//------------------------------// // Chapter 8. Proverbs 15:22 // Story: The Pegasus who Kicked the Changelings' Hive // by A M Shark //------------------------------// Chapter 8 "Without consultation, plans are frustrated, but with many counselors they succeed."—Proverbs 15:22 Dinky seized the front of Twilight's camo. "Send me through!" "What?! Dinky—!" "Send me through! It worked with Highflyer and I'm the one Amethyst is most likely to recognize if she recognizes anypony at all! Send me through!" And with that, the young teenager released Twilight, dropped to the floor and grabbed one of the nearby scrolls to wrap herself in. Discord watched as Dinky's words scratched themselves across the paper in a frantic scrawl. Would they really send her through? Spike was wondering the same thing when he suddenly felt the familiar fire building up in his gut. "Oh no," he groaned before he belched out a burst of flames and a sloppily-wrapped bundle dropped out of it, unrolling almost as soon as it landed. The scroll came through unscathed but its occupant didn't. Dinky came thrashing out of her paper confines trying to extinguish flames licking at her camouflage jacket and pants. "Kid!" Highflyer shouted, darting to her side. Spike quickly stuffed the letter he was holding into a pocket of his jacket and raced forward as well. For several terrifying moments all was frantic confusion in the cramped space as the three fought to both pull the burning clothes from the unicorn's body and beat out the flames, but finally the fire was out. In the darkness, Spike mentally sighed a little prayer of thanks that he'd had the foresight to move into an area relatively free of flammable material before he and Twilight had first attempted their travel experiment. He shuddered to think what would have happened if those flames had spread to the rest of the hospital. He could hear Dinky and Highflyer breathing heavily nearby him, and his relief that the fire hadn't spread was suddenly replaced with worry that their earlier noise might have attracted the attention of someone below. Picking up the flashlight he'd dropped earlier, he turned the beam on himself and motioned for the two ponies to be silent as he listened to their surroundings. There was a sudden banging in the nearby ductwork. It was a sound Spike had gotten used to during his time hiding in the ventilation system, but this time it made him flinch. He heard the ponies next to him flinch as well, but heard no sounds of alarm from any occupants in the rooms below. Was it possible that even if some ponies had heard the earlier struggle, they had just written it off as pressure in the air system? After several tense moments that felt like hours had passed, Spike finally relaxed, grateful that they seemed to have escaped detection yet again. Then he turned the flashlight beam on Dinky and Highflyer to examine them. His fireproof scales had prevented him from getting any burns, but he doubted the two ponies had been so fortunate. Discord was still staring at Dinky's frantic scrawl, when the words suddenly swirled together and reformed into a new much shorter message. Highflyer: "Kid!" A second later another message appeared below this one. Twilight: "Spike, what's going on?!" Several seconds passed with no reply. Twilight: "Spike?" No answer. Twilight: "Spike! Dinky?! Highflyer?!" Still there was no response. Fluttershy: "Discord, I think something's gone wrong. None of them are answering. Could you please try listening in on them like you did to us?" "I can try." He was just straining to pry up a strand of tattoo when new words suddenly appeared on the paper. Spike: "You hurt bad, Dinky? Maybe we should—" Dinky: "Don't worry about me now. We have to get to Amethyst." Spike: "Right. This way. But we have to stay quiet." Twilight: "Spike, what happened? ... Or can you not talk just yet?" The fact that Spike continued to not respond seemed to be an answer in and of itself. Discord debated whether he should still try listening in on the little group even if they were trying to keep quiet. Would it still allow him to provide the others with new information? At the very least it would probably help him know when they reached Amethyst. As he guided the two ponies through the darkness, Spike urged them to be careful. Dinky couldn't tell how well Highflyer was faring behind her, but she was fighting hard not to cry out as every brush and bump seemed to send needles of pain shooting through the burnt patches on her sides, shoulders, and legs. Not for the first time she wondered what had gone wrong with her travel via messaging. Why had she gotten burned when Highflyer hadn't? Why had—? "We're here," Spike