//------------------------------// // To Break a Heart // Story: Equestria's Twilight // by Sapidus3 //------------------------------// Chapter 11 - To Break a Heart Eventually all things must end. The time during which Twilight could embrace Fluttershy seemed all too short. However, eventually they needed to separate. As the yellow pegasus realized how many eyes were on her, Fluttershy suddenly tried in vain to hide beneath her mane, and Twilight craned her neck to follow as the timid pony tried to cower behind Twilight’s larger body. She smiled as Fluttershy “epped” at the realization that noble ponies lined all sides of the throne room and moved to alleviate her friend's discomfort. “Fluttershy. I need to wrap some things up here. How about you let the guards escort you to my tearoom. I should meet you there within the hour and then we can discuss your daughter.” The pegasus nodded meekly and muttered a quiet, “Thank you.” “Magistrate of the court, please inform all petitioners with non-pressing matters that I will need to be cutting my audiences short for today. I have time for a few of the more time sensitive issues. I believe that the mayor of Manehatten is here today on important business.” There was a tension in her legs just waiting to uncoil. Twilight thought back to the years of “lessons” Rarity had insisted on where the other unicorn emphasised the importance of grace and poise. “A proper princess must conduct herself with proper dignity at all times.” Rarity had then added with a knowing glare, “If she cannot, she must ensure that other ponies do not notice.” The quivering in her legs told her that this situation fell into the second category. The slightest movement would cause the springs to explode outward, and she would be stumbling over herself in nervous excitement as she made her way back to the throne. With a flash of magic Twilight disappeared and then rematerialized on the throne. Yes, she thought, walking is beneath the Princess of Magic. It has nothing to do with avoiding embarrassment. The court ponies were still muttering about the most recent visitor. She heard some of them explaining to others just who this ‘Ms. Fluttershy’ was and why their princess would be so upset by her presence. Twilight wanted to correct them and explain that “upset” was the last thing she was feeling. Even more, Twilight yearned to dismiss them all and go join Fluttershy right away. However, Equestria could not grind to a halt because of her desires. There were still important ponies she needed to see. As Fluttershy walked out through the doors to her throne room with an accompaniment of two guards, the mayor of Manehatten walked in. Twilight barely suppressed a sigh. She desperately hoped she was done with court in an hour. The knowledge that Fluttershy did not hate her was preventing her from thinking of much else. Fluttershy did not hate her. It was going to take a while for her to fully process that. That simple fact was the headline of every paper newsstand Twilight was waving around in her mind. Everything else that would happen in the next hour would be inconsequential. The pegasus had every reason to dislike Equestria’s princess. Twilight had gotten the pony’s husband and eldest two children killed and then said those horrible things. Despite that, the yellow pony had forgiven her. Twilight was truly blessed. Twilight absently nodded her head. ‘Yes’ that did seem like a serious problem. ‘No’ she did not think it was a good solution. Suddenly the pony’s words made it onto the front page, and her mind caught up with what the pony before her was saying. The mayor was discussing a recent series of protests in Manehatten regarding wealth distribution and taxes. The city’s lower class was discontent. In the more recent protest property damage had occurred. He was requesting that Twilight authorize the royal guard to assist the city’s police ponies with maintaining order during future such incidents. Twilight was not sure if she was comfortable with the request. Still it was better to have Equestria’s guards help the police than allow things to get out of hoof and possibly end with a pony getting hurt. She gave her assent, but she mentally filed the issue away to think about later. Twilight thought, Cherilee had originally moved to Ponyville from Manehatten. Twilight found herself in front of a mental replica of Ponyville’s school house. She gathered up dolls and other toys from the playground and arranged them into what looked like a large group. They were all old and worn toys. Like the Smarty Pants doll of her childhood, they were well loved but cheap. Toys that thrived on love but had gone neglected certainly had reason to protest. One of Spike’s old Mega-Mare action figures was then placed on a rock watching over the protest. Mega-Mare was sworn to protect the weak but to also maintain order. Twilight would let her mind mull it over. Perhaps it would be a good idea to implement regulations regarding when or where the ponies could assemble a protest. Simply requiring an assembly to register before hand with local law enforcement could help to ensure that things stay orderly and that nopony would get hurt. The next three ponies to see her went by in a blur. Each one of them brought forward