Chapter 04 - Free Love
Fragments of Memories
By Starwin
Chapter 04 – Love Free
So far, the day had been extremely busy. Non-stop emergencies, priority meetings and an all-hooves-on-deck surgery kept Doctor Wild Heart at nearly a gallop. From the moment she made it through the front doors she had been dashing around the office as though the place was on fire. At this point, a fire wouldn’t surprise her.
It was only as the day grew late and the sun began to set that she finally made it to her office. She paused for a moment in front of the fogged glass door. Even though her reflection was distorted in the murky surface, she was able to catch a glimpse of her slightly disheveled appearance. Her normally straight silver and gold mane was all tangled up and matted against her head. Tufts of golden fur stuck up in odd places along her back. If there was time, she might give her coat a good brushing down.
With a sigh, Wild Heart pushed open her office door and stepped into the dimly lit room. The last rays of daylight lingered in the sky beyond her window. Orange, red, and the slightest hint of silver, played along the wispy clouds. Pockets of deep shadows hid in every corner of her office. And, in the very center of the room, was an ominous dark mound, shaped like a sleeping dragon.
The horn atop Wild Heart’s head glowed briefly with a pinkish light. Four gas lamps that were bolted to the walls flickered to life. The dark frightening shape was washed away to reveal something truly terrifying: paperwork. Stacked taller than a pony, the whole center of the room was piled high with towers of unfiled documents.
Much of what made up the enormous pile were patient records, medical reference texts, and neglected office forms. Somewhere under all that mess, hidden completely and nearly forgotten, was her desk.
Wild Heart sighed again. There was always so much work to be done and always more work to do after that. If only there was more time, she might have devoted some of it to paperwork, although that seemed unlikely. She certainly couldn’t ignore it forever. After all, it was part of her job.
Wild Heart worked for the Canterlot Magical Emergency Medical Center, or CMEMC. Part of the reason she was so busy was that her group was woefully understaffed and severely over tasked. This was because very few applicants qualified for her specific line of work. Much to her frustration, even fewer believed in what she was trying to accomplish.
Most doctors at the CMEMC dealt solely with treating magical injuries. This meant finding a way to disenchant, decurse, or reverse a harmful spell. But when that was completed, the patient was sent on their way, with no regards to any lasting impact.
For many, many years the task of treating magic-related mental injuries had fallen on the Canterlot Central Hospital. However, they were ill-equipped and lacked the training to tend to patients recovering from symptoms brought on by spells.
The body healed the body. Magic could heal magic. But only the mind was able to heal the mind. And, just like the other two, sometimes it couldn’t do it on its own.
It had taken much convincing for the other doctors to even listen to such a radical idea. Magic, after all, could always fix magic, and therefore fix all the damage caused by magic. She was told over and over that once the curse was removed, everything would be fine.
Wild Heart did not agree.
Had it not been for Celestia that would have been the end of her career. The Princess had been willing to listen and, even more astoundingly, try. Wild Heart had seized the opportunity and was able to prove the effectiveness of treating the body, the magic, and the mind.
Far beyond what she had expected, Wild Heart had been given her own team: the Traumatic Spell Recovery Division. There was still very much for her young group to learn but they were learning. This was a new field and she was its only expert.
Her days were always jam-packed with bizarre magical accidents that stumbled in through the door. Her nights were filled with emergencies of those that waited too long to seek treatment, believing they could fix it on their own. But, every now and then, she managed to get a few minutes to herself and just... read.
To be precise, she had seven minutes to herself. Then, it was off to the Intensive Curse Unit to help with a particularly nasty spell that had gone wrong. Wild Heart didn’t know all the details. From the brief description she had been given, it sounded like a timeloop spell. The result of which caused the pony to relive a small section of time over and over again. The pony claimed this was the fifth time they had gone through this day.
However, Wild Heart hadn’t even made it to her desk, wherever it was actually located, when there was a tapping at her window. She was on the fourth floor of the building, second office on the left, and there was no balcony. A pegasus was hovering outside, waving to be let in.
Wild Heart’s horn shimmered with an aura of pink and the large floor to ceiling window unlatched itself and slid open. The pegasus landed inside, his wings sending a few of the papers from her hidden desk spinning up into the air.