whispered, startling her back to their current situation. There would be time to worry about what had gone wrong with the teleportation later. Right now her sister was the important thing. Spike lifted the tile, and they looked into the room. At the sight of Amethyst lying unmoving in the hospital bed with her eyes closed, Dinky thought there must be some sort of mistake. That her sister hadn't wakened from— But at that moment Amethyst's mouth opened in a great yawn, and her front legs, which until that moment had been lying limply on the bedcovers, went stiff and trembling as she stretched them out. Groaning, she turned her head to the side and yawned again. She brought one hoof up to rub at her eyes, and smacked her lips several times before yawning yet again. Dinky suddenly remembered that her sister had never been a morning pony. In all their years of sisterhood, Amethyst usually dragged herself sluggishly out of bed and stumbled about like a zombie until she got her first cup of coffee or a similar dose of caffeine. But Amethyst had also never been in a coma before, so how could Dinky know if this familiar sluggishness was a good sign or a bad one? At that moment she felt a sharp jolt of pain in her burned side as Highflyer nudged it. "Come on, kid." Turning to the masked stallion, she saw him grab a rope in his teeth and jump down through the hole in the ceiling. He swung himself out over Amethyst's bed and released the rope, landing cat-footed on the floor nearby. His sudden appearance seemed to snap Amethyst out of her grogginess because she flinched and let out a startled yip at the sight of him. Dinky could just imagine how frightening the current situation must be for her sister: suddenly realizing she was in an unfamiliar location and her only companion a masked, tattooed, camo-clad stranger. But they couldn't afford to let her panic. Dinky grasped the rope and slid down it herself. She didn't have Highflyer's acrobatic skill and ended up landing half on the mattress, half on top of her older sister. Amethyst let out a short "Ahh!" though whether it was from pain, surprise or both, Dinky couldn't tell. But she did know she couldn't allow her sister to let out a full-blown scream and quickly clamped her hooves over Amethyst's mouth. Her sister's purple eyes bulged and her breath whistled in and out through her nostrils but she made no effort to talk or scream past the hooves covering her mouth. Was this because she recognized Dinky or was she just too scared to make a sound? "Amethyst—" she started to whisper, but at that moment she heard the room's door creak open. Her head snapped up in that direction in time to see Highflyer launch himself at the door. Discord's lion paw fingers alternately scrolled up and down over the ink on his paper as he adjusted the volume for both Spike's letter, and the tattoo on the wall of Amethyst's room. From the latter he heard a startled "Ahh!" which was abruptly cut off. He heard Dinky whisper "Amethyst—" just before there was a sharp whump! followed by a startled exclamation and a door slamming shut. There was a rattling sound, like someone trying to work a doorknob. Then a male voice Discord recognized as one of the more antagonistic security guards demanded, "Why'd you lock me out?" "Uh, we're busy," said a raspy voice Discord recognized as Highflyer's. "Can't be disturbed." "Who are you?" "Um, orderly. Go away!" Clearly improv acting was not the tiny wrestler's strongpoint. At least not outside the ring. "What are your names?!" the security guard demanded. "Mind your own business!" Oh, even I could have told you that was a mistake, Discord mentally groaned before the guard responded with: "Hospital security is my business, so the three of you better tell me your names right now!" "Oh no," Discord heard Spike groan under his breath on the other tattoo strand. "It's him again." "Names! Now!" "We're Scram, Beat It, and Get Lost!" Clearly Highflyer had given up any pretense of trying to pass as a legitimate member of the hospital staff. "Open this door up or I'll break it down!" This was followed by such a loud bang that Discord flinched, his paw crushing the paper out of sheer reflex. The bang was followed by another. And another. Even if the little trio had locked the door, he doubted it would hold very long under those blows. Then what are you doing just sitting here, listening to it happen?! shouted a small voice in the back of his head that sounded oddly like Derpy's. Do something! His eyes darted to one of the moth tattoos visible between the bandages on his neck. If he manages to break in there and tries to attack them, spit ink in his eyes! Try to stop him! he mentally urged the