//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2: The Incident 
// Story: My Faithful Student 
// by Darkblaze15 
//------------------------------//

Princess Celestia flew towards Ponyville faster than any Wonderbolt ever had before and wished they could in their wildest dreams.  Only one solitary thought coursed through her mind the entire way:  what has happened to Twilight???  She tried to keep an open mind, but deep down she felt a terrible, nagging feeling that it was not anything good; after all, an Ursa Major was quite the formidable opponent, even for a full-grown alicorn.  Princess Celestia had fended off attacks from griffons, chimera, and countless other mysterious creatures during her tenure; yet with all of her years of experience, even she would hesitate to square off with an Ursa Minor, let alone the Major.  She was well aware that Twilight had defended Ponyville from an Ursa Minor before, but an Ursa Major was more ferocious a beast and possessed a significantly more aggressive drive; how in Equestria had Twilight stood up to such a creature?
As Celestia approached Ponyville's boundaries, she saw the Ursa Major, which covered almost half the night sky, being swarmed and corralled by several Royal Guard pegasi.  She also noticed that, while Ponyville possessed no physical borders, a large ring encircled the general perimeter of the town, leading Princess Celestia to wonder how such a shape had taken form on the ground.  When she finally landed, several ponies clustered around her, shaking and seeking comfort and answers.
"Listen, everypony," she bellowed to the crowd, "I am not certain of the events that unfolded here this evening, but I can assure you all that there is no further threat to the town of Ponyville," she finished, to which they all breathe collective sighs of relief; a couple even cheer.  But Celestia cannot be relieved; not yet, at least, not without knowing what had become of her faithful student Twilight.  She looked around the town for signs of Twilight's friends; she eventually found Applejack and Pinkie Pie talking amongst themselves within the crowd.
"Applejack!  Pinkie Pie!" Celestia shouted to the pair. They bowed in respect, but Celestia waves her hoof hastily, "There's no time for that, where's Twilight?  She's not hurt, is she?"  The two earth ponies looked at each other uneasily and Applejack stepped forward to address the princess.
"Well, Princess," Applejack replied, "I reckon we head on over to Ponyville Hospital and find out."