“Sorry about that,” apologized the pegasus. The words sounded more formal than apologetic. He was dressed in spotless white armor, with the crest of the sun upon it. This pony was a messenger from the castle. “The Princess urgently requests your presence at the palace,” explained the messenger, confirming what Wild Heart had already guessed.
“Can it wait?” asked Wild Heart. “Today is extremely busy.”
“Her Highness insisted that it was very urgent,” he repeated.
“Yes, of course it is,” said Wild Heart with a slight frown. “I’ll be there as soon as possible.” Something had to be wrong, but what? What could be so important that Celestia needed to see her right away? Wild Heart didn’t know, but it most likely wasn’t good news.
“I shall inform the Princess that you are on your way,” replied the pony with a slight bow of his head. His wings extended to carry him off, but he paused before glancing around the document filled room. “Perhaps it would just be better if I used the door?”
“If you don’t mind,” answered Wild Heart with a tired smile. The pony bowed again, then made his way to the door, carefully avoiding the towering stacks. He gave the room one last glance, not seeming to know what to make of it, and then departed.
With a final sigh at her unsorted room, Wild Heart also made her way to the door. Except for the few disturbed papers, she left the office nearly untouched. Tomorrow. She would definitely get back to reading tomorrow.
Before departing, she informed her head of staff that she would be gone for a few hours. He took the news quite well. Or, at least as well as anypony could, considering how short staffed they already were. They would make do without her, although the time-looped pony might have to wait just a little longer to be unlooped. In any case, if they couldn’t get him out today, he could always try again the next time around.
Wild Heart made her way through the darkening streets of Canterlot and up towards the palace. It was quite some distance away, although not more than a few minutes trot. Teleporting would be faster, but… she shivered at the thought. No, the Princess could wait a few extra minutes.
As the sun set, Canterlot came alive with activity. It was a city of magic and when the sun went down, the lights came on. Ponies here never seemed to sleep. There was always something more to be done.
In every direction, magic lit up the air. Flashing signs depicting dancing ponies filled the entire wall of a nearby building. It was a party club that Wild Heart had never been to. Nopony had ever invited her to join them and it seemed awkward to simply go alone. In any case, the line for the club was already around the block and she would never find the time to spend on waiting.
On the opposite side of the street was a fancy restaurant, packed with diners. Food, tables, and guests were all levitated high above the street by a dedicated service staff. This allowed the ponies to enjoy a spectacular view with their meal. Wild Heart had never eaten there, but she heard that the food was fantastic! No place else in Canterlot could beat the view, so long as you didn’t mind everything being extremely expensive.
Flashing shop windows further down projected a cascade of bright lights into the street. The glass was enchanted to glow purple, then blue, then orange, before transforming into a dancing array of rainbow colors. The display was meant to catch the attention of those passing by and it looked as if the lightshow had done its job. A group of giggling mares stopped at the shop window to look inside.
Wild Heart paused, staring somewhat longingly at the group of mares across the street. They all looked so happy, talking and laughing with each other. From where she was standing, Wild Heart could see her reflection in the shop window. And for just a moment, it looked like she was part of the group.
Then the ponies moved on. Wild Heart and her reflection stood alone once again. She shook her head before continuing on her way.
She wasn’t sure what silly notion had come over her. She didn’t have time for stuff like that. Shopping and clubs and… friends. Her career came first. She had a job to do, a very important job. She helped heal others.
Even still, Wild Heart couldn’t help but think those mares looked like they had been having a lot of fun together. It was hard to remember the last time she’d had fun. Work wasn’t exactly fun. Rewarding and fulfilling yes, but not fun.
The lights of the city began to fade behind her. Wild Heart had been so lost in her own musings that she was slightly surprised to see the eastern path in front of her. This winding, narrow dirt trail would lead her up to the castle. Scattered slabs of worn down stone served as steps up the very steep slope. The stones were beaten with generations of travel but they still proved to be very stable.
The last edge of the sun on the horizon gave her just enough light to climb the hill safely. At the top of the incline, she could see the torches that marked the gate at the border of the castle grounds. She was almost there.
This path was her favorite way to reach the castle. It had two very enjoyable aspects to it. First was the spectacular view of the sprawling lands below. She could only just make out the silhouette of the distant town of Ponyville between the rolling hills. Further out, she could also see the dark green forest that stretched out across the golden grass to the horizon. Her favorite feature was the magnificent blue river. It cut across the countryside from the base of Canterlot all the way out to the ocean. It sparkled as if it was filled with stars in the last light of the sun.