tattoo, knowing it would pass his desire on to the one currently playing fly-on-the-wall in Amethyst's room. That won't stop him for long! shouted the small voice. There must be more you can do! Something to distract him! Something to give him another target! What can I do?! he mentally shot back, raising his braceleted wrists as far as the restraints would permit. As long as these are on I'm powerless to—! But at that moment a new idea suddenly popped into his head. He jerked the twin strands of tattoo out of his ear, allowing them to settle into their usual place across his shoulder. Then he prodded at the sentences on the paper. They reformed into one of his moth tattoos, slithered up his finger, onto the back of his hand, and disappeared under the bracelet on his wrist. That took care of the writing, now to get rid of the paper itself. Even though it was now blank, if the hospital staff found it on him, they might wonder how he had gotten a hold of it. Might watch his actions much more closely. He raised the paper but suddenly hesitated, realizing that if he got rid of it he would no longer be able to communicate with Fluttershy. Are you saying that chatting with Fluttershy is more important to you than saving Amethyst's life?! the small voice (that still sounded oddly like Derpy) demanded. For an instant, he felt exactly that way. But this was followed almost immediately by shame as he suddenly imagined how Fluttershy might react if she ever learned he had risked Amethyst's life just to continue contact with her. As much as he wanted to believe that she'd be flattered, honored even that he valued her more than any other pony ... deep down he knew the absurdly selfless pegasus wouldn't. He grimaced, his forked tongue sticking out from between his teeth. No, he'd already given her enough reasons to despise him. He wouldn't add this one to the list. So with that, he tossed the paper into his mouth and swallowed it down. It actually didn't taste half bad. Lying back against his pillow, he squeezed his eyes shut and arched his body against the restraining straps, the pressure forcing a loud grunt from him. He lunged in every direction he could until he felt the four beds beneath him shake and rattle. He dug his claws into the mattress and lifted his tail and lower body until he was sure the bed beneath them had left the floor as well. He slammed it back down with a loud bang! He continued to thrash about, groaning loudly all the time. He felt several tubes rip free of his limbs, and heard several machines around him begin beeping wildly. Dinky felt frozen in place as she watched Highflyer brace his tiny body against the shuddering door. Should she try to help him? Dare she leave Amethyst? Suddenly there was a new voice from the other side of the door. "Mike, stop abusing that door and get over here! That draconequus has gone crazy and we need your strength to hold him down!" "But there's ponies we don't know in there with Amethyst!" "Worry about that later! The sooner we take care of Discord, the sooner you can get back here!" The security guard—apparently called Mike—let out a low grumbling noise followed by the sound of retreating hooves. Now that there was no more pounding on the door, Dinky noticed shouts and banging coming from another room. Was that Discord making the noise? If so why? "We better hurry, kid," said Highflyer, who was now slumped against the door rather than braced against it. "They could be back soon and I don't think this door will hold much longer." Dinky nodded shakily and looked back down at her sister, who surprisingly hadn't moved this whole time. "Amethyst, it's Dinky. Rinky-dink. Remember?" The purple eyes just stared up at her, so wide she could see her own reflection in them. She had difficulty recognizing herself in the camo jacket and black beret with her newly buzz-cut mane so what chance did Amethyst have? But there was no time to dwell on that now. "Please listen to me. If a bunch of doctors or anypony else comes in here and asks you questions, tell them you can't remember anything. Act like you don't remember anything no matter what pops into your head. Please, your life and Mom's both depend on it! Don't even trust me unless I give you the code word: Whistler. Understand?" Yes, yes, come on! Discord mentally urged as he heard ponies burst into his room. Don't go checking on Amethyst! Focus on me! She's just a helpless pony. I'm the one who can actually do any damage. I'm the one you need to worry about! "What's going on? What's wrong?" he heard several ponies ask, but kept his eyes shut and continued lunging against his restraints. "He must be having some sort of nightmare," one of the ponies