business that required careful deliberation. She was only able to give one of them an answer then and there. In the end it had taken her closer to an hour and a half to get through all of the business, but she had managed to get through everything of importance. Some of the issues had been rather unpleasant, but unfortunately Twilight could not simply banish them to the Everfree Forest of her mind. They were issues that still would require her attention, and she would need to deal with them eventually. Twilight thanked the court for their time and made her way towards the tea room where Fluttershy awaited. She had managed to control her emotions for the majority of the last hour, but now as she approached the door she found her legs trembling. Fluttershy had said she forgave her, but the pony was the epitome of kindness. Of course the pegasus would say that she did not hate Twilight. But how could Twilight trust that her friend was not just trying to avoid hurting her. The alicorn did not believe that Fluttershy would be capable of causing emotional pain even to a pony that she hated. Was there a way that Twilight could figure out how the pony really felt? Her horn glowed slightly, and the doors swung open. Fluttershy was sitting in the room with a timid smile on her face. “Hello Twilight.” The voice was quiet but happy. Of all of Twilight’s friends, Fluttershy had aged the worst. The pegasus was not made for the dark world that Twilight ruled. All of the suffering the pony had been forced to witness had been hard on her. It was natural for Fluttershy to help ponies and animals in need, but now there were far too many to help them all. However, the event that had really aged the yellow pegasus was the day she had witnessed her family die. Fluttershy’s mane still had a pink tinge, but it was hard to argue that it was not gray. Even her coat was beginning to lose some of its color. At least it seemed as if her trips to the spa had staved off crows’ feet and wrinkles. All said, however, Fluttershy looked far older than her age. “Hello. Sorry that it took me a bit longer than I had thought. I hope you haven’t been bored.” “Oh no, not at all. Your guards were nice enough to have somepony bring me some tea. It’s very good.” “Now that it is just the two of us, I was hoping we could talk some more.” “But Twilight - I mean Princess, it’s not just two of us, what about those ponies over there.” “Them? They’re my guards. They’re always around, but you don’t need to worry about them. They know how to be discreet.” “All right, Princess.” “Please, you don’t need to call me that.” “I’m sorry Prince- I mean Twilight. I guess I’m just not used to being in Canterlot and in front of nobility and everything. It's got me a bit flustered.” “Fluttershy, you’re not the one with anything to apologize for.” “And neither are you Twilight. What happened was never your fault in the first place and you already apologized despite that.” “But the things I said afterwards-” “Were said because you were upset. Yes they were hurtful, but friends forgive.” Tears were in Twilight’s eyes, but she did not let them fall. She wanted what Fluttershy was saying to be true. How could the words be a lie? But yet, the possibility was all too real. The princess could not help but think of the times Fluttershy had kept the truth to herself in order to avoid upsetting another pony. “Then why did you never respond to the letter I sent you or come to Canterlot?” “Well Rarity had suggested that I might want to give you some time because you still felt guilty. So I was going to wait for another letter... but well, one never came. Then you’d visit Ponyville and spend time with Applejack but wouldn’t stop by to see me. I just figured... I just figured you didn’t want to see me.” Twilight laughed. “I had wanted to give you time because I thought you would be angry at me. But you never responded to my letter so I just thought ‘I guess Fluttershy doesn’t want anything to do with me anymore.’” “I think we’ve both been silly.” “So are we OK, Fluttershy?” “Oh yes, I would like that very much... As long as that’s OK with you.” Twilight walked around the table and hugged her friend again. Unlike earlier in the throne room, there was much less force in Twilight’s action. This time she allowed Fluttershy to hug back, and to her immense relief the pony did. Of course Fluttershy did not hate her. This was so much better. It was just the two of them, and the guards of course, without the fear she had felt earlier. There was no need for her to put a show on for the court. The day had been such a wonderful one. Twilight had had a meaningful conversation with Rainbow Dash, repaired an important relationship with one of her oldest friends, and hopefully shown the magisterium that she was a loving pony. And it was not even lunch. But all things, good and bad, come to an end. Twilight remembered what had brought Fluttershy to Canterlot in the first place. She broke the hug. “About your daughter, could you tell me what happened to her?” “Oh... Little Pinkie was hurt. She’s been in a coma but none of the doctors have been able to help her. I didn’t know what to do, and I just thought...” “That I would be able to help.” Their voices were both low now. Fluttershy meekly