Heads in the Cloud

by PresentPerfect


Chapter 3: A Treatise on the Cloud

Heads in the Cloud
by Present Perfect

Chapter 3: A Treatise on the Cloud

After getting directions to Rainbow Dash's room at Canterlot General -- one of the few perks of Princesshood she actually appreciated was other ponies' lack of resistance to her barging in and asking questions -- Twilight found her hooves dragging. There were two other rooms here where her friends lay, and the thought of visiting one in particular weighed heavily on her mind.

Just in case...

She shook off the thought and made a left turn towards pediatrics.

Spike's room was foremost cozy and warm. Brightly colored walls held simple painted scenes of ponies at play. It lacked the expected beeps of monitoring equipment, and her hoofsteps were muffled by the carpeting. Spike lay in a bed half the size of those in the hospital's other wards, curled up beneath a veritable mountain of blankets. A single nurse, who from the back resembled Nurse Redheart from Ponyville, bustled in the corner. Twilight cleared her throat, and the nurse jumped.

"Sorry if I startled you," Twilight whispered.

"Oh, it's no problem, Your Highness." The nurse smiled, gathering the blankets she'd dropped. "They hadn't told me you were coming to see him."

"They didn't know." Twilight smiled as she moved near the bed. "I hope I'm not interrupting."

"Not at all, I was just finishing up here."

Twilight couldn't tear her eyes from Spike's sleeping form. A lump formed in her throat. "How is he?"

The nurse turned to look at him as well. "Keeping him hydrated has been the hardest part. For the first day or so, he wouldn't wake up for anything, and, well... dragon scales being what they are..."

The lack of IVs and other medical equipment finished her sentence.

"It seems as though he's come out of the worst of it." The nurse smiled. "You wake him up for a glass of water, and he'll fall right back asleep once he's done. If you ask me, Princess, he's determined to sleep off his injuries."

Twilight chuckled. "I'm sure he will. Do you mind if I have a moment with him?"

"Not at all. Let me know when you're finished, all right?"

The nurse grabbed her pile of blankets and backed out the door, closing it after. Twilight moved to the bedside, bringing a stool from across the room, and sat. Spike didn't move save for breathing. She reached up and caressed his head spikes gently. He winced.

"I'm sure you'll be fine," she murmured. "Hearing what the nurse said takes a big weight off my shoulders."

She sighed, gazing up to the ceiling. Its replica of Celestia's cutie mark was quite accurate.

"So that just leaves everything else." She groaned and looked back down. "Like what to tell my friends. On the one hoof, they'll want some reassurance that I can do something to help. But on the other, this is a major secret we're talking about. I wish I didn't even know it."

Groaning once more, she buried her head in her hooves. "Oh, Spike, what am I going to do? What if I fail? This isn't some silly test we're talking about."

Spike rolled over, facing away from her. He smacked his lips and mumbled something unintelligible.

"I bet if you were awake, you'd tell me I was worrying too much." She lifted her head, smiling lopsidedly. She traced the contours of his back spines, the way they disappeared around the bend of his tail as it curled beneath his feet.

"You'd say, 'Aw, c'mon, Twilight, you've been through worse things before. It's just a spell! You're so good at casting spells, you shouldn't have any problem! And Rainbow Dash knows you'd do anything to save her, because she'd do anything to save you if you were in her position. So lighten up already and go save her!'"

A clock ticked somewhere in the room. She hadn't noticed it before. Blinking, she focused on it, and a slow smile spread over her face. She stood and stretched, then leaned down and kissed Spike's head gently.

"Thanks, Spike," she whispered, and left the room.


All her friends waited in the special observation room with Rainbow Dash, even Applejack, a cast on her hind left. She caught their gloomy expressions moments before they were replaced by hopefulness. Rarity was the first to speak.

"Twilight, do you have any news?"

Applejack remained seated while the others stood. "Do ya know what's wrong with her?"

"I do." Twilight moved into their midst, not meeting any of their eyes. "But I'm going to have to ask you to trust me when I say you don't want to know what I know."

Gasps and glances were exchanged around the room.

"Is it serious?" Fluttershy asked.

Pinkie pushed her way into Twilight's personal space. "Are you just hiding the truth because there's really no hope and poor Dashie is lost to us forever?'

"No!" Twilight shoved Pinkie gently away. "What happened to Rainbow Dash involves something that honestly, I don't completely understand." She gazed at each of her friends in turn. They gazed back, silent. "Her consciousness was somehow taken from her. I know a spell that will give me a chance to find it and return it to her body, but it's going to be risky."

