When Twilight awoke she suppressed a groan and instead opened one weary eye to be greeted by a blurry blue shape. She felt like she had been hit in the chest by someone with the force Applejack bucked trees, and she groaned loudly. Her eyes snapped shut and she winced as the pain shrunk, centreing on a point, and then faded entirely. With a sudden pause, she felt her ears clear and suddenly she could hear sounds.
“Are you sure she will be ok Luna?” Fluttering her eyes open, she faced the male who had spoken, and gave a faint smile to her favourite purple dragon. Opening her mouth, she gave a croak as she tried to speak and failed to do so. A gentle claw quickly shut her mouth and Spike shook his head.
“No Twilight, don’t rush it,” he spoke, gazing at her with concerned eyes. Twilight nodded, and shifted her gaze around the room, seeing all her friends and the dark blue Alicorn named Luna present.
“W-What happened-“her voice cut off and she coughed, Spike coming to her side and attempting to help a little too late as it subsided as quickly as it came. Luna stepped away from the group, coming to join Spike and gazing down at Twilight.
“What do you remember Twilight?” Twilight frowned, focusing her brain, leaving the foggy sleep state behind with the harsh slap of reality. She sat upright with a sudden movement and layed back down as she got dizzy a moment later. Twilight remembered the events of the night Skid had escaped, and quickly turned to Luna.
“Is Celestia ok, did you catch Skid, what happened to the spell that hit me, do you know what it did?” Luna paused, and her horn glowed as she summoned a spell and cast it into the air where it vanished. A few moments later, Celestia walked through the door and turned her gaze on Twilight and gave a warm smile.
“My student…You are safe and well.” Twilight gave a smile, and tried sitting up again. Twilight took it slower this time, and managed the action with only a minor head spin that faded quickly.
“I am afraid we have yet to capture Skid as you call him, he seems to have escaped while I was busy rounding up the soldiers to look for him.” Twilight frowned, hadn’t the soldiers already been after Skid? She discarded it, and focused on Celestia as she began answering her final question.
“As for what the spell did, we have yet to see any effects other then you occasionally shivering.” Celestia and Luna shared a glance, and Twilight glanced to the area she had felt the heat upon awakening, and frowned.
“Wah-“she exclaimed in shock as Celestia and Luna gently layed her down and looked at the area she had been hit and shared another glance. Twilight strained her head, and all she could see was a slight rash.
“What is it, what’s wrong?” Celestia released her, Luna stepping back as well and they frowned.
“It is just, strange a spell only caused a minor rash and cramping, there must be something going on behind the scenes.” Twilight sighed, sitting back up, flaring her wings before folding them.
“Princess I’m fine, Skid mustn’t have thought of a better spell, maybe he planned more on escaping then revenge.” Celestia’s face was a perfect poker face, so Twilight ignored it and carefully stood up. Spike was instantly to her side to help her, and she soon felt completely back to normal, except for this itch in her chest.
“Celestia, I’m fine seriously, can I please talk about heading back to Ponyville instead?” Twilight wanted to drop the subject, Skid had obviously failed whatever his mission had been and had escaped while he had the chance. Celestia glanced once again to Luna, much to the annoyance of Twilight, and gave a slow nod.
“Very well, what is it you wish to talk about Princess Twilight?” Twilight winced, Celestia was pulling her rank into the debate, and this wasn’t going to be easy.
“Celestia please, I know I’m a princess and all but why can’t I go and stay in Ponyville with my friends like I used to?” Celestia glanced to the five friends who were waiting at the door, staying out of the conversation seeing as it didn’t involve them. Which was surprising considering Pinkie Pie was there.
“There is no reason why you cannot. However you will have to make frequent trips to Canterlot so we can train you in the process you may have to go through in the future.” Twilight mused what Celestia said over, and nodded. It seemed like a fair trade where she had been expecting none.
“That’s perfect, when can I leave?” This time, Luna was the one who answered.
“One weeks time, if that is ok with thou-you.” Twilight grimaced, as did her friends.
“One week, why can’t I leave tomorrow?” Celestia draped a wing around Twilight and gently hugged her student.
“We must be sure the spell had no lasting effects.” Twilight rolled her eyes, and motioned to her friends.
“If it does, they can easily inform you of any problems.” Luna nodded, and frowned in thought.
“She has a point sister…” Celestia gazed to her sister as she spoke, and sighed, a smile coming on her face.