nodded her head. “Could you tell me how Pinkie was hurt?” Just speaking the name of Fluttershy’s daughter brought back painful memories of the pony’s namesake. “She was one of the survivors of the Witherton attack.” Time seemed to freeze for Twilight. She needed time to process. It was not the “Witherton Attack.” Ponies had been calling it the “Witherton Slaughter.” Fluttershy’s reluctance at calling it by that name did not surprise her. Almost every pony in the town of Witherton had been killed. Three survivors had lived but had been comatose for over half a year now. Twilight had taken the time to memorize the faces of each pony killed in the attack. However, she had not been able to bring herself to see the survivors. Seeing dead ponies was one thing, but seeing living testaments to her failure to protect Equestria was another thing. She knew that it made her a coward. Twilight also knew that she was breathing rapidly. All those months and one of the survivors had been Fluttershy’s daughter. Because Twilight had been reluctant to face her failure, Fluttershy was suffering. Because she had failed the ponies of Witherton, Little Pinkie had been hurt. Why did her failures always end with ponies in pain? Twilight was confident that she could help Little Pinkie where other ponies had failed for a very good reason. During her entire time as a student in Canterlot, Twilight had always been intrigued by the Royal Library's Restricted Section. Off from the main hall was a wrought iron gate. It was a beautiful thing made of flowing shapes and patterns. A young Twilight had practically been able to smell the ancient magics layered on top of the iron. She had asked the Princess during one of their lessons about the gate and received the response, “It is to protect ponies from things that could be very dangerous if used irresponsibly or by those who did not know what they were doing.” Interestingly enough, it was not originally the contents of the Restricted Section that had captured a young filly’s imagination. The gate itself was what had filled so many hours of wonder. What exactly did all those runes do? Some she had found in the standard reference books, but others defied her research. How old exactly was the gate? She was never able to explain it properly in her notes, but it just felt positively ancient. Why had the magic woven into the metal not caused it to rust away to nothing? One of the first things Twilight had learned while studying runes was the general rules on material requirements. The more powerful the magic woven into a rune the more it would burn away and corrode the material on which the runes were placed. It was the number one weakness of runes. Skilled rune wrights were capable of weaving less damaging runes, but even still, to put so many with so much power on what seemed ordinary iron seemed to defy every textbook Twilight could find. As much as she preferred being tucked into one of the more reclusive study nooks buried in the library or to head back to her own room, Twilight often found herself at one of the tables in the main hall just so she would be able to see the gate when she looked up. Occasionally, a senior professor at the academy or some other trusted pony would come by with a key. Those were the best days, when she got to see the runes flare to life as they temporarily allowed admittance. Twilight was sure that Celestia was amused by her obsession with a simple gate. Occasionally the Princess would stop by on her while Twilight was studying in the library. If she had her Gate Notebook with her, which she almost always did when sitting in the central hall, she would tuck it away with a clumsy haste and just see the Princess smiling. It was the “Restricted” section for a reason afterall. Diary Vol. One Hundred and Thirty Seven did reveal something regarding those little exchanges. I was worried when I heard that my ever eager student had been spending a large amount of time around the entrance to the Restricted Section. I placed an illusion on the throne earlier this week and spent some time spying on Twilight. It turns out she is just fascinated with the gate of all things! Twilight had been enraptured by the mention of the illusion. Throughout the diary Celestia made the occasional mention of creating an illusion to take over court duties or to deal with other unpleasant tasks. Apparently Princess Celestia was capable of splitting her attention and truly multitasking. There were no hints of how the Princess had been able to do it, though it had helped to inspire Twilight in the creation of her Celestia construct. Once I realized what she has been doing, I’ve made it a point to drop by while she is researching the gate. I think she has decided that I would be upset with her investigations. Whenever I show up she hides her notes. It’s the cutest thing ever. I don’t think she plans on asking me about the gate. Unfortunately it’s been too long since I’ve split my mind and I think I need to dispel the illusion. Twilight can continue studying the gate. Independent research is good for her. However, Twilight slowly unraveled the riddle of the gate. It had been created by a skilled pony and the runes were intricate and esoteric, but there was nothing mystical about them - other