Twilight screamed in anguish as her coltfriend lay bleeding out on the ballroom floor. Everything else was ignored. The tussle Rainbow Dash was having with the guards. Shining Armor trying to get the guests out of the ball room. The Princesses trying to deal with the terrified guests. All that paled in comparison to the human who mattered more to her than her life itself.
A moment later he was enveloped in a cocoon of golden magic as Celestia did her best to keep him stable. While she could stem the bleeding she couldn't stop it and his life's blood continued to drip from the wound. In a flash, she disappeared along with Rick. Twilight shouted to bring him back but Cadance was quick to point out that she had probably teleported him directly to the hospital. Twilight immediately followed them.
Twilight appeared in the hospital just in time to see Rick being wheeled into the emergency room as Celestia looked on sadly. She rushed forward to be with him but the princess held her back.
"No, my faithful student. The doctors must operate to save his life. They can't do so if you're in the way."
"But.. what if he... what if they...?" she couldn't finish the thought. The idea of losing her coltfriend was simply too much for her. Tears came to her eyes and she cried like she hadn't cried before. There was a commotion as her parents, the princesses and Shining Armor suddenly arrived at the hospital. Her parents and princess Cadance tried to comfort her as best they could but they were in shock as well. Her parents had seen how he had thrown himself in front of the glass, saving their daughter possibly at the cost of his own life. Mr. Sparkle especially felt bad for the trouble he gave her coltfriend. That he would sacrifice himself without a second thought showed how deeply and truly he cared for Twilight.
"Celestia, do you mind if we speak in private?" Shining Armor asked the princess.
"Not at all, follow me." They walked down the hall a bit away from the other ponies.
"We captured the one that caused this. I don't know why she did this as she's not answering any questions but it's one of Twilly's friends. The one called Rainbow Dash."
"That doesn't make any sense. Why would she do such a thing and attack Rick?"
"I don't think that was intentional. She doesn't seem to be herself but for the moment we have her in custody. She was pretty banged up when we caught her but once we did she just stopped completely. I believe she might be under the influence of an evil magician or maybe she came into contact with an ancient artifact. I'd appreciate it if you were to see her. Maybe you can pick something up that we can't."
The Princess nodded and asked that Shining Armor look after his sister and family while she went to check on the prisoner. She teleported out of the hospital back to the castle. Twilight was too far gone to notice any of this however.
Hours later, Celestia came back to the hospital with more questions than she had before. It was true that Rainbow Dash had been under the influence of somepony or something but she couldn't see that it was. The only thing she was able to get from her was a name: Trixie. It seemed familiar but she couldn't quite place it.
Walking over to the Sparkles as they waited in the aptly named waiting room she noticed that Twilight had fallen into a rather fitful sleep. Poor dear was probably exhausted with what had happened. Shining Armor and Princess Cadance came to see her, worry lining their faces.
"You were correct that Rainbow Dash was under the influence of some magic. I haven't been able to pierce it yet but I was able to get a name from her mind. Does 'Trixie' mean anything to either one of you?"
Before either one could answer they heard the now wide awake Twilight yell out, "Trixie!? She's behind all this?!?" and before anypony could stop her Twilight teleported away.
Meanwhile, just outside of Ponyville, the Great and Powerful Trixie was waiting for her puppet Rainbow Dash to come back. It had been foal's play to get the hot tempered pegasus worked up then when her anger was at its peak to use the pendant to sap her will and make Rainbow Dash do what whatever she wanted. The idea was to have her crash the party, make a scene and accuse Rick of two-timing her. She would then proceed to tell the ponies there how Rick had planned to abandon Twilight Sparkle. Later, when Twilight was all alone and miserable the Great and Powerful Trixie would swoop in and save her, to comfort her, to kiss her tears away and make her forget all about that monkey. It was foolproof. Or at least it would have been had Rainbow Dash not taken her at her word and literally crashed the party but Trixie didn't know that just yet.
Suddenly there was an explosion in front of her and a very angry, very pissed off Twilight Sparkle appeared. She was breathing heavily, her teeth grit in anger and if that wasn't enough, her dress was covered in blood. In short, she looked like either a mass murderer or a creature straight from the pits of hell. Trixie swallowed nervously and said weakly, "hi sweetie. I'm glad you're back".
