//------------------------------// // Chapter 5-1: The magic of modern medicine // Story: Minty Image // by mintgreenconspiracy //------------------------------// It was all like a bad dream, she wasn't even sure she was the same pony for a second. "Why of course, Scootaloo! And I'll win the race again, just like at the sports party!" Where was her style? Where was her pizzazz? Where was her darling accent? Why did she sound like a vapid valley girl instead of her proper, and elegant Hungarian accent? And why was she even talking about sports parties? This wasn't her Scootaloo, why did she think it even was? Her head felt like it was going to explode. She'd been having this problem since Minty's little accident on Christmas, but it just got worse, and worse, and worse! Oh dear, was Pinkie also having these? Or, that darling, Minty? Or was she the only one cursed with this? In any event here she was with her eyes filled with green, and her head feeling like it was in the process of exploding. Why were all the ponies around her looking at her like that? They all began to back away, asking her questions with concerned faces? All the ponies around her were talking to her, but she couldn't understand them. Their voices sounded slow and tinny. Why couldn't she understand them? Why was she increasingly unable to see them? "What's ... wrong ... Dash?" A young pegasus said, whom she, for some reason, mistook for her Scootaloo. She wanted to call out, and say she's ok; but she was unable too. All she could do was watch on, losing ever more control of her faculties. "Ah've ... seen her ... this way before!" A young earth pony said. Why couldn't she understand them? Why did nothing make any sense? Why did she both want to giggle and cry at the same time? Her headache kept getting worse and worse, and her field greener and greener, until she felt a hand touch her shoulder, or was that someone's hoof? The next thing she knew, she awoke in a hospital room. Staring at the most tacky green ceiling. And she didn't even want to get started on the blue walls. What was this: Minty's house? And was she wearing the most frightful green outfit? In the corner she could see Twilight talking to a unicorn with an amber coat, and a dark brown mane -- sporting the symbol of some kind of medical something or another. What were they talking about? She heard her name coming up a lot. "Did she hit her muzzle on the ground during the accident that took her wings?" She hated being stuck here, especially when she and Rarity were on the verge of completing a work of brilliance. "No! This is not my Rainbow Dash, it's another one -- Yes I'm not crazy!" The doctor held his hoof to her mouth. "Shh... She's waking up!" The doctor walked up wearing the most convincing smile. Maybe she was imagining things? "Hello again Rainbow Dash! So you seem to be under the weather slightly?" The doctor asked, with a chuckle. "What seems to be the matter Rainbow Dash? Trying another one of your reckless stunts! You remember what happened last time right? Are you suffering from a bad case of lazy-pony-itus again?" He said, with a sarcastic smile. She would need to talk to that really real for real pegasus Rainbow Dash! That pony was making as much a mockery of her good name as the pegasus felt she of hers. Nevertheless, she should answer the doctor's question. "I'm not really sure, darling." She said, with a sigh. "I've been having the worst trouble remembering things, and when I do my memories make no sense, like I'm remembering for three different ponies." She said, beginning to feel the migraine returning. "And then, I suddenly start seeing green, and the next thing I know, I'm in here!" She said, starting to remember all the episodes yesterday, and the migraines before that. "And what's worse is that I've been having these for days, darling! But never before! I'm almost thirteen, darling!" The doctor and Twilight looked at each other, both mouthing the words "almost thirteen?" The statement seemed absurd as the pony before them was almost as tall, if not slightly taller than Twilight's original unicorn form. Rainbow continued, unaware of what the doctor and Twilight were saying. "There's no reason for me to be suddenly having these kinds of problems!" She said, with belligerence -- she didn't want to be here, she wanted to be out with that Rarity finishing her masterpiece! Or maybe out shopping for more fine fashion to bring back to her shop in her Ponyville! But what else was she going to do, she collapsed into a heap right in front of her new friends -- how embarrassing! The doctor only chuckled. "So what stunt were you trying to do when you hit your head?" He asked, ribbing his patient, before turning to Twilight -- his face filled with skepticism. "So you say this isn't our Rainbow Dash, but rather an earth pony?" He