than the whole magic thing, she thought. Eventually she learned all of the mysteries that the old iron gate held. After that she would wonder about the Restricted Section, of course. What curious student would not? However, that curiosity never reached the level of her obsession with the gate. It was an idle curiosity held in passing whenever she walked passed the locked passage. Twilight had been confident that whatever was behind the ancient gate was there with good reason. Twilight still remembered her first time that she was allowed into the Restricted Section. Princess Celestia had told her that there had been a particular book she wanted Twilight to read but that it was kept behind a certain metal gate. When Twilight realized what Celestia had been saying she was hopping up and down like a filly again. The two of them had walked through the gate side by side and it was like entering another world. At first the shelves and books did not seem too much different when compared to the rest of the library. Perhaps they were dustier, but hooftraffic from the small number of ponies with access kept it from being too dirty. However, as they walked further, it transformed into a landscape alien to any library she had ever been in. Bookcases became more spread out and held fewer and fewer books. Eventually they reached a point where a single shelf would only hold a single text. Those most forbidden books and scrolls were behind glass or chained in place. Twilight had been silent up until that point had asked the Princess why. “To avoid contamination,” was all the response she had gotten. Eventually they had looped their way back towards the entrance to the restricted section, and Twilight realized most of their journey had been an informal tour, a simple but treasured gift from the Princess. Celestia had levitated a book from a more traditional shelf and gave it to Twilight. She had puzzled over the cover which contained no title as they walked over to some reading podiums. “Twilight, I have some research I need to be doing in the restricted section for the next few weeks. While I am in here, I would like you with me studying the book I gave you. My work is not so pressing that I cannot be interrupted. Please ask me, as always, whenever you have any questions.” With that Celestia had curled up next to Twilight’s reading podium with several scrolls that Twilight had not noticed the Princess gathering. For the next few weeks Twilight would be summoned by the Princess for a studying section in that secluded section of the library. Those sessions were pure bliss. That book had been Twilight’s first introduction to mental magic, and the discussions that surrounded the book when Twilight had first learned about Princess Celestia’s memory palace technique. The book mostly covered theory and fundamental skills required for more advanced uses of magic. Over the next few years on additional forays Twilight eventually learned how to organize her mind and protect herself from enchantments and charms. At one point Twilight had thought to ask why the books she was reading were in the Restricted Section of the library. “My most faithful student, while there is nothing inherently wrong about mind magic, the potential for abuse is large. It is comforting that you obviously not been thinking about how you could use this magic to harm other ponies, but there is a reason why you have been learning defensive applications. And then the Princess had given her unrestricted access to the library. Twilight would have done her “Yes” dance if she had not been too stunned to speak. The level of trust that the Princess had placed in the hoofs of a mare not fully grown had not been lost on Twilight. Twilight had vowed that she would make responsible use of that sprawling wing previously inaccessible to her. But she had failed that vow in her selfishness. Fluttershy was absolutely right to have come to the ruler of Equestria. While she was no doctor, she did have access to all of Equestria’s ‘forbidden’ magics. Few ponies had access to those ancient tomes, but Twilight had devoured the knowledge in that nearly vacant wing of the library. Yet she had done nothing with that knowledge. It was not medical magic, however, in the case of a coma patient, it could potentially help. Coupled with her personal studies of medicine, she could make a difference. Twilight had been sitting in her palace avoiding her responsibility while she could have been helping those three poor ponies. She briefly wondered how many sick ponies all across Equestria she could help with her skills, knowledge, and power. It might mean cutting more into her sleep and additional study, but surely it would be worth it. A good pony would sacrifice a few hours of sleep if it meant saving others. She would need some more tea. Suddenly, Twilight realized that Fluttershy seemed paused in mid-blink. Looking at the clock on the wall she saw that its pendulum was stuck mid-swing. And just as quickly as she had realized it, things were back to normal. The alicorn was left uncertain if it had been in her mind or if things had actually momentarily stopped. Perhaps it was her own perceptions that had been altered, or perhaps the stress was getting to her. Twilight desperately