//------------------------------//
// Chapter VII: Home Leave 
// Story: Nightmare Team: New Blade 
// by Ser_Galahad 
//------------------------------//

Twilight slept through the vast majority of the long train ride back to Canterlot. After the long night the sleep was vary much welcome, even if it did leave her with a kink in her neck from sleeping in a sitting position. Thankfully the train car she was in seemed to stay pretty empty and her cloak had done what it was meant to do. No one had bothered her the entire trip. Thinking the activation phrase in her head Twilight reappeared just as the train was pulling into Canterlot Central Station. When the train finally pulled to a stop she disembarked and walked out of the station. Checking the clock on the outside of the station Twilight saw that it was close to 1100 hours.
The normal way that Twilight would use to get to her parents house went through the market district. Twilight didn't particularly want that direction so she took the much longer rout around the outskirts of town. It took considerably longer but it mean that she was able to avoid the devastation in the market district. In total it took about an hour to walk from the train station back to her childhood home.
When she got there, she walked up to the entrance and knocked twice on the door crisply. She heard a shuffle of movement inside before the door opened.
"Oh Twilight honey! It's so nice to see you. Come in, come in," the light gray unicorn mare said with a sparkle in her eye. Stepping back the mare opened the door.
Anypony would have been able to tell that Twilight Velvet was Twilight Sparkle's mother even without the need to hear the similar names. They shared the same manecut, the same facial features, and the same mannerisms. The only difference was the coat color, the strip in her mane was white instead of pink, and the fact that Velvet was close to twenty years older then her daughter. 
Stepping through the entrance way Twilight hugged her mother.
"Hey mom. It's good to see you too. Is dad home or did he go into the lab today?"
Velvet returned the hug before answering.
"Oh yes, your father is in the kitchen getting lunch ready. You came on a good day too. Shining is coming over for lunch today too." Velvet broke into a wide grin. "Oh how wonderful! both my children over for lunch, just like when you were little."
Velvet led Twilight back through the house to the kitchen where a light blue unicorn with a darker blue mane stood at the counter cutting up cucumbers for sandwiches.
"Nightlight dear, look who I found! You'll need to make another cucumber and daisy sandwich for your daughter," Velvet announced.
Nightlight looked up from his task and set the knife down and made his way around the counter to where the two mares stood. He wrapped his daughter in a hug like Velvet had done earlier.
"How's my little Twily doing?" he asked.
After being release from the hug Twilight replied, "I'm doing great! I'm sure Shining told you that I got my first assignment."
He nodded, "He sure did, but he didn't tell us anything about it though. I'm guessing though that you are with the Lunar Guard if the outfit is anything to judge by. Want to let your mother and me in on what your going to be doing?"
"I'll let you all know when Shining gets here so I don't need to repeat anything," Twilight replied. "Do you need any help with getting lunch together?"
Velvet steeped forward and put a hand on Twilight's shoulder, "Oh no dear your father and I have it well in hand. You just get an appetite. There should be some time until your brother arrives if you want to wash up dear. You haven't been away so long that you've forgotten where the bathroom is have you dear?" A playful twinkle evident in the edge of Velvet's eye.
"Oh, yes mother. Har har. Unless you've remolded since I went of to school I think I can find a bathroom in the house I grew up in." Twilight snarked back, a mirthful grin growing on her face as she made her way to the kitchen door.
Twilight walked up the stairs that led to the second floor where she had spent her childhood growing up. Her parents still hadn't patched the dent in the wall from where Shinning had ran into it while 'trying to rescue the princess' when they were playing as foals. She made her way down the hallway toward the bathroom. Twilight only got about half-way down the hall before she stopped at the first door.
The door was painted with a tone of lavender that had was significantly lighter now then it had been when it was first painted. Stars in the shape of Twilight's personal crest were centered on the door, also starting to fade with time. Turning the brass knob Twilight gave the door a light push. The door swung open silently showing that the hinges at least had aged better then the old paint. Twilight strolled into her old room and looked around.