muttered. Then Discord felt multiple hooves shaking him, and heard multiple voices shouted for him to wake up. But he kept his eyes tight shut and continued his wild thrashing about. "Snap out of it!" a male voice shouted, and a hoof struck him across the face. Still keeping his eyes shut, he swung his head back around and snapped his teeth in the direction the blow had come from. There was a startled shriek and Discord fought to hold back a grin, hoping the sound had come from the offending pony. Though at the same time he was privately relieved that his teeth had only closed on empty air and he hadn't been forced to actually bite down on a piece of pony anatomy. He felt something grab his horn and antler, forcing his head back but he still continued to struggle as best he could. "This isn't working. I think we're going to have to sedate him." "Will that even work if he's in the middle of a bad dream?" "In his particular case, I'd say it's worth a shot. Hold him still!" Multiple hooves weighed him down and he felt the familiar sting of a needle as it plunged into the side of his neck. Ha, worth a shot. Well, I suppose that's one way to look at it. Discord mentally chortled, the unintended pun not lost on him despite the dire situation. As the drug flooded his system and his fake sleep began to be replaced with the real thing, he could only hope that his attempted distraction had bought Amethyst, Dinky, Highflyer, and Spike the precious time they needed. Dinky watched desperately for a sign that Amethyst understood, but Amethyst just stared up at her, neither nodding nor shaking her head. Then Dinky felt a hoof on her shoulder and flinched as it put pressure on her burnt flesh. She turned to see Highflyer now at the bedside. "They're coming back, kid. We gotta go." It was at that point she noticed the shouting and crashing from earlier had stopped. Turning back to her sister, she leaned in and whispered, "Please! You've got to act like you don't remember anything! Please," she begged, daring to take one hoof away from her sister's muzzle and cup the side of Amethyst's head in a sort of hug. "Please, you've got to." Then she released her sister completely, and reached up to grab the rope still hanging nearby. As she hauled herself up it with Highflyer right behind her, she kept glancing back down at Amethyst, who still lay immobile, watching them go with an unreadable expression. Had it worked? Had any of her words gotten through to Amethyst? The older unicorn hadn't fought, but neither had she given any indication that she understood Dinky's words, or even knew who the younger unicorn was. Scarcely had Dinky and Highflyer gotten into the ceiling and pulled up the rope behind them, then there was a fierce blow against the door. Amethyst's head snapped toward it, eyes wide and fearful. "Come on! Open up!" There was another blow against the door and this time a burly earth-pony stallion dressed as a security guard burst into the room. At the sight of him, Spike quickly yanked the ceiling tile back in place, plunging the little trio into darkness. "What are you doing?!" Highflyer whisper-shouted. "Back up! Back up!" Spike urged in the same whisper-shout and even though Dinky's instincts urged her not to abandon her sister, she tried to comply when she felt Spike's claw pushing against her chest. Below them the security guard shouted "All right! Who's in here?!" "I don't know!" Amethyst shrieked, sounding absolutely terrified. "I don't know! I can't—" Her voice dissolved into frantic sobs. "I can't remember anything!" The stallion's voice promptly went from angry to placating. "Okay. Okay. It's okay. It's—" "Mike, don't frighten the girl," said a new female voice. "I'm not! I—There was someone else in here! They—" "Well, they must have left while we were busy with Discord because they're not here now." "But the door—!" "It was probably accidentally still in the locked position when they went out and got stuck that way when they closed it. It happens." "But—!" "Shush!" Then in a much softer, more soothing tone she said, "There now, it's all right, dear. Calm down. Calm down." She continued to murmur this as Amethyst's sobs slowly subsided to ragged hitching breaths. "That's it," said the female voice. "You're safe here. Just calm down. We're not going to hurt you. You've been in a coma—No, don't panic. We just want to help you. First we need to check your vitals. Is that okay?" Amethyst let out a long shuddering breath. "Okay." There were several minutes of shuffling, rustling and murmuring before Amethyst asked in a soft scared voice, "H-how am I?" "You still have several healing bruises and your magic hasn't recharged yet, but physically