"Don't you dare sweetie me you b1tch! All this is your fault. My coltfriend is in the hospital and he might die because of you. So give me one reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."
"K-k-kill me? But Twilight, I did this for us so we could be together again."
"Together? We were never together! You took advantage of me in a moment of weakness when I needed somepony and I thought you needed somepony as well."
"But I've changed. Really I have."
"You used one of my best friends, twisted her, raped her mind and possibly even killed the man I love and you don't feel sorry about it, " Twilight was beyond angry now. She had gone from sadness to anger to righteous anger and whatever lay beyond that. It burned within her belly, giving her a strength and focus that nopony had. And right now, all of it was focused on Trixie.
Not knowing what to do next, Trixie threw a couple of books at Twilight who just stood there and didn't even acknowledge that anything struck her. She attempted a spell that would bind Twilight but the rope just fell off as if the magic activating it had been drained. At this point she realised that Twilight was like a force of nature. There was nothing she could do to stop this juggernaut, but maybe she could still try something.
"Why are you doing this?" Trixie cried. "You loved me and I loved you! You said we'd be together for all time. When I came back for you I saw you cavorting with a monkey. I got rid of him so we could be together again! Please! I did this for us! Don't hurt me!"
"Don't you dare call him a monkey!" Twilight's voice packing an almost palpable force of its own so much so that Trixie felt like she had been slapped.
"You never loved me, " Twilight growled. "You never loved anypony except for yourself." Twilight's eyes were glowing with an unearthly brilliance as step by step she got closer to the cowering Trixie. "You used me as if I was an object then threw me away when you thought you had gotten everything." Her mane started to move of its own volition, as if caught in the wind. "You then tried to take from me the one thing in this world that I did love and who loved me back and you DARE ASK FOR MERCY!?" Twilight's voice was now like the howling of a demon.
Trixie was frozen in absolute terror, Twilight had been pushed to the edge and had come back stronger than ever. She was a shy, timid bookworm no longer but a mare out for vengeance. It would take a miracle to survive this but Trixie still had an ace up her metaphorical sleeve. Holding the pendant out before her she started chanting the spell that would rob Twilight of her will or at least that was the plan. A nimbus of purple energy surrounded the pendant and it exploded knocking Trixie out. Exhausted beyond measure but being powered by a hatred so strong, Twilight did manage to walk a few more steps before finally blacking out herself.
The explosion caused three things in rapid succession. The first was Rainbow Dash came out of her trance. The second was it alerted Celestia to their location. And third, it scared Fluttershy so much she ran and hid under her bed. That last part has no real bearing on the story however and probably would have happened anyway. She is after all the pony that could be scared by her own shadow.
Awareness came back slowly. Distorted voices filled her ears, shadows moved across her vision and she finally was able to focus on what was before her she saw her family gathered around her bed.
"What happened?" Twilight managed to croak through a throat that felt rough and extremely dry. A sip of water helped to clear that up. She felt dizzy and a little out of sorts and felt she had forgotten something when last night's memories came flooding back to her. She sat upright in bed, ignoring the dizziness and pounding headache and yelled out, "where's Rick!?"
"He's over there dear, " her mother pointed to the bed next to hers. Her coltfriend looked awful, his skin had a greyish pallor and he was breathing shallowly. She had to stare at his chest to make sure he was breathing. Struggling to get to get to her feet, she was pushed back firmly by her brother telling her not to overdo anything.
Somepony must have contacted the Princess as Celestia walked in at that point and explained what happened.
"The doctors were able to stabilise him. It was touch and go for a long time, he had lost too much blood and they were sure that he wouldn't make it but your coltfriend has a strong will to live. Possibly he just has a very good reason to do so, " she said looking directly at Twilight. The meaning of her words was obvious. "While there is no human blood in Equestria, we were able to come up with a spell to speed up the production of his own blood. He'll be unconscious for a few days while his body works on healing but he should make a speedy recovery."