Unlike what Velvet had threatened, she had apparently not turned Twilight's old room into a sewing parlor. Twilight also suspected that, were she to peek into Shining's room, she would fail to find the gym equipment that her father had talked about putting into his room when he moved out. The room was just like she had left it when she had moved out five years ago to join Princess Celestia in Canterlot Castle. Twilight scanned the room stopping every now and then on an item of interest. Before she knew it she was preparing a mental list of the items that she would need to pack to take with her to Home Castle. The majority of her personal belongings were still here as she had left them behind when joining Celestia's School for the Gifted. While she was the princess's personal student, that didn't change the fact that life at a millitary school meant a life of spartan possessions. 
Well my book collection of course, I cant leave that. Some pictures perhaps?
Twilight continued to ponder what of her possessions she should take back with her to Home Castle for a few minutes before she heard. The door downstairs open and the sound of her mother made it's way up to the second floor. Twilight then remembered what she had originally came up stairs for. She hurried to the bathroom and washed her hands before heading back downstairs.
The first pony she found was her father. 
"You were up there for some time. Thought you said you wouldn't get lost?" he asked with a smirk and a good natured elbowing. 
With a dramatic roll of her eyes Twilight replied, "Ya ya I know. I was in my room and remembered how much of my personal stuff is still taking up space."
"Oh don't worry about it sweetie. It's not that big a deal for us to hold onto some stuff till you get a place of your own. We should get out to the living room. It sounds like your brother is here." her father said as he picked up a tray full of delicious looking sandwiches.
Twilight followed her father out into the living. As Nightlight had predicted Shining Armor was there talking with Velvet. Shining was dressed in the his light golden yellow Day Guard dress uniform, and his shoes were neatly polished. Their conversation ended as Twilight and Nightlight joined them in the living room. At first Shining's eyes snapped to the sandwiches. His face lit up and he started to salivate like he had been stranded for years on an island with nothing to eat.
Twilight rolled her eyes again at the display he put on at the sight of home made food.
Brothers. Brothers never change.
It took a few seconds for Shining's staring contest with the food to end, but when it finally did he noticed that he was not the only sibling that came for lunch.
"Twily! Your home! I thought you were shipping out for assignment?" he asked moving in for a quick hug.
She returned the hug before admonishing her brother for calling her "Twily" again.
"I actually already have my assignment, but there is a little time before I can start my formal training for the unit so I was given a bit of leave." Twilight continued.
"Oh that's right now that your brother is here you can finally tell us what it is you will be doing." Velvet said turning to look at her daughter.
"Yep I got assigned to the Lunar Guard," Twilight said with a bit of pride.
"We can see that," Shining said.
Shining looked her up and down taking in her new Lunar Guard uniform. His eyes seemed to catch twice during his inspection. First on the alternate patch that was on her right shoulder. The second time was when he took in the cloak. His eyes squinted at it for a second or so, but he made no comment about it at the time.
"I think our uniforms still look better but to each their own I guess," Shining said with a sly smile and joking shrug.
gesturing to the sitting area. 
"At least we don't look like a unit of walking lemons," Twilight stuck her tongue out at her brother playfully.
"No, you just like one of those new televisions with poor reception," Shining countered with his own joking grin.
"Now you two, stop teasing each other like you were foals again. Let's sit and enjoy the food your father made," their mother interjected, gesturing to the table in the middle of the room.
They all took a seat around the living room table and Nightlight placed the tray of sandwiches on the table. Shining grabbed a sandwich faster then Twilight could blink. He took a quick bite and swallowed before he turned back to Twilight
"So I assume by the crest  you took the position with Midnight? Or I guess Captain Hunter as you would know him." Shining asked before he took a second large bite.
Taking her own sandwich, Twilight answered, "Yeah. I got a pretty convincing pitch on why I should join."
Nightlight looked between his children. "Wait a second. Shining, did you know what assignment Twilight got and not tell us?" 
Turning to face his daughter he continued, "And are you going to finally clue your mother and me in on what it is you're going to be doing?"
"Sorry I didn't let you guys know, but I don't even really know what she is doing. I just know her CO from when we served together in the Griffon War." Shining said with an apologetic look at his parents.
They all turned to face Twilight now with expectant looks. She wasn't sure exactly what to tell them. She had promised not to tell even her brother about what the unit really does, but she also didn't want to have to maintain a lie with her family. The conflict on what to do about had been eating at her insides for a bit now. Ultimately, Twilight had decided to go with a half truth.
"I work with a team that collects information on possible threats so that they can be acted on if the threat is credible." Twilight answered.
