty well past that, despite what had happened to Fluttershy only yesterday. Instead it had been Spike and his barely contained -if not completely unrestrained- excitement, believing that Ulquiorra was going to be teaching him how to fight today. They doubted that he'd slept at all -chiefly because of how little sleep they'd actually gotten- and yet he wasn't showing the slightest hint of slowing down. He was running about like he had to much energy, and was desperately trying to burn it off before he exploded... or something along those lines.

Right now he was busy whipping up breakfast for all of them.

"If we see her again, remind me not ta be makin' fun o' RD an' her sleepin' habits no more," Applejack muttered, losing the battle against letting out another yawn. "It's only mornin', an' already Ah'm thinkin' about needin' a nap. Ah," she paused to yawn again, "don' know if Ah'm even gonna make it over ta Sweet Apple Acres today."

"We'll see her again," Twilight mumbled in response. Thinking anything else was way too negative. And it was way too early in the day to be negative. "Stay. I'll go work on the farm today in your place," she offered.

Applejack couldn't help but chuckle at the idea of Twilight trying to work on the farm, making her best attempt at doing a full day's work on par with her. It was funny, and it was adorable, and it was just another indicator of how Twilight was a good friend. But at the same time it was a little bit frightening to think of what might happen if she actually agreed; the poor mare might go nuts trying to organize Sweet Apple Acres in whatever way she thought it needed. She'd rather not see that happen.

"Much as Ah appreciate the offer, sugarcube, Ah don' think that'd work out too well. Farm work requires a strong body ta get done right, not a strong brain," Applejack replied.

"Are you calling me weak?" Twilight asked as she tried to keep her eyes open. "Or are you saying you're stupid?"

"Wha' say we just say we each have our own unique skills, an' they don' exactly translate over fer each other?" Applejack suggested, really not wanting to get into that discussion right now.

"If you say so," Twilight replied, before slouching over and leaning against Applejack for support. "Mmm... you know, you're pretty comfortable..."

Applejack wanted to laugh. But before she could actually do that, Spike came out of the kitchen carrying a tray loaded down with a lot of pancakes, what looked like bowls of assorted diced fruits, and the assorted condiments and stuff that were going to be needed.

"Breakfast is up!" he announced as he set the tray down on the table.

"Breakfast is about the only thing that's up," Applejack chuckled as she looked between the stack of breakfast, and Twilight attempting to sleep against her. "C'mon, Twi', time ta wake up," she said and shrugged her friend.

Reluctantly, Twilight sighed as she opened her eyes. Although it proved to be a little easier to open them when she saw just how much breakfast Spike had prepared. It looked like he'd used up all the pancake mix in the process.

"Ya think ya got enough food there, Spike?" Applejack asked as she quirked an eyebrow. She was no stranger to big eating, nor was anypony in her family, but it was still a little unexpected coming from Spike.

"If not I can always make more," Spike replied as he lifted the plate of pancakes off the tray and set it down on the table, before taking two more plates off from where the other had sat, and began dividing up the food tower for the three of them.

"Spike... I think Applejack was asking if that might be too much food," Twilight pointed out. Subtlety was really weird at times when it came to Spike. Sometimes he got it just fine, and other times it went completely over his head. And this definitely looked like the latter to her.

"Oh," Spike replied, taking another look at just how much food was present. He didn't consciously remember making so many pancakes, but apparently he had done just that. "Well today's gonna be a big day, so we're gonna need a big breakfast. I don't wanna let hunger get in the way of my training," he replied.

"About that..." Twilight replied slowly, causing Spike to look up at her. How did she phrase this delicately? More important than that, how did she go about explaining the situation, without having Spike think that she was dismissing his concerns? "The thing is, Spike, I only sent word to Ulquiorra yesterday. You know how extensive Canterlot's libraries are. Even if he doesn't sleep, it might take him more than one day to find something that can be useful," she pointed out, hoping that it would be sufficient to calm Spike down, and not leave him wound up all day long, watching the door in anticipation.

She didn't like the idea of Spike being involved in anything violent. But getting his hopes up about something that might never come, would be equally bad. She had to temper his enthusiasm, somehow.

"Yeah, I know. But Ulquiorra can be surprising at times, and I don't plan to be caught off guard if he shows up today," Spike replied as he went back to dividing up the pancakes, before moving to the fruits and other assorted toppings.

Twilight wanted to speak up, but was stopped at a soft jab to the side by Applejack's hood, hidden just under the table out of Spike's view. A glance over to her friend showed her a subtle shaking of the head, indicating that she believed now wasn't the appropriate time to be getting involved in such a discussion. As much as she'd like to disagree with that, another soft jab served as sufficient discouragement from the idea.

With a silent sigh, she relented, and turned back around to the prospect of breakfast.

"Ah'm not often one ta be sayin' this, but Ah'm too stuffed ta eat anymore," Applejack commented as she pushed her plate away.

"I have to agree," Twilight groaned and closed her eyes. Although anymore it was a lot easier for her to get her fill with pancakes than it had been, after what happened the last time she'd eaten a hearty breakfast with them. Ever since then, she'd been eating lighter.

Consequently there was still a great deal of pancakes left; not just on her plate, but also Applejack's plate. Out of the three of them, Spike was the only one who wasn't slowing down any when it came to eating. But that made sense, seeing as he had a rather healthy metabolic rate.

However she still needed to talk to him about manic cooking at some point down the line.

"Well Ah really hate ta eat an' run like this, but Ah gotta get ta the farm an' tend ta chores," Applejack stated as she pushed herself up from her seat.

"Okay," Spike replied, before cutting into another pancake to devour. "See you again tonight?"

"If it's not too much trouble for ya," Applejack replied a bit sheepishly. She was immeasurably thankful for all of the hospitality that Twilight and Spike had shown her ever since the incident. But that didn't change the fact that every once in a while, she wondered if she was taking advantage of that hospitality.

"Well the extra dishes we have to do are a bit of a pain to deal with," Twilight replied as she opened her eyes to look at Applejack, before sharing a smirk with the farmpony, which earned a chuckle from each of them. "It's no trouble, Applejack, it's the least we can do right now."

"Yeah. Besides, we've all gotta stick together when everything around us is going straight to hell in a picnic basket," Spike added in between oversized bites of his pancake.

All Twilight could do was snort in amusement at Spike's words. The way he had said it all so nonchalantly had been too perfect in terms of delivery.

Applejack just scratched her head under her hat in response. "Ya know, Ah keep hearin' that word, but Ah still don' know what it means. Somepony mind fillin' me in on jus' what's so funny?" she asked.

"Well the humor is more subjective than anything. But basically, according to Ulquiorra, hell is his world's equivalent of Tartarus, although with more of an emphasis on fire and brimstone for some reason. Although according to his explanation on human dialect, it's more often used as an expression of frustration, or to emphasize just how bad a situation is, rather than referring to the actual location. So I guess grammatically, capitalization depends entirely on the context in which it's used," Twilight explained.

Applejack just chuckled. Somehow the grammar lesson didn't strike her as being the least bit out of place, considering it was Twilight giving the elaboration.

"Ya know, Ah'm not often one fer mixin' dialects, but that's one Ah can actually see being useful. Ya got less syllables ta be wrestlin' with," she replied. She'd always felt it was kind of odd that Twilight would be so freely exercising bits of Ulquiorra's dialect like it was no big deal, even if she was trying to give him something familiar as he settled into their world. It wasn't something she herself had done more than a time or two before. But that didn't mean she was unwilling to consider the notion. "He got anymore words worth learnin'?"

"I'm sure there are. But so far he's only explained the meaning and context behind a few of them; possibly because I kept interrupting him with so many questions. But if he shows up today, you could always ask him directly," Twilight pointed out.

"Yeah, Ah might jus' do that," Applejack replied and nodded. "Anyway, Ah gotta get back ta the farm. Ah don' need Big Macintosh sulkin' over me not bein' there."

Twilight couldn't help herself, as the mental image that comment conjured up had her giggling. Big Macintosh, the stoic stallion, sulking over his sister not being there? That was just too funny.

And then there was a knocking at the front door of library, firm enough that it broke the period of amusement.

"Huh. He's early today," Twilight mumbled, before reaching out and magically undoing the bolt. "The door's open, Ulquiorra!" she called.

Spike nearly choked on the pancake he was eating at hearing Ulquiorra's name being mentioned. He'd been expecting the Espada to show up, but sometime later in the day, rather than right now.

"And how did you know it was me?" Ulquiorra asked as he stepped into the library's main room. Usually he was the one knowing who was around without relying on sight.

Twilight tapped her horn in response as she looked at him. "I felt a huge mana drain for the area. And you're the only one who can do that, that would have reason to be visiting the library at this time of day," she explained.

"Logical," Ulquiorra replied as he used his left foot to nudge the door shut behind him.

"So what did last night's research turn up? Anything that might be relevant to what's going on? Or better yet, what we might be able to do to stop it?" Twilight asked. In truth she was only guessing that Ulquiorra's nights involved researching back at Canterlot's libraries and archives. She knew from discussions with him in the past, that unless he was needed elsewhere, that's what night generally consisted of for him. And to some degree she was envious of how much reading he could get done.