Twilight sighed in relief. The tears of pain and sorrow threatening to burst forth were replaced with tears of relief and joy. She sniffled a bit and then asked about Trixie and Rainbow Dash. There were some uncomfortable looks shared by her family and she knew something bad had happened.
"We don't blame you for what happened to Trixie. She had uncovered some old, and very dark magic. Only the ancients could have properly harnessed it and Trixie was nowhere near strong enough to do so."
"Why? What happened to her?"
"In your rage, your magic caused the pendant she wore to explode. The magic had a... rebound effect on her. Her mind is simply gone. There's nothing of Trixie that is left. She's in effect an empty shell of a pony. The doctors can keep her alive and comfortable but they can never repair the damage done."
"Good, " Twilight said with some finality. That part of the nightmare was over and the "Low and Pathetic Trixie" would never bother her or her friends again. Taking a deep breath, she then asked, "and Rainbow Dash?"
There was an uncomfortable silence as the gathered ponies looked away, not wanting to look Twilight in the eye. Something had happened to her friend, and it wasn't good for anypony involved. "Please, somepony tell me what happened to Rainbow Dash."
"Maybe it's better if you come and see."
They brought out a wheelchair and wheeled Twilight down the hall where a couple of guard ponies were stationed outside a room. They snapped to attention when Shining Armor passed by and one of them opened the room. There, tied down by straps, was what appeared to be Rainbow Dash. At least, it was a cerulean pegasus but a heavily bandaged one. She just stared blankly at one point on the ceiling, only the occasional blink showing she was awake. "Rainbow Dash?" Twilight called out but there was no response from the pegasus in the bed.
"She's been like that since the accident. She got cut all over after crashing through the window and when the guards tried to restrain her wings were damaged. Later when she was in custody and the pendant was destroyed she came back to her senses and tried to kill herself which is why she's tied down right now. The guilt and the shock of what happened has caused her to escape back into her own mind. She'll make a physical recovery, but the mental scars might take a lot longer to heal."
Twilight felt sick. That evil Trixie had caused her so much misery and now that her mind was gone there was no way for her to atone for her crimes. "Take me back to my room, " she whispered.
When they finally brought her back, she asked to be left alone but requested that her bed be brought over next to Rick's. At least that way she could be near him and maybe her presence would help his recovery. The beds were moved and carefully placing herself on his good side she lay her head on his chest so she could hear him breathe and hear his heartbeat.
The days passed, Twilight never left Rick's side even though she was well enough to leave. She had heard that speaking to a person when they were unconscious was good for them so she spoke about whatever passed through her mind, or read him stories that she hoped he would like. On the third day she was dozing when she finally heard the thing she had been dying for over the past few days.
"Twi?" Rick croaked weakly as he opened his eyes. "What happened?"
"RICK!" she cried somewhere between alarm and joy. She moved forward to give him a hug, but he winced slightly and hissed in pain as pressure was put on his wound. "Sorrysorrysorry, " Twilight said in an attempt to apologise. But she was so overjoyed to see him awake that she started crying again.
"No babe, don't cry. I'm here. I'm okay even if I don't know what happened." He reached up and gently cupped her cheek, wiping the tears away with his thumb. Twilight closed her eyes rubbed against his palm as she brought her hoof up to hold his hand in place. She kissed his palm gently and looked back into his eyes. "You look like hell," he said with a smirk.
"So do you, " she replied with a smile.
The nurse, coming in to check on the noise saw him awake and immediately called the doctor. Twilight was moved off to the side as the doctor checked on his patient before nodding to himself and saying that Rick should be fine but he'd like to keep him for observation for another day or so.
"So what do you remember?" Twilight asked once they were alone.
"Nothing much. We were at the party for your brother and sister-in-law, there was a crash and I got stabbed or something?"
Twilight nodded. "It was a big piece of glass that would have killed me if you hadn't gotten in the way. We thought we lost you but you're too stubborn to die from something like that, " she said with a forced smile.
"But what crashed through the glass? I remember there was a commotion, but maybe that's just my mind playing tricks on me."
"It was Rainbow Dash, but it wasn't her fault! She was being controlled by a manipulative little b1tch but that's taken care of."
"Is she alright?"
