Fluttershy followed Luna silently down the hallways. She worried she would never find her way back and get lost in the towering castle. Her eyes drifted to the sleeping pegasus in the magical aura. She swallowed a lump in her throat as Luna entered the medical wing.
“Wh-What are you going to do?” Fluttershy broke the silence as Luna set Rainbow Dash gently down on an examination table.
“I am going into her mind. Fluttershy, I need you to tell me everything you know about Rainbow Dash.” Luna was stern but her voice held a kindness in it that Fluttershy liked to see.
“E-everything?” Fluttershy stammered a blush forming on her cheeks.
“Fluttershy. It is for her safety and my own that I know all I can about Rainbow Dash.” Luna stated, looking down at the sleeping pegasus. Fluttershy followed her gaze and took a deep breath.
“Well, it all started back in Cloudsdale when we were fillies…”
--
Twilight sipped her coffee, her gaze never faltering from Celestia. She sat, along with her remaining friends, in a cozy room with a fireplace. The regal goddess sat across from them, her face beginning to show signs of exhaustion.
“So tell me, my little ponies, what happened?” Celestia asked. Immediately all eyes turned to Twilight, the young alicorn took a deep breath.
“She was showing me a new stunt where she performed a sonic rainboom through a storm cloud. She flew extremely high before barreling through it. It worked of course, but she didn’t pull up in time and hit the ground, hard.” Twilight winced at the memory of her shattered friend in the field. Celestia nodded, urging Twilight to continue. “When I got there, she was broken. She was severely bleeding from her head so I quickly performed a spell to mend that. I was able to reset some of the bones before taking her to Ponyville General.” Twilight explained.
“I see.” Celestia affirmed that she understood. “And when she woke up she was like this?”
“Yes, I was the first friendly face she saw so I’m assuming she imprinted on me.” Twilight explained.
“That would make sense.” Celestia stirred her coffee.
“So can ya fix it or not?” Applejack was growing impatient.
“That depends on what my sister finds.” Celestia didn’t look up from her swirling coffee.
“What do you mean?” Rarity asked, she hadn’t touched her tea. Celestia looked up and scanned the room looking at her subjects. She sighed.
“I mean that if her mind is too damaged there is no way to fix it.” She said.
“What do you mean that there’s no way to fix this? Can’t ya just go in there and pull Rainbow out?” Applejack asked. Celestia shook her head.
“It is not that simple.” Celestia sighed. “The mind is a dangerous place. She won’t come out until she wants to.”
“What about magic?” Rarity suggested. Celestia shot her a glare.
“Magic cannot infiltrate a pony’s mind.” Celestia snapped.
“But what about the whole thingy when our cutie marks went all switcheroo and we did each other’s jobs!” Pinkie Pie asked. Celestia sighed and stood, walking to the window and looking outside.
“Because what originally did that was of magical origin. Magic can act upon magic. A spell that is cast can be reversed with the right incantation. When it comes to physical ailments of a pony, magic can do very little.” Celestia sighed, her gaze locked on the floor.
Twilight stood along with her mentor, she remembered reading that somewhere. However, the fear set in.
--
Once Fluttershy explained everything to Luna the alicorn princess sighed. She closed her eyes and once she opened them they glowed white. Within a few moments Luna’s eyes went back to their normal deep blue. She breathed deeply as she moved from the astral plane back into the physical one.
“Luna?” Fluttershy piqued her ears as the princess wobbled a bit. “That was…fast.” She observed as the alicorn regained her senses.
“Yes. Time works differently in the astral plane.” Luna explained, as she looked Rainbow Dash over. “Fluttershy,” She turned her gaze to the canary pegasus. “I need you to stay here with Rainbow Dash. I need to talk to my sister.” With that Luna left the medical wing leaving Fluttershy to worry over her friend.
--
Luna burst through the doors of the cozy room they were seated in. “Sister, please I need to speak with you.” Luna stated. Celestia nodded.