The other reason she liked this path was that she seemed to be the only pony who ever used it. Most visitors going to the castle traveled to the main gate via a wide, well-lit, brick path. It was always packed with hoof traffic and carts. She didn’t care for either the noise or the copious amounts of other ponies.
At the top of the hill was the outer wall. The torches she had seen from afar now blazed brightly before her. Between the flames stood two unicorn guards and between them was the open gate that led into the castle grounds.
The guards nodded to her, indicating that she could pass, but they did not speak.
She made her way across the outer garden. The evening sky overhead had become dark, with the first stars of night glittering across it. The garden walkways were lit by hanging lamps illuminated with magic. Each lamp had been set on a tall metal post and placed a dozen hooves apart.
The flickering lamp light cast dancing shadows across some of the more prominent garden features. One of those was the large multi-tiered stone fountain. The water overflowed into six smaller stone basins, arranged around the fountain like points of a star. Each basin had a waterfall that flowed into an irrigation stream that carried water to a different section of the garden.
Wild Heart trotted over the tiny wooden bridge in the path. She could hear the babble of the dark water below her, although she couldn’t see it in the low light. She knew this stream flowed off into the deep garden, which had large fields of flowers, groves of trees, deep ponds of fish and a massive hedge maze that was currently off limits.
Following the path, the garden fell away behind Wild Heart. The massive shape of the castle obscured the sky ahead of her. The building’s many windows glowed with a warm yellow light. The shadows of ponies hurrying about inside played on the glass.
Another set of guards stood at attention beside the small castle entrance ahead of her. The firelight flickering above them made their faces hard to see. Like before, these two nodded her past, although the guard on the left did at least push the wooden door open so that she could enter the castle.
The wing Wild Heart had entered was quiet for the moment. This section wasn’t often traveled, which was why she liked to come this way. Her hoovesteps were muffled by the heavy velvet carpet in this hallway.
It wasn’t long before the busy sounds of voices and trotting hooves broke the silence she had been enjoying. As she left the eastern hall, the corridors began to fill with more and more ponies.
Ponies in different colored robes and tabards rushed this way and that, looking very important as they went. Some were envoys from other nations while others were palace staff attending to the needs of state officials. Wild Heart even passed by a griffon who was talking in whispers with a nearby pegasus.
She zigzagged through the hustle and bustle, eager to slip past. To her right was a long orderly line of castle visitors. Some looked anxious, while others appeared very calm. They were all waiting to speak with princess Celestia.
Throughout the day, the Princess held court in the main throne room. Along with the matters of state, ponies from all over the kingdom were invited to come and speak. Each wanted to have their problems heard and hopefully solved.
Wild Heart avoided the line to the throne room. That was not her destination. Instead, she made her way towards a small waiting room just down the hall.
She had been here before, many times in fact, so she knew her way around quite well. She also knew that whatever the Princess wanted to talk to her about, it was unlikely to be suitable for the ears of the court.
There was a page standing at the waiting room door. He was dressed in a drape of white and gold. His fur had a silver-ish quality to it that made him almost look like he was bathed in moonlight.
“I will inform the Princess of your arrival,” said the page as he pushed open the wooden door for her. Wild Heart smiled and nodded, but did not say anything. She trotted inside and heard the door close with a soft click behind her.
The waiting room was exactly as she remembered seeing it the last time. The walls were lavishly decorated in the blue and white colors of both princesses. Three elaborately carved waiting benches, furnished in soft white cloth, had been placed in the center of the room. Two large portraits of Luna and Celestia hung opposite each other, with a fireplace in-between them. One low dark marble table, with a selection of various fruits and vegetables, had been placed before the benches.
It was unlikely that Wild Heart would have to wait very long. The setting of the sun meant that Celestia would adjourn the court at any moment. If it was really urgent, this room would be her next stop.
As it turned out, Wild Heart was only half-right. She hadn’t even made it to the benches before she heard the door burst open behind her with a loud thud. Wild Heart turned her head and was surprised to find Princess Luna trotting quickly across the room.
“Doctor Heart! I’m very glad you were able to come so quickly,” said Luna, an undertone of relief in her voice. She hurried forward to give the slightly confused Doctor a hug. There was a worried expression upon Luna’s face. Something was definitely wrong. Why didn’t Wild Heart ever get invited up to the castle for tea instead of emergencies?