All that aside, however, it was still just a guess on her part.

"Nothing conclusive as of yet," Ulquiorra replied as he approached where they sat. "Several incidents bearing similarities to what we're currently experiencing, have been recorded through history. But what was experienced then, has no bearing on what we're experiencing now."

"How so?" Spike asked, now that he was no longer choking on his breakfast, and found an opportunity to actually talk.

"To begin with, there's no active magic in use. If we were dealing with a mind control spell on a scale large enough to cover all of Ponyville, then we would be facing a unicorn of considerable strength, who would be very easy to locate. Even allowing for some areas experiencing less coverage than others, it still wouldn't be sufficient to hide either who or what we're looking for, or make it anymore likely for a unicorn of even above average strength to be perpetrating this attacking. The power requirements would still demand that the guilty party be somewhere in Ponyville, rather than far away, as an extended distance would only add to those already significant requirement levels," Ulquiorra explained.

"What about the usage of magical artifacts? Either to act as camouflage to hide their presence within Ponyville, or to be attacking from a distance, outside of your range of detection?" Twilight asked.

"It's plausible, but ultimately improbable. Magical artifacts produce their own frequencies when they're in use, even if their purpose is to act as camouflage, and would be detectable. If they were currently in play, they would have been found before now, and removed from the equation," Ulquiorra explained.

Magical artifacts had been another theory garnered from last night's studies, but quickly discredited as he researched the topic to greater depth. Those that cloaked operated by disturbing the ambient mana in the area to make detection difficult. And those that worked directly to either transmit, or enhance applied magic, even from a distance, would produce a central point that could be detected. Depending on what magic was used, it could even be used for tracing it back to its point of origin.

"A'right," Applejack spoke up, "so it ain't unicorn magic. And it ain't magical artifacts behind this. Is there any idea on just what it is?" she asked. She understood that the process of elimination could do a great deal, but this was really getting annoying.

"Whatever drug of choice Ponyville seems to be on," Spike muttered, before finally returning to his breakfast. The way things were going, he had a feeling that he wouldn't be getting any training anytime soon.

Twilight frowned at Spike's statement, briefly wondering if one could actually glare hard enough to set something on fire. She knew how sensitive Applejack -and countless others- was about the notion of being regarded as nothing more than a drug addict. This was not the kind of subject to be joking about, and she'd have to make sure to point that out to him later on.

"Which is, surprisingly, not as uncommon as I originally believed," Ulquiorra admitted, bringing everyone's attention to him. "The usage of various chemical compounds for controlling others has indeed happened in the past. But nothing of this magnitude has ever been recorded, or otherwise documented. Until now everything has been small scale, generally associated with the formation of cults through the usage of substances that make the recipient more susceptible to suggestion. Meaning-"

"Meaning it's completely unconnected," Twilight interrupted. Granted it was an interesting discovery to make, but ultimately it wasn't worth their time.

But as irritated as she was feeling right now, Twilight found that she simply couldn't maintain her irritation, and her soft demeanor started to shine through not long after.

"I'm sorry, Ulquiorra, I know you tried your best in trying to figure out what we're up against. I just... it's so frustrating, not knowing anything. I've never felt so helpless before in my life. I feel like I'm chasing my tail, there's no answers to be found, everypony's being attacked all around me, I don't have a clue how Rainbow Dash is doing... I... I feel like I'm starting to lose my mind. This is even worse than when we faced down Discord. I just wish we knew something conclusive, anything!" she yelled, too frustrated for proper composure at this point.

She was vaguely aware of a nagging desire in the back of her mind, to simply hit something, and hit it hard. Preferably something that was hard, and firm, but would still yield under adequate strain, to produce the desired result of temporary satisfaction of stress relief. Maybe she'd got to Sweet Apple Acres after all.

Ulquiorra said nothing in response, as he reached around to dig inside his satchel, and produced several folded pieces of paper, before setting them down on the table.

Twilight blinked in response, frustration being replaced with confusion. "What's that?"

"Correspondence," Ulquiorra replied as he closed the satchel's flap, and slipped his hands back into his pockets.

Twilight's mind started swimming with questions, as this wasn't the sort of correspondence she was accustomed to. She almost asked for details, but she stopped herself when she realized that she could've gotten far more answers from just reading what might be on the pages, rather than just asking about what they might've contained. With that fact in mind she levitated the papers off the table, and unfolded them to read what was written.

But as she read, her eyes went wide, and her jaw went slack in disbelief.

"This... this is from Rainbow Dash!" she stated, partially out of excitement, and partially out of complete disbelief.

"Seriously?" Applejack asked as she stepped closer, hoping to get a glimpse of the note to see for herself. Instead she found the entire thing thrust into her face during Twilight's excitement, forcing her to step back so she could actually read what it said.

Dear everypony,

The good news is that I'm still alive, and I get to come back to Ponyville whenever I'm ready.

The bad news is that I'm not coming back to Ponyville anytime soon. Not yet anyway.

Don't get me wrong, I really want to be back there and see everyone again. But right now I just can't. I miss you girls really bad and all, but I learned the hard way that I'm not well enough to trust myself yet. And I don't wanna risk hurting somepony because I wind up losing control of myself. So until then I've gotta be staying here to keep the rest of you safe.

I really wanted to write each one of you individually, as I've got so many things to tell you. But even if I had plenty of paper, I couldn't put it all into words, because, you know, eloquence and all that whatnot. So I'm just gonna have to save it until I can come back and see all of you.

Still, I've got a few things to tell everypony.

Twilight, I like to think I know you pretty well. So if you're feeling bad about not having everything under control, stop it already, okay? Just plain stop! Nopony knows what's going on, so at least you're in good company. If you wanna get things under control, stop trying to figure out what happened, and start trying to figure out a cure for whatever drugs everypony's on. Figure that one out, and maybe I can come back home, and we can start kicking villain flank again. You're the smartest out of all of us, egghead, if anyone can do it, it's definitely you.

Applejack, I heard about what you went through, and I can't even begin to say just how messed up that is. Whoever is screwing with us is seriously sick in the head. I'd say I'm sorry, which I am, don't get me wrong, but being sorry just isn't good enough right now, and not having anything else to offer is just making me want to scream!

Okay. I just screamed. That's better.

It's probably a good thing letters don't transmit sound. Luna's blushing at what she just heard.

Spike, I'm so sorry that I tried beating the crud out of you the last time we met. And considering what happened, I'm just glad you're not a pony. I don't think my conscience could stand the guilt of almost killing two of my friends.

Rarity, I don't even know where to begin. How exactly am I supposed to apologize for trying to kill you; not just once, but twice? I don't know how to do that. The only thing I know to say, is that I know you never did anything to hurt me. Or at least I know that now. I don't care what I'm remembering, I know that it didn't happen. And if I could quit having these flashbacks, I could come home.

I heard about Sweetie Belle being affected. As much as I'd like to tell you how much I'm outraged at the thought of a foal going through something like I did, I just can't. I don't have anything but obscenities, and I don't even know how to spell most of them.

Pinkie, Fluttershy, I don't know what to say to the two of you. Sorry about that. But not being told any specifics, maybe it's best if I don't say anything, because I don't want to say the wrong thing.

That was all there was to the first page. Which was weird as it wasn't signed, and there was still a fair amount of room left before the bottom was reached. Curious about it all, Twilight moved onto the next page as she moved around to read everything right alongside Applejack.

Dear Scootaloo,

Hey squirt. How you holding up?

I know you probably have a lot of questions about what's going on. I wish I had answers that I could give you right now, and tell you that everything is going to be alright. But right now I just can't do that. Even I don't know what's going on. If anypony is telling you that you're too young to understand what's going on, well they're right. I know this because even I'm too young to really know what's going on.

I wish I could be there for you right now. I tried to be, but it just didn't work out. When Celestia tells you that you have to go, you don't get much say in the matter.

But if I find out that anyone hurt you while I was gone, there won't be anywhere in all of Equestria they can hide that they'll be safe from me.

Take care of yourself, and keep the others out of trouble. I'll be back when I can. Promise.

Signed,
Your honorary big sister, Rainbow Dash

Along with the letters was a single cyan-colored feather that now rested on the table; a primary if Twilight's guess was correct. She'd speculate that was included for Scootaloo rather than anypony else. That... that was surprisingly deep as far as she could tell.

"Ah... Ah don' know what ta say," Applejack stated slowly.

"Well I sure know what to say," Twilight replied as she set the letters down on the table. "I'm an idiot! Rainbow Dash is right! Among other things I'm a scientist. We already know what the problem is, I should be looking for how to make an antidote, not feeling sorry for not knowing where this whole mess came from," she stated.

Ulquiorra said nothing as he observed. Just minutes ago, Twilight Sparkle had been on the precipice of despair over her inability to contribute anything constructive to their efforts at unraveling this mass of mysteries they were facing. And then, within the space of a single letter sent by Rainbow Dash, she had been yanked back from that precipice, with renewed determination to overcome the adversity they currently found themselves in. Was she truly that weak-willed on her own?