there's no damage that won't heal in time," said a new male voice who Dinky guessed must be one of the doctors. "Physically?" Amethyst repeated. "Why do you say 'physically'?" "Because I haven't evaluated you mentally yet." "Is something wrong with—?!" "Don't panic. Just let me explain things. There. That's better. Now, from what we've been able to gather, you tried to do a spell that required more magic than you could handle and the backlash from it put you in a coma. You've probably noticed we haven't addressed you by name yet." "I, uh ... no. I didn't really—" "Well, the reason we're not using your name is because we need to see if you can remember it and other things on your own. One of the tricky things about magically-induced comas is that they can often result in different types of amnesia. Sometimes everything is wiped out, sometimes just certain chunks of memory, it varies from pony to pony. We need to find out which category your possible amnesia falls into so we can give it the proper treatment. You understand? Good. Now, is there anything you remember? Your name, relatives' names, your occupation, anything." There was a long silence, then a tremulous "N-no. My mind's a complete blank." "Hmm. Well, that's actually not too surprising considering you just woke up a little while ago. It's not uncommon for ponies to wake from magically-induced comas initially remembering nothing only to have their memories start coming back later. For some it happens in a few minutes, for others it might be a couple of hours. There's not really any cause for concern unless a full day passes with none of your memories returning. If that turns out to be the case, we can use various methods to jog your memory, but for now I recommend you just take it easy. We'll bring you something to eat, then I want you to rest. Don't try to force your brain to remember things, okay dear? Let it work at its own pace. We're going to give you some privacy now, but don't worry. You're safe here. Somepony will be in to check on you from time to time, and the call button is right here if you need anything." "Okay," Amethyst murmured. There was a shuffling of hoofsteps, then the male voice that had just been talking said, "Mike, that includes you. Come on." "Oh. Yeah," said the security guard, sounding startled. "Uh, hey," he continued, suddenly sounding oddly bashful. "Am—uh, I mean ... Uh, listen. I'm sorry if I scared you earlier. I know you don't really know any of us right now, but we're ... fine. We're ... okay. I'm okay. We're just trying to help you get better. Sooo ... Uhhh ... I guess just before I go ... um ... Are we good?" "We're..." Amethyst hesitated for several seconds, "good. Thank you." The security guard made a noise that sounded like a mix between a laugh and a relieved sigh. "I'm Mike by the way. In case you didn't catch that earlier." "I'm…" "Oh, yeah. Sorry about that. I actually do know your name. And though I'm not allowed to tell you it, I can at least tell you it's a real pretty name." "What was that about?" Highflyer muttered after they heard the security guard shut the door. "I don't know," said Spike. "That guy's been hovering around Amethyst every chance he gets, but I don't know if he's a pony or a changeling. He's never tried to hurt her, but that might change now that she's awake." The little trio lifted the tile just a crack to peek down at Amethyst. Now alone, she was glancing about her while fidgeting with the edge of her hospital blanket. "Should we try talking to her again?" Dinky whispered. "We should probably let Twilight know what's happened first," Spike whispered back. "See what she thinks." He slid the tile back into place, then pulled the crumpled letter from his pocket and aimed the flashlight beam at it. As he smoothed out the wrinkles, his eyes darted over the snippets of the conversation the paper had managed to pick up here and there. They didn't paint a very clear picture of recent events if at all. "Hey," he whispered cautiously to the paper. "Twilight, you there?" The words already on the paper swarmed together to reform into his whispered question. A beat later a response appeared just below it. Twilight: "Spike! Are you alright? What happened?!" "Quite a bit actually. For starters, Dinky came through with her clothes on fire." This was greeted with such a chorus of alarm that the tattoo ink had trouble keeping up with them. Spike quickly cut in with: "Don't worry! We managed to beat out the flames before it got too bad." And he proceeded to fill them in on what had happened since Discord's first announcement regarding Amethyst. He had just finished the part about Highflyer's confrontation with the security guard, when