Technically, that was correct. She did work with the unit that collected the information, she just left out the part about what part of the unit she was on.
Shining cast a glance at her, but this seemed to appease her parents as they smiled. Her mother even sighed with relief as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders.
"I'm glad to hear that you are in a back lines job where you can use that brain of yours. We were so worried about Shining when he was in combat. You can't believe how glad your father and I are that you won't be getting shot at constantly." Velvet said patting her daughter on the hand.
Twilight tired not to let her nervousness show, but she couldn't stop her hand from moving up and scratching the back of her head.
"Yeah, I'm sure you two must be relieved to hear that." A nervous laughter escaped Twilight's mouth, but her parents didn't seem to catch it.
The conversation continued for a while between the family. A few easier questions to answer like, had she gotten to know any other ponies in the unit yet, and where she was going to live. Twilight told them that the base had its own quarters for members of the unit, and that she had also come to pick up some important personal items to take back with her.
Eventually, they all finished their meals. Nightlight and Velvet took all the dishes back to the kitchen. The told Twilight that she should go pack what she was going to take so that she could take it back with her on the train. Shining Armor also offered to help her pack as well. Twilight and Shining made their way upstairs and back to Twilight's childhood room. 
For a bit they worked mostly in silence. Twilight would select an item that she wanted and would hand it to her brother to pack in a box. Finally, Shining broke the reprieve.
"So what are you really doing with Midnight?" he asked.
Twilight was caught by surprise so much that she dropped her stuffed animal, Smartypants, as she was considering packing him. He ended up falling into the box so that settled that debate. Now to deal with her brother.
"Uhmm...What do you mean 'really doing'? I told you already," she asked trying to sound calm.
"You can cut the crap with me Twilight." Shining didn't sound angry, just serious. "I'll start with the cloak."
"What about my cloak. It was just a gift that I received when I joined the unit." Twilight said defensively.
Shinning crossed his arms. "I've see those kinds of cloaks three separate times. First was when I caught a master theif when I just joined the guard. The second was a hunter/kill team that the griffons sent after my unit back during the war. Lastly was Capt. Nightshade. It's a shadow cloak. I've seen them in action, I know what they do."
"So, it was a nice gift." Twilight tried to deflect weakly. 
Shinning continued, "I'll move on to the unit crest. I've had to work with a lot of the intel guys from the LG, and none of them have a special unit crest. You also share the crest with Hunter. Now that Nightshade has passed, Hunter is the most exceptional combat operators I have ever known."
"But he told you he was intel as well and you believed him. Why can't I have the same crest and still be an intelligence operator as well?" Twilight asked trying to out logic her brother.
He wasn't having any of it. 
"I never for a second believed him. I just knew that pushing it would be a good way to ruin a friendship. But he isn't my little sister. So will tell me what you are doing."
Twilight sighed. She knew when she was beaten, but she shook her head anyways.
"I can't. I made a promise to Princess Luna not to tell even you what it is we do. We have to stay off the radar. Secrecy is mission critical for us."
Shining just looked at her for a while with his arms crossed. Eventually, he relented.
"Ok, if it is so important I won't push it with you either. I want you to know that if you ever need to, you can come to me for help. Let Hunter know the same goes for him,  even if he is a stubborn ass when it comes to accepting help."
Twilight nodded in assurance.
"I promise that I will tell you if I need anything."
He stepped closer to Twilight and wrapped her in a hug.
"Just please be careful. I was in combat remember, I know what it can do to you."
With that done the siblings went back to the task of packing. It mostly consisted of a lot of books, a few pieces of small furniture like lamps or an alarm clock, some personal decorations like movie and book posters, a few records of her favorite music, and some pictures of family. All of it was neatly packed into three boxes labeled with her name and destination so that they wouldn't get lost in transit by the baggage team at the train station. With that done Twilight and Shining made their way back down with the boxes trailing behind them, wrapped in Twilight's levitation spell. 
Their parents walked out from the kitchen. Velvet had a letter in her hand. It was Nightlight that spoke first however.
"A royal messenger came by while you two were upstairs and he brought a letter for Twilight." He said as his wife handed the parchment to Twilight.
Twilight wasn't sure how Princess Celestia could have known that she was in town, but clearly she did. The fact that she had a royal letter, delivered by a royal messenger could only have been from her.