“Ya’ll can’t be doin’ this!” Applejack leapt to her hooves in frustration. “Why can’t we know what’s goin’ on?” She asked. Celestia sighed.
“Because we are not sure ourselves.” Celestia admitted. There was very little Celestia hasn’t seen before, but then again the Elements of Harmony never ceased to surprise her.
“Twilight, can you please join us in the hallway?” Luna asked. Twilight nodded and shakily followed them to the hallway and shut the door. Twilight could hear her heart beat in her head.
“Sister, what did you find?” Celestia asked Luna, the latter sighed.
“It was a tangled mess with very little, very simple coherent cognitive thought. While I sensed her essence there her memory was lacking.” Luna explained. Twilight let go of the breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
“What do you mean?” She asked, Luna sighed sadly.
“I could not find any memories before she woke up in the hospital after the accident.” Luna simply stated. Twilight fell to her haunches in shock.
On the other side of the door, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Spike had their ears pressed against the wood. After Luna’s statement however, the four took on varying looks of disbelief. Pinkie Pie’s mane went flat as a board. Applejack took off her hat and buried her face in it.
“You mean she…she can’t be…” Twilight couldn’t form full sentences, she stared at the marble floor in shock and disbelief.
“I am afraid so.” Luna said sadly. “The accident left her brain barely able to cope with reality. So in defense and in order to protect itself it reverted to a more…safer state.” Luna explained.
“Then we know what we must do.” Celestia kept her voice level when inside she could feel her heart breaking for Twilight and her friends. “I will personally escort her to Canterlot Medical Center first thing in the morning.” Celestia stated in a finite way.
“You can’t do that!” Twilight rebutted, the sting of tears started to form in her eyes. “She’ll die in there!”
“I assure you, Twilight that Rainbow Dash will be treated with the utmost care.” Celestia’s voice was unwavering.
“She can’t be cooped up like that! That will break her! What about her life in Ponyville? What about the Elements of Harmony?” Twilight blinked furiously to try and push back the tears that were threatening to burst forth. Celestia sighed.
“There is not much we can do Twilight.” Celestia hung her head in sadness.
“There has to be something! Please, just let her stay with me!” Twilight pleaded.
“I cannot do that in good conscious. Letting a full grown mare out with her condition like that would be detrimental to her well-being.” Celestia stated.
“What if she wasn’t full grown? What if we shrunk her?” Twilight was grabbing at straws. Luna, who was silent the whole time, raised an eyebrow.
“Sister, there is another way.” Luna insinuated. “There is an age spell.” Twilight’s ears perked up and she looked at the lunar goddess.
“Luna, you know that is highly advanced magic.” Celestia stated.
“Advanced, but not impossible. Sister, Rainbow Dash is the element of loyalty. Would it be loyal of her friends to leave her in a hospital? Not to mention losing access to an Element would be unfavorable. You know that I owe everything to these six ponies. Without them I would not be here and Equestria probably wouldn’t either. Let them have this.” Luna decreed.
Celestia looked at her sister and then at Twilight. “I shall think about it and in the morning I will make my decision.” She stated. Twilight felt hope rise in her gut. “For now, I suggest you all get some rest.” The sun goddess stated and turned to leave. “Luna will show you your rooms.” She called over her shoulder and disappeared down the hallway.
“Come, we will get your friends.” Luna stated and opened the door to the cozy room with her magic. Immediately Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike fell to the floor with a thud, having been leaning on the door. “…Or they shall find us.” Luna stated as the four sheepishly stood up. Twilight didn’t say anything to her friends on their obvious eavesdropping. Luna silently turned back down the hallway she came from towards the medical wing.
When they arrived they found Fluttershy still sitting vigilantly next to Rainbow Dash who was still asleep. Fluttershy looked up as she saw her friends enter and her ears perked up in hope. “What did Celestia say?” She asked, as they got closer.