Screwjob jumped in. Screwjob: "High, you always did stink at defusing a tense situation." "Oh, like you're such a shining example of how to do it." Highflyer muttered. Screwjob: "Hmm. Touché, son. My a cup ah." Twilight: "I think you mean mea culpa." Screwjob: "Yeah, that too. So, Spike, what was the payoff to this, uh, standoff?" "Actually the guard got called away just as he was trying to break down the door. They mentioned something about Discord going crazy." Crazy? Fluttershy stared at Spike's words. Come to think of it, the draconequus had been oddly silent this whole time. "Discord...?" The words on the paper suddenly swirled together into a moth. Its wings stretched out until they almost filled the paper, and the designs on them transformed into words. Thank you for calling. Discord is not here right now. If you would like to leave a message— Before the words on the moth's right wing could be completed, this wing was suddenly knocked aside like a curtain and an inky dragon head identical to Discord's tattoo emerged from behind it. The dragon shot a shower of ink onto the paper just below it and this shower formed the following words: Discord is currently unavailable for comment, having been forcibly sedated while causing commotion to draw the hospital staff's general attention away from Amethyst. Fluttershy felt her breath hitch. "You mean he was distracting them to help the others?" The dragon's message reformed into her question. The dragon tattoo moved its head as if preparing to nod when the moth's wing suddenly flopped back into place, hiding the dragon from view. Now the moth's wings bore only two words: Of course! Fluttershy felt a sudden mixture of concern for her former partner's current condition and a sort of pride that he had attempted to help Amethyst. But before she could dwell on this very long, the moth unraveled, turning into new words. Spike: "Well, I guess that explains that." And he continued relaying what had happened, wrapping up with: "Amethyst seems to be alright for now, but I'm not sure where we should go from here." Dinky: "Yeah, and I don't know if she was just faking amnesia because I told her to, or if it was genuine." "Hmm, yes," Twilight murmured and though the words appeared on the paper, she seemed to be talking more to herself than anypony else. "That's what we need to find out before we attempt anything else..." "You have an idea there?" Skywishes asked. "I might. Dinky, if Amethyst was faking her amnesia, it might be because she didn't know if anypony around her was a disguised changeling or not." "Don't I know what that's like," Applejack muttered with a shiver. "Is there something you could tell her—something only the two of you would know—that would prove to her you're really her sister?" Dinky: "Let me see ... Sparky." Highflyer: "Sparky?" Dinky: "It was a nickname Mom and I gave her. Like how they'll sometimes call me Rinky-dink. But Amethyst never liked it, so we stopped using it pretty quick. I don't think any of us have even mentioned it in years." "And Spike, did we ever send any paper through without some type of ink on it? Even an unsigned envelope?" Spike: "I don't ... think so. Newspapers, books, letters..." "And the scrolls we wrapped Dinky and Highflyer in were all covered with a lot of my old notes and calculations for the HAB," added Skywishes. "You think that might be significant?" "Possibly. I'm trying to narrow down what went wrong with Dinky's teleportation. When we wrapped up Highflyer we took our time and made sure no part of him was visible. But when we did the same for Dinky, we were in much more of a hurry and I'm afraid we got a bit sloppy." Spike: "So you think when she came through on my side, my fire caught on whatever bits of her were visible through gaps in her wrappings?" "Yes, but it also occurred to me: what if Highflyer's tattoos and Dinky's lack of them was the deciding factor? I'm pretty sure the former is the reason ... but we have to be absolutely sure for this idea of mine to work." "Alright, this should be a good spot," said Spike as he guided Highflyer and Dinky to a more open area of the ductwork similar to where they'd first appeared. Twilight: "Good. Here comes the blank paper." Spike felt the familiar burning in his gut and belched out a burst of flames. Out tumbled a rolled up scroll. Completely unscorched. That solved one issue. Spike picked up the scroll and unrolled it. "Ready, High?" Highflyer nodded. He showed no fear though whether that was just due to the mask he wore hiding the majority of his features Dinky couldn't be sure. "On the count of three," said Highflyer, getting down into a starting position. Spike nodded, moved back