Twilight unrolled the scroll and read what it had to say.
My faithful student,
I am aware that you are back in Canterlot already. I am glad that you are because I have some information that I would like to talk to you about. I know that my sister has offered you a position on her special team and I would like to talk to you about it.
-Princess Celestia
The fact that Princess Celestia knew about the team didn't surprise Twilight as much as she thought it would have. Perhaps it was just because the princess always seemed to know everything. That and it was also very possible that Princess Luna just simply kept her sister informed.
She finished reading the letter and rolled it back up. She saw that her family were all looking at her expectantly.
"It's nothing important. The princess found out I was in town and  just wants me to come by the castle so that we can talk," Twilight informed the three looking at her.
"That's sweet of her to still care about you even after your graduation from her school." Velvet said with a smile. "You should go see her."
"I actually need to get back to the garrison as well. I can walk you to the castle on my way," Shinning added.
"What about my stuff? It might not be a good idea to just show up at Princess Celestia's wing with boxes of stuff following about behind me," Twilight wondered.
"Oh don't worry about that honey. Your father and I can get them to the train station for you while you go to the castle," Velvet said.
"Yep, I know one of the luggage stallions. I can get them to hold your stuff till you get there and get a train," Nightlight added trying to reassure his daughter.
Twilight considered this for a bit. It would be a good Idea to talk to the princess. Especially about this whole Valkyrie situation. Having her stuff dropped off at the station for her also meant that she could go to the hospital and potentially see that little colt if he was still there.
"Alright, you've convinced me. Are you sure it's no trouble?" Twilight asked her parents.
"Not at all Twilight. Despite how old he looks, your dad can still manage a levitation spell with out any troubles," Twilight's father joked.
"Well then I guess we better get going BBBF" Twilight said looking to her brother.
Shaking his head at the use of the old childhood acronym, he indicated for Twilight to lead the way.
Twilight said her goodbyes to her parents before she stepped out of the front door. Again Twilight was confronted by the problem of having the market district between her and her destination. She started off in the direction of the long way around but was stopped by her brother putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Where are you going? You know full well that the way to the castle is this way." He gestured in the direction of the market. "You aren't trying to avoid it are you?" he asked with a concerned look crossing his face.
Twilight looked a little sheepishly back at her brother.
"Possibly, I'm just not sure I want to see that spot where so many died because we didn't get their in time. Plus we both almost became casualties there as well." Twilight said back to Shinning.
Shinning cast a comforting look back at his sister.
"I know that going back to a place marred by violence can be difficult, but it might be a good idea for you to see what has become of it in such a short time.
Twilight relented and allowed her brother to directer her back in the direction of the quick route back to the castle as well as the market. The walk was not that long and there were only sparse crowds to wade through so they made pretty good time. In only a few minutes they were already at the edge of the market square.
Twilight gasped a little. Teams of ponies had come together from all across the city to pitch in and help the devastated district. The destruction was almost completely cleared away already. A few shops were even starting to open again in some areas. All of this was a sight to behold for Twilight, but what really took her breath away was a statute that had been erected in the middle of the market.
The statue was of three ponies, one of each race, standing back to back on a large three sided pedestal, watching over the market. Twilight walked up to the statue and saw that there were a series of words inscribed around the base. As she go closer she saw that it wasn't a saying, but a list of names. The names filled the base and wrapped around all three sides of it. Above the names was an inscription that was broken up between the three sides. 
'Never Forgotten,'
'Together We Stand Strong'
'Watching Over You from Beyond'
Twilight just stood staring at the statue reading through the names. Her silent vigil was broken when a pegasus mare walked up to her and asked Twilight a question.
"Are you by any chance Twilight Sparkle?" the mare asked.
Unsure how the mare could have possibly known her name, Twilight just nodded. Before she knew what was happening, Twilight found her self wrapped in a tight embrace.
"Thank you! My family an I were only a half block from the market. If you hadn't shown up when you did I know the violence would have spread to where we were. You save our lives. Thank you so much!" The mare sobbed into Twilight's shoulder.
Not sure how to react Twilight just returned the embrace without saying anything. 
