//------------------------------//
// Part 1, Chapter 10 
// Story: The Discordian's Daughter 
// by Pumpkin Patch 
//------------------------------//

	When Willow’s eyes opened, she was looking up at a very plain, beige ceiling. Out of the corners of her eyes, she could see that the walls of this place were just as unremarkable, save for a simple brown wooden door here and there. The only thing noteworthy was that the walls and ceiling were moving, or rather she was moving in relation to them. 
Furthermore, she quickly discovered that she couldn’t move her body at all. Squirming was about the best she could do. She was being held down by something — or rather several somethings — wrapped around her body. They were straps and while she couldn’t discern the material they were made of, she had already declared them inescapable in her mind. She felt weak, and these straps would be a challenge even at her full strength. 
Her ears picked up the sounds of several small wheels turning below her, one of which squeaked every so often. Also every so often she could very faintly hear ponies talking among themselves, especially when she passed by the wooden doors, though she couldn’t make out any specific words. 
These weren’t the most troubling sounds, though. The noises that had Willow worried were the clopping of hooves coming from every direction. They sounded heavy, like the marching of several powerful stallions. 
Willow’s strength began to return gradually, and with it her vision and mental focus sharpened. She surveyed her surroundings again. In addition to the doors, she could also see the occasional poster or chart hung up. She couldn’t read them at this distance, but she could see enough to tell that they were all health- or medicine-related. These observations, along with the sound of the wheels beneath her and the state of being on her back, allowed her to confirm her location — she was in the hallway of a hospital laying on a gurney that was being pulled to a destination unknown to her.
As for who was pulling her, the answer came just as quickly. Following behind her were two large stallions, both wearing heavy, regal-looking armor. They followed Willow’s gurney expressionless, with their eyes focused firmly on the path ahead and the sounds of their powerful hooves hitting the ground as they walked were a match for what Willow’s ear had picked up. Willow lifted her head back. She could see yet another stallion in front of her. This was the one the gurney was hitched to, the one carrying her to wherever they were going.
Willow cleared her throat and tried to speak to her apparent escorts. It was strangely difficult. It felt like she hadn’t spoken in a very long time.
“Hey, uh, colts! Um, what’s with the entourage?” she asked. She was trying to sound casual and unassuming. Her tone, however, made her fear known.
None of the armored ponies responded and the two that Willow could make eye contact with made no effort to do so. For a moment, there was nothing but eerie silence. 
Then, an unexpectedly effeminate voice spoke up. “You are going to where you cannot harm anypony again.” 
Willow looked to her right. A tall white mare who had apparently been ahead of the group had now slowed down to walk alongside the traveling bed. She bore both the wings of a Pegasus and the horn of a Unicorn. Her mane and tail were long and comprised of many beautiful colors. She wore an elegant golden collar and an equally exquisite tiara, both with glistening purple gems at their centers. And the mare’s cutie mark was that of the very sun itself.
“Whoah!” said Willow in amazement. “Somepony must be important. What’s your bag, mare?”
Even when she first spoke, the white mare’s tone was cold and indifferent. This didn’t change in her response. “You may address me as your majesty!” she demanded. Much like the stallions around them, she kept her eyes looking straight into the distance and avoided even looking in Willow’s direction. “And my duty to the people right now is to keep you away from them!”
The white mare’s voice was powerful and authoritative. Willow’s worries extended from voice to her facial expression. “Wha-what did I do?” she asked as her lips began to tremble.
“I think you know,” said the mare sternly. 
“I-I don’t!” pleaded Willow. “I swear, ma— er, your highness! Did-that thing come out of me again? That-that thing just takes me over and I can’t do nuthin’. Seriously, nuthin’!”
“You just terrorized a village in my kingdom, damaged its property, and injured several of its citizens,” said the regal pony. “So, until the researchers find a way to remove your powers, you will stay at this hospital where you will be watched day and night by the mightiest of my guards. We have already reinforced the room where you will be staying. No matter how strong you are, you will not be escaping.”
“It ain’t me!” Willow cried in desperation. “I want it gone too! I didn’t mean to hurt nobody! Did-did you talk to Twilight? She’s knows I ain’t bad!”
Her captor’s callous tone was unwavered. “Twilight Sparkle has told me enough. She informed me that you are the daughter of an insurrectionist. She told me how he made you into a weapon designed to destroy me and my sister. She told me how you transformed into a monster capable of nothing but violence.”
Willow now realized who she was being held captive by. This was Princess Celestia, one of the two alicorns her father had tried to overthrow. Now his daughter was in the hands of his mortal enemy, and that enemy had no reason to show her mercy. 
Overcome with fear, she could no longer answer her accuser. Her eyes were filled with tears as the guard pulling her gurney turned around a corner at the end of the long hallway. Around that corner was another hallway, but this one was dark and only barely illuminated by red emergency lights, as if no one had ever used it. The group escorted Willow down this hallway only a little ways before they stopped in front of a pair of gigantic double doors sealing by a large, heavy-looking beam. 
Willow shivered in misery. This was to be her life now. She had freed herself from that chamber only to become a shut-in at Twilight’s place, and she got out of there only to be locked away in some dark corner of a hospital. All she was doing was going from one prison to another and to another. Fear and frustration cycled through her mind as all hope faded.
Celestia lit her large horn and levitated the beam off of the double doors. She leaned it against the wall as the two guards who had been following the gurney stepped out front and opened the doors themselves. The guard pulling Willow’s gurney moved her into the room. The others followed him and shut the doors behind them.
Willow’s eyes were closed as tears continued to stream from them and the sounds of the doors opening and closing felt like somepony pounding on her heart. However, upon entering the room Willow saw through her eyelids that the room was curiously bright. Even more odd was the smell. Her nostrils could pick up multiple scents, none of which she associated with a hospital, let alone a prison. It made her just curious enough to change her mind about keeping her eyes closed.