wanted to go to her tower and run some new experiments. If indeed it had not just been her imagination, any magical residue would fade quickly. With a sigh, she realized that there was a more important issue on hoof. “I’m sorry to hear that she was in the attack. If you don’t mind me asking, why had she been in Witherton in the first place? You still live in Ponyville right?” “Oh yes, I couldn’t imagine moving from Ponyville. Though the mayor has been telling me that my cottage is too close to the Everfree forest. Little Pinkie had just been visiting a friend who moved to Witherton last year. I’m just happy that she made it… I was so terrified when I heard the news.... Do you think you might be able to help her?” Twilight took a moment to collect her thoughts. “Yes. Yes, I think I can.” +++ The broken pony before the Twilight Princess was a heart wrenching sight. The young pony was frail and only being kept alive by a feeding tube. Twilight looked at the chart: unresponsive, but there had been no cranial damage. The young filly was not brain dead. That was good. The magic she planned to use could only work around physical brain damage, not repair it. Twilight felt encouraged by the nature of the injuries. It was something she could potentially fix. Twilight and Fluttershy had gone directly from the palace to the hospital. The alicorn had not wanted her friend to suffer a moment longer than necessary. Fluttershy’s ‘daughter’ was a pink earth pony unrelated to the pegasus. Five years prior, Fluttershy and her family were traveling with a caravan. Since the dawn of the Empty Night, it was pure folly to attempt a journey longer than a day’s distance by one’s self. However, even still, sometimes safety in numbers was not enough. A pack of timberwolves had beset the caravan. As far as potential threats went, they were relatively minor, but they could still take lives. However, the caravan had made camp in the middle of a migratory path. Twilight had authorized the caravan's own path. Fluttershy had lost her husband and two children that night. However, Little Pinkie had lost her parents while still only little more than a baby. The pony's parents had not been carrying IDs and nopony could identify them. Fluttershy had lifted the pink pony from a wrecked wagon and decided to adopt her. From that day on the pegasus had treated the foal as her own. On the way to the hospital Fluttershy had explained that caring for the pony had helped her survive through the loss of the rest of her family. Now she loved Little Pinkie as much as she had ever loved her biological daughters. Twilight had found herself asking question after question on their way to the hospital. She wanted to know about her friend’s daughter. Apparently the pony loved to laugh almost as much as her namesake. One fact, however, had become abundantly clear in the answers. Fluttershy had not told any of their other friends about what had happened to Little Pinkie. The pegasus had not wanted to be a bother. Now that they were at the hospital, Twilight felt actual hope. There did not seem to be any specific neurological damage to the young pony. All she would need to do was reach out to the young pony's mind and tell it to ‘wake up.’ It would be just a light tap and the risks would be minor. Twilight would save the young pony who she had only met once before. It had been the last time Twilight and Fluttershy had spoken in person. Twilight opened with some ‘standard’ mind magic spells from the restricted spells. She had never cast them before, but the spell forms were simple, only required a great deal of focus. Much to her annoyance all of them failed to produce any effect. Twilight had even used one spell specifically designed to rouse minds in magically induced slumbers. The failure of the spells was not completely unexpected, but meant she would need to resort to riskier methods. “Is… Is everything alright?” “Magic of the mind is a tricky thing. Everypony is wired differently and thinks differently, so there is a lot that has to go on to translate thoughts. The spells I have been using are… shortcuts. They are all based on the fundamental principles but make assumptions about both the caster and the castee. Unfortunately, none of them have worked.” “I understand… Thank you for trying, Twilight.” Twilight shook her head as she stared at her patient. “I’m not giving up. It just means I need to go back to basics. I need to make a lower level connection between Little Pinkie’s mind and my own. She’s in there; I can feel it. I just need to bring her out.” “Thank you, Twilight.” “Fluttershy, this spell is going to take a lot of concentration. I’ll be aware of my surroundings, but just barely. So if you need anything it may take a bit of work to get my attention. Doctor, please monitor the pony's vitals. They may fluctuate some.” “Thank you so much, Twilight.” Fluttershy’s eyes were wide with appreciation and concern. The doctor simply nodded and stood by the bedside. “Now Fluttershy, you recognize that there is some risk. If her mind fights me, it could harm her physically.” “I understand, you explained on the way here. I know that you will do your best.” “I know, but this spell does not have the same safeguards the others I was using had. The odds