Or alternatively... was the perceived value of the letter truly that great? Did her finding out about Rainbow Dash's current condition, truly serve as enough to reinvigorate her?

He doubted that it was something he'd truly understand, even if he tried.

Regardless, at least she was more productively oriented like this.

"How're we ever gonna figure out where the drugs came from anyway?" he heard Applejack ask. But he'd been too focused on his own thoughts to hear what had lead up to the question.

Regardless of that fact, it was a good question. And this time around, they had a definite answer.

"The diarchy has called up numerous scientists, for the purpose of sending them to Ponyville, to do just that. They will be taking samples of water, soil, food, air, and anything else that may be serving as a method of transmission for the hallucinogenics we find ourselves up against. According to the estimation given, they should be arriving within the hour," he explained.

"Really?" Twilight asked. Well at least there was that bit of good news; it was about time they got some reinforcement here. Or at least reinforcements who weren't counselors that just wanted to talk. She understood that they provided a necessary service, but they also presented a hindrance to getting things done. She felt a lot more comfortable talking with her friends about what was bugging her anyway.

"Oh great," Spike groaned as he climbed down from the table, the current discussion serving to ruin what remained of his appetite. "They're gonna wind up turning this town upside down, looking through everypony's business, and even if they find something, we won't know about it for days. They sure won't be including us in the loop. You know how those uptight jerks are; they won't talk to anypony if they aren't accredited."

He had a pretty good idea of how much of a bureaucratic nightmare this was going to be; mainly because of how much bureaucracy he'd seen back in Canterlot. Ponyville was likely going to get turned into a turf war for the lot of them, and they were all going to get treated like dirt.

"Don't worry, Spike," Twilight replied as she walked over to him and rubbed his back with her hoof. "We'll figure out something, one way or another. We may just need to employ a little bit of friendly persuasion."

"You intend to lean on them," Ulquiorra elaborated, it being the only thing that really made sense. Being the protege of Princess Celestia, and here on what was regarded as official business, it only made sense that Twilight Sparkle carried a fair deal of weight. He remembered it being the same way she'd gone about procuring a chess set during their first meeting.

"Like a tree downed in a bad storm," Twilight replied, unable to suppress the smirk she felt creeping across her face at how easily Ulquiorra had figured it all out.

Being under Celestia's tutelage, she had been educated about many things; such as the necessity of being humble, and how it was important that ponies not abuse whatever authority some position might afford them. It, among others, was a lesson that she had taken to heart, and tried to live by.

However Celestia had also taught her that, sometimes, flexing that authority was justified.

Granted she didn't particularly like having to do that, and rely on her standing to get things done rather than relying on her own merits, but the way things had been going the past few weeks, she was far too beyond having any fucks left to give if somepony tried obstructing her on the grounds of red tape, when it was her friends at risk.

Applejack smirked, amused at the idea of Twilight trying to be assertive with a bunch of scientists. She would certainly like to see that. But sadly, that just wasn't an option, and she was aware of it.

"A'right, Ah seriously need ta be gettin' home an' tendin' ta chores. Otherwise Big Macintosh is gonna come lookin' fer me," she stated. It was a lot of fun to talk with everyone, but the fun had to end sooner or later.

"Another ten seconds, and you could both leave together," Ulquiorra spoke up, bringing their attention back to him. "Big Macintosh is already approaching the library. He entered Ponyville not long after my arrival," he explained.

And then there was a knock at the door, perfectly illustrating his statement.

"Ah'm gonna catch such crud fer this," Applejack groaned to herself. "The door's open, Big Macintosh," she called out. Might as well face the music.

"Now how did ya-" Big Macintosh asked as he opened the door and poked his head in, but stopped when he saw Ulquiorra standing there. That answered his question as well as anything.

"Ah know, Ah know, Ah'm late," Applejack stated, cutting off whatever her brother might have to say to her.

"Actually, sis', Ah'm not here fer ya right now. Ah'm here fer another filly that's got trouble of 'er own," Big Macintosh replied as he fully opened the door and stepped inside, revealing that Scootaloo was currently resting atop his back, huddled into a little ball.

"Oh no," Spike groaned, already knowing where this was going. This was seriously getting out of hoof. "Nightmare or day terror?" he asked. He'd written up so many of these reports, he might as well get what had come to be the default form ready for submission, and save himself some time.

"Nightmare," Scootaloo whispered from where she sat, causing Big Macintosh to turn his head around and look at her. And he smiled. That smile... she couldn't explain it, but seeing it made her feel a little better. It was... warm, friendly, and even encouraging; suggestive that things were somehow not as bad as she thought they might be, and would be alright somehow.

Off to where she stood, Twilight sighed and shook her head. This was happening with far too great of a regularity, and morphing into a morbid routine that they were helpless to escape.

She watched with Applejack as, with a practiced familiarity, Spike went and retrieved the necessary writing supplies to fill out a report, and come back to take down the information that Scootaloo had to offer. And much as he had done in so many other cases before, Spike took down the offered details, before rolling up the scroll, and sending it on its way to Celestia, with so many from before.

But this time around it was different. Out of every incident Twilight had been briefed on, never had their been an account of one of them being the one to cause the supposed harm, with the sole exception being Rainbow Dash's own account of events. It was an irregularity that she couldn't readily account for. She'd have to do some more research on it... on top of everything else she had to do today.

Maybe on that list of things to do, she should add stopping in to see the counselor from Canterlot; he'd been seeing everypony else so far, trying to help them cope with what they were going through. Who was to say that sitting down for a few minutes to vent her current frustrations wouldn't do her some good? It's not like she would be the only one doing it. Even if she was, it wasn't something she should feel embarrassed about. Asking for help was just one of those things; they certainly asked Ulquiorra for help lots of times, so how would seeing the counselor be any different?

Of course she already knew that answer even before asking; Ulquiorra had a tendency to get right to the heart of the matter, as directly as possible, and then go right for disembowelment. In a way it was all quite beautiful. Frightening at times, but still beautiful. He operated not only with practiced precision, but also confidence, and a firmness of approach that...

She was getting way too carried away, lost in her thought on the matter. And she really had to try and refrain from doing that, when it came to this subject.

"Ah'm awful sorry ya went through that, Scootaloo," Applejack said as she approached where she currently perched. "But Ah know RD, Ah know she'd never do anythin' like that."

Ulquiorra himself remained silent as Applejack talked with Scootaloo. He didn't share the same evaluation of Rainbow Dash that the farmpony did, based on what he'd seen. He was reasonably certain that Rainbow Dash would indeed engage in serious bodily harm to another; primarily if she felt the recipient was deserving of such actions. He'd seen it himself when Rarity was attacked in the Carousel Boutique, and he'd experienced it himself just days ago. And based on her own words regarding Scootaloo's perceived importance, he had little reason to doubt that she would have no problem hurting anyone that chose to hurt the filly.

It was for that specific reason, he would need to explain to the others present that if they wrote Rainbow Dash back, to make absolutely no mention of what had developed over the past two days. It would present a risk that simply wasn't worth taking. The last thing they needed was another successful escape attempt on her part.

The matter pertaining to Scootaloo had unfolded about as well as Ulquiorra could expect it to.

Information was taken, discussed, cataloged, and sent onto Canterlot for further study. Words of comfort and support were exchanged. Rainbow Dash's letter to Scootaloo, and the included feather, had been given to the intended recipient, who experienced an emotional turnaround after reading it, and concluding that her fears had been unfounded.

Advisements had been issued pertaining to the release of certain information that could be deemed sensitive. And finally the Apple siblings had departed; to return Scootaloo to her family, and to eventually return to Sweet Apple Acres to get to the day-to-day matters in need of being addressed.

All in all, these ponies were starting to become more efficient in their dealings. The level of improvement they displayed was... almost respectable.

Once the Apple Siblings had departed with their young charge, that only left himself, Twilight Sparkle, and Spike behind to occupy the library.

"Okay. So... that happened," Spike stated, more for the purpose of actually saying something, rather than to direct address anyone present. "Now what?"

"I don't know just yet, Spike," Twilight replied as she mentally tried to sort through everything. When Ulquiorra had shown up earlier, she'd had an idea of how things might proceed. But now, with the report from Scootaloo, and the letters from Rainbow Dash, her sense of order had been disturbed, leaving her uncertain of how to get it sorted out again.

"Oh," Spike replied, "well until we get it sorted out, what about my training?"

Twilight tried not to wince at Spike's question. She had hoped that she could stall him, and lead him into losing interest with the notion of learning how to engage in combat. But apparently he had other ideas in mind, and wouldn't be content with just waiting for things to happen. Now she had to come up with something new, and quickly.

"Any training that may take place, will have to wait until after evaluation," Ulquiorra stated.

"Evaluation?" Spike asked as he turned to face the Espada. "Evaluation for what?"

"Did you really think that you could simply jump right into combat with both feet?" Ulquiorra asked rhetorically. But before Spike even had the chance to respond, he was already talking again. "It doesn't work that way. Before anything can be done, we have to determine just what you can do, what areas need to be addressed, where improvement can be had, and what is simply not a physical possibility. Considering your short stature, the manuals that were found in the archives, may ultimately prove useless for our purposes," he explained.