“Luna!” exclaimed Wild Heart in a half-greeting, half surprised reaction at seeing the mare. Wild Heart had been expecting to meet with Celestia. Sometimes having two Princesses really did complicate things. “I… I was expecting to meet with your sister. But it is certainly nice to see you again.” A sudden terrible thought flitted through Wild Hearts mind. “Is everything alright? Are you okay?”
“Yes, I’m… fine,” said Luna somewhat hesitantly. Something about her tone seemed to indicate that Luna wasn’t being entirely truthful. “This issue is not about me.” Wild Heart felt a wave of relief wash over her. Luna had made so much progress. There hadn’t been an incident with her for months now.
“This is about… about somepony else,” continued Luna. “A friend… friends, maybe that’s the better term, that need your help.” Luna’s horn glowed and a scroll magically appeared in the air above her with a soft pop.
The seal on the parchment had already been broken, but Wild Heart recognized it as the symbol belonging to Ponyville General Hospital. She took hold of the parchment with her own magic and unfurled the letter within.
Dear Princess Luna, read the first line. Wild Heart thought she might recognize the writing style. As you have requested I took the liberty to visit the Ponyville Public Library today and check-in on Twilight Dash. That name sounded vaguely familiar, did she know a Twilight Dash? Didn’t princess Celestia have a student by that name? No, that was Twilight Sparkle - were they related?
At first I believed her situation to be improving, and her recovery progressing nicely. While her tendency to use ‘we’ and ‘us’ when talking about herself is still a bit odd, she was much more coherent than in previous discussions.
She informed me that she had just returned from her first flight, which I initially believed to be a good sign. However, as our conversation continued, it became increasingly apparent that you were correct. Everything is not fine.
The most worrying aspect came up early on, when Twilight Dash mentioned that only two of her friends, Applejack and Spike, had accompanied her. Yet, this was not the case. Spike – the dragon that lives with her – informed me that all of her friends had in fact been there to support her.
When I questioned Twilight Dash further, my insistence about her friends’ presence seemed to upset her. Even the mention of their names resulted in a visible reaction of discomfort.
I then asked her to describe the ponies that had watched. Yet, she was unable to give more than the most basic and non-descript details about the other ponies. Although she had no trouble telling me about her friend Applejack or her dragon Spike.
My concern grew worse as we talked about the flight itself. While she was able to recall some parts of it with great detail, much of her recounting of events worries me. Twilight Dash claimed that she was able to reach an extreme altitude with just a single wing flap.
Yet, again, Spike corrected her. He claims that she started with a slow take off. After hovering for a moment she gave a cry of excitement and then launched herself up into the sky. Once she was high enough she started performing complex acrobatics while her friends cheered her on.
The only part Spike and Twilight Dash are able to agree on is the landing, or rather lack of one. It seems that her friend Rarity was able to use a spell to catch her just before crashing. Although, Twilight Dash was unable to recall the name of the pony that saved her.
I also asked about her magic. But Twilight Dash was exceptionally reluctant to say anything on the subject. All I could get out of her was that she hadn’t attempted even a single spell. In the end I had to drop the line of questioning.
This whole thing has me very worried. While they appear to be in good physical health, their mental state appears to be deteriorating. Unfortunately, this is beyond my area of expertise. I highly recommend engaging the doctors at the Canterlot Magical Emergency Medical Center.
In particular, if she is still there, I think a young mare by the name of Wild Heart might prove very helpful. She had the idea in her head that not all magical ailments could be fully remedied with traditional magical means. If she is still there, then seek her out. Hopefully, she will be able to help.
Sincerely,
Doctor Red Cross M.D.
Head of the Magical Cures Group of Ponyville General Hospital
“This letter arrived only a few hours ago,” explained Luna urgently the moment Wild Heart lowered the letter. She could hear the need in Luna’s voice. This wasn’t just some friend. This was a good friend, an important friend. “My sister has said that Twilight Dash needs time to recover and that things will be fine. But I do not believe that is the case!”
“I’m not sure I understand,” said Wild Heart. “This letter talks about flying and magic and memories… what exactly happened to this pony?” Luna seemed hesitant to answer.
“The matter is… complicated,” said Luna after a moment’s pause. “But that is what you are best at, is it not? Helping those that nopony else knows how to help! Will you help them? Can you fix them?” Wild Heart felt her face cringe at the word ‘fix.’ She hated that word.