that something will go wrong are significantly greater.” “Is this the best way to help my daughter?” “It is. I’m going to do do everything I can to minimize the risk and get you your daughter back.” “I believe in you, Twilight.” The lavender alicorn had convinced Spike to be a test subject for when she had wanted to learn various mental spells. However, this was the first time she had ever used a ‘mind delve’ spell on an actual pony. Magic lit up Twilight’s horn and she lowered it down to Little Pinkie’s forehead. The world around her dissolved. Twilight was in the center of Ponyville. It was important that she started somewhere she knew, and she could not think of a better place to start than her own mind. She trotted through Ponyville and passed the newsstand. The Twilight there levitated a newspaper from beneath her wings and gave it to the Twilight that was her. The paper pictured the doctor’s face with a quote underneath as he read of Little Pinkie’s vitals. “Good, it looks like she is stable after the initial mental bridge.” Before going any further she teleported herself to the library and made her way down to the Great Orrery. Time could pass oddly in the psychic plane of one’s mind, and even though Twilight doubted she would be in her trance for more than a few real world minutes, there was no point in letting the sun get off track. “Girls, I need you to keep things running smooth. My focus is going to be elsewhere.” The Twilights in labcoats all gave a sharp salute as their posture stiffened and their wings folded on their backs. On her way out she poked her head into the sweltering furnace room. The coal covered unicorn inside gave Twilight a wordless nod. Satisfied that her solar magic was stable she brought herself back to the center of Ponyville. The alicorn at the newsstand showed Twilight an updated paper. It appeared identical to the first one she had looked at except for the clock in the background of the cover picture. It seemed the clock had ticked off a second. “I’d best get to work.” Somewhere she would find the bridge connecting her mind to Little Pinkie’s. It was only a matter of finding and crossing that bridge and then she could help Fluttershy’s daughter. Her first instinct was the train station. Twilight had never coopted the building for any special significance in her mind and so her subconscious may have placed the connection there. However, when she arrived at the station, Twilight was disappointed that the rail terminated at the edge of Ponyville. Likewise the roads leading out of Ponyville all ended just beyond the town boundaries. She had never traveled much on foot and was not even sure if she could picture what the roads were supposed to look like beyond Ponyville. Twilight briefly considered the hot air balloon tethered in the town Green, but shook her head. “Maybe if I’d been flying longer, but I’m still not thinking three dimensionally as Dash is so quick to remind me.” Twilight rubbed her neck as she thought of some of her aerial combat training sessions with her Captain of the Guard. “Yeah, I don’t think my subconscious would put the link in the sky. Maybe if Little Pinkie was a pegasus… Ok bridge where are you?” As if in response to her question, Twilight heard thunder rumble in the distance. As she turned to stare at a small path heading into the Everfree Forest she realized the thunder may very well have been a response. “Of course…” Twilight sighed. “I need to go through the Everfree.” Ponyville was the manifestation of her thoughts and memories. Everything that she wanted to hold onto and remember had all been sorted into its place. The Everfree was were everything else fell. Everything that she would rather forget or not think about, she would push into the shadows. Twilight took a deep breath and began walking down the path. With the power she had grown into, nothing in the Everfree Forest, real or imaginary, could cause her any true harm. Yet Twilight could not help but notice how her knees seemed to tremble. She decided to start a light trot. As Twilight made her way down the path, she relied on the ambient light that existed within her mind, but was frustrated to see that despite having no point of origin, the light still managed to cast shadows in the Everfree. The trees seemed to loom over her and the shadows seemed to reach towards her. “Giggle at the ghastly, laugh at the ghouly...” Twilight tried to sing the song that had once given her and her friends the courage to make their way through the forest, but was frustrated to find that the lyrics would not come to her. She knew that she had written them down somewhere and would need to commit them to memory once she was done helping Little Pinkie. Another voice seemed to carry on the wind, “Why didn't you help her.” Twilight’s head darted around, as she felt the blood drain from her face. She saw the shadowed silhouette of a pony hanging from a noose. “This is your fault.” Twilight bolted into a gallop trying to put as much distance between herself and the shadow as possible. Occasionally her wings would fitter taking her off the ground, but she would eventually come back down again. “Keep it together Twilight. It wasn't really your fault. Celestia told you that. Focus on that. She couldn't have