several paces and held up the open scroll so that it formed a barrier between him and the stallion. "One. Two. Three!" Highflyer sprang forward, sprinting the short distance toward Spike and just as he came in contact with the scroll, the small dragon flamed on the other side of it. Dinky recoiled, squeezing her eyes shut as the flames surrounded Highflyer. When the fire disappeared there was no longer any sign of either the scroll or the stallion. Spike pulled the letter from his pocket. "Did it work?" Dinky hurried to his side to look over his shoulder at the letter. Highflyer: "Present and accounted for. I've got some burns on my hooves but they were just from beating out the kid's clothes earlier." Twilight: "Here comes the scroll back." "Might want to back up, kid," Spike warned. Dinky obeyed and the dragon belched out a second burst of flames. He caught the scroll and unrolled it. "Ready?" Dinky eyed the paper uneasily. Sure, Highflyer had made it through fine, but he'd also done so before only for her to try the same thing and end up burned. "Dinky?" She shook herself. "Okay. On the count of three again. One. Two. Three!" Squeezing her eyes shut, she raced forward. I'm going to get burned again! I'm going to get burned again! I'm going to get burned again! Suddenly she felt a harsh blast of heat, and the next moment she was tumbling across a hard wooden floor, yelping as it struck her burned sides. She came to a stop with a groan. "Kid, let me look at you." She opened her eyes to see Highflyer's masked face above her. She silently let him check her over and vaguely heard him report to the other ponies that she hadn't gotten any new burns. It ... worked. her brain cheered weakly. The next moments were a hazy blur for the teenager as she and Highflyer both had their burns tended to. It had probably only been an hour at the most since she had demanded Twilight send her through to Amethyst but the constant fear and tension she'd experienced in that time had left her exhausted. "Dinky, we need you. Spike's in position." She gathered up her remaining energy and focused on the paper Twilight was holding out to her. "Sparky, it's Whistler. Just whisper your words to this paper and I'll see them on my end." There was a long pause. Then the ink tentatively scratched out: Amethyst: "Um ... hello? Rinky-dink?" "Amethyst, I know I told you to act like you didn't remember anything, but now I—we need to know ... Do you really not remember anything?" Once again there was a long silence before Amethyst finally responded. Amethyst: "I remember everything. It all came rushing back while the doctor was examining me. Highflyer showing up. Those disguised changelings capturing us. Ghastly Gorge ... Mom." Suddenly the words seemed to blur as if stained by water. "Dinky, do you know what's happened to Mom? The last thing I remember is seeing her in the cave, with her body all..." "She's alive, Amethyst! She's at the same hospital you're at now. Her body's still all ... um, well, you know ... like you saw it last. But the doctors have figured out a way to keep her alive while they try to find a spell to fix her." With the other ponies' help Dinky filled her sister in on what had happened since her desperate attempt to save their mother had put her in a coma. Finally it was Twilight's turn. "Amethyst, I have a plan to help your mother, but we can't do it without your help—" Amethyst: "What do I do?" "Amethyst, it's going to be dangerous—" Amethyst: "I don't care! I'll give my life if it'll save Mom!" The conviction in this statement was so clear even in written form that Twilight needed a moment to absorb it. "All right. Here's what you need to do." Ding! Ding! Ding! Amethyst's call button went insistently until a unicorn doctor hurried into the room. With Mike the mysterious security guard right behind him. "What's wrong, dear?" asked the doctor. "Nothing." said Amethyst, then promptly seemed to reconsider. "I mean—Well, I'm not sure. But I needed to tell you that I'm remembering things. At least some things." "Really?" The doctor used his magic to lift a clipboard. "Tell me what you remember." "Well, I remember who I am. My name's Amethyst Star. My mother's name is Derpy. Well, actually the name on her birth certificate is Muffins, but nopony ever calls her that. They all call her 'Derpy.' When she was born her mother had a craving for muffins, the doctors thought she was naming the foal, and her mother never bothered to correct it. That's one of the reasons she just let the Derpy nickname stick. She felt it fit better than her actual name. "Oh, and she and my dad—" Her expression suddenly fell. "He's gone. Died years ago." She cleared her throat as