said, to vehement nodding from Twilight. "And furthermore that the reason she's here is because she suffered a magic burst?" He said, looking at Twilight, as if she should be the one being checked out. Twilight, however, was undeterred. "Yes doctor! Just as I said, the mayor can back me up! I spent the better part of yesterday trying to undo the after effects of her magic burst!" She said, her tone starting to get a little more sharp, as the doctor seemed to express ever more cynicism. The doctor turned to her, and gave her a sour expression. "A magic burst? You realize she's a regular earth pony right?" He said, inhaling for a longer rant. Twilight shook her head. "Yeah I know what you are thinking, but it's the only logical explanation!" She said, increasing the authority in her voice. "And from -- " The doctor held his hoof to her muzzle. "But that's not possible!" he said, speaking the words slowly and fully enunciating each one. "If she was a unicorn, I could fully buy it -- after all you've had more than a few over the years, from what I've heard, and cases of magic bursts in powerful unicorns are well documented! I might even buy it if she was a pegasus." He said, taking a minute to start cleaning his glasses. "But then only theoretically so. Remember magic bursts require a built up of magic! And earth ponies pull their magic from the same source they channel it too!" He said, walking over to the other side of the room -- behind the curtain -- and taking a look at the note on the bed (it said Minty, and included what they knew of her condition and history.) "This means that either they don't have any magic, or they have properly grounded magic -- they can't have one but not the other!" He said, returning to the side of the bed. "This makes the buildup of magic necessary to produce a magic burst impossible." Twilight remained ever vehement. "But she did doctor!" She said, practically begging the doctor to believe her. The doctor sighed -- only because this was a princess. "Ok!" He said. "I'll take your word for it, but before I do so, Let me test one more thing though." He said, leaving the room behind for a couple of minutes, before returning with a strange crystal. "Now Rainbow." He said, looking into the earth pony's eyes. "I'm going to hold this crystal up in front of you. You shouldn't feel anything." He said, holding one hoof next to some kind of panic button. She stared at the crystal for a second. Was this crystal supposed to check her harmonic energies or something? Maybe make sure her Feng Shui was in balance? She continued to wonder until the waves of shooting pain started. "AHHHH!!!!" She started screaming uncontrollably -- it felt like that crystal was going to rend her body in half! "Oh darling, what is it?" She asked, begging the doctor -- with her eyes -- to take that horrible thing away. "And why do I feel ill?" She asked, feeling like her head was starting to explode again. The more pain she got, the more something hidden in her head began to reveal. Before her she saw scenes from her dream. The chimera again, the bug foals. A voice began to taunt her in her head, speaking a rhyme. "Let's have some fun! After all, my day's just begun! Of love you won't feed! -- " "NOOOOO!!!!!" She screamed, feeling like she was going to die. Slowly but surely the crystal began to glow an eerie color, changing color from a light blue to a dark blue to a bright red. Before long steam started to rise from it. "OUCH!!!" The doctor shouted, as he was forced to throw the crystal to the ground, shattering it before his eyes. If she could she would apologize, saying how sorry she was. Instead she was sitting there, her vision filled with green, and her head practically exploding like an over-ripe melon hit with a sledge hammer. In her blurry field of vision she could see the doctor and Twilight scrambling around, for some reason. What was going on? Why were they reacting this way? Why couldn't they tell her what was going on? Could she even tell herself what was going on? finally she felt the tap on her shoulder again, and everything began to clear up. Why were all these horned ponies 'unicorns' horns glowing? Were they doing something to her? And why was the orchid colored nurse with the mulberry mane holding that tiny little ring in her mouth? Why wasn't she carrying it in her hooves like a normal pony? "Ok..." The doctor sighed. "This is not going to work." He said, turning to the princess. "I guess you were right about the whole magic burst thing." He said, blushing slightly, rubbing his hoof against his other leg -- this was unheard of and medically impossible, wasn't it? "Now could you maybe go and see if you can find an inhibitor in those books of yours, at the Golden Oaks, that can fit an earth pony?" He said, with a frown. Twilight simply nodded, galloping off at high