Celestia and Luna surveyed their immediate surroundings, noting the destruction caused by the confrontation. A few dead trees were a small price to pay to bring Twilight’s mind back, even if they would have an interesting time attempting to explain the damage to the unconscious Applejack. Luna walked over and examined her closely.
“She’ll be fine after she gets some fluids in her once she comes to, Celestia. Just missing some blood, but no worse for the wear.” Luna looked over to Spike. “I believe the little one is simply exhausted from the spell you bound to him, after all, it is much more burdensome than a mere scroll.”
Celestia listened to Luna’s words as she held Twilight close to her in her hooves, examining her. “That’s good to hear. We’ll definitely have to explain this to Applejack before we leave for Canterlot. Twilight will no doubt be unconscious for a few hours, it took nearly all I had to free her from his influence and she needs her rest now. I dread what he did to her during this past week...” She drearily sighed, taking a small comfort in the steady beating of Twilight’s heart as she rest a hoof on her neck, working a spell to hide Twilight’s new wings with her magic.
Movement quickly drew their attention, causing Celestia to instinctively move a wing to cover Twilight from view. Moments later a massive red stallion drew into sight, his gaze on the damaged trees. His jaw dropped as he took notice of the princesses, and concern crossed his face as he noticed Luna standing next to Applejack.
“What... happened here?” Mac cautiously asked as Luna allowed herself to relax.
“Do not fear, Big Macintosh. There was a potential threat to your sister and Twilight, but it has been neutralized. Even though they and Spike are both unconscious, they did not come to harm. Might you help us carry them back to your house while we await the arrival of our guards?” Luna calmly asked Mac, looking at Celestia from the corner of her eye.
While Mac’s attention was on Luna, Celestia quickly brought forth a simple illusion spell, laying it on Twilight. Taking a quick look beneath her wing confirmed the magic worked, and she withdrew her wing from around Twilight.
Mac hesitantly answered Luna, moving next to his sister. “Sure can, Princess. I’ll get Applejack, if you two could follow me?” He wormed his way under Applejack to get her onto his back, her steady breathing and unharmed appearance doing much to calm him down.
Luna gently grasped Spike within her magic, Celestia carefully taking Twilight within hers, and the trio made their way to the Apple’s house. On the way, Celestia copied a trick she had learned from her sister and reached out with her mind, seeking out one stallion in particular. Finding it, she gently brought her magic to touch his mind.
Captain Armor. We’re at the Apple homestead. Come in quietly as the threat has been contained for now. Nothing further expected at this time; however, be prepared to transport the Elements back with us. We have Twilight. Celestia awaited confirmation from Shining, holding the spell open so that he could reply.
Understood. ETA is seven minutes, Princess. Shining, out. Celestia severed the connection between them, her attention turning back towards the mare that lay within her magic.
"They're roughly seven minutes out, Luna. I want Shining to gather to gather the Elements and have them brought to Canterlot, at least for now." Celestia continued to gaze at Twilight, her cracked composure showing concern to any who might look.
Before Luna could reply, a rainbow blur came to a screeching halt in front of them. "I heard a lot of noise, and then I saw the orchard... what the buck happened?! " Rainbow asked, eyes going from half lidded to fully open in shock as her tired mind finally noticed the unconscious ponies and dragon.
"Rainbow Dash, I must ask you to quickly rouse your friends from their rest and have them gather at Rarity's. We will explain everything later, but we need you to do this for us, and as soon as possible." Luna paused, a thought coming across her mind. "And, should Rarity give any trouble, simply speak the phrase 'Nocti Lunum,' it should cease any words she might try to get in edgewise."
Rainbow looked at Luna oddly, an eyebrow raised in confusion. "Okay, can do, Princess... Will they be alright?" she asked, unwilling to depart before knowing how her friends were doing.
"Yes," Luna quickly replied, watching as Rainbow zoomed off before the last of the word had left her lips. Turning to Celestia as they walked into the Apple household, she quietly spoke under her breath. "That should keep them safe, so long as no other moves were planned by him tonight. We can only pray they don't become too involved."
