Fluttershy followed Luna silently down the hallways. She worried she would never find her way back and get lost in the towering castle. Her eyes drifted to the sleeping pegasus in the magical aura. She swallowed a lump in her throat as Luna entered the medical wing.
“Wh-What are you going to do?” Fluttershy broke the silence as Luna set Rainbow Dash gently down on an examination table.
“I am going into her mind. Fluttershy, I need you to tell me everything you know about Rainbow Dash.” Luna was stern but her voice held a kindness in it that Fluttershy liked to see.
“E-everything?” Fluttershy stammered a blush forming on her cheeks.
“Fluttershy. It is for her safety and my own that I know all I can about Rainbow Dash.” Luna stated, looking down at the sleeping pegasus. Fluttershy followed her gaze and took a deep breath.
“Well, it all started back in Cloudsdale when we were fillies…”
--
Twilight sipped her coffee, her gaze never faltering from Celestia. She sat, along with her remaining friends, in a cozy room with a fireplace. The regal goddess sat across from them, her face beginning to show signs of exhaustion.
“So tell me, my little ponies, what happened?” Celestia asked. Immediately all eyes turned to Twilight, the young alicorn took a deep breath.
“She was showing me a new stunt where she performed a sonic rainboom through a storm cloud. She flew extremely high before barreling through it. It worked of course, but she didn’t pull up in time and hit the ground, hard.” Twilight winced at the memory of her shattered friend in the field. Celestia nodded, urging Twilight to continue. “When I got there, she was broken. She was severely bleeding from her head so I quickly performed a spell to mend that. I was able to reset some of the bones before taking her to Ponyville General.” Twilight explained.
“I see.” Celestia affirmed that she understood. “And when she woke up she was like this?”
“Yes, I was the first friendly face she saw so I’m assuming she imprinted on me.” Twilight explained.
“That would make sense.” Celestia stirred her coffee.
“So can ya fix it or not?” Applejack was growing impatient.
“That depends on what my sister finds.” Celestia didn’t look up from her swirling coffee.
“What do you mean?” Rarity asked, she hadn’t touched her tea. Celestia looked up and scanned the room looking at her subjects. She sighed.
“I mean that if her mind is too damaged there is no way to fix it.” She said.
“What do you mean that there’s no way to fix this? Can’t ya just go in there and pull Rainbow out?” Applejack asked. Celestia shook her head.
“It is not that simple.” Celestia sighed. “The mind is a dangerous place. She won’t come out until she wants to.”
“What about magic?” Rarity suggested. Celestia shot her a glare.
“Magic cannot infiltrate a pony’s mind.” Celestia snapped.
“But what about the whole thingy when our cutie marks went all switcheroo and we did each other’s jobs!” Pinkie Pie asked. Celestia sighed and stood, walking to the window and looking outside.
“Because what originally did that was of magical origin. Magic can act upon magic. A spell that is cast can be reversed with the right incantation. When it comes to physical ailments of a pony, magic can do very little.” Celestia sighed, her gaze locked on the floor.
Twilight stood along with her mentor, she remembered reading that somewhere. However, the fear set in.
--
Once Fluttershy explained everything to Luna the alicorn princess sighed. She closed her eyes and once she opened them they glowed white. Within a few moments Luna’s eyes went back to their normal deep blue. She breathed deeply as she moved from the astral plane back into the physical one.
“Luna?” Fluttershy piqued her ears as the princess wobbled a bit. “That was…fast.” She observed as the alicorn regained her senses.
“Yes. Time works differently in the astral plane.” Luna explained, as she looked Rainbow Dash over. “Fluttershy,” She turned her gaze to the canary pegasus. “I need you to stay here with Rainbow Dash. I need to talk to my sister.” With that Luna left the medical wing leaving Fluttershy to worry over her friend.
--
Luna burst through the doors of the cozy room they were seated in. “Sister, please I need to speak with you.” Luna stated. Celestia nodded.
“Ya’ll can’t be doin’ this!” Applejack leapt to her hooves in frustration. “Why can’t we know what’s goin’ on?” She asked. Celestia sighed.
“Because we are not sure ourselves.” Celestia admitted. There was very little Celestia hasn’t seen before, but then again the Elements of Harmony never ceased to surprise her.
“Twilight, can you please join us in the hallway?” Luna asked. Twilight nodded and shakily followed them to the hallway and shut the door. Twilight could hear her heart beat in her head.