The pegasus eventually released Twilight, but the sound of the mare crying into Twilight's embrace drew the attention of another earth pony stallion cleaning off the front patio of his store that seemed to be one of the few that was still intact. He quickly walked over to where Twilight and her brother were standing.
"Ma'am I want to personally thank you and your brother for the heroics you showed that day. The only reason I have a livelihood to come back to is thanks to you two," the stallion stuck out his hand for Twilight and Shining Armor to shake. After they did he thanked them again and made his way back to his shop.
Twilight was stunned. She had avoided this place to keep her distance from the devastation, and yet here she was. The destruction was being removed and the ponies were coming together in a way that she never expected.
"It's a little overwhelming isn't it?" Shinning asked from beside her. "I know I went through a bit of a shock myself the first time I came through here after the attack. But this is the spirit that I cherish when I see it. They have every right to be cowering and isolationist to preserve themselves after something like that, but as you can see they won't be cowed. They stand for each other and are stronger for it."
Twilight and Shining continued on their way through the market towards the castle. All the way there she kept seeing displays of ponies coming together to rebuild the destruction. In a few rare cases a random pony would come up to the siblings and thank them. A few times Twilight had to turn down offers of free patronage at stores upon reopening or other like gifts. If it wasn't for the fact that she would have drawn more attention by suddenly winking out of existence she would have loved to activate her shadow cloak and walk the rest of the way unseen.
Eventually they made it to the gates of the castle. Shining bid her farewell and good luck with her training and then he was off to the Day Guard HQ. Twilight turned in the opposite direction and crossed the courtyard to the castle. Having been a student and living in the castle for over four years Twilight knew exactly where she was going. Whenever Twilight was summoned by Princess Celestia they always met in the same location in the princess's private study. She was also such a common fixture of the castle that the sentries didn't even question her presence. They either just nodded or saluted depending on their respective ranks and their relation to Twilight's own.
Twilight reached the door to Princess Celestia's study and knock twice in quick secession before she was told to enter. Twilight opened the door and passed through. Marching to three paces from the princess's desk, Twilight stopped and snapped a salute.
"Lieutenant Sparkle reporting as ordered." Twilight said with a straight face, watching Celestia's expression.
A light hearted sigh was what she got.
"Twilight, really? Do I need to break down the reasons why you don't need to salute me when we meet in private? Chief of which is that I'm not exactly your commanding princess any more?" Celestia said as she motioned for Twilight to take a seat across from her.
Twilight took the offered seat. Princess Celestia offered her some tea but she declined it.
"I see by your change in fashion that I don't really need to ask for confirmation about you joining my sister's Nightmares." Celestia said with a ghost of a smile. "I think its probably for the best. It's where you have the most potential to help the realm."
"Thank you Princess. I'm glad to hear that you approve." Twilight said honestly.
"Of course Twilight, there are very few choices that I think you would make that I could disapprove of. So how are you liking the team? Getting to know the rest of them?" Celestia asked.
"So far I think the team is pretty well rounded. I feel like I've hit it off well with most of the unit. Apple Jack, the engineer, has already invited me to her shop to help her on projects she is working on." Twilight answered.
"Good to hear that you are getting along with the rest of the team." Celestia said taking a sip of her tea
" I did although hit a few rough patches as well. I didn't exactly set a good first impression with the first and got a pair of .45's in my face for it." Twilight said a little sheepishly.
Celestia paused at hearing that.
"Did you by chance meet a pony with a 'sunny' disposition?" Celestia asked.
Crap I told Sunset I wouldn't let even Princess Celestia know about her.
"No Wolf just thought I was trying to break in at first." Twilight answered  hoping that using Sunset's call sign would hide her identity.
Luckily the princess didn't give any indication that she recognized the name. "I see was all she said."
"Princess, If you don't mind, I have a few questions that I would like to ask you." Twilight said trying to hide in her chair.
"Go ahead Twilight. Anything." Celestia replied.
"Ok here it goes." Twilight tried to keep her nervousness under control. "Am I a Valkyrie?"
Celestia stopped mid sip and placed her tea cup back on the saucer that sat on her desk. 
"I see. So you found out on your own then. Yes you are." Celestia said looking into Twilight's eyes.
"Then why didn't you tell me? It doesn't seem like it's that big of a thing, they are just rare and skilled right?" Twilight pressed.