Twilight blinked, not sure of what to say. From where she stood, it sounded like Ulquiorra was actually doing her job for her. But that just left her with more questions than answers, as she didn't know what to make of it. Ultimately she just had to stand back, and watch as things unfolded, if she wanted to try and make sense of anything.

"Wait, are you saying that I might not be able to learn?" Spike asked. He didn't like the thought of that one bit.

"Learning how to do something, and being able to employ that knowledge, are two entirely different standards. Memorizing a nation's manual of arms will do little good, if you don't possess the physical capabilities to actually perform the movements yourself," Ulquiorra elaborated. He knew Spike well enough to know that he wasn't stupid; naive at times, but not stupid. But an intellect that rivaled Twilight Sparkle's would be useless, if physical execution wasn't an option.

"So what's this evaluation going to involve?" Twilight asked as she took a step forward. This was actually starting to sound like something she herself would be doing.

"A series of physical tests to measure range of motion, reaction time, response time, and identify any underlying physical conditions that might hamper his ability to move with adequate flexibility," Ulquiorra explained, giving a brief but adequate breakdown of just what the structure of this endeavor was going to consist of.

"Oh," Twilight replied and nodded. That certainly made a lot of sense. "Well, unless I'm needed for that, I'll leave Spike in your capable hands for the duration."

"Twilight?" Spike asked, confused by what she'd just said. Was she actually saying that she wasn't going to come along and get involved with what amounted to research? Was she feeling alright?

"As much as I'd like to come along and take notes, it would make far more sense for me to stay here, and see about coordinating with the scientists when they arrive. Somepony has to be present to brief them, and make sure they understand what's going on; mission-wise, and otherwise. And if Ulquiorra is going to be busy training you, that makes me the best qualified for the administrative duties that have to be tended to," Twilight explained.

Spike had to agree, that made a lot of sense to him. No fuzzy math, no in depth evaluation of why it made sense, it just did.

Truth be told, he'd almost rather Twilight wasn't there when things finally got going. Having no idea how things were going to proceed, he'd rather she not possibly get caught in the middle of something bad taking place at the most inopportune time.

"If you say so, Twilight," he replied and shrugged. As much as what Ulquiorra had in store for him didn't sound appealing, administrative duties were worse. Compared to getting stuck with that, how bad could this evaluation process really be?

"Note to self: never ask "how bad could it be" ever a-fucking-gain!" Spike mentally yelled at himself.

That bad, apparently.

When they had arrived at Sweet Apple Acres to begin the evaluation, he didn't have any clue just what he would be facing. He thought it would be some basic exercises, going by what Ulquiorra had described, maybe using a piece of wood as a stand in for a real weapon as the Espada tried to determine just how best to approach educating him about combat.

And it had been that. For about the first five or ten minutes. Everything after that, however, had been radically different. Now that Ulquiorra knew exactly what he could realistically do, he was putting that knowledge to good use; and in a way that had him running away for dear life in a desperate effort to escape before he could get hit.

And then a tennis ball hit him in the head with enough force to send him toppling to the ground as he tripped over his own feet. He landed face-first on the ground, in the dirt, a muffled curse escaping his lips as he slowly pushed himself up off the ground.

"Damnit, Ulquiorra, that hurt!" Spike yelled as he climbed back up onto his feet. "Do you really have to throw those things so hard!?"

Coming out to Sweet Apple Acres to practice had made the most sense. It provided a reasonably wide open area in which to work, with enough variance in terrain to make things both interesting and informative. But on the way out there, Ulquiorra had stated that they would be stopping at Barnyard Bargains first, where he proceeded to buy a number of tennis balls. At first Spike hadn't had a clue what their purpose was; all he'd been told was that they'd serve as training aids. He hadn't thought to question any further than that, as it would've simply slowed down his progress.

Of course what Ulquiorra had omitted during his explanation, was the part about how "training aids" in this case meant "I'm going to throw them at you, and you're to avoid getting hit by them" just as he'd left out the part about how the impact was going to hurt!

Whatever training and evaluation this was, he really didn't understand it one bit. All he knew was that he was getting tired of getting knocked down, and it was pissing him off.

"Yes," Ulquiorra replied bluntly as he reached into the shopping bag that sat at his feet, and removed another tennis ball, gripping it in his right hand. "Without pain as a consequence, there is no incentive to learn from past mistakes."

Spike's body tensed as he jerked his head to the side, successfully avoiding the incoming tennis ball that would've surely smacked him right in the face. But his momentary feeling of pride at his success, was quickly quashed by another tennis ball smacking him in the forehead, sending him falling backwards in surprise.

"Damnit!" Spike yelled as he gripped his head, kicking his legs furiously in the air. "What's this even gotta do with combat anyway!?"

"Everything," Ulquiorra replied as he picked up another tennis ball. He waited for Spike to pick himself up before continuing, casually tossing the ball up into the air, and catching it as it came back down. "Your physical build is inadequate for a stand up, face-fo-face encounter with a hostile opponent, both in terms of reach and stride. As such, you must learn to use what you actually have, rather than wishing for what you don't. There is far more to combat than trading physical blows with an enemy combatant, attempting to determine who can take more abuse before collapsing. Analyzing the weak points of an opponent's technique, forcing them to expend their resources at an accelerated rate, provoking an emotional response that clouds their ability to concentrate... they are all aspects that must be considered, when facing down an opponent," he explained as he allowed Spike the time needed to get back up onto his feet.

"And how does throwing tennis balls at me do any of that?" Spike asked, still not getting it.

"Your tendency to run in a straight line makes you an easy target. Knowing when to zig, and when to zag, are important concepts that must be learned. Otherwise you can be picked off without challenge. The fact that you've been struck so many times, simply goes to reinforce the fact that you have not yet pieced the realization together on your own, and needed it pointed out to you. Just like an ignorant child would," Ulquiorra explained, before catching the tennis ball as it came down, and hurled it at where Spike stood.

This time the throw was much faster than the others Spike had encountered, barely giving him a chance to respond. He jerked his head to the side, the tennis ball glancing off the side of his skull, rather than hitting it dead on. But while he didn't get knocked over this time, that did nothing to stop it from hurting like hell; he was pretty sure he had something like rug burn right now.

However the pain did little to distract him from the fact that he was seriously pissed off from Ulquiorra's words. Right now he really wanted to pound the Espada's face for what he'd said to him. But as much as he wanted to do that, he knew deep down that it wouldn't do any good; all he'd be doing was bruising up his knuckles, and confirming Ulquiorra's words as being valid. And he really, really didn't want to be dismissed as being nothing but a child. He was going to have to bite his tongue, and simply calm down.

And then a tennis ball hit him right in the gut, causing him to double over from the impact.

Alright. Fuck it! Now it was time for some petty revenge!

Spike stood himself up straight, taking his hands off of his stomach, and inhaled deeply, sucking in as much air as he could possibly hold, before expelling a massive wave of green fire in Ulquiorra's direction. He was going to show that he shouldn't be underestimated, and dismissed out of hoof like he was nothing more than a foal.

It was only once he actually ran out of flames to breath, that he felt the sharpened edge of a cold steel -or whatever a zanpakutō was made from- resting just under his chin from behind.

"Crude and slow," Ulquiorra stated from behind as he looked down at Spike. "I could've easily stuffed a tennis ball in your mouth during the inhalation process, and suffocated you. Just as I could've easily slit your throat during the exhalation," he pointed out. He considered emphasizing that last point, by administering a shallow cut just under the chin, to serve as a teaching aid, reasoning that the combination of pain, the sight of his own blood, and the realization of what could've happened, would serve to motivate Spike to try harder in the future. On top of which it would be no more serious than a poorly placed paper cut.

He considered each of those things, and a number of others.

And it was because of that consideration, that he ultimately chose to withdraw, and remove his zanpakutō from Spike's neck, rather than following through. He was a monster, as he'd told Sweetie Belle openly, but he wasn't the type of monster that enjoyed inflicting meaningless suffering on others. Giving Spike good reason to fear him -or at least more than he might already- wouldn't be very constructive.

There was also the simple fact that he didn't need Twilight Sparkle upset at him. That was an entirely different can of worms, that he didn't particularly want to see opened.

"Aw, what's the use?" Spike asked and groaned as he slouched, now that there was no sword at his neck. "I thought I was gonna get to learn to use a weapon and how to fight, not find out that I'm totally inadequate. How can I be a hero and help anyone, if all I can do is just run away from trouble?"

"That would depend entirely on how you define what a hero is. As best I can tell, the concept is open to individual interpretation, as concepts such as the heart, and friendship," Ulquiorra pointed out. He had yet to find any two matching definition of either of the two concepts, and he was having doubts that he ever would. If that was the case, then it was quite likely that the same applied to other complicated subjects.

"Say what now?" Spike asked. This just had to be one of those questions that only Ulquiorra could ask, intended to make you think hard about the answer, while simultaneously making you feel dumb for not being able to answer it.