Twilight sighed heavily. "I don't know, " she was badly banged up and then when she heard what she did even accidentally, " she gestured to his wound, " she went a little crazy. They've got her under observation down the hall."
"And the manipulative daughter of a female dog? What's her story?"
Twilight bit her lip for a moment. Here it goes, the moment she hoped they would never have to speak of but Rick deserved to know the truth of what happened. "Okay, I'll tell you, but I need you to just listen until I'm done.
She related the story as the "Great and Powerful" Trixie came to town with her boastful attitude and how it was Twilight that had finally defeated the dreaded Ursa Minor. That wasn't the difficult part but what came next was.
"It had been several months since that incident and everypony went on with their lives. Nopony thought of her and eventually she was forgotten. Until the day she came knocking on the door of the library. She seemed contrite and apologised for what she had done and wanted to make amends. I wasn't convinced but she claimed she had changed and wanted to show me. For the next few days she helped to clean up the library, fetched me books and even brought me my meals as I studied. She had no place to stay so I offered her the guest bed. It took several weeks but one night we were getting ready for bed, I thanked her for all her hard work and I was feeling vulnerable. She took advantage of that and took advantage of me. We fillyfooled around, it wasn't my first time with a mare but it was definitely my last time. From that day on we studied during the day and made love at night. I knew it was wrong, but I just wanted somepony that saw me as a mare and not just a bookworm or way for them to get ahead. I didn't want a stallion because I didn't want any foals and stallions get too needy and think they own you after your first time together. So, I wanted another mare, " she sighed at the end.
"You don't have to tell me all this if it hurts, " Rick said taking one of her hooves in his hand.
She shook her head. "No, I need to clear the air and I told you to zip it mister."
Rick made a zipping and locking motion across his lips. It reminded Twilight of something Pinkie Pie would have done.
"Where was I? Oh right, I wanted another mare and Trixie was willing and able to fit that role. My friends didn't care too much for her, but then she did nothing to endear herself to them. She just wanted me and didn't want anything to do with the others. We were together for a couple of months, then one day she just left. She said that I wasn't what she was looking for and needed to find a real mare to take care of her. I took it pretty hard but later found a book on magic missing from the library, " she sighed heavily. "I guess she never wanted me in the first place, just my knowledge and access to my books. I'll admit I hated her for it but she was the one that set me on the path to create the portal. My plan originally was to be able to use the portal to see if I could find that specific book in the library then after figured why not make it a permanent spell and always have access."
Rick motioned to her to come closer. She hopped up on the bed, careful not to put any stress on his wound. He gingerly put his arm around her as best he could and gave her a simple hug. She snuggled in close and they just lay there, enjoying the closeness they felt.
The news of Rick's recovery had reached everypony and they were more than happy to see this human back among the living. Twilight's parents were overjoyed at this and while he might still not like the idea of this human being with his daughter, Mr. Sparkle did give his blessing. Mrs. Sparkle turned into a mother hen for the man that saved her daughter and said if there was anything he needed, no matter what it was to ask her and she'd make sure to get it for him. Shining Armor thanked him personally for saving his little sister also apologising for the mild threat when they first met. But the happiest out of all of them was Princess Celestia.
"I suppose I have you to thank for my being back among the living?" Rick asked the Princess.
"Think nothing of it Rick, it was my duty as the ruler of Equestria to make sure that all my subjects are taken care of. Even if they're only here part of the time. Besides, Twilight Sparkle would not have forgiven me had I not done everything in my power to save you."
"Doesn't matter. I owe you my life and I will be eternally grateful and in your debt. If there's ever anything you need or want, please don't hesitate to ask."
"Thank you Rick, but I don't think it will be necessary but I do appreciate the gesture."
They stayed and talked for a bit, but Rick was still recovering and soon found himself getting sleepy. The assorted ponies decided it would be best if they left. Twilight however stayed at his bedside, not wanting to let him out of her sight. Eventually joining him once again on the bed and falling asleep at his side.
Meanwhile in a room down the hall a single tear ran down the cheek of Rainbow Dash. Nopony was around to see it just like nopony saw her shut her one good eye for a moment before returning to her examination of the ceiling.