"Because being a Valkyrie is a big deal. I hid this information from you for two reasons. I wanted to avoid a terrible mistake I made in the past and to protect you. The problem with a Valkyrie, of either type, is that their body produces more magic then it can reliably contain. It can result in magical flares if the Valkyrie tries to use their enhanced abilities without maintaining control." Celestia explained.
Twilight adopted a confused look. "What do you mean by magical flares?"
"I trust that you remember your entrance exam?" was all Celestia said. She raised an eyebrow at her former student.
Twilight's cheeks turned crimson as she remembered that day. She had thrown the test proctors around the room and had turned her parents into house plants. How could she possibly forget. 
"I see what you mean now." Twilight said. "What did you mean by advanced skills?"
"It varies from Valkyrie to Valkyrie. Starswirl was attuned with portal opening, artifact creation, and banishment. For you I am not fully sure what all of your's are, but I do know that one of them is fully formed ethereal blades.
It was Twilight's turn to raise an eyebrow. "I know that I'm good with them but any combat mage can learn to use ethereal blades."
Celestia shook her head. "You misunderstand. A fully formed blade is different from a normal one. While normal ethereal blades act just like ones made of physical properties, only lighter, a fully formed blade can cut through anything that is not another fully realized blade or specifically reinforced against it. They are incredibly rare even among Valkyries. Do you remember during the attack seeing your blade take on a more solid color as opposed to its traditional translucent one? "
Twilight tried to think back to that day. She wasn't exactly preoccupied by the state of her blade during the battle, she was a little busy staying alive. Although as she thought more on the details she did vaguely remember seeing her blades get a little darker in color. It had happened when that diamond dog, Canine, had rushed her brother and she had cut the dog's gun in half before throwing the dog through a wall with her magic.
"I think I recall something like that. How did you know?" Twilight asked her mentor.
"Luna shared her intelligence report with me and the reconstruction of the events. I say it during the fight." Celestia explained.
"So can using these fully formed blades be dangerous for me?" Twilight asked?
Celestia nodded. "They can be. They are hard to control or even activate even for those skilled in them.
"Is there anything I can do to control it better?" Twilight asked eager to learn about this new part of her magic.
"There is not much that you can do yourself besides practice. Though I did provide a parting gift to my last student. Perhaps if I...."
Celestia trailed off, seemingly lost in thought for a second.
"Hmm... No I won't trouble you with that at the moment. Though I will figure out a good gift to help aid you with this new assignment of yours."
"Thank you princess. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Twilight asked.
"Yes there was one last thing." Celestia said as she passed a small badge across the table.
Twilight picked up the small badge that had just been pushed her way. Looking at it she saw that it was a visitor badge for Canterlot General Hospital. At first Twilight didn't understand why her former teacher would be handing her this. Then she put this information together with the other motivation that Twilight had for coming to Canterlot today.
"How did you know that I intended to visit that little colt from the attack?" staring at her mentor.
"Well I don't know if you know this but siblings have a habit of checking in on each other. Luna informed me that you intended to go to the hospital, but the wait for a visitor pass is high at the moment. Many a pony want's to check on loved ones to see if they are okay. I was there the other day and when I found out you were going to be in town I held on to that pass for you." Celestia said with a smile.
"I don't know what to say. Thank you Princess." Twilight walked around the desk and hugged her former teacher.
Returning the hug Princess Celestia told her, "It was nothing Twilight. Though I would suggest that you get a move on. Visiting hours are almost to a close for the day, as well as I believe that you need to catch a train later today."
Twilight nodded her head. "You're correct princess I should be off. Do you need me for anything else?"
"No Twilight. You are dismissed. Go and I hope that the meeting with the little colt will do for you what you hope it will. Oh, there is one last thing. When you see my sister next tell her that she should cut back on her cookie intake. Then I need you to stick out your tounge at her. Can you do that for me?"
Twilight was flabbergasted. Was she really being told to tease one princess by another princess.
Twilight mumbled through her words. "I uhh...I guess I can do that Princess."
Celestia just smiled and nodded. Twilight took that as her cue that she was free to go, and walked out of the private study.