speeds. It looked like she already knew where she was going to get one from. The doctor could tell right now that today was going to be a pain in the neck. He wondered if he should have taken that vacation week after all (he was sure his wife would have preferred it that way.) ******** This was most assuredly not the way Rainbow wanted to spend her day: waiting in a hospital room for observation, while waiting for the doctors to come back with lord knows what. Rainbow sighed, apparently she was supposed to stay in this tacky, sad, little room while the doctors found something called an inhibitor that would work on a regular pony -- like her. Every few minutes a doctor or three would barge into the tiny little room to "siphon off" her "extra magic", she wasn't even aware she even had any magic to begin with! And she certainly didn't know why it needed to be "siphoned", or even what that had to do with her headaches! Twilight had left some time ago for her princess duties, promising she'd return that afternoon with something to keep her busy. She certainly hoped it wasn't a book from that Darling Doo series that the alicorn kept going on and on and on about (ok Rainbow got the name dead wrong, but it didn't really matter to her, she liked books about fashion, not action) -- it sounded like a total bore, and contained no fashion or Rainbows! Of course, she'd still accept the gift, even a boring book is more interesting than sitting around locked in a tiny room with nothing to do -- she didn't even have any supplies with which to make clothes! Sometime around seven AM, she could hear hoofsteps outside. And the sound of her door unlocking. Yeah she knew she shouldn't investigate, but it beat the pants off waiting around for the doctors to return. Maybe if she opened the door quietly, and didn't disturb anyone -- then she could take a peek. Outside the door, a strange pegasus pony could be seen wandering around -- wearing a dour expression. He had the same symbol as that Time Turner pony she had met the other day, and an obviously graying version of his amber coat, but the similarities stopped there, his coat -- though once amber -- had significantly grayed with age, his mane appeared to have mostly gone bald on top, and his hair was long wispy -- and appeared to be carefully brushed back, so as to hide his baldness in back. While Time Turner was young, this stallion appeared to be quite old, and wrinkled -- nearing the end of his days. And in the second, she recognized him. It didn't seem possible! This looked just like the pony from her dream. But it couldn't be right? Also weren't symbols unique to ponies? So why did this pony have the same one as Time Turner. And the pony in her dream was old -- if he even existed at all -- he would be dead by now, right? She closed the door, her head starting to buzz again. But by the time she opened it again, he was long gone. How could he have vanished in the scant few seconds she had the door closed for? And who was he? Why did she get the impression he wasn't supposed to be at the hospital? And for that matter, why was he snooping around? And why did he disappear? What was he looking for? And why did her door unlock? She asked herself, closing the door again with a sigh. After a few minutes ,the door began to move again -- and voices could be heard arguing behind it. "Didn't we lock this door this morning?" A stallion asked. "Yes we did doctor, I'm certain of it!" A kind female voice said. "Then why is the door unlocked? She could have gotten out, and those magic bursts of hers could have hurt somepony very, very, badly!" He said, with agitation. "I know doctor." Said another female voice. "But there's nothing we can do about it now! We'll just have to make sure that the lock is working on this door, and utilized next time." The door opened slowly. And Doctor Stable, and two nurses entered the room. "Sorry about earlier, I don't believe I've properly introduced myself, Ms. Dash: my name is Doctor Stable." He said, with a kind smile. "You gave us quite a scare with that magic burst you had this morning! Are you feeling any better?" Rainbow shook her head. "Not really, darling! My head is still bugging me, and I swore I saw the strangest thing just before you arrived." She said, thinking about the odd pegasus. The doctor smiled. "Well you can tell me all about it, in a minute. Let's see if this inhibitor will help you with your headaches, and those meddlesome magic bursts." He said, pulling a large metal ring out of his saddlebag. "Nurses, could you hold her steady while I attach this, thanks?" He asked, while the nurses lightly held her. He turned to a third nurse. "Could you be so kind as to see if you can find that special bed we talked about?" The nurse nodded before racing off. "Now this might hurt for just a minute." The doctor