“Alright Twilight, you can leave tomorrow.” Twilight smiled and nearly jumped out of the embrace, remembering just in time to stop herself. Her friends walked in, and they began discussing the different ways they would celebrate. Twilight smiled, her wings stretching as she gave a hearty yawn and they all turned and gave her a smile, Pinkie Pie giggling and Rainbow Dash snorting before glancing away.
“You must still be tired Twilight, we will let you rest, one of us will be outside if you need us.” Twilight nodded and they all gently walked outside, she heard some chatter before eventually hoof-steps were heard and everything grew silent. Twilight gently layed down, and fell down into a deep slumber, she woke again at midday and yawned, sitting up and gazing at her empty room and at the pony shape visible through the door. Twilight frowned; noticing the itch on her chest was stronger and had now affected her horn as well. She nimbly stood up and peeked out the door to see a tired Rainbow Dash sleeping on the door, who stirred slightly at the movement. Twilight closed it gently with a single click and frowned; she was trapped.
Turning her gaze toward the window, she smiled and glanced to her wings, opening them. Twilight’s horn flickered to life as she prepare a simple teleportation spell to help her get just outside the window, frowning as it spluttered before her magic began to flow. She released the spell and quickly appeared just outside the window, quickly flaring her wings and gliding down to the ground. Landing she folded her wings and gazed around the garden area, and decided to walk into the forest section, where she had once managed to catch up to Skid and get him caught out after taking her form. Gazing around the area, she watched the trees, and butterflies and birds as she walked. Soon enough she grew tired of walking a picked a sunny area to gently lie down in the grass. Twilight layed her head down, gently dozing as her mind wandered.
“Twilight” she jerked awake, seeing seven frantic ponies coming toward her. Twilight blinked, and then smiled sheepishly.
“Sorry I didn’t mean to vanish like that, I only wanted to stretch my legs a bit and I didn’t want to disturb the guard who was sleeping on the door.” Six eyes turned to Rainbow Dash, who smiled sheepishly and scratched the back of her neck.
“My bad…” Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, she was forgiven. They spent the rest of the afternoon talking about one thing or another until it came time for the sun to set and the princesses went to do their duties. Heading back to her room, she bid her friends goodnight and all but Rarity left. Closing the door, Twilight leapt into her bed and sighed in immense comfort before immediately doubling over in sudden silent pain. It quickly left, and she fell into deep unconscious once more.
Twilight awoke the next morning with an intense headache that quickly faded. However it left an intense itch in her horn, and as she tried to scratch the itch she realised with a sudden fright she couldn’t move, then relaxed as her body began responding and the itch subsided slightly. Sitting up required some intense concentration, but soon she had regained full control of her body and even managed to stand up. Her chest itched immensely, and her horn was starting to follow suit, even her legs felt tingly and it made her eyes twitch in annoyance. Twilight knew if the princesses knew they would not let her leave, so she would pretend nothing was wrong and take a nice long bubble bath when she got home. Some good herbal essences would fix her right up. But even as she said that, the fastest she could walk was a very slow walk without appearing shaky. Twilight frowned in concentration, and decided she would just say she was taking her time.
“Hey Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Spike, and Applejack, where’s Luna and Celestia?” Applejack motioned toward the other part of the castle.
“They’re caught up in official stuff, said they’d meet us at the train station.” Twilight nodded, and they headed out, bags packed and ready to go. It didn’t take them long to reach the train, and right on cue the two princesses landed with ease and gave a gentle smile to Twilight. Twilight smile warmly back, ignoring the increasing burden of ignoring the itching as it intensified, her ears began to buzz.
“Pardon?” she spoke, and they blinked at her and frowned. Twilight was not known for needing to be told twice.
“Hey Twilight darling, are you sure you are ok, you look really pale.” Rarity made to approach, and Twilight took a step back.
“I’m fine, I just really want to go home” she replied, managed to lip-read Rarity since she could no longer hear over the buzzing. It was when Celestia tried to gently put a wing around her, that it became very apparent that something was wrong. Twilight tried to move too fast, and her movements became jerky, putting everyone on high alert. Celestia said something, but Twilight couldn’t hear anymore, everything was fading into static. Was that Celestia or Luna, or was it Rainbow Dash? The world tilted and she fell to the floor with a thump, falling unconscious.
“Twilight!”