"What is it that you ultimately hope to accomplish?" Ulquiorra asked bluntly, deciding to cut to the heart of the matter. "Do you intend to stand and face an opponent in battle, trading blows in an effort to determine which one of you can take the most physical abuse before one of you can no longer continue? Do you desire saving the lives of others that may be at risk? Do you want fame and recognition for your efforts and exploits? What is it that you want out of being a hero?"

"To not be useless," Spike stated without even hesitating. Boiled down as best he could get it, that was what he wanted out of all of this. Twilight and the others were always rushing off, saving Equestria from danger, while he stayed behind, and stayed out of the way. At first that was alright, seeing as they had the Elements of Harmony. But now the Element of Harmony were no longer a viable option to rely on, so he had no excuse to tell himself, for why he shouldn't be getting involved. Now everypony had to be pulling their own weight, and he was no exception. "I wanna be able to actually do something. I don't wanna be dead weight that has to rely on others, when everything's going wrong."

Ulquiorra listened as Spike talked. If there was a degree of difference between intentions that could be deemed noble, and desires based on greed, then it was incredibly thin, and very subjective. Which category Spike's desired could be placed in, he really couldn't tell right now. But then again that wasn't any of his concern. He hadn't been called to evaluate Spike's motives and morality; only to determine if Spike could be taught anything regarding combat.

"Then let's begin again. This time we'll discuss the value of diversionary tactics, compared to face-to-face confrontation, and how the results can be far more beneficial overall," he explained.

"Alright," Spike replied slowly, "but could I get cleaned up first? I think I wound up pissing myself when you had your sword at my throat..."

"This is, by far, the dumbest thing I've ever been involved in!" Corners protested as the prospect of what today was going to involve. Yesterday had been bad enough when Rainbow Dash had presented the original idea to him. But this... this just went way beyond that. Even just being an orderly, he knew that this whole endeavor was medically unsound; he'd had a lot of experience with that, so he knew how to recognize it.

"What exactly is the point of all this anyway?" he asked, hoping that the cyan pegasus would be able to shed at least some light on what her deficient brain was cooking up.

Rainbow Dash for her part, tried to ignore Corners' outburst, and keep her temper in check as she stood by the same closet door as yesterday. Although it wasn't easy, as she really wanted to pop him right now for yelling at her.

"I've been doing a lot of thinking since last night-" she started.

"I highly doubt that," Corners scoffed.

Rainbow Dash frowned at him, before deciding to simply continue talking.

"And I've come to some conclusions. If I'm going to get better, I need to get to the root of the problem. Turns out I'm not afraid of the dark, it's what happened in the dark that's got me going. I was bound and helpless in the dark during the hallucinations. I was bound and helpless in the dark at the hospital. If I'm ever gonna get better, then I need to get over what happened to me," she explained. It all made perfect sense to her, as far as she was concerned. She just needed a little help from a pony who would cooperate with what she had in mind; and that befell Corners. Even if he didn't yet realize it.

"By putting yourself in the exact same predicament? Do you even have any idea what you're saying? Do you know what you're doing? The number of things that could go wrong-"

"Blah, blah, blah," Rainbow Dash interrupted and waved her hoof dismissively. "I know what I'm doing."

"Oh do you now?" Corners asked, feeling his left eye starting to twitch in annoyance. "Let's just go over this again, so I have some idea of what you're saying, because right now I seriously think you're insane. You actually want me to shut you up inside this closet, again, while you're under the effects of a binding spell, and trapped in the submissive position, just like you were back at the hospital?" he asked, hoping that he'd misheard something she'd said, and the rehash would bring the matter to the light of day, so she could correct him.

"Pretty much," Rainbow Dash replied and nodded once.

So much for the hope that he'd heard wrong. The problem was that he'd heard right, and Rainbow Dash really was insane! And making matters all the worse was how he had likely played a part in making her insane! Fuck Thrush! Fuck his worthless, stinking corpse!

He didn't even know what that word meant, but considering how Rainbow Dash had been tossing it about, it was probably appropriate for the sentiment he had for the dead doctor.

"Do you have any idea what risk you're putting yourself in with this idea?" Corners asked, hoping to Faust that he could talk some sense into this crazy pegasus. "You're already under so much stress just by being in the dark. But adding the binding spell to it all? You could wind up vomiting in your lungs if you go through this," he pointed out.

"Then I'll just have to try and not puke then," Rainbow Dash replied, unmoved by the visual he'd just given her. This had to work, it just had to. And if she had to grab Corners, and force him to do it, then so be it!

But then she stopped. She didn't want to do that, she didn't want to become hostile towards him, simply because he was concerned about her. That just wouldn't do. Sighing, she closed her eyes, and mentally composed herself, before moving to address him again.

"Look. If this doesn't work out like I want it to, I'll do it your way. I'll see those shrinks, and talk about whatever, until they beg me to leave, or until I sprain my jaw, whichever comes first. But I need to try it my way first. I need to know if this is something that I can do, now that I have an idea of what's wrong. All I'm asking for is the opportunity to try," she stated, doing her best to sound reasonable.

Corners sighed, although he wanted to do so much more than that. This mare was utterly, hopelessly impossible to work with. Her approaches defied all medical logic, to say nothing of common sense. He would be well within what authority he had -to say nothing of basic common sense- to flat out deny her proposal then and there.

But he knew that he couldn't do that. Rainbow Dash had already impressed upon him, that if he didn't help her out, then she would find somepony else that would. And that meant finding somepony who had potentially fewer scruples than he did. In the end, he was left with little choice, as he couldn't take his case to the diarchy right at the moment. And by the time he could, it might be too late.

"Just be aware that I'm doing this, both under protest, and against medical advice," he stated. She nodded in agreement, indicating that she understood. "Before we start, though, there's something we need to take care of first," he said as his horn began to glow, before zapping her where she stood.

"What the hay!?" Rainbow Dash yelled in surprise.

"It's an anti-emetic spell. Just in case," Corners explained. At least then he'd only have to concern himself with her bones, and possibly her heart. "Alright. If we're going to do this, let's just do it and get it over with."

"Right," Rainbow Dash nodded, before opening the door to the closet, stepping inside, and turning around to face him. "Another thing. Don't tamper with the spell, alright?" she asked.

"I won't," Corners replied, it being the only thing he could really say right now. Whatever she was up to, he really didn't understand it.

Rainbow Dash closed her eyes, doing her best to steady her breath, and calm herself in preparation for what was coming. Slowly, she tucked her wings in tightly against her side, and lowered her upper body until it was laying on the ground, her forelegs pinned under her, her chin resting on the floor.

"I'm ready..." she stated.

"If you say so," Corners replied, his horn glowing as he prepared the intended spell, and then discharged it, binding her in place.

With that part done, he slowly closed the door, shutting her inside the darkness. Whatever happened now, would depend on her.

Bad idea! Bad idea! BAD FUCKING IDEA! What had she been thinking!? She knew what her limits were in the dark when she could freely move about; whatever possessed her to be put right back in this position again!? Already she was panicking, her heart beating so hard it felt like it was going to break her ribcage.

So much for trying to stay positive, and thinking about the good things that occurred in the dark.

She struggled, trying to fight against the spell she'd been placed under, trying to break free. But it was quickly proving utterly futile. As hard as she fought, she wasn't getting anywhere. It was just like back at the hospital when Thrush had decided to punish her; utterly hopeless. It actually went much worse than that, since she could move a tiny little bit, but not nearly enough for it to make any difference. She tried screaming, yelling, crying out and begging for help, anything. But none of it was working. In addition to her body being frozen in place, her voice was too. She was left at Corners' mercy now, and had to count on him to do the right thing.

She was screwed right now! She was gonna die in here!

"Get a hold of yourself, Dash!" she mentally yelled at herself, trying to talk some reason back into herself. She'd managed to calm herself down when Luna had been disguised as Rarity, the same had to apply here.

"You know what's in the closet, there's no surprises for you in the dark! And Corners is outside right now, so it's not like anypony is going to get you. So just start calming the fuck down, and focus!"

She knew that was the case. She knew that. She just needed to get a hold of herself, and stop letting herself get so excited. She'd been in this closet countless times -she'd forgotten the exact number from yesterday- and had even surveyed it with the lights on, and the door open. There was nothing lurking in the shadows, just waiting to creep out and get her at her most vulnerable; she'd even pounded on the walls just to double check that fact.

She knew all of that. But at the same time she knew that her friends hadn't abused her, but that didn't stop the memories from surfacing, and making her react.

"Focus you stupid feather brain! Focus! None of it's real! And even if it was real, you're bigger than all of this! You got yourself under control once, you surely you can do it again!" she yelled at herself. She needed to fight down her instincts that told her to panic. She needed to try and maintain some level of composure. She needed to remember why she was doing this.

"You're doing this for Scoots. You gotta get back to Ponyville for the little squirt, and look out for her. Focus on her, Dash, focus on the kid, she needs you!"

Right. That was right. She wasn't doing this because it was what she wanted, she was doing it because she needed to, because Scootaloo needed her there. Surely she could hoof down, and put up with this, all for her number one fan.