“Luna, you should know it isn’t as simple as that,” answered Wild Heart. Luna’s hopeful expression fell slightly in disappointment. Clearly the Princess seemed to have been expecting Wild Heart to proclaim everything would be solved instantly, as if by magic. “Something like this takes time. I would have to meet her, talk to her, get to know her. Just like I did with you.”
“A meeting can certainly be arranged,” said Luna with a slow nod, some of her lost confidence returning to her. “Tonight, if possible.”
“Tonight?” asked Wild Heart in surprise.
The letter had come from Ponyville which was nearly a half day’s travel by train. If they left right now they might make it there tomorrow morning. But there was no possible way that Wild Heart could spare the time. She was already planning to work through the night, which didn’t even include making it back to her neglected paperwork.
“Yes,” answered Luna with an emphatic nod. “We can take my personal chariot. If the skies are calm it shouldn’t take more than an hour to reach Ponyville.”
“Alright,” replied Wild Heart. “I’ll see this pony tonight and do what I can for her.”
“Excellent,” exclaimed Luna, sounding almost excited. “We shall depart at once!” Her horn glowed, flinging the door to the waiting room open. Without another word, she turned and hurried out into the corridor. Wild Heart trotted after.
They moved quickly through the castle halls, taking the passages that were seldom used. Wild Heart wasn’t sure where they were headed, but she did think that there must be a quicker way to get there. For a moment it almost felt like they were sneaking around.
They took a left, down a corridor that Wild Heart had never traveled. It was narrow, with only slits for windows. Without stopping, Wild Heart couldn’t get a good glance outside to get her bearings. She didn’t recognized this part of the castle at all. Where exactly was Luna taking her?
Luna led them upwards, ascending a spiral staircase that wrapped around the inside of a tower. Wild Heart was just starting to feel slightly dizzy as they reached the top. They had come out upon a small balcony that overlooked the city of Canterlot below.
The sun was completely gone now and the sky glittered with a cloud of stars. There were no torches this high up and the lights from the city below looked like a smaller version of the night sky above.
Luna continued onwards, vanishing into the dark. Wild Heart had to cast a light spell to see the way. A beam of light stretched out from her horn, illuminating Luna standing a dozen hooves away.
“My apologies,” said Luna. “I often forget that others cannot see as well in the dark. Watch your step, the path ahead becomes very narrow.” Luna trotted onwards and Wild Heart hurried to keep up.
The Princess hadn’t been kidding about the narrow path. It was hardly wider than Wild Heart and only a low stone wall separated her from a nasty fall into the darkness below. The path wrapped around the outside of the tower, leading them away from the lights of Canterlot. In a few steps more, they moved around the tower and the lights of the city vanished.
Wild Heart’s light beam revealed another set of stairs ahead of them. Just how many steps did a castle need anyhow? The stairs curved around the outside of the tower and went up in a very steep incline. Worse still, the low wall ended abruptly at the foot of the steps. On one side there was the solid stone tower and on the other side, empty black air.
Luna did not even pause at the stairway. She hurried forward, climbing the steps with a practiced hoof. However, Wild Heart proceeded with slightly more caution. Soon, Luna vanished around the curve of the tower as she climbed ever higher. Wild Heart was unwilling to go any faster, but it seemed she didn’t need to travel much further.
The steps ended as they reached the flat stone top of the tower. Wild Heart had never been up this high before and she wasn’t entirely sure she liked it. They seemed to be at the top of the tallest tower in the palace. From way up here, the lights of Canterlot seemed smaller, dimmer, somehow.
Sitting in the center of the tower was a black, blue, and silver chariot. It was drawn by two armored pegasus that were already harnessed and ready to depart. Wild Heart had the feeling that saying “no” to this trip had likely never been an option. Luna seemed to already have her mind made up about all this.
The Princess climbed into the chariot first. It was fairly large, easily able to accommodate three ponies of Luna’s size. Yet, it was still sleek, with a trim form and an elongated compartment.
Wild Heart stopped for only a moment. She had never flown before. After all, she was a unicorn and it was magic, not air, that came most naturally to her. She considered the vehicle. If this was to be her first time flying, at least she supposed she was doing it with style.
With a sigh, Wild Heart climbed in to stand alongside Luna. The moment all her hooves were in the chariot, the pegasus leapt from the ground and sent hurtling into the sky.