“Sister, what did you find?” Celestia asked Luna, the latter sighed.
“It was a tangled mess with very little, very simple coherent cognitive thought. While I sensed her essence there her memory was lacking.” Luna explained. Twilight let go of the breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
“What do you mean?” She asked, Luna sighed sadly.
“I could not find any memories before she woke up in the hospital after the accident.” Luna simply stated. Twilight fell to her haunches in shock.
On the other side of the door, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Spike had their ears pressed against the wood. After Luna’s statement however, the four took on varying looks of disbelief. Pinkie Pie’s mane went flat as a board. Applejack took off her hat and buried her face in it.
“You mean she…she can’t be…” Twilight couldn’t form full sentences, she stared at the marble floor in shock and disbelief.
“I am afraid so.” Luna said sadly. “The accident left her brain barely able to cope with reality. So in defense and in order to protect itself it reverted to a more…safer state.” Luna explained.
“Then we know what we must do.” Celestia kept her voice level when inside she could feel her heart breaking for Twilight and her friends. “I will personally escort her to Canterlot Medical Center first thing in the morning.” Celestia stated in a finite way.
“You can’t do that!” Twilight rebutted, the sting of tears started to form in her eyes. “She’ll die in there!”
“I assure you, Twilight that Rainbow Dash will be treated with the utmost care.” Celestia’s voice was unwavering.
“She can’t be cooped up like that! That will break her! What about her life in Ponyville? What about the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight blinked furiously to try and push back the tears that were threatening to burst forth. Celestia sighed.
“There is not much we can do Twilight.” Celestia hung her head in sadness.
“There has to be something! Please, just let her stay with me!” Twilight pleaded.
“I cannot do that in good conscious. Letting a full grown mare out with her condition like that would be detrimental to her well-being.” Celestia stated.
“What if she wasn’t full grown? What if we shrunk her?” Twilight was grabbing at straws. Luna, who was silent the whole time, raised an eyebrow.
“Sister, there is another way.” Luna insinuated. “There is an age spell.” Twilight’s ears perked up and she looked at the lunar goddess.
“Luna, you know that is highly advanced magic.” Celestia stated.
“Advanced, but not impossible. Sister, Rainbow Dash is the element of loyalty. Would it be loyal of her friends to leave her in a hospital? Not to mention losing access to an Element would be unfavorable. You know that I owe everything to these six ponies. Without them I would not be here and Equestria probably wouldn’t either. Let them have this.” Luna decreed.
Celestia looked at her sister and then at Twilight. “I shall think about it and in the morning I will make my decision.” She stated. Twilight felt hope rise in her gut. “For now, I suggest you all get some rest.” The sun goddess stated and turned to leave. “Luna will show you your rooms.” She called over her shoulder and disappeared down the hallway.
“Come, we will get your friends.” Luna stated and opened the door to the cozy room with her magic. Immediately Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike fell to the floor with a thud, having been leaning on the door. “…Or they shall find us.” Luna stated as the four sheepishly stood up. Twilight didn’t say anything to her friends on their obvious eavesdropping. Luna silently turned back down the hallway she came from towards the medical wing.
When they arrived they found Fluttershy still sitting vigilantly next to Rainbow Dash who was still asleep. Fluttershy looked up as she saw her friends enter and her ears perked up in hope. “What did Celestia say?” She asked, as they got closer.
“She’s…thinking about it.” Twilight replied hesitantly and Fluttershy’s ears fell once more at the implication in Twilight’s voice.
“Come, I shall take you to your rooms.” Luna instructed.
“What about Rainbow?” Twilight turned to the princess of the night. “Can I stay with her?” Luna thought for a moment and nodded. She used her magic to pull up another bed next to the one the pegasus occupied. The pain in the eyes of the five friends and princess did not go unnoticed by the bookish alicorn.
“Come.” Luna turned to leave, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie silently followed, leaving Spike with Twilight and Rainbow Dash.
“Do you think that Princess Celestia will put Rainbow Dash in the hospital?” Spike spoke up; watching the mare he would call his sister looking like her heart was ripping in two.
“I don’t know Spike.” She muttered softly. Spike looked up to his oldest friend, seeing her mental anguish.
“The princesses will figure this out, right?” He tried to reassure her. Twilight sighed in response and lazily walked over to her bed, situating herself under the covers. Spike hopped onto the bed with her, and curled up.
“I don’t know.” She muttered before they too fell asleep.