done anything to help mom. I was a good student.” Twilight slowed down panting. “I’m a good pony.” She shook her head. “Princess Celestia couldn't do everything. I was a good student. It wasn’t my fault. I’m a good pony.” Looking up Twilight saw a massive chasm running through the Everfree Forest. A rickety rope bridge spread across it disappearing into the fog. Twilight frowned. “Am I really that unimaginative that I made the bridge an actual bridge?” A loud noise rumbled through the air, almost causing Twilight to jump. However, as she focused on it, she realized that it was simply the beep of the heart monitor bleeding through. “Keep your focus Twi. Now is the moment of truth. Let’s do this.” Twilight jumped up and down on her hooves and punched at the air trying to emulate what she figured Pinkie Pie or Rainbow Dash would do to pump themselves up. Then she crossed the bridge into Little Pinkie’s mind as she recalled back when she had first practiced the mind bridge spell with Spike. It was very different. Everything was empty. Twilight’s awareness was floating in a black empty void. There was no sound or heat. Something was wrong. Everything she had read indicated the spell should be more or less the same on a dragon as on a pony. Their minds were fundamentally the same, if structured slightly differently. However, there would be large differences in how the mind appeared from pony to pony based on their personalities. If she was touching Spike's mind she would be surrounded by crystallized memories, thoughts, and dreams by that point. This was just empty. Twilight felt nauseous. It was wrong. The ambient lighting still existed. She could see her hooves in front of her, and looking behind her she thought she could see the end of a bridge floating in the void if she focused. But there was nothing else. Twilight quickly clamped down on her emotions. A clear mind was important for the spell to remain stable. Perhaps this was simply what a comatose pony’s mind was like. She needed to delve deeper. She poured more magic into the spell. Twilight was distantly aware of hearing the doctor mention something about rising heart rate. The empty void shattered and was replaced with just more darkness. However, this time something was different. There was a light in the distance. Obviously Little Pinkie's mind had turned in on itself, but Twilight had found it. Now to wake her up. With a thought she propelled herself towards the light. When she reached it, the Princess of Equestria was horrified. There were thoughts and memories, but all of the memories were of the slaughter. They were replaying before her eyes. The cause of the coma had been psychological. Little Pinkie had been unable to cope with what she had experienced. Twilight could hardly cope with what she was seeing. She forced herself to watch. It was the least she could do, besides there was something to be gained. She would help Little Pinkie, but it was also an opportunity for her to learn the identities, or identity, of whoever or whatever had attacked the town. Unfortunately, to Twilight’s frustration the images were broken and fragmented. There was no knowledge to be gained, only horror. She could try to force the images to coalesce, but their fragmentation was probably protecting the poor earth pony. Twilight decided she could bring the bubble of the pony's mind back to consciousness, but thought it would be a horrible idea. With the memories and images still there, it would be like torture for Little Pinkie. It might even kill her mind or even trigger a cardiac arrest. Twilight would need to banish the darkness from the pony’s mind. Her thoughts blasted the memories with a mental manifestation of solar energy. They receded for a time, but as soon as the blast faded away the memories seemed to reform. They were resisting her. The doubt in her mind was rapidly vanishing. Twilight could not clean away the taint in Little Pinkie’s mind. But she could cut it away. It would be, in effect, destroying portions of the pony's mind. She would need to cut away some ‘clean’ memories around the thoughts of Witherton if she was going to succeed. Hopefully the triage would not be too severe. The alicorn dove deeper and as she did her horror grew greater. The darkness in the pony's mind was like some twisted weed. It wound itself deep into Little Pinkie’s mind, choking each and every portion of it. When Twilight attempted to cut away portions of the weed with concentrated light, it would just rearrange itself as if she had done nothing. There was more infected tissue than healthy material. It was definitely something wrong. She could simply uproot the entire weed, but virtually every memory the little pony had was now associated with the nightmare in some way or another. If she removed the darkness, very little of what made Pinkie Pinkie would be left. It would effectively reduce the pony to a blank state. Twilight remembered her new Celestia. She could attempt to construct a mental framework for a new mind. Purging the nightmares would give her a clean slate to work with. She could replace what she destroyed with the stories Fluttershy had told her. But she did not have enough information to go off of. She would get details wrong. Even if she could do