Oddly, the force of the acceleration didn’t cause Wild Heart to slide out the back, even though she hadn’t been holding on. It was possible that this vehicle was enchanted to keep passengers from falling out, or perhaps the pegasus pulling them were just extremely skilled.
Even with their speed, they were shielded from the wind – which would make talking a lot easier since they wouldn’t have to shout. A good thing too, as Wild Heart had lots of questions for Luna about the pony they were going to meet.
“You still haven’t told me what happened,” said Wild Heart a minute or so after they had departed Canterlot air space.
The Moon was barely above the horizon now. In Canterlot, the Sun had set, yet they were high enough that it was now daylight once more. From here they could see just the tiniest sliver of golden light out over the distant ocean. The clouds overhead were orange on one side and silver on the other as the chariot sailed through the last moments of twilight.
“It is difficult for me to talk about it,” answered Luna after a long while. “It brings up… bad memories of a time I thought I had forgotten.”
Wild Heart waited for Luna to continue, but the mare did not appear to have anything more to add. They flew in silence through the night sky. Far below the dark hills and forests rushed past before vanishing behind them unseen.
“Luna,” pressed Wild Heart again. Her voice was soft and her tone understanding, not demanding. “I know it must be painful for you to talk about. But if I am to help your friend, then you need to tell me what has happened to them.”
Luna turned her head towards Wild Heart. There was sadness in the princess’s eyes. For a long moment, Wild Heart thought that Luna might remain silent the whole trip, but at last she spoke in a dry detached sort of voice.
“There was an accident,” explained Luna quietly, as if hoping the wind might blow them away. “A pony named Rainbow Dash was gravely injured and near death. With few options available, my fri… my sister’s protégé… Twilight Sparkle, did the only thing she could.” Here Luna paused again, seeming to be unable to finish her recounting of events. Wild Heart remained quiet, there was a time to urge somepony on, and there was a time to let them continue on their own. This seemed to be the latter.
“She… she used a spell,” said Luna. “A spell that no pony should use on another living being. A spell that made her and Rainbow Dash into one pony.”
Wild Heart felt slightly confused. That was all? A merge spell? Wild Heart had mended more accidental merges than she could count. It wasn’t that uncommon of an injury, often resulting in two ponies being joined together at leg or tail. Maybe she would have this all sorted out tonight.
But Luna continued.
“They weren’t Twilight or Dash anymore,” said Luna. “They were something new… something like before…” Luna’s thoughts seemed to trail off. She shook her head. “Twilight Dash, that’s what they called themself. Two ponies existing inside a single body. Struggling to find a balance where they can both coexist.”
“Wait, what?!” exclaimed Wild Heart. That didn’t sound like any merge spell she had ever treated. “Are you saying they’re still merged? No pony has treated them yet?”
“No, that is not it at all,” said Luna shaking her head. Wild Heart felt a sigh of relief. Long term merges could have unforeseen side effects. “They weren’t merged, they were fused. Every part of one body joined to the other.”
For a moment it was as if Luna had said something in a different language. Wild Heart knew what she had heard, knew what it meant, but for some reason it didn’t make sense. What Luna was describing was… impossible. No pony could perform such a spell and survive it!
“From what my sister has told me,” continued Luna, not giving Wild Heart a moment to absorb all she had been told. “Dividing them back into two ponies would mean that Rainbow would…” Luna couldn’t finish the thought. “So my sister had to leave them as they were. In the end, all they needed to do to survive was accept how they were, instead of fighting against it.
“I thought everything between them was better, but then I got Red Cross’s letter. Now I fear we might have made things worse for them.”
“You made things worse?” asked Wild Heart her mind still reeling from what she had just heard. How could they have possibly made things worse? There was a shocked expression of surprise on Luna’s face, then she quickly looked away. “Luna, every detail is important. If there is something you’re not telling me…”
“My sister and I,” explained Luna. “We took something from them. A part of who they were. For the moment it is kept safe in Canterlot. My sister says it will be returned to them, once they figure out who they are.” This only confused Wild Heart further, what could the princesses possibly have taken? A part of “who they were?” What did that even mean?
“Uh, okay,” said Wild Heart, not sure how to respond. The more she was told about this pony, the more unsettled she was starting to feel. The Princesses had taken something from this injured pony? Why? And why was Luna so reluctant to say what?