said, apologetically as he put the metal ring around her neck, and clamped it in place. Hurting for just a minute was an understatement. She felt like her whole body was going to tear itself, limb from limb. She started to feel the green coming back, before the pain suddenly stopped, and her headache started to clear. Thank goodness! The doctor smiled slightly, apparently noticing that her headache had cleared. "Well it looks like that is already helping. You know most unicorns would consider this punishment, as it prevents them from using magic -- but it looks like, for you, it's just what the --" He said, chuckling at his own pun. "Doctor ordered. Now let's see if we can find out what's wrong with your muzzle." He said, with a smile. He began to feel and prod around her muzzle, apparently looking for something. And he started asking odd questions like: "Have you been having any stuffiness recently?" And "Have you had any pain in your teeth?" And "Has anything bit you in the muzzle recently." She puzzled to herself. Why was he taking such an interest in her beautiful muzzle? And for that matter, why was everyone's muzzle so much smaller then hers? The doctor appeared to swallow a sigh. "Well, let me check one more thing!" He said, with a smile. "Could you open your mouth please? I want to take a look around inside, and at your gum line." He said, with a sincere expression, and a hint of perplexion. "Certainly, darling!" Rainbow said, with a smile. "Excellent!" The doctor said, looking around in her mouth, and feeling around; before having her close her mouth, and looking at her gum line. After a few seconds, his face began to contort slightly. "Nurse, could you come over here a second?" He asked, turning to the nurse. "Certainly doctor." She said, dutifully, walking over. "What do you need me to look at doctor?" "Well, could you take a look here, and tell me what you see?" He said, having the nurse look at the curved side of her muzzle near her incisors. "I just want to make sure I'm not crazy here." "Of course doctor!" She said, looking around, touching at Rainbow's gums. "That is interesting doctor!" She said, with concern. "Her wolf teeth seem awfully large, especially for a mare, and I don't know what to make of these teeth over here -- I don't believe I've seen any like these before. I'm not a dentist, but shouldn't there be a gap in between these two sets of teeth?" "Yes, nurse, this is what I'm confused about. If she was a changeling, then I would expect to see large fangs, and a normal earth pony certainly would have smaller wolf teeth -- a normal mare wouldn't have any. And I'm pretty sure these odd teeth don't belong here at all." The doctor turned to her. "So tell me about your wolf teeth, have you seen a dentist before about these?" Rainbow quirked her eyebrow. Why were they so interested in her canines? "Excuse me darling, I believe those teeth are called canines -- not wolf teeth -- and I believe that they are used to... Well I don't know what they are for... I suppose they are there to poke food... Like unruly broccoli or something, darling!" The doctor sighed. This day just kept getting weirder and weirder. "Ms. Rainbow Dash. Do you mind if we schedule an appointment to get a dentist in here later? I want to make sure that your muzzle swelling isn't due to any abscesses. And I want to see if they know if we need to remove these extra mutant teeth -- especially those enlarged wolf teeth." Rainbow sighed. She had no idea why the doctor was acting this way. Her mouth was completely normal back home! And the dentists raved about her oral health! In any case, she felt she should ask about the pegasus. "Excuse me, darlings. But do you normally have visitors at this hour?" She asked, with a smile. "I saw a strange pegasus this morning, right before you arrived. And I wanted to know --"   The doctor frowned. "I think you are mistaken Ms. Dash. Visitors aren't allowed at this hour, and if somepony was wandering about just before our arrival we would see him." "I suppose so! After all -- " Rainbow said, her head starting to spin. She could feel another memory coming on. "Ponies that fly? Now really, darling!" She said, her head beginning to ache again. She could see the green again, for only a second -- and could feel tingling in her neck. After a few frightening minutes, though, the sensation ceased.   "Oh, darling!" Rainbow said. "That was frightful. What just happened!" The doctor frowned. "Another magic burst, apparently we do need the special bed as well." He said, with a sigh. "Unfortunately, this means that you will need to be bedridden for a few days, until we can find the source of your magic bursts." He said, hovering close to look at the necklace. "It looks like the inhibitor held -- just barely though. It might behoove me to find another one -- just in case!" Rainbow frowned. Bed ridden!? Because of her Rarity would never finish her order! She was a horrible friend! No! She had to get out of here! She had to help Rarity. She started to open her mouth. "Couldn't I just -- " The doctor shook his head. "No! Ms. Dash: this is non-negotiable! We can't have you leaving when we can't control these magic bursts! You will have to stay here a few days until we can!" He said, with a stern expression. "I suppose!" She said, waiting for him and the nurse to leave. She would just have to wait until they got out of range -- then she would find a way out of this trap, and back to the boutique. There's no way she would let Rarity, or fashion itself, be hurt by her absence! And she really couldn't be as sick as they said, right? ******** There was a problem, of course, with finding her way out: which way was out? I mean, it's hard to understand the basic layout of a hospital when you don't have any back home. They didn't even have a doctor back in Ponyville, let alone a hospital (of course this was natural considering that she could count on one hoof the number of times someone got hurt any worse than a scrape or a bruise -- and Kimono always had potions and salves for those.) Of course, she knew better then to enter the doors with the big bold red symbols. So how was she going to get out? Maybe she should try going downstairs? She guessed she was on the second or third floor, after all. Seeing a bunch of nurses and doctors descending on the floor below -- and the sound of panicking echoing from somewhere within the hospital. She asked herself one very profound question: should she go back to her room? It was number twelve wasn't it? Yeah that sounded about right! No! She should continue on! She must continue on! Rarity needed her, after all! The boutique needed her! Fashion itself needed her! And she would not let them down! Not while she still breathed -- lord willing! It was at that point that, she asked herself a very important question: when did I get so dramatic? I mean really, darling, I -- along with Pinkie and Kimono -- am one of the thinking ponies! On the floor below she could see three young fillies towing a fourth in what appeared to be a red wagon. Wait just a second! She recognized that filly -- which was quite impossible, seeing as she had never met her before! But she was certain of it! She was the princess of... somewhere or another! Oh that's right Unicornia! And she was a good friend! And the Crystal Rainbow Princess! But what was she doing here, and why did she look so sick? Huddled around little Rarity were the three fillies from yesterday: Scootaloo -- whose sister was Cheerilee--; Sweetie Belle -- the small unicorn who was born when two rainbows collided during her spectangularishish outdoors party, and the town baker --; and that young pony filly -- what was her name? Apple Blossom or something. No that can't be right! But this couldn't be her Scootaloo, and she hadn't seen any unicorns before Twilight's friend Rarity! Certainly not any Sweetie Belles! And the town baker was Sweetberry! So what was going on? And why was little Rarity here? Why did she even know this ponies name? And why was she so sure they had met before? Her mentor Cheerilee -- who was definitely not Scootaloo's sister (that was Cheery Blossom) must be worried sick! Had the little foal run off and get herself lost again? Or worse had she run away and gotten herself hurt? The more she thought about the questions, the more her head hurt. She knew another one of those 'magic bursts' would be on the way if she didn't stop. But she couldn't! Why did nothing make any sense! She was sure that her memories of Sweetie Belle were phony, and she was certain that half of her memories of Scootaloo were bad, but she was certain Unicornia and Rarity were real! But there was no possible way she could have seen either of them yet! And she was sure everyone back in Ponyville would back her up on this and -- "All right!" A very gruff Doctor Stethoscope said, having his nurses push the three fillies off towards the elevator. "I need to know what happened here! And why this young foal looks like a wreck! "We didn't do nuttin'! Honest!" Apple Bloom said, her face filling with ire. "Ah' promise! An' since mah sister is honesty --" She said, trying to defend her good name (which was hopeless considering how tarnished their names had become through all of their crusading.) "We'll see about that!" The doctor said gruffly. "Nurses! Take this filly to the ER!" He said, motioning for two of his nurses: a yellow earth pony with a light blue mane, and a orchid earth pony with a mulberry mane. "We need to find out what's going on and quickly!" He said, motioning with his upmost urgency. "Yes doctor!" Said two of the nurses in unison. 'What were their names again?' Rainbow asked herself. 