Closing her eyes, she let out a long breath. "There's a chance that what happened to her could happen to me as well, if I'm not careful."

Another gasp.

Opening her eyes, Twilight smiled. "That's why I'm going to need to be able to count on all of you here while I'm looking for her."

"Ya mean we can't go with ya?" Applejack reached above herself, paused, and retracted her hoof.

"No. I'm afraid it's too risky. I'll need you to watch over my body while my mind is separated from it." She turned to Rarity. "Rarity, I'll especially need your help with magic."

Rarity put a hoof to her chest. "Me, Twilight? You know I'm not as good with magic as you."

"It's okay." Twilight smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. "I'll cast the spell and link it to you. All you'll be doing is channelling the energy to hold onto it."

Rarity frowned. "What sort of spell is this?"

"Just a telepathy spell. Maregellan's Marevelous Mind-Melder. I'll need you to feed me news of what's going on in the waking world while I'm under the effects of the spell."

Rarity uncoiled a loop of her mane. It sprang back into shape when she let go. "Well, I can try, certainly..."

"Ooh, ooh!" Pinkie cried, raising her hoof. "What about us?"

Twilight smiled, gathering chairs together beside the bed. "Pinkie, I'll need you and Fluttershy to help Rarity. Get her what she needs so she doesn't have to move, make sure she's holding up mentally, that sort of thing." She paused. "And... visit Spike once in a while, all right?"

Rarity looked stricken. "How long are you expecting this to take?"

Twilight shook her head. "Honestly, I don't know. I can't even estimate. That's why I need all of us to do our best and make sure this goes off without a hitch."

"What about me, Twilight?" Applejack asked. "Anythin' I can do to help?"

Twilight smiled at her. "Just take it easy, AJ. I'm sure the girls will need moral support, but don't strain yourself, all right?"

Chuckling, Applejack nodded. "You got it, Twi."

There had been so much going on before this point, Twilight hadn't considered requesting a second bed for herself, and she regretted the lack of planning. At least the three chairs, set side-by-side, would be more comfortable than the cold stone floor of the Crown Room. Hopefully, her task wouldn't take too long.

"Are you all ready?" she asked at length, settling onto the chairs. She received three nods in response. "All right. Rarity?"

Rarity moved toward her. Once she was in range, Twilight lit her horn and placed it against Rarity's. They inhaled sharply as the mental link was made, and Rarity's horn glowed as well.

Are you all right? Twilight thought to her.

Yes, I think. Rarity blinked a few times, and smiled. I'm just fine, actually. I merely had a bit of a start.

"Good." Twilight smiled, directing it at the rest of her friends. "Remember, Rainbow Dash and I will be counting on you all to do your parts."

"We will," Applejack said. "Just make sure ya bring Rainbow back to us, okay? I'm countin' on ya."

"As am I," Rarity said.

"Me too!" Pinkie cried.

"And me." Fluttershy gave her a weak smile. "It would be just devastating if Rainbow Dash, or you, didn't come back. So take care of yourself, Twilight."

The others nodded. Twilight sniffed, wiping at her eyes. Closing them, she cast the spell.


An experienced spellcaster grows accustomed to disorientation following a teleportation spell. With practice, she learns to equate the image of her destination in her mind with reality as it appears before her. Mentally combining the two allows the unicorn to deal with the disparities and not be overwhelmed by them. Only in the case of true teleportation accidents will a full-grown unicorn find herself facing an unplanned destination incompatible with what's in her mind's eye.

Twilight Sparkle had not had a teleportation accident in years.

The first indication she had not been as prepared for this spell as she had thought was the conflict of urge to vomit from disorientation, panic at lack of corporeal form preventing her from vomiting, and further urge to vomit from discorporation. She floated in a clear blue sky filled with wisps of cloud and no ground in sight. Despite this lack of solid landmark, she couldn't shake the sensation of spinning uncontrollably, without wings to steady her.

Just as the thought occurred to her to fight against the sensation, the cutie marks appeared. Hundreds of them. Thousands. Tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions of cutie marks. All of them unique, they rushed about her without organization or purpose. With them came voices, some whispering, some talking, some shouting.

She screamed, but no sound came from her mouth. She tried to flail her hooves, to block them with her magic, but she had neither. She tossed and tumbled through an endless storm of information blotting out all feeling.

She was sound and pain. She was helplessness and abandonment. She was nothing.

Twilight Sparkle was lost in the Cloud.