if trying to compose herself before going on. "Um, what I was going to say was that they weren't really my biological parents. They adopted me, but I wouldn't trade them for any others. Oh, and they had a biological daughter who was born a couple years after I was adopted. My little sister. Dinky Doo." She looked back up. "Does she and Mom know I'm here? Can I see them?" The doctor's expression, which had been looking hopeful as he jotted down notes, suddenly went grave. "Before I answer that I have to ask you: what's your most recent memory?" "I remember coming home from a pretty uneventful day at work, going to bed ... Then the next thing I know I woke up here when Mike came in yelling." The guard looked away as if embarrassed. "Hmm. Interesting," the doctor murmured as he went back to jotting notes. "You don't seem to have any memory of the events that resulted in your coma, but you can recall not only your name, but specific details like the fact that your mother generally goes by a nickname, the origin of that nickname, and the fact that you're adopted while your younger sibling isn't." "Well, about my mom and sister. Can't I see them?" She frowned at his hesitance. "Is something wrong?" He lowered his clipboard. "Amethyst, I don't think now is the best time to—" "Has something happened to them?" she pleaded, the fearful desperation in her voice growing at every word. "Were they hurt by whatever put me in a coma? Tell me, please!" The doctor let out a resigned breath. "All right. I'll tell you, but it won't be easy to hear. Especially in your current condition. "We don't know what's happened to your sister. She disappeared around the time you showed up here and no one has seen her since. And your mother ... she's here but she's ... not in the best shape." "Why? Is she in a coma like I was?" "No. It'd be easier if she was." He seemed to need a moment to brace himself, then plunged on. "Her whole body's been turned inside out." Amethyst's hoof flew to her mouth. "We've set up a system to keep her alive, but we haven't found a way to reverse her condition yet." Amethyst sat further up as if intending to get out of bed. "I need to see her." "I don't think that's—" "Please. I need to ... I need to see how you're keeping her alive. I need to understand." It was the buzzing sensation from the moth tattoo hiding beneath the shackle on his right wrist that woke Discord. The signal of an incoming message. He tried to move in his restraints but they were now so tight it was almost impossible. "Don't bother," said a sharp voice, and he managed to turn his head enough to see several members of the hospital staff watching him warily. "We've tightened those straps so that you can't give a repeat performance of last time." Discord squinted, his mind still foggy. Last time...? Then his memories all came flooding back. Amethyst waking up. His attempt to buy her and the others some time before the hospital staff burst in on them. Had it worked? How could he even know when he now had no way to receive his friends' message— Suddenly the buzzing on his wrist was replaced with an odd tickling sensation on the underside of his right forearm. As if something were being written there! "So you want to tell us what you were dreaming about?" asked the pony who had spoken earlier, one of the nurses. "Dreaming?" Discord asked, feigning confusion, then made a show of remembering. "Oh! Oh, I tell you it was absolutely horrible! I dreamt I was being forced to organize a spice rack. In alphabetical order no less!" For an instant the pony looked surprised, then disdainful. "Yes, that definitely sounds terrible." "Oh, finally. A kindred spirit." Discord responded in mock jubilation. "Where have you been all this time?" She snorted scornfully. "Don't flatter yourself." "Flatter myself? If anything I'm flattering you, and selling myself short." She muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Oh, barf." But Discord's flippancy had the desired effect because the group soon decided if he had the energy to behave that way, he wasn't in a bad enough shape to warrant close watching. However they made no move to loosen any of his now extra-tight straps. "You've gotten strong enough and dangerous enough they have to stay like that until you're officially moved to prison." "Yes, yes," Discord muttered, while at the same time mentally screaming: Get! Out! As soon as the staff were gone, he turned his right wrist in the confines of its restraint enough to see the underside of his forearm, and the writing his tattoo had printed there. Fluttershy: "Sit tight, Discord. We're going to bust you, Derpy, and Amethyst out of there and bring you back with us to the TreeHAB."