When she opened them, the sights they took in made her gasp. This wasn’t cramped cell or dull hospital room. It was as wide open as a warehouse and its floor was covered in...grass? Yes, it was grass, fresh and green as if planted by a diligent farmer during the best of seasons. And almost covering that grass were trees, trees of all sizes and all kinds from evergreen to palm. They were also all accompanied by a wonderful variety of bushes and shrubs. Finally, as if to enhance its beauty even further, one of the walls was transparent, and it showed an incredible view of the clean countryside outside of the hospital. 
Willow’s eyes widened as her emotions completely inverted. It was like an oasis, an incredible indoor garden made just for her. She was swaying her head back in forth, trying to take it all in and wishing that she wasn’t still strapped to the gurney. Then all of sudden, she felt the straps that had been holding her in place begin to loosen, including one that had been tying her hair down which hadn’t noticed until now. She looked down and saw all of them being unbuckled by no one, by magic.
She turned to the Alicorn beside her. The Princess’s horn was lit and her scowling expression turned warm and welcoming as she told Willow, “Twilight also informed me that you like plants.”
As soon as the last strap was unfastened, Willow sprung from the gurney and darted for the palm tree nearest her. She placed her front hooves on it, trying to confirm if it was real. Satisfied that it was, she bounced over the nearest bushes, then to another tree, then a few more bushes, then another tree. It was like watching a filly’s first day at Sugarcube Corner and Willow tripping over her own hair every so often only made the sight more amusing.
After all but hugging an evergreen at the far end of the room, Willow followed a trail of shrubs on her way back to the pony who had brought her here. “How-how’d ya pull a gnarly dig like this!?” she asked her in disbelief. 
“Oh, it wasn’t that difficult,” said the Princess. “We had time. We’ve kept you sedated for about a week.”
“A week!?” exclaimed Willow.
“Well, um, yes,” said Celestia. “We...couldn’t risk another one of that creature’s attacks, so—”
“You did all this in a week!?” Willow interrupted. “Mare alive, I guess you know how to work that horn.”
The Princess laughed. “Well, I am an Alicorn, after all. I’m also a Princess, so I was able to get help from a few of my very talented subjects.”
Willow was still turning her head back and forth to look at her surroundings while Celestia was talking. However, as soon as Celestia mentioned her subjects, Willow’s gaze returned to the Princess.
“How-how is Twilight?” she asked timidly.
“She’s perfectly fine,” Princess Celestia assured her. “Although, she’s very busy at the moment.”
“What with?” asked Willow.
Celestia paused for a moment before replying. “Twilight feels responsible for your — I mean, Despise’s — attack since she let you into Ponyville, so she decided to help in repairing the damages to Sugarcube Corner and make amends with townsponies. In the meantime, I decided to construct this place so you would be safe and comfortable while we study your condition.”
“I dig,” said Willow. “Do-do you know what’s goin’ down with me?
Celestia shook her head. “I examined you with my magic while you were unconscious and I could certainly sense that there was something very wrong, but I regret to say that I do not know how to treat it.”
Willow frowned at the Princess’s answer. Her eyes turned to the ground.
Celestia walked closer to Willow and put her hoof on her shoulder. “Don’t worry. I have sent Equestria’s best researchers in alchemy, magic, and medicine to this hospital. They will find a way to undo what your father did.”
“Did-did you know my old man?” asked Willow looking back up at her.
Celestia lifted her hoof off of Willow’s shoulder and turned to look at the wall-sized window viewing the countryside. “I didn’t know him personally,” she explained. “Luna and I were certainly aware of his reputation, but our kingdom was still very young then and we were too occupied with getting things in order to visit local celebrities. It never occurred to us that he was a Discordian.”
        Willow joined Celestia in gazing out the clear wall. “So when I disappeared, that didn’t ring a bell?”
        Celestia shook her head again. “Your father was the one who reported you missing. He sent the local forces looking for you. Of course, they never found you. It was just a rabbit trail. His brother was a suspected of kidnapping you for a while, but he was found innocent. I suppose we now know why.”
        “His brother? So, like, I had an uncle?” asked Willow looking back at the Princess.
        “You certainly did,” confirmed Princess Celestia. “And actually, because of him you may have some still-living relatives as well. Your father never married again and you were his only foal, but his brother had several fillies and colts. I remember that because he was an Earth Pony that married a Pegasus. That was so unusual at the time that all of Equestria was gossiping about it.”
        “Far out,” said Willow.
        “Your Majesty,” called out one of the guards standing by the double doors. One of the doors was opened slightly, and he looked like he had been talking to some on the outside.
        “What is it?” asked Princess Celestia.
        “She has visitors,” said the guard.
        Willow looked at Celestia. “Do...I get to have visitors?”
        The Princess smiled. “Of course.” She called back to the guard. “Send them in!”
        The guards opened the doors and Willow galloped towards them, eager to see who was coming to see her. 
        Right outside of the doors were five ponies Willow knew well. Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash were all there to greet her. 
        Willow shouted excitedly, “Critter mare! Fancy mare! Country mare! Funny mare! Awesome mare! How’s it hangi—”
        She cut herself off as soon as her eyes caught up with her brain. All five of the ponies were bearing a similar facial expression, featuring a timid smile and curiously lifted eyebrows. They looked as if they weren’t sure whether to be happy or scared out of their minds. Willow quickly concluded this was for the same reason that each of them were dotted with bruises and bandages and the reason that they were all in wheelchairs. The Princess did mention that Despise injured several townsponies.
        Willow put her left hoof behind her head. “Uh, well, this is awkward...”