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Chapter 5898 words
Chapter 61,540 words

Chapter 2

Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy and Ditzy Doo watched silently as the pony woke up. She stood up unsteadily and asked, "Where am I?"

Now that the pony was awake and standing, Twilight finally got a good look at her. Her eyes were light red-orange, and her cutie mark was a red gem surrounded by sparkles. Her mane was so messy that Rarity would have fainted on sight of it- it looked like the mare hadn't brushed her hair in weeks.

There was an awkward silence for a moment, then Twilight broke it. "Hi, I'm Twilight Sparkle. These are my friends Fluttershy and Ditzy Doo. We found you unconscious and hurt, so we brought you here, to my house."

The mare glanced around. "This is your house, where you live? It looks like a library."

"Actually, it is a library," Twilight said. "But I live in it, and I have a bedroom upstairs. Anyway, enough chit-chat. What's your name?"

"I'm Lavender Dazzle. Nice to meet you."

Ditzy Doo broke in, "Do you remember how you got into that alley?"

Lavender Dazzle looked confused. "What alley? I don't remember any alley. I just remember-" Suddenly she broke off mid-sentence. Her eyes clouded for just a moment, then cleared. "What was I saying?"

"Did you get in an accident? Did somepony beat you up? How did you get hurt?" Ditzy prodded.

"I don't know," Lavender said. "My horn hurts. Is it..." She waved her hoof in front of her messy bangs. The hoof passed through empty space. The mare froze, tentatively prodding her forehead. The base of her horn was barely noticeable through her tangled hair, but it was enough. "MY HORN!!!" Lavender yelled. Her legs buckled, and she fell to the floor sobbing.

Twilight and Ditzy exchanged glances. Twilight felt for the mare- she had had a similar reaction when Discord took her horn- but she was unsure how to comfort ponies. Ditzy had similar qualms; she had two daughters at home and was an expert on consoling crying fillies, but when it came to crying adult mares, she was clueless.

Surprisingly, Fluttershy came to the rescue. She gently laid her wing over the crying mare's shoulders and whispered, "Hush now. Quiet now. It's okay." As Twilight and Ditzy backed out of the room, deciding that it was best to give Fluttershy some alone time with Lavender, she continued, "You're safe. It's okay to cry. Just let it all out."

Later, Fluttershy returned from Lavender's room, reporting that the mare was asleep. When asked how she knew what to do, she simply replied, "It's just what I do. And Twilight, um, I think I should stay here tonight. If you don't mind."

"Don't you need to feed your animals and take care of them?" Twilight asked, concerned.

"Oh, no. Angel Bunny knows how to take care of them. I taught him how in case anything like this ever happened," Fluttershy replied happily. Twilight secretly doubted that Angel would take care of any animals, but if Fluttershy thought he would...

"Well, I will have to go," said Ditzy Doo. "I have mail to deliver tomorrow, and Sparkler can't take care of Dinky all the time. I'll probably be back tomorrow. Bye!" The gray pegasus flew out the door before Twilight or Fluttershy could get a single word in.

"Um, Twilight, where should I sleep?" asked Fluttershy. "I mean, if you still think that's okay. I could just go home, if you'd like."

"Here, I'll set up another bed in my room, like I did when I had a slumber party," Twilight responded, already levitating blankets out of a closet. Turning to Fluttershy, she continued, "I need you here, Fluttershy, because you know first-hoof how to treat sick and injured creatures, and how to help ponies. I don't know how to do that. I need your help."

"Oh, okay Twilight. If that's what you want," Fluttershy said, gliding up the stairs onto her bed. "By the way, Twilight, where's Spike? Maybe you should send a letter to... Princess... Celestia..." Fluttershy yawned.

"Oh, he's at Rarity's. She wanted someone to help her with something, and you know how he is about her. He's probably going to sleep there and come back tomorrow morning." Twilight heard no response, so she trotted to Fluttershy's bedside. Fluttershy was already asleep, her pink mane blowing slightly as she breathed. Twilight smiled to herself and decided to go check on Lavender Dazzle.

She trotted down the stairs, stepping lightly and quietly, and stuck her head around the side of a bookcase' giving herself a clear view of the sleeping mare. Lavender was completely still, but a pale red glow began to manifest around her forehead. Twilight's spirits soared with relief. The unicorn had retained her magic! But why would she be using magic in her sleep? As she watched, the same red glow surrounded a small decorative vase full of gems. What was Lavender doing?

"Goodnight, Lavender!" Twilight whispered loudly. Lavender flinched, and the red glow instantly imploded. The horn-less unicorn glanced up at Twilight. Fear flickered in her eyes for just a second, then it was quickly hidden.

"Night, Twilight! Thanks for letting me stay in your house... library... place," the unicorn whispered hoarsely.

"No problem! See you tomorrow!" Twilight teleported back up to her room and got in bed, but she was too concerned about what she had seen to sleep. While it was good that Lavender had recovered her magic, what had she been doing?

She couldn't have been trying to steal from Twilight... could she?

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