'Oh that was right: Sweetheart, and Snowheart'. But if they were near-by then that means that probably -- "And you are supposed to be back in your room!" Said an agitated doctor Stethoscope, standing before her -- stamping his hoof. "I've already talked to Doctor Stable about your condition and you supposed to be in your room." He said, motioning sternly with his hoof. "Not wondering around my quiet and well run hospital like some kind of ninja intruder!" Doctor Stethoscope continued, scowling at the fashionable earth pony -- remembering the time that Rainbow's pegasus equivalent had decided to sneak into the hospital to read a book on that Daring Doo pony (obviously a bad influence!) Looking around, for a second, Doctor Stethoscope absconded Nurse Redheart. "I apologize, nurse, but could you do me a favor and escort Ms. Dash back to her room -- while I find out what these three 'little angels' did to my newest patient?" He said, looking down at the Scootaloo, and friends. The nurse frowned for a second, either out of pity -- or because of her many duties. "Of course doctor. I'll make sure she gets back to her room." The doctor smiled, slightly relieved. "Good! Make sure she stays there too!" He said, thinking about the antics her pegasus equivalent would certainly be up to at this point. "Now if you'll excuse me I'll be talking with these three fillies." He stated, his scowl returning -- especially when he noticed that the three fillies had attempted to back away quietly. Rainbow sighed as the nurse began to slowly herd her away from the door and freedom -- the door growing smaller and smaller before her. While doctor led the crusaders -- as they were called, apparently -- away for 'interrogation'. ******** "You are supposed to be in bed young lady!" The nurse chastised the multicolor earth pony, as she motioned Rainbow back through the door to her room. "We can't have you wandering around the hospital! And the doctor really doesn't feel it prudent for you to leave your bed right now." "I hear what you are saying, darling -- I really do." Rainbow said, as politely as she was able (which was pretty politely.) "But I still don't see why I'm supposed to stay in bed when this, whatever it is -- " She said, pointing to the ring around her neck."Seems to be doing its job." The nurse sighed. She really hated to get tough with the patients, their friends, and visitors; but sometimes tough words had to be spoken. "I apologize Ms. Dash! I really do! But the doctor's orders are the doctor's orders. And he's concerned that the inhibitor is only mostly doing its job." "Inhibitor!" Dash thought to herself. "What could that be?" She thought, completely baffled as to why something would even be called that. "What is an 'inhibitor', darling?" Dash asked the nurse, with apprehension. "And how can it be 'only mostly doing its job'?" The nurse shook her head. It always surprised her how some ponies missed out on what should be common knowledge items (just ask the frequent foal mother that came in for testing -- unaware of the obvious mechanics of how she got that way. Or the 'extreme sports pony' that she had to treat at least once a week.) "An inhibitor is an artifact used to dampen or completely block unicorn magic. It's normally worn around the horn. " She said, motioning with her hoof like there was an invisible horn above her head. "And is usually used to prevent unicorns from hurting themselves or others with their magic. I've never seen one used on an earth pony before." She said, changing her stance slightly. "You are lucky we found one. Apparently the one you are wearing is an artifact from the interregnum between the third and fourth ages -- a relic of Princess Platina's Kingdom." "An antique, darling?" Rainbow asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Whatever was it used for?" The nurse rubbed one of her front legs against the other -- this was going to be hard to explain. "You see... it was used to prevent unruly earth pony surfs from farming, basically a punishment for rebellious surfs." "Oh dear!" Rainbow said. "Could I get one a little less... um... spooky, darling?" She said, swallowing the horror she was beginning to feel in her heart. "I wish, but this is the only one of its kind we know of. We are ordering another from an artisan in Vanhoover and we may not get it for a few days." She said, putting her stern face back on. "And we were lucky to even get this one! Apparently your friend Twilight got it from a pegasus author friend of hers, of all ponies! So we need to be extremely careful with it!" Rainbow sighed. She supposed there might not be a way out of this. "But that still doesn't explain why the bed is special darling, couldn't I just wear this spooky -- something or another, and go about my business?" She said, looking at the boring bed in