Mac directed them to a couch in the living room, where he gently set Applejack down. Luna gently levitated Spike to rest on the couch as well, but Celestia opted to sit down and hold Twilight herself. "Thank you, Big Macintosh. I assure you, she will be fine and should wake soon," she spoke, attempting to assure the still skittish stallion. "However," she continued on, "we will need her to come to Canterlot with the rest of the Elements so that we may discuss what happened tonight. Any damages to the orchard will be covered by the crown as well."
A short five minutes later, with the only event being Mac chasing Applebloom back into bed, a quick rap on the door alerted Celestia and Luna to the arrival of the guards. Shining Armor quickly and quietly entered the premises, his eyes locking on to Twilight as he walked into the room. "Twilight..." He turned to both princesses, saluting. "Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, I have on hoof the entirety of Bravo company with me. We also have additional carriages waiting for yourselves and the Elements." He relaxed, looking at his sister. "How is she?"
Celestia serenely smiled, her composure under her control once more. "She will be okay... for now." She ran a hoof through Twilight's mane, a calming motion to her. Looking up, she addressed Shining to his face. "However, for now, we must make haste to Rarity's boutique and collect the Elements." Celestia levitated Spike onto her back as they got up, soft snores emanating from his still form.
Shining Armor escorted them all to a carriage that awaited outside, both night and day guards flanking the sides. Both groups quickly saluted the group as they loaded into the carriage. Shining offered to carry Twilight, but Celestia declined, holding the mare close to her.
A short trip later brought them to Rarity's house. Lights on inside showed that at least some of the ponies they were gathering were already present. Luna knocked on the door, an extremely tired Rarity answering it. "Oh, Princess Luna, do come in! Everypony has already arrived, even dear Fluttershy is here. She came over earlier by chance, something about her bear friend chasing off some wolves."
Luna and Celestia entered the house to a scene of relative calm and concern. The only pony who appeared to be truly awake was Pinkie; the rest were all bleary eyed, the aroma of coffee and tea mingling in the air. "Good evening, everypony," Celestia stated, all attention on her and Luna. "No doubt, you all are wondering why we had Rainbow Dash gather you all at such a late hour."
Nodding heads met Celestia's question, who carefully moved a wing out of the way to show the still unconscious Twilight on her back. "A situation has arisen, and as such, we will need to bring all of you to Canterlot to stay for some time." Concerned looks filled the room, all focused on Twilight as Celestia continued speaking. "We're not certain how long this visit will be, but the safety of the Elements is our top priority. We cannot allow anymore of you to come to any harm.
“Twilight was hurt, but thankfully Luna and I were able to reverse the hold on her mind. She didn’t come through unchanged though... she’ll need all the support from you all that she can get,” she quietly explained before dropping the magic disguising Twilight’s changes. Gasps filled the air, but Celestia held up a hoof to ensure nopony spoke, the only sound that of Spike’s snores. “I just wanted you to be aware of this first. We need to get to Canterlot as quickly as possible, so the full explanation can wait until then. Just know that she is the same Twilight you have known all this time.”
Without another word, Celestia reapplied the spell disguising Twilight and lifted her up with magic before walking outside. She gently brought Twilight and Spike back to the carriage, the rest of the mares following in a line behind her. Sweetie Belle on Rarity's back got a few questioning glances, but nopony said a word. Luna was the last to leave, a large wooden case grasped within her magic as she closed the door to Rarity’s house. Quietly, they loaded into three separate carriages and departed into the night sky, flanked by pegasi guards, as they headed for Canterlot.
Twilight awoke in an odd place. She was within a cuboid space that was dimly lit, nothing but a dark void beyond it, held back by an invisible force. Quietly walking up to one of the walls of the cube she found herself contained in, she probed it with a single hoof. On contact, ripples radiated outwards, the dark blue surface feeling cold, yet comforting. On the other side, darkness rushed to where she had touched, but it was unable to breach the barrier.