Slowly, very slowly, she could feel it starting to work. Running through the mantra of how she was safe, how nothing was going to get her here, and how she was doing this for the sake of others that were counting on her, she could feel her heart rate slowing down. She could feel her body stop being so rigid, as panic slowly started to ebb to calm reason. She could actually feel herself starting to slouch just a little.

"That's right, I got this. I got this," she told herself. One more emotional marathon down, and under her control. She had this situation well in hoof, even if she felt worn out from the adrenaline crash.

And then, in the darkness of the closet, as her eyes slowly adjusted to her surroundings, she started to chuckle to herself.

"Looks like you lose again, Thrush," she stated out loud, her words mumbled by her chin resting against the floor.

"That's what you think, you stupid little titmouse!"

Rainbow Dash froze in place. That hadn't been her voice. Nor had it been the voice in her head. But that didn't matter, since she recognized the voice all too well. That was Thrush's voice! Frantically her eyes started darting about the room, trying to find the source of it.

So much for being calm...

Straight ahead, in front of the door, Rainbow Dash watched as the translucent image Thrush slowly faded into view, being easily visible despite the darkness of the closet. And he looked every bit as sour as the last time she'd seen his ugly face.

This was all just so, so wrong!

"Well, well, well. Looks like you're back in the same position I last saw you in," Thrush stated as he smirked down at her.

Rainbow Dash growled, her struggles being renewed against the spell that was holding her in place.

"You're," she grunted as she managed to turn her head to the side, just enough to leave her mouth unobstructed. "You're supposed to be dead!"

"And you're still hung up by what you experienced. Makes one wonder which of us is the bigger loser now, doesn't it?" Thrush asked.

"Well at least I'm still alive!" Rainbow Dash shot back, her lower jaw scraping against the floor as she spoke.

"And in a pitiful state I see," Thrush replied and scoffed. "You really are pitiful and worthless, just like you were when we first me. You're nothing but a lying nag, with no sense of respect for those that have earned it. You and your bad attitude, mocking my countless years of experience with your ludicrous claims. If anything I was being nice to you. I could've done so much more to you for your insolence, and nopony would've batted an eyelash. If you hadn't fled custody when you did, you would've learned to respect my authority. And now you'll be learning how to do just that. When I'm done with you, you're-"

"Don't you ever stop talking!?" Rainbow Dash asked, loudly interrupting Thrush's tirade. She'd heard enough from him to last her a lifetime, and right now she was seriously pissed off.

Thrush watched in silence as Rainbow Dash grunted and struggled against her bindings, straining to move her hind legs even just a little, using what bit of wiggle room she had available to her, to maneuver herself to fall backwards, landing squarely on her flanks, as her back rested against the far wall of the closet.

"You're not in charge anymore. You're not making anymore decisions for anypony. I'm here, I'm alive, I'm in charge now!" she stated in between grunts of effort as she fought to move her body. "I'm nopony's nag!"

Thrush couldn't believe what he was seeing right now. Some degree of movement while under the effects of a paralysis spell was to be expected; otherwise the patient would suffocate from their chest cavity failing to expand and contract properly. But this went well beyond the acceptable range of movement a patient would experience; nopony who was paralyzed would actually be able to move their hind legs to such a degree, that they could actually push themselves into a standing position.

Regardless of such facts, however, Rainbow Dash had done just that, using the back wall for support as she pushed herself up onto her hind legs. Had Corners deliberately used a weak spell when he'd locked her in here? Or was she actually breaking the spell through sheer physical strength, and stubborn determination?

It was unlikely at best, as the amount of physical exertion to do such, should've been enough to tear apart tendons, and break bones. But she wasn't showing any such signs, as she slowly -and awkwardly- started stepping forward away from the wall.

"The thing in my head couldn't break me, and you didn't either! You didn't, and you're not going to either! I'm the decider here, ME! I'm taking my life back, and that's all there is to it!" Rainbow Dash loudly proclaimed as she now began struggling to move her upper body.

"Bold words, but you have little else. You'll break your bones before you break that spell," Thrush replied. She hadn't won yet, nor would she. If she wanted to learn that lesson the hard way, then so be it.

But she wasn't exactly learning like he thought she would. In fact what he was seeing, was about as far away from what he'd expected, as it could possibly be.

The spell that was holding her in place was starting to turn visible from the amount of strain it was being subjected to, taking on the form of a yellow crystalline chain wrapped tightly around her upper body. And some of the links were starting to shimmer a brighter shade of yellow than others as she struggled, as they pressed against various points of her body.

She was growling, snarling, baring her teeth, and trying to flex every muscle in her upper body. As far as he could tell, she looked like she was about to rupture something, and cause herself a severe physical injury.

And then he watched as she, with a mighty yell, and a physical display that violated every measure of common sense -to say nothing of basic logic- violently shattered the bindings that held her, and threw her forelegs up into the air, and deployed her wings, flaring them out as wide as they'd go, sending little bits of yellow magic in every direction.

How had that happened!?

Corners let out a yell of surprise, as a sudden burst of painful feedback radiated in his horn, and ran all the way down his spine, and through to his tail, nearly making him fall over from the jolt of pain he'd just been subjected to. What was that just now!?

"What in Tartarus are you doing in there!?" he yelled through the closet door, not knowing what else to do.

Rainbow Dash panted, sore and exhausted from the physical exertion, but overall feeling very satisfied with the results; satisfied enough that she grinned cockily at the disbelieving apparition of Thrush, whose mouth was hanging open.

"There's no way that should've been possible!" he finally managed to state. "Only a powerful unicorn could do something like that; magic and spells can't be overcome through physical strength alone, it's an impossibility!"

"Yeah?" Rainbow Dashed rhetorically as she looked at Thrush's apparition. Seeing him at a loss for answers was just making her feel all the better. "Well it looks like it just became a possibility. Now, do you wanna see what my next trick is gonna be? Or are you just gonna go ahead and blow your ghostly butt on outta here?"

Thrush frowned at this turn of developments, but ultimately kept his mouth shut, and faded out of existence, leaving her behind in the darkness of the closet, alone, but not the least bit scared. If anything she felt pretty awesome right now, overflowing with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction, to the point she felt like she was about to burst at the seams. At this point, there was only one thing that she could possibly do in response to such a sensation.

She threw her head skyward and howled her lungs out, while pounding on her chest with her hooves.

For Malar, it was shaping up to be a rather interesting day.

Generally when somepony was in need of his services, they tended to come to the infirmary, or were brought there by someone else. It was only under circumstances where the recipient couldn't be safely moved, that he actually left to administer his services. Sometimes this was due to the possible nature of injuries sustained, or those present not wishing to move the injured party and risk making things worse.

But this was the first time that Malar could recall being brought to the scene, because those in need of his services were too heavy to be lifted. That was about the only way he could actually phrase this particular set of circumstances right now.

It was no secret that the diarchy employed a recess chamber when taking short breaks from their daily court sessions. It was a -relatively- small, modestly decorated out of the way room, perfectly suited for its intended task. And it was also here that he'd been called to, at the behest -if not outright worry- of several palace guards, and Princess Celestia's own secretary. For inside the small room, on the plush sofa near the back wall, both members of the diarchy were unconscious, and showing no signs of coming out of it anytime soon.

"How long have they been like this?" he asked as he entered the room, the lights being adjusted as he did so in order to provide a better look at the details.

"I don't know," the secretary replied, feeling ready to tear out her mane out of the amount of panic she was currently feeling. "All I know is that when neither showed up for the day court to resume, we came here and found them like this. We haven't been able to wake them."

"Hmm..." Malar mumbled as he stepped closer to better examine them. Currently Princess Celestia was all curled up on the sofa, while Princess Luna laid on her back, all spread out in a haphazard mess, resting her head on her sister's back, one of her legs occasionally twitching as she snored. "Very interesting..."

"What? What's interesting?" the secretary asked quickly, ready to jump at a moment's notice.

"That I was called all the way here from the infirmary, because the diarchy is asleep," Malar replied as he turned around to face the secretary and the guards. "There's nothing wrong with them, other than being totally exhausted from the hours they've been forced to keep as of recently. If you'd like, I can write a prescription for several hours of uninterrupted rest," he stated cheekily.

"But the docket for today," the secretary protested, levitating the clipboard to emphasize the point. "There are so many scheduled petitioners left to be seen! What do we tell them? What do we tell Prince Blueblood when he demands to be seen today!?"

Prince Blueblood... ugh. Malar's experiences with the aforementioned stallion was something he didn't remember with any degree of fondness. The young prince was prone to hypochondria, and in his office more times than he cared to count. On top of constantly worrying about some imagined illness or another, he was quite rude. He understood that Blueblood was of noble blood and all... but he didn't respect him. But that really wasn't all that uncommon amongst the palace staff as best he could tell.

He considered telling the secretary that he didn't really care what she told the petitioners. But he thought better of it, and reasoned that he couldn't force the upset mare to face all of them by herself. He'd have to do something to assist.

"Well then... let's see what we can think up, shall we?"

Spike grunted as he rolled over in bed, the ache from today's combat lessons already setting in way ahead of schedule, rather than having the decency to wait until he got up in the morning.