the corner. "It is, after all, only a normal bed." The nurse sighed, she expected this question. "Actually, Ms. Rainbow, this isn't a normal bed. It's frame is made from Loadstone, which absorbs magical energy. We had to have an artisan make this specially for you." "Why so, darling? Isn't this 'inhibitor' or whatever it's called good enough?" She asked, with genuine curiosity. "Unfortunately not." The nurse said, with a frown -- she normally preferred her patients active whenever possible. But this was kind of a special case. "Your magic bursts are too powerful for either the inhibitor or the bed to handle on their own -- and if you were to have a magic burst without both, it might break one or the other." Rainbow was shocked, she felt like she was being called fat or something. "But darling, certainly unicorns don't have this problem?" She asked, feeling like she caught the nurse by surprise. The nurse simply shook her head. "Unfortunately, they don't --but you definitely do. You see, judging by the strength of your magic bursts, you might be the second most powerful pony we've treated here -- next to the princess of magic herself." "Pardon, darling?" But I don't have magic. "And I don't believe regular ponies have any either -- certainly not the way you describe." The nurse shrugged. "That's a fair assessment, but it's not quite accurate. You see, we say earth ponies have more magic, but it's more like their magic is well grounded." She said, checking to see if the vibrant earth pony was paying attention. "Their magic comes from the ground, goes through their heart, and is channeled back to the ground, and is almost exclusively used for the purposes of cultivation of plant matter." "Then if I'm grounded, certainly that means that I should be ok to go." Rainbow said, feeling hopeful -- maybe she could get back to the boutique. "Sorry but no go. Somehow you are receiving magic from the earth, but can't vent it. Eventually it vents itself, however it can -- through a magic burst. This normally happens with unicorns, because they have no vent other then spell casting." The nurse said, obstinately, she was not going to let her patient do something to hurt herself. ******** The rest of the morning passed pretty non-descriptly for Ponyville's fashion pony, and she slowly began to forget about her sighting of that odd pegasus earlier that morning. But she didn't forget the sight of her friend Rarity -- whom she had never seen before. Why was she so interested in some odd little unicorn? The more Rainbow thought about the little unicorn, the more she remembered. "I try and I try, but I can't deny -- the truth is I aye AYE!!! I just want to have fun!" The tiny foal sang, falling plot first into the mud, splashing around a little -- giggling wildly. Rainbow was none too happy about being splashed with mud, and thought the filly was acting awfully juvenile. Problem? This never happened! It absolutely never happened, right? She wasn't crazy, right? The next lines also came clearly: "That was fun! Let's do it again!" "Again!!!" She had said, fainting for only a second or two. Problem: part of her said that she didn't even know what a unicorn was, and had never met any! So why did it come to her so clearly when she met her counterpart, in fashion, here in this Ponyville? She sighed. This was all going to by mysterious, wasn't it. She had been given a stack of books to read, most of them involved that Dashing Doo pony that she found to be quite a bore -- she had no idea why the doctors were so sure she'd be interested in anything so juvenile! After a few minutes, her ears twitched -- she could hear Twilight talking to a doctor outside -- something about her memories. Had they been talking to Zecora? Did she say something? As the suspense was about to kill her, she heard the doorknob begin to turn, and the door begin to open. At the other end was Twilight, waving to one of the doctors. She appeared to be carrying some more books in her saddle bag (Rainbow Dash, and her friends preferred suitcases handbags, or backpacks, of course -- but whatever worked!) "So Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said, comfortingly. "How's it going?" She asked, rhetorically. Rainbow simply shrugged (like a human, of course.) It had been kind of a bummer day for her, and it had hardly begun. And what was worse was that she may have even more coming. Twilight got a twinkle in her eye. She apparently had something that she thought would help. Rainbow hoped it would. The thought of being bedridden for days with nothing to do was hardly appealing. "I thought I 'd bring you some high fashion magazines that Rarity let me borrow!" She said, looking down at a saddlebag full of magazines and books with the most intriguing outfits on the cover. At the top of the stack was one with a mare wearing a very interesting outfit -- with the caption: 'dressing to impress: win the stallion of your dreams!'