“We are approaching our destination,” said Luna, pointing a hoof to the dark town below.
Wild Heart had never been to Ponyville before, she could never find the time to travel, and besides, she could see it from Canterlot. Unlike the city they had just left, this town was a lot less bright. There were firefly streetlamps that dotted the streets, but otherwise, the town was dark. If there were ponies out in the streets, Wild Heart couldn’t see them from way up here.
The chariot circled around the town. Obviously the pegasus up front had a very good idea of where they were going. They most certainly had some great night vision, Wild Heart had no idea where the ground was!
With a soft bump, they landed on the road below. They rolled to a gradual stop before the chariot turned and the pegasus continued to pull them on hoof. The part of town they had touch down in appeared to be on the outskirts. There were few street lamps here and the buildings were spread sparsely around them. There was even a huge tree directly in front of them now. Were they in some kind of park?
However, it appeared the tree was their destination. Wild Heart hadn’t noticed it before - thinking it must be some kind of trick of the eye - but there were windows in the tree, and light coming from those windows.
The two stallions pulling the chariot came to a stop at the front of the tree-building, parking close enough so that their passengers wouldn’t have to go very far. There was a sign above the door that read “Library” and Wild Heart remembered the mention of a library in the letter she had read earlier. This pony lived at the library?
Luna got out first and Wild Heart followed. She couldn’t help but stare at the giant tree that had been turned into a building, a library no less. The mare had never seen living architecture before. She knew of it, of course, but such things weren’t done in places like Canterlot. It was earth pony magic that had made this place and she couldn’t help feeling curious about it.
Without hesitation, Luna strode right up to the front door and knocked. A voice called from inside, although Wild Heart couldn’t make out the words. As she trotted the last few steps to the door, it opened. A small purple dragon looked out at them. He glared at her as though he couldn’t fathom why she was knocking on their door at such a late hour.
“Sorry, the library is closed to… day,” said the dragon, his words trailing off as his gaze slowly shifted up towards Luna and his eyes widened in surprise. “Princess!” cried Spike. He gave a little bow. “I… what… can I help you?”
“Yes,” answered Luna. “We are here to speak with Twilight Dash.”
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Their elements.. That's what was taken... But Celestial... You can't do that... The elements are a part of their soul.
Just started to read this today. The best part was finishing chapter 2 thinking the next one would be the last before having to wait for the next update, only to see it already had when I pulled up the third chapter. Talk about perfect timing.
Still, things look like they're gonna get messy soon...
Nice! A little development with Luna, and a great build up for the next chapter.
Keep up the great work!!! 
I think I like this new OC. Looking forward to how she tries dealing with our two mental patients. Or is that mental patient?
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I think that's part of the problem. I think they're supposed to still be looking at themselves as a fusion of two entities instead of a singular one.
A bit wordy in some of the descriptions of Canterlot and the castle, but otherwise a good chapter. Looking forward to the next one.
Great chapter! I've really enjoyed this story so far, but there's one issue that I hadn't even realized was bothering me until this chapter (mostly because this chapter fixed it). Namely, the story has been a little too... claustrophobic? Is that the best word for it? It's been so focused on TD and their perceptions and thought processes that it's seemed a little divorced from a living, breathing world. Then you wrote this chapter, and it was like the windows of a shut-up room being thrown open, letting sunlight and fresh air in. A new, engaging character. Great descriptions. This really helped to round the story out, I think. Bringing in an outside perspective will probably, ironically, do wonders to flesh out TD's mind.
It might be because it's half past way too early morning to be up, but the description of Wild Heart's job seems very vague to me. From what I gather, common practice is that the body heals the body, magic heals magic, and the mind heals the mind, but Wild heart is trying something different. That seems incomplete, specifically in regards to what exactly Wild Heart does. Is it therapy? Does she try to heal traumatized ponies with magic? A bit of clarification would be nice.
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I took it as being sort of like therapy for magical post-traumatic stress. I could be wrong, though. We'll probably get a better picture of what she does in upcoming chapters.
I'm really liking Wild Heart's character. I hope she gets a nice ending.