Ulquiorra, despite his fairness to his allies, was really a difficult task master to put up with. And his body was letting him know just how much it resented what it was put through, as he tried to get some sleep.

"This is pointless," Spike grumbled as he kicked the covers off and slowly sat up in his bed. If he wasn't going to get any sleep, then he might as well get a drink. Maybe some asprin too.

He continued grumbling as he climbed off of bed, noticing how Twilight's bed was empty. That was understandable, as they didn't go to bed nearly as early as he did. They were likely downstairs, still reading away at whatever.

And then his stomach grumbled loudly, letting him know that not only was it displeases as well, but it was also empty. Maybe he'd grab a snack to go along with his water. Or maybe he'd get some water to go along with his snack.

As he climbed down the stairs, mentally cursing each accursed step he had to contend with on his way to the kitchen, he made a mental note to ask Twilight about having a fire pole put in for quicker descent purposes. And if she could enchant it to allow for ascension as well, then all the better.

As he stepped onto the ground floor, however, his thoughts became distracted by something that felt really out of place on a summer night like this. There was a certain chill just hanging in the air, almost like it was a fog, and it was enough that it actually made him shiver. It was like stepping into a walk-in freezer, but... different. There was just something about it that didn't feel right, something that was almost... ominous.

"Twilight?" Spike called out as he rubbed his arms to try and generate some friction heat for himself. The combination of the cold, the silence of the library, and the ominousness that just seemed to be hanging in the air, was all weaving a very disturbing setting to find himself in. It made the entire library feel very unwelcoming to be in, almost like he was intruding on a place that he really shouldn't be; like he knew full well that being here was wrong, and that he should leave.

"Twilight?" he called again, wondering why she wasn't answering him. Had she and Applejack fallen asleep down here? Had they stepped outside for something? What was it?

Suddenly something caught his ears; the sound of magic being flexed, and coming from the kitchen.

"Maybe they're getting a late-night snack too," he theorized. That made about as much sense as anything right now. Maybe they could figure everything out over some chilled gemstones. "Hey Twi', did you hear me calling..." he asked as he stepped into the kitchen, but stopped talking at what he saw.

Twilight was definitely in the kitchen, but she wasn't alone. And that definitely wasn't Applejack she was standing next to. It was a stallion, easily as tall as Big Mactinosh, but far more dark and foreboding to be facing.

Standing before Twilight was none other than Sombra himself, a wretched sneer on his face, with his horn glowing brightly, as trails of his dark magic flickered unstably into Twilight's horn, as she just stood there dumbly, a blank look across her face.

How Sombra had survived being blown apart at the Crystal Empire was what immediately came to Spike's mind. How he'd managed to track them down to Ponyville was immediately after that. But those and countless other questions all took a back seat to the simple fact that Sombra was currently present, and hurting Twilight. The mare who served as his best friend, his sister, and even his mother, was currently in danger. Without even thinking about what he should do, he did the only thing that came to his mind.

"Leave her ALONE!"

The next thing he consciously remembered was his right fist connecting with Sombra's jaw, with enough force to send him flying across the kitchen, and crashing into the far wall.

Spike became more aware of his surroundings, and the fact that he was now a lot taller -at least as tall as Ulquiorra was- and a lot more muscular than he had been just a few seconds ago. He didn't have a clue how he'd grown, only that he had, in response to Twilight being in danger.

Twilight! He'd nearly forgotten about her in the midst of everything that had developed. Instantly he knelt down next to where she laid on the kitchen floor in a crumpled heap, unmoving.

"Twilight! Hey, Twilight, come on, wake up!" he yelled as he shrugged her vigorously, trying to get any sort of reaction out of her. But regardless of how much he tried, she refused to wake up from whatever she was in. He didn't know anything about dark magic, but he knew this had to be very bad; as if anything else could possibly come from dark magic.

His ears twitched at the sound of a deep groaning could be heard. Looking up from Twilight, he saw that Sombra was picking himself up off the floor. Immediately he grabbed the cast iron frying pan from the stove and hurled it at Sombra's head, but wound up missing him entirely. Oh well, right now there were bigger fish to fry; so to speak.

"What'd you do to Twilight?!" Spike roared angrily as he crouched over Twilight's prone form. If Sombra wanted her, then he'd have to go through him first, and he wasn't going to make it easy either.

Unfortunately for him, Sombra seemed to have the very same idea, and no objections to doing just that, as his horn started glowing again.

"Oh shit," Spike groaned. This was going to suck.

A blast of unstable dark magic, a swirling mix of green and purple, about the size of a hoofball, and crackling with lightning, was hurled in his direction faster than he could think of reacting to it. On instinct he reared up and reached out with both hands to try and grab the incoming blast to avoid excessive damage. His palms burnt horribly from the impact of the unnatural energy against his skin, his thick hide serving as no protection against the searing pain.

Even worse than the pain was the fact that he was being overpowered by the dark magic blast, and it was actually pushing him back across the floor, forcing him out of the kitchen, and into the library, and he couldn't do anything about it.

Resist! He had to try and resist the force of Sombra's magic, Twilight was counting on him, even if she didn't realize it herself. Immediately he dug his claws into the floor and slammed his tail against the ground, putting up as much opposition as he could, until he finally managed to grind himself to a halt, and overcome the push behind the blast.

"Is," Spike grunted as he tried to straighten himself up, "is that all you got!?" he asked as Sombra stood in the doorway.

Sombra just glared back and flashed a toothy, maniacal grin in response as he watched Spike struggling to control something he had no hope of ever controlling.

Spike didn't know how it had happened -whether it was due to the intensity of the blast decreasing, or his own strength increasing- but the next thing he knew, he'd managed to grip the blast in his hands, pull it back over his head, and hurled it right back at Sombra, causing it to violently explode right in his ugly face!

"Grin that one off, fucker," Spike panted, "I dare you..."

But as the smoke from the explosion cleared, Spike began to reconsider his words, as Sombra didn't look particularly hurt; if anything he looked more pissed than anything.

"What'd you do to Twilight!?" Spike roared again, demanding to know. "Tell me right now, or I'll kill you!"

"You're too weak..." Sombra growled from behind his sickening sneer of a grin, oozing confidence like it was sweat.

Again, Spike grew in size. That was the only thing that made sense of the fact that he'd managed to not only grab Sombra, but also pull him into a one-armed bear hug, before using his other hand to grab him under his chin, and violently twist his head around to snap his neck with a sickening crunch of bone.

"Tell me!" Spike roared angrily in Sombra's face as he held him aloft in one claw, his useless hooves dangling far off the ground.

And yet all through it, that grin on his face never left. It was the kind of grin somepony wore when they had everything going for them, and nothing was going to change that fact. That look, that sheer level of arrogance, infuriated Spike in ways that he couldn't even hope to express through words, only actions.

If he wasn't going to talk, then he was going to die.

Reaching down, Spike rammed his fist through the floor, and tore out a jagged chunk of floor board, and proceeded to ram it right through Sombra's chest, shattering his ribcage, and piercing his heart in the process as he pinned him to the wall.

Spike grinned at seeing the arrogance practically melting off of Sombra's face at this turn of developments. That had been so satisfying.

But then the satisfaction quickly faded, as all sorts of blackness was literally spilling off of Sombra's body, and falling to the floor to reveal what was underneath; or rather who was underneath. Sombra's visage was gone, and the only left behind was the limp body of Twilight impaled through to the wall.

"No..." Spike breathed is disbelief as he collapsed to his knees. How had this happened? He thought he killed Sombra, not Twilight. How had this happened!?

And then he looked around the rest of the room, and discovered the same fate had befallen all of the others as well. Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Applejack, the Crusaders... they were all pinned to the walls of the library. All of them in the same brutal manner as Twilight. All by his hands!

"NO!"

Applejack and Twilight both jumped out of bed and fell to the floor, startled wide awake by the sudden screaming that had torn through what started out as such a promising restful night for each of them. Twilight landed on her stomach with a thud, while Applejack had managed to hit the nightstand with enough force to tip the lantern over, and promptly extinguish the flame that served as their only source of light.

"Wha' in hell is goin' on!?" Applejack asked as she frantically tried to feel around and find the lantern in order to get it lit again.

"I don't know!" Twilight answered back as she pushed herself up, casting an illumination spell to bathe the entire room in a lavender light emanating from her horn.

What was going on, they quickly determined, was Spike screaming at the top of his lungs as he sat straight up in his basket, his complexion unhealthily pale, and his eyes painfully wide with terror.

"Spike!" Twilight called as she quickly crossed the small distance between them, and threw her forelegs around him, holding onto him for dear life. Whatever had scared him, it was enough to cause his whole body to go stiff like a board.

Applejack didn't need Twilight to tell her how bad this situation was; not with what she'd seen earlier in the day. Whatever it was that had enough brass to its cojones, to attack Fluttershy not only in broad daylight, but also in the very occupied marketplace -and right in the presence of Ulquiorra- had most likely just been here in the library with them! And if that was truly the case, then there was nowhere in all of Ponyville that was going to be safe for them to hide. This thing could find them wherever they might hide, and could get them without anypony ever noticing that it was there.