. Rainbow started to beam. "Oh thank you darling! These magazines look dashing!" She said, already thinking about that article (maybe she could use it to get that dragon stallion Kenbroath to finally take notice of her -- all that dragon seemed to think about was all the princess rules he was trying to pass on to Wysteria. No she was pretty sure the dragon wasn't in love with her flower loving friend, just obsessed with all his little rules -- not that she wouldn't mind following some of them if they could get closer.) Sadly though, no sooner had she started to greedily look through the covers of the fashion materials (why were none of these outfits cut for use when standing in a bi-pedal fashion?) Then she started to remember the morning's drama. She couldn't tell Twilight about it, could she? And Twilight would definitely think she was daft if she did tell her. Twilight, however, had the first words. Her face dropping, and her countenance beginning to show concern. "Is something wrong Rainbow? Are these not the magazines you were looking for?" Rainbow shook her head. "Oh no, darling! These magazines are great!" She said, her mind turning again -- for only a minute -- to that one about stallions (she would get a good look at that later, maybe they can give her hints on how to get the eye of the draconic stallion as well.) "But this morning I saw them wheel in a pony I swore I recognized: a young... unicorn filly. -- " ******** So as Twilight raced off to find out the condition of little Rarity, Rainbow Dash was left with nothing to do again (well not quite, she had a mountain of fashion magazines to read, and for that she was eternally grateful.) Unfortunately, her door had been locked on the way out to prevent her from leaving -- again. But she supposed she really couldn't blame them with all those episodes she had been having. The bed and the collar seemed to do the job though, and her magic bursts were more or less under control. As she was taking a break between two magazines, to think about when she'd get to try out some of the things she'd learned, she heard someone playing with the door again. She was surprised, she hadn't expected to see or hear from the doctor yet. "Are you there doctor, darling?" She asked, trying to figure out what was happening to her door. Strangely enough, no one answered. "Do you mind if I open the door?" She asked, expecting the door to be locked -- instead the door was wide open. "Well that's interesting?" She said to herself. "Maybe the doctor is going to let me walk around a little! How dashing!" The moment she opened the door, she saw that strange Time Turner running around again. Except it couldn't be Time Turner, he had the same mark, coat, and mane color. But his mane was curled, and he had the most dashing hat and scarf. Why did she think this was the same pony as Time Turner? Heck why did she think this was the same pony as that fictitious pegasus from this morning. Maybe she'd ask him why he was here! "Excuse me, darling!" She asked, with caution. "You look familiar, darling! Have we met somewhere before?" He didn't answer. She gulped slightly -- how best to get his attention? Maybe she needed to tap him. "Excuse me, darling!" She asked, tapping him on the scarf, pulling his scarf off by mistake. At first it didn't appear like he even noticed his scarf in her hooves; but eventually he started to turn around, scowling at first, until he saw her face. He started to smile -- like he had met an old friend -- but this only lasted a second before... "Darlings! Darlings! Your attention please!" Rainbow said, holding the scarf with her hoof distorting like she had not just a palm, but an invisible thumb as well. "We've arrived at the time in our festival where we name the pony who has been the best friend ever." She announced to all 'ponies' in attendance. "For helping us all dance in the clouds, the winner is.... Twinkle Twirl, darlings!" She said -- presenting the scarf to 'Twinkle Twirl' -- entirely unaware of what she was saying. Wasn't this from the fall before last? Yes, it had to be! The friendship ball! She felt the energy again, and everything glowed green in waves. Time turner returned her gesture with a frightened expression, before racing down the hall. "Rainbow! Run!" He shouted, as he disappeared into thin air. She did as commanded, as she escaped back into her room -- the green slowly fading from top to bottom. Looking in the bathroom mirror, she noticed the worst. The inhibitor had been damaged, and had more than a few visible cracks. Oh the doctor would not be happy when he saw this! But she was more curious as to who that pony was, and why she'd thought three different ponies in the last couple of days were the same pony.