* * * *

The trio arrived at Ponyville Hospital, which was unnaturally quiet considering the crisis that occurred not far from town.  Princess Celestia rushed towards the receptionist, demanding information regarding her former student's location.
"Well, she's being kept in the Emergency Wing for critical conditions, but I don't think. . ." was all the poor pony behind her desk was able to get out before Celestia galloped away, with Applejack and Pinkie Pie following closely at her hooves.
When they entered the Emergency Wing, they saw a cluster of doctors preparing to enter one particular room at the end of the hallway.  Princess Celestia trotted over to them, but they hurried inside before she got the chance to speak to them.  She attempted to follow them in, but they prevented her from entering.
"I am one of the regal rulers of Equestria," she said impatiently, "I need to see how my child - er, student - is doing," she stumbled over her words.  She hadn't meant to say "child", but her flustered state prevented her from containing her true feelings.
"And you will, once we are done here," one of the doctors responded, "but for now, please let us do our work.  We are very skilled at what we do here, and will make sure nothing else happens to your - student," he added.  Princess Celestia looked at the doctor as if to argue with him further, but she eventually gave up the fight, recognizing the trust and experience in the doctor's voice.  She walked back over to Applejack and Pinkie Pie, who met up with the rest of their friends already at the hospital.  Rarity was trying to console Fluttershy, who was visibly upset about Twilight's condition; Rainbow Dash stood off to the side and, while remaining stoic, Princess Celestia could sense the heartbreak beneath the pegasus mare's quivering expression.  Rarity took Fluttershy to the nearest bathroom to wash away her tears while the rest took up seats on benches outside of Twilight's room.
Despite the circumstances, Celestia refused to believe that Twilight was seriously hurt.  Though the Ursa Major tended to be formidable, Twilight has proven herself to be just as formidable and incredibly gifted with magical talent; she still clung onto the chance that Twilight would make it through just fine.  Despite her external optimism, deep in her thoughts and her heart, she sensed the sinking feeling that things would only be worse from here on out.  This tense tug of war between her emotions aggravated her beyond sensible action, and when Rainbow asked for the princess' attention, she snapped in frustration of herself.
"What?" she replied with annoyed frustration.  She immediately wished she could take it back when she heard what the rainbow-colored pegasus had to say.
"What happens when a unicorn's horn breaks off?" Rainbow Dash asked innocently.
Princess Celestia was thrown for a loop, and the feeling of hopelessness she faintly felt before made its way to the forefront of her mind.  If Twilight truly lost her horn in the fight with the Ursa Major, then...
"What happened when the Ursa Major attacked tonight?" she asked the three ponies sitting next to her.  She felt it would be the only way she would be able to keep her emotions from taking control of her actions.
"Well, it wasn't really an attack, your Highess," Applejack explained, "At least, it wasn't meant to be.  The Ursa Major was brought to Ponyville by...Trixie Lulamoon."
Princess Celestia recognized the name; Twilight had told her about her encounters with the deceptive magician in the past.  Why Trixie had the idea to try and contain an Ursa Major was beyond the princess' comprehension, so she inquired for more details.
"Trixie brought the beast into Ponyville and bragged that she was so revolutionary for using a Dragon-Binding Collar on the Ursa Major," Rainbow Dash continued.  Princess Celestia was also familiar with that item; as the name suggested, Dragon-Binding Collars were used to keep dragons at bay while being transported by poachers or wildlife experts, but only for a few hours at most.  To use one of these collars on the Ursa Major for any period of time...Princess Celestia was amazed that Trixie was able to keep it contained at all.
"Fluttershy could sense that it was agitated, so she flew up and tried to calm it down," Pinkie Pie said, "Trixie saw and shot magic at her, but it missed and hit the Ursa Major instead, which went berserk and broke the collar."
"It started advancing on the town, but Twilight conjured up a massive shield spell, which protected Ponyville from that creature," Applejack continued, "But it didn't back down; it started hitting the shield bubble with all of its force, but Twilight remained as steady as she could."  Princess Celestia was impressed with Twilight's actions; she had never seen her student try a shield spell similar to that of her brother, but she could only imagine how powerful it must have been.
"None of us really saw what happened next," Rainbow Dash said, "Twilight stayed connected to the shield to keep it up, so she wanted us to make sure everypony was indoors, so we didn't pay much attention to her because we were too busy.  As Applejack and I were herding the schoolponies inside the schoolhouse, we felt the entire town shudder and saw the shield disappear."  
"We knew something was wrong, so the five of us rushed back to the center of town," Rarity, who had just returned from the bathroom with a visibly more calm Fluttershy, explained, "We were lucky that the Royal Guard showed up and forced the Ursa Major out of town.  When we saw Twilight . . . well, we weren't sure what to think.  She was lying on the ground, unconscious, with her horn a few feet away."  Princess Celestia surmised that, since Twilight was connected to the shield bubble, she felt the reverberations of the Ursa Major's fierce pounding on the shield until it the strain combined with the force was eventually too much for her to handle and Twilight's horn broke off.  She vowed that if she ever finds the Ursa Major again, she would inflict as much pain and suffering upon it as it did this night to Twilight.
"I took Twilight's horn and Fluttershy, Rarity, and I carried her here, while AJ and Pinkie stayed in Ponyville to make sure everypony was safe," Rainbow Dash finished.
Princess Celestia did not know what to think; she had heard stories about unicorns who only damaged their horns, and even they were not able to make a full recovery.  Twilight, however, had her horn completely broken off, which was a much rarer condition and, therefore, had an even rarer possibility of recovery.  All the princess could do for the time being was hope and pray for the best as they awaited further news from the doctors.
Finally, after what seemed like ages, one of the doctors stepped out of the room and magically wiped his glasses on his coat before addressing the group. "Well, I've got some good new and bad news," the doctor began solemnly.
"What's the good news?" Princess Celestia asked desperately.
"Your 'student' Twilight, your Highness, is stable for the time being," the doctor answered, "It's still too early to tell, but we're confident in our abilities that she'll find a way through this."
Celestia breathed a sigh of relief; at least Twilight was still alive. "What's the bad news, Doc?" Rainbow Dash asked in an uncharacteristic worried tone of voice.
"Well..." the doctor paused before continuing, "she has succumbed to her injuries and has entered a coma.  We've done all we're capable of here, so now we can only pray for the best."
The sigh caught in Celestia's throat; upon hearing the news, the rest of Twilight friends offered their own responses. Fluttershy looked almost ready to burst into tears again, Pinkie's mane and tail lost their natural bounce, and a general sense of dread and depression falls across their faces.  "Thank you, doctor," Rarity eventually offered her thanks to the doctor as he trotted away down the hall. "We should probably go home and get some rest," she suggested to her friends, "I'm sure these next few weeks will be long for all of us." They agreed and made their way back into Ponyville, leaving Princess Celestia alone on the bench with her thoughts.
How could I have let this happen?  Celestia thinks to herself, the words spinning around in her mind as she replayed the events that led up to this disaster.  Her best student, her best friend, forced into a coma because Celestia had not done enough to make sure she was safe.  No, stop blaming yourself, even you could not have seen this coming, she told herself as she flew back to Canterlot, knowing that she would have to pray hard for Twilight's full recovery.  As she got ready for bed, a random thought suddenly crossed her mind:  If ponies pray to Celestia, then who do I pray to?