it perfectly, it seemed somehow wrong. The alicorn did not know how long she had been in the earth pony’s mind with her hyper-aware state. The possibilities she had contemplated could have taken her weeks to work out. Yet, all of the details seemed to be unfolding before her. She had three options. She could awaken the pony to a living, waking, eternal nightmare. Perhaps traditional therapy could help her, but Twilight knew the odds of that were small. She could purge Little Pinkie’s mind. The earth pony would be like a newborn foal all over again. Or Twilight could replace the pony with what would essentially be a fake. Why were those options all so horrible? Which one was the right one? And suddenly, her hearts gave a single powerful beat in unison. She knew her eyes were glowing in the waking world. The veil of time melted before her. Twilight saw herself forcing Little Pinkie awake. The pony would scream the moment she woke up and continue to do so until the moment she died. For Fluttershy, the ordeal would be far worse than simply having her daughter in a coma. She saw the grave - her friend dead of a broken heart. She saw herself wiping out Little Pinkie’s mind. Fluttershy would accept it and try raising her daughter all over again, but it would be with the knowledge that the daughter she had known was dead in every way that mattered. It would have been more of a mercy if Little Pinkie had just died. Fluttershy would be deprived of the closure she would need. Twilight saw her friend slowly growing more and more ill. Once again an early grave. She replaced the pink earth pony’s mind with a mental construct - an artificial mind. Fluttershy would be ecstatic that her daughter was OK. However, as the years went by the pegasus would notice more and more details that were off. She would try to convince herself everything was alright, but it would wear on her sanity. It ended worse than the other possibilities. Twilight saw Little Pinkie dead, Fluttershy holding a bloody knife, and then the pegasus was dead as well. There were countless other variants. Some in which Twilight would ask for Fluttershy’s opinion and reenter Little Pinkie’s mind. Others in which she would try to explain her decision to the pegasus. She even saw futures in which she told Fluttershy that there was nothing she could do and simply left the pony in her coma. All of those possible futures ended in the same way - with Fluttershy dead before her time. In each one, it would all be effectively the same. She had killed Fluttershy. Her hearts beat once again in unison. The world around her thrummed as comprehension dawned on the alicorn. They were all possible futures, but they were not THE future. They would never be, because she would not let them happen. What she had just seen was the infinite number of rejected possibilities. Her path, in this instance, was already written. She remembered her earlier thought. A mercy. She remembered the words of Spike’s doctor. Sometimes you need to cut away healthy flesh to remove the disease and save the whole. What did she need to cut away to save Fluttershy? Twilight remembered Night Walker’s pride at his deeds. What would it be like to take the life of another pony? She would give Fluttershy freedom and closure. The future would see her friend live for years to come. That she saw. That she knew. That she dictated. Twilight wanted to cry. She hardly knew the precious pony whose mind she floated in, but she knew Little Pinkie was a wonderful pony. She held back her tears. There would be time to cry soon enough, but Fluttershy could not know that there was something wrong - not yet. The weed sensed Twilight’s intent and lashed out at her. She realized that it had been trying to choke her for some time now. Its thorns were attempting to cut into her throat, but were only drawing a small trickle of blood. She roared and the weed burned. Once again, it tried to wrap itself around her mind, but she pulsed with a sorrowful light. She knew the weed. Twilight did not know how it had survived, but all that mattered was it still existed. She would seek out the weed throughout Equestria and root it out. She would purge it from existence for all those it had hurt. “I will not let Fluttershy die.” Her decree echoed through the empty mind. She was Twilight Sparkle, personal student of Princess Celestia. She was the Princess of the Fading Sun. She would not be bested by some vile weed. She would avenge those the nightmare had taken. Pinkie Pie, Celestia, Luna, Little Pinkie. She retreated back to the safety of her own head and was looking through her own eyes again. Twilight remained sitting still; she did not want the other ponies to know she had broken off the mind delve. The room was still swirling with powerful magics. The doctor would not be able to sense what was about to happen. She used her magic to feel inside Little Pinkie’s chest. She could feel the beating of the pony’s tiny little heart. What will it be like to kill a pony? Twilight squeezed. She was clutching a sobbing Fluttershy as doctors rushed around them. She had found her answer. It felt awful. But the dark corner of her mind where she pushed all of her unwanted thoughts could not help but add to the thought. It also felt wonderful.