It wasn't a phrase she was all that fond of tossing about, but right now, under these circumstances, she felt it was pretty safe -and fitting- to say that they were fucked.

"Here. Drink this," Twilight said as she stepped out of the kitchen, and levitated a glass over to Spike as he sat on the library's sofa next to Applejack.

Getting Spike to calm down had been difficult. All of her experience in dealing with his nightmares in the past had really been put to the test this time around, and even though her grade had been passing, it was still pretty dismal as far as she was concerned. But right now her main concern wasn't how well she scored on some intangible test. Rather her concern was Spike and his well being.

Getting him to calm down had been difficult, but doable. It had taken a lot of effort -and help from Applejack, for which she was infinitely grateful- but they had eventually gotten him to where he could talk in coherent sentences; or at least more coherent than what Fluttershy had managed to deliver yesterday. That small fact left Twilight hopeful that maybe, just maybe, the situation wasn't quite as bad as it could've been.

"... What's this?" Spike asked as he looked at the glass, and the red liquid inside of it. He didn't recognize this from the fridge, but there was a smell to it that was certainly familiar.

"Remember the last time Rarity asked about spells to refine rough gems? Well when I was looking through the various geological-based spells the library has to offer, I came across one that allows for liquefaction of stone. Or at least... partial liquefaction. I'm afraid that I haven't learned how properly to apply the process to corundum yet," Twilight replied as Spike tried to swirl the contents of the glass.

"Wait, so you made me a glass of ruby juice?" Spike asked, caught by surprise by the very idea, with curiosity quickly taking over.

"Well technically I'd say it's more of a ruby syrup, considering how viscous it currently is. But it was the best I could do until I get some actual practice in," Twilight explained.

Technical explanation aside, Spike still appreciated the gesture on Twilight's part, even if he preferred sapphires for frazzled nerves.

Taking a sip of the concoction, he noted that it was definitely thick like the syrup they used for breakfast but without being as sticky, so it didn't cling to the sides of the glass. As far as taste went, it was kind of weak compared to when he'd bite into a solid ruby, but that was probably to be expected since it was so much thinner than a solid ruby. But weak or not, it did taste pretty good right now.

"Thanks, Twilight," Spike replied, before downing the rest of the glass in one gulp.

"Ya feelin' better now, Spike?" Applejack asked as she rested a hoof on his shoulder for comfort.

"Well... better than when I first woke up..." Spike replied as he moved to take another drink, only to realize he'd already emptied the glass.

"So can you tell us what happened?" Twilight asked, before levitating the now empty glass out of Spike's hands, and sending it back into the kitchen.

"A nightmare. A really bad nightmare," Spike replied, shuddering as he remembered the details. "The thing is, I don't know if it was mine... or if it's like what everypony else has been experiencing. How do you... how do you know the difference?" he asked.

"I don't know," Twilight replied and shook her head. That was one of the problems they'd been facing since the beginning of discovering just how wide this epidemic was. Hallucinations were one thing, but nightmares were an entirely different area that none of them were qualified to address. "Can you tell us what happened?"

"Do I have to? You... you might not like what you hear," Spike replied nervously. The notion of explaining to Twilight and Applejack that he'd dreamed about them being killed wasn't sounding very promising to him right now; especially considering the fact that he'd been the one who had killed them without even realizing it. "I don't want you to be mad and yelling at me..."

"What?!" Twilight squawked, caught off guard, and simultaneously taken by surprise, by Spike's statement. "Spike, what... what would make you think that I'd ever yell at you for something like a nightmare? Especially under these circumstances?" she asked. The last thing she needed Spike thinking right now, was that he couldn't turn to her during a time of need. And if this thing, whatever it was, was trying to break them apart, then she was going to put an end to it right here, right now.

"Because we don't know if this was a regular nightmare or not. And if it's my own, and not the same as what's been going on around town, that means everything that happened was... was all me..." Spike explained as he slouched back against the couch, horrified by that very idea. If it was his nightmare, and not another -seemingly- random attack, what did that say about him?

Twilight's heart ached at Spike's words, and the notion that he was afraid of her because of what his dream had involved. And it just made her wonder all the more as to what he'd seen, that could possibly make him think such a thing.

But before she could say a word about how there was no way she would yell at him, regardless of what he might've dreamed, Applejack had moved first by sitting upright, and wrapping her arms around Spike to pull him into a hug on her lap.

"Now listen here, Spike," she stated firmly, but without hostility, "There ain't gonna be no yellin' goin' on here. If there is, Ah'll be kickin' whoever does it. So if ya got somethin' ta say, don' be afraid ta say it."

That certainly wasn't what Twilight had in mind for putting Spike's concerns to rest. But regardless of that fact, or just how unusual Applejack's approach was, it looked like Spike was calming down, and relaxing as he sat comfortably on her lap. All she could do was theorize that it had something to do with taking care of Apple Bloom.

"Alright," Spike mumbled and breathed, trying to steady his nerves, and weigh not just what he wanted to say, but what needed to be said. "Sombra was here. He was actually in the library with us. He... he was doing... something... to Twilight. I tried to stop him, I really tried, but... but I couldn't do anything. I think I... might've actually made it worse. I tried to kill him, but I..."

Spike stopped talking, unable to say out loud that he had been the one that killed Twilight and the others. That was something he didn't want to admit to at all.

Twilight remained silent as she tried to think of what to say to Spike about his nightmare. But so far she was coming up blank when it came to words of comfort. All she really knew for certain, was that trying to assure Spike that Sombra was already dead, and not coming back for them, wasn't going to do the trick; not as upset as he was about it.

Hugging him, and holding him close, also weren't exactly possibilities, considering the current position with Applejack. But she wasn't about to try and take him back. She really didn't know what to do.

And then there was a loud, frantic pounding at the library's front door that startled each of them.

"Oh what now!?" Twilight asked, not believing the way things were unfolding. This was all getting to be too much for her. "Applejack, stay with Spike, I'll be right back," she stated, her tone doing plenty to convey just how agitated she currently felt.

"But what if it's Sombra at the door?" Spike asked, terrified by the very idea. "What if he found a way to come back from the dead, and he wants revenge for what we did to him at the Crystal Empire?"

"Then he'll be wearing my hoof prints on his butt," Twilight replied as she made her way to the front door, undid the bolt, gripped the knob in her magic, and flung the door wide open.

But as she did, she had to confront the fact that she wasn't prepared for what she actually saw behind the door.

There were a number of different things she had expected to encounter. But a very frazzled looking Zecora, with her mohawk heavily mussed, and her bamboo staff hastily strapped across her back with a length of rope, had definite not been among them.

"Z... Zecora?" Twilight asked, uncertain of just what this development meant. She couldn't remember ever seeing Zecora scared before; that idea just struck her at utterly ridiculous, considering how she lived in the Everfree Forest without the slightest bit of worry. What could possibly scare her?

The next thing Twilight knew, without so much as a single word of warning with regard to intent, Zecora pounced on her, throwing both of her forelegs around her neck, and hugging her for dear life as she was pinned helplessly to the floor.

Applejack had craned her neck around to see what had been going on, and could only blink at seeing Zecora's less than composed entrance, simply because the mare had always been so composed whenever they'd met.

"Spike..." Applejack said slowly as she turned back around to face him, who was currently doing his best to observe the scene with Twilight and Zecora. "Ya wanna write the Princess about this while Ah go an' get the guest bed outta the basement? Ah've got the feelin' tha' we might be needin' it at this rate."

"Yeah. That might be a good idea," Spike agreed as he climbed off of Applejack's lap. He'd much rather be addressing this matter -or any matter actually- than the matter of his own nightmare, and what they could possibly mean.

Once off the couch, he scurried over to the writing desk where Twilight did most of her note work, and quickly scratched out a brief message to give Luna an idea of what was going on.

Dear Princess Luna,

Normally this would be going to Celestia, but considering the late hour, you're the better candidate.

We don't know yet, but whatever is happening to Ponyville, it looks like it's spreading outward into the Everfree Forest. Just a minute ago, Zecora nearly broke down our front door, and now won't quit hugging Twilight.

Please come quickly!

Signed,
Spike

Short, simple, and very straight to the point. With that tended to, he quickly rolled up the scroll, and ignited it to send it along its journey.

Other than helping Applejack get the bed ready, or possibly seeing to Twilight, that was the extent of his usefulness to them right now.

"Uh... Spike? Ya mind lendin' a hoof? Ah can't find the basement door..."

Spike slapped his own forehead in realization of that fact. Because of all the magic in place, the basement door would change its appearance when closed, to be indistinguishable from the wall it was surrounded by, serving as a security measure to prevent access to the more sensitive artifacts housed within the library. It only made sense that Applejack would have trouble finding it.

"Sure, one second. Just let me get the key first so I can unlock it. Otherwise finding it won't do a bit of good," he replied, thankful that Twilight had possessed the foresight to render him a way of gaining access should she ever be indisposed. This would only be the second, or maybe the third time, that he'd ever needed to even think about using his key to get in, since they'd arrived in Ponyville.

Now... where had he put that thing again?