Interesting...a lot of things to make the overall situation a bit clearer. Luna's recap, the letter detailing TD's supposed symptoms...the rapid pace it seemed to have also helped spark excitement, so the change of pace is welcomed. I mean, before the story was still good, just casual and intellectual. This was less of that and more excitement, moving around, and universe-building, making for a nice change of pace to break up the monotony of it, keeping readers on their toes, and I'm not sure if I'm conveying this like I want...it is getting late...oh well, should be in the right ballpark at least...
Anyway, looking forward to more.
I must admit, it was refreshing to get an outsider's view of the story. Great work! :3
I liked the earlier flow better, at odds to most of these folks. We're supposed to be seeing the story through TD's eyes, but with the audience perspective, I felt.
Still, anything new is still by needs interesting, so let's see how it turns out.
Hmmm... I wonder what part Discord will play? Will he actually be helping? Hmm...
I was always wondering what the parents would think in a body share situation. Thanks for possibly answering my curiosity in the future.
Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Tia, what did you do this time?
This story is going to be awesome!!!
One question though. Is the fusion spell based on the fusions from dragon ball z?
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Nope.
The idea for the story came from an article I read talking about the mlp fandom (long story short (the long version exists as a response from me someplace in the VoT comments)) where shippers tend to mash up names, such as Twidash. And I thought, hey, that's a neat idea, except instead of shipping, cuze, I'm not a fan of that, what if I wrote about an actual character, Twilight Dash. Four months of development and several non-start projects later I had Veil of Thoughts, sort of.
The spell name just comes from, well, fusion. More precisely, nuclear fusion happening at the heart of our sun (there is totally no hidden meaning to that what-so-ever (wink (wait, did I just wink, or write "wink"... well too late to fix it now))).
So, sorry, no dragon ball z references here. I did read some of the original manga for dragon ball way back (don't remember much from it other than a kid with a tail and a flying cloud (and I played the heck out of Chrono Trigger (same artist) (although, I never made it to Dragon Quest for whatever reason))), but I haven't seen more than internet memes about it since.
I'm glad you are enjoying the story, I (and my tireless beta readers) am (are) working as hard as I (we/them/us/banana!) can to make it awesome.
Great chapter I really enjoy reading from Twilight Dash's perspective but I also like watching other ponies reactions to their predicament. I hope Wild Heart is really good or else this will get confusing fast.
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Is the time-looped pony Prince Blueblood by any chance?
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I had not intended it to be, although, I suppose there is no reason it couldn't be.
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I was under the impression that it was a subtle shout out to The Best Night Ever.
u do relize the chapter and the titel of the chapter are reversed free love and then love free idk if that was inteneded so i just thought i bring it up.
4573923 God dammit I hate grammar nazi tendencies.
Do you know how much I hate that cliche? That...that cliche where a character refuses to actually explain themselves when there's no reason they couldn't just do so? It's an artificial form of suspense and intrigue, and it should've died out a LONG time ago.
Sure, you could make the argument that not telling Wild Heart about exactly what they took wouldn't really affect anything, but at the same time, Luna was already talking. She was already revealing stuff to Wild Heart, there is ZERO reason she couldn't have just said it. It might've even helped Wild Heart 'fix' them faster!
5896969 I agree wholeheartedly. It is the most annoying form of creating suspense from nothing. I am the type of person that wants my facts straightforward and instantly, so it hits me harder than some. That's also why I dispise mysteries.
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To be fair, we (the readers) already know what was taken. Namely, the Elements of Magic and Loyalty. The only one in the dark is Doctor Wild Heart.
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Actually, what was taken was there Elements, namely the artifacts empowered by said portion of their souls, not said portions themselves.
...unless Celestia did do that, in which case she is a ***** of the highest order.
I can understand Luna not telling the Dr. everything. It is, after all, a very painful part of her own past, as she said, so I can understand-if not necessarily excuse-her not spelling it all out. In addition, she could well be overestimating just how much the doctor knows/can infer. Or, maybe she's trying to tell the bare minimum, so as to avoid creating erroneous preconceptions on the doctor's part. And finally, not telling her what Celestia removed is perfectly understandable. After all, telling her that the ONLY superweapon that can deal with threats that even the princesses themselves cannot--and which have been implemented at least twice in very recent history--is a great way to incite panic. In the doctor, at least, as well as anypony she might let slip the information to. Sure, she's--presumably--ethically bound to confidentiality, the way American doctors are supposed to be, but it could still come out by accident. Nopony's perfect, after all. And the more worried she is, the more likely somepony is to press her for the why.