The mare let out a sigh, sitting down in the center of the cube after thoroughly probing each wall, swirling a hoof on the floor in boredom. She couldn't recall much of anything beyond bits and pieces of what seemed a nightmare, and no matter how hard she tried to remember, nothing came to her.
"Twilight Sparkle..." A voice sadly spoke, startling her as she jumped to her hooves. Two mares looked at her as they seemingly appeared from one of the walls, sadness and hope in their expressions.
"Luna, Celestia? What's going on? I recall having this really bad nightmare, but..." She trailed off, recalling the brief moment of lucidity she’d had, and what she had witnessed. Looking over herself, she noted a distinct lack of wings, fangs, and any other things to mark her as different, but she knew that the moment she had experienced was no such dream. "That was real, wasn't it?" she asked sadly with a forlorn look on her face.
Celestia rushed forward to hug her, warmth spreading through Twilight at the contact. "Oh, Twilight. We had thought you lost... I am truly sorry, all of this is my fault." Twilight leaned into her embrace, even though she was uncertain as to what Celestia meant.
Luna walked to her sister, waiting for Celestia to break her embrace with Twilight. "We are inside your mind at the moment, Twilight. You are currently unconscious within our castle."
Twilight looked around, noting the cube's walls were the same color as Luna's magic, and put the connection together. "Did you put a shield up in my mind? That's what this is, right?"
Celestia cringed slightly as Luna began talking. "Yes, I've kept a constant barrier here in your mind since Celestia freed you from another’s control. We were occupied taking measures to protect your friends and needed to ensure that we would be here when your mind awoke once more," she explained, resting a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder for a brief moment.
Twilight simply looked between the two of them, confusion, sadness, and a whole range of emotions running through her face. "I... fought you two, didn't I? And I drank Applejack's..." Twilight trailed off, turning somewhat green at the memory of her actions. A hoof rubbing her back did little to help her disposition though.
Silence reigned for the next few minutes as Twilight worked her nerves back up, unsure just what to say. The warmth of Luna and Celestia, even if this was only in her mind, helped her keep it together. Finally, she broke the silence that had descended on them. "Is Applejack... Is she going to be okay?"
"Yes," Celestia gently replied, the one word giving Twilight much relief, even if it was only a drop in the bucket.
"So..." Twilight let the word hang in the air, unsure of where to even start at.
Luna looked to Celestia, who gave a small nod. The barrier's color became two-toned, a golden cube starting to form within the confines of the larger, dark blue one. Once the color finished shifting to purely gold, Luna spoke up. "Twilight, I must depart before you confront your memories. I am afraid that at this time I would not be of much help here. My sister, on the other hoof..." she trailed off, a look of pity directed towards Twilight. "Try and keep her safe, Tia."
Luna faded from view as she removed herself from Twilight's mind, leaving Celestia behind. "Twilight, I..." She hesitated, anguish marring her features. "I won't try to sugarcoat it, Twilight... Once I lower this shield, all of your memories from the past week will come flowing back. While you were missing from us, you will remember all of them," she painfully spoke, closing her eyes for a brief moment. “I have no doubt that a week within Tartarus would leave you with less horrors to confront.”
Twilight's eyes widened in shock as she listened. "But, I attacked Applejack... what could be worse? I already feel awful about that..." she anxiously spoke, her ears flattening against her skull in response to her emotions.
Celestia unexpectedly embraced her, quietly talking into her ear. "Yes, it will be much, much worse that that, Twilight. I am sorry, if I could, I would take these memories and keep them under lock and key, but... the longer we delay this, the worse it'll be, if that is even possible." Celestia broke the embrace, but left a hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. "I'll do my best to ensure that they only come to you one at a time, Twilight, so that you can have the easiest time processing them. Just know, though, that no matter what is revealed, and I mean no matter what... I will not blame you for anything nor think less of you."
The cube's color slowly dimmed, becoming thinner as Celestia began to cut back on the power feeding it. "Again, I'm sorry, Twilight. I will be here the entire time, I promise," she quietly spoke as the cube began to collapse, the shadows pushing at the slowly failing barrier. Without a sound it simply disintegrated, the void rushing in to encompass them both.