Twilight made her way back out of the castle, still only receiving a traditional salute or greeting from the guards as a challenge to her presence. Twilight finally made her way out of the castle and tried to orientate herself so that she could find the hospital. It wasn't a location that she knew well, because she had never needed to go there. After stopping a few ponies on the street to ask directions, Twilight found her self standing in front of Canterlot General. It was possibly the largest building outside of the castle, making Twilight wonder how she had not been able to find it on her own. it was easily five stories tall.
Twilight walked inside and up to the reception desk. She asked for the room number of the small purple colt. The receptionist initially was said that she couldn't let Twilight in because they were already on their limit of guest passes. That was until Twilight showed that she had already attached her guest pass to one of her breast pockets. After that The receptionist was not wishing to divulge the location of the colt because Twilight was not a relative, but after Twilight explained the situation the nurse relented a little and gave the room number for the colt. Twilight thanked her and walked off.
Twilight made her way up to the third floor where the colts room was located. It took some time to find it with all the medical personnel running around, but she did find it.
She stood outside the door and was about to knock before the door suddenly opened on its own. It wasn't the young colt that stepped out but a nurse.
The nurse walked out of the room and almost went headlong into Twilight due to the fact that she was looking more at the clipboard in her hands then where she was going. That and she had a flowing pink mane that covered one eye. 
"Oh I'm so sorry ma'am I should pay more attention to where I'm going," the nurse tried to apologize.
"It's alright. Would this happen to be the room of a small purple colt with a green mane by any chance." Twilight asked wanting to make sure she was in the right place.
"Oh yes it is. Are you a relative? He hasn't had any family come by since he was brought here after the attack." The nurse said quietly.
No visitors or family? Maybe my guess was sadly correct and he is an orphan now.
"No, I'm not family but I am here to check up on him. I was the one that found him during the attack, and I wanted to see if he was doing alright." Twilight explained. 
"Oh I see. Well he seems to be recovering quickly. He's awake now if you want me to take you in to see him," the nurse said.
Twilight nodded, "I'd appreciate that."
The nurse turned back around and re-opened the door and led Twilight through it. The room they entered was small, sterile smelling, and white. Just like every other hospital recovery room. Centered on one wall was a hospital bed surrounded by monitoring equipment. Laying on the bed was the small colt with a light pinkish purple coat. Twlight noticed that all of his burn wounds were fully healed now. Much faster then they should have. This didn't extend to all of his wounds, as he still had bandages around the gunshot wound that he had received. Only the fire based wounds were healing faster.
"You're looking a lot better then the last time I saw you. Especially the burns." Twilight commented after looking over the small boy.
"Uhh...I guess," the colt replied clearly not remembering the first time that they had met. Not that that surprised Twilight. The little one had been in unconscious and going into shock at the time.
"We noticed the burns healing fast as well. We won't know until his blood work gets back from the lab but some of the nurses are speculating he has some dragon blood in him." The pink maned nurse explained.
"Well that's interesting to hear." Twilight replied.
The whole time the look on the colt's face kept getting more and more confused.
"I'm sorry ma'am but do I know you?" he asked Twilight.
Twilight turned back to the colt laying on the bed, "Well no you don't know me. I was just the one that found you after the attack and brought you to medical attention. I was just hoping to check in on you and see if you are alright. My name is Twilight Sparkle, by the way. What's your name?."
The little colt listened to what Twilight had to say until she said her name. At this a look of anger crossed his face.
"Do you mean that you are the same Twilight sparkle that was in the paper? The one that was there when the attack happened?" he asked.
"Yes," Twilight said, "I was the first one to respond."
"THEN FUCK YOU!" the colt shouted with furious anger.
"Spike! Mind your language please. That is no way for one your age to talk." the nurse tried to reprimand him.
"No! She is the reason my parents are dead. She was to slow to save them. Now I'm alone." The child started to sob.
Twilight decided that this had been a mistake to come here. She apologized to the colt for upsetting him and to the nurse for holding her up. She made her way out of the hospital, leaving her badge on the receptionist's desk. She made her way all back to the train station. She found her father's friend who had held on to her luggage and thanked him. She then went and bought her ticket.
She stood with no emotion on her face until the train called for all passengers to Ponyville. She stored her belongings in the compartment below the train then boarded. Again she found a mostly empty car and sat down. She  mentaly said the word 'nachtzeit' to activate her shadow cloak once again. This time it wasn't to avoid being disturbed while sleeping, but so that no one could see her cry herself to sleep.