“She’s…thinking about it.” Twilight replied hesitantly and Fluttershy’s ears fell once more at the implication in Twilight’s voice.
“Come, I shall take you to your rooms.” Luna instructed.
“What about Rainbow?” Twilight turned to the princess of the night. “Can I stay with her?” Luna thought for a moment and nodded. She used her magic to pull up another bed next to the one the pegasus occupied. The pain in the eyes of the five friends and princess did not go unnoticed by the bookish alicorn.
“Come.” Luna turned to leave, Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack and Pinkie Pie silently followed, leaving Spike with Twilight and Rainbow Dash.
“Do you think that Princess Celestia will put Rainbow Dash in the hospital?” Spike spoke up; watching the mare he would call his sister looking like her heart was ripping in two.
“I don’t know Spike.” She muttered softly. Spike looked up to his oldest friend, seeing her mental anguish.
“The princesses will figure this out, right?” He tried to reassure her. Twilight sighed in response and lazily walked over to her bed, situating herself under the covers. Spike hopped onto the bed with her, and curled up.
“I don’t know.” She muttered before they too fell asleep.
“Magic can’t infiltrate a pony’s mind.”
What about the Want It, Need It spell? And Chrysalis' mind control spell on Shining Armor? Or Sombra's black magic mind buck spells? And I'm sure I'm missing an example or two.
Since you're ending it so soon I can kind of sense that this ending will be rather short.
i would like to say you should make one. there is a lot of itnersting potential. especially if her mind starts to remember who she is.
4346283 well Chrysalis's spell seemed to just numb Shining Armor's mind, and sombra just blocked out memories.
its most likely a whole diffrent ballpark to repair a ponies mind with magic.
but like you, im just saying, im no expert and your argument is still pretty valid its just that would be my guess.
4346332
I was thinking more of Sombra's "Heres your worst fear ever, right on a silver platter" spell guarding the door at the bottom of the Stairs of Excessiveness.
4346341 okay thats true, ya got me there.
what the writer should have said was magic can't completely alter a ponies mind, it can enter it, but not repair or change it beyond short term memory loss of slowing function.
4346283
The Reformation spell Twilight was going to use on Discord
4346645 those were cases of superficial alteration. considering how powerful discord's magic is, it was rather easily broken by a workaround. even that reformation spell was a superficial thing. it imposes mindsets, memories, and thoughts, and does not affect the core of the being.
poor rainbow dash had her mind damaged from the accident, and her true memories went dormant. this is caused by her own psyche rather than some magic placed upon it.
4346676
There are other examples of magic affecting a pony's mind. My point was that those examples exist, which makes the original claim a bit odd. Personally, "She has rather a lot of brain damage and magical neurosurgery is decades away, so we're going to age regress her so that her gray matter will grow back" works better for me than ignoring the mind twisting magic we've seen.
4346787 the mind is twisted but never altered. this is her mind regressing to a more tolerable state for her.
get technicaly a human brain would be outright dead and incapable of processing anything after the damage done to her head. basically seems to hint at the mind of a pony being more tha grey matter, which is why she is alive, capable of learning as her language developed fairly quickly, and not having tubes and such breathe for her.
If she told Luna everything, Luna would need therapy...
Awwwwww I hope everything turns out ok I'd hate to be put into a hospital like that anyways awesome chapter I can't wait for more you really outdo yourself with each amazing chapter keep up the fabulous work
i believe in TOFU
4346325 that was the plan i thought of stan... if you look back a couple chapters i suggested regressing rainbow dash... then having rainbow, after shes regress, her mind begins to reform. problem is age magic is difficcult and reversing is impossible. so gradually we get rainbow dash back... but simply as a filly who needs to grow up again... would make a good sequel... especially if you throw in an impeding doom on the horizon (see FOAL ADVENTURES by SUPER-STALLION.. ive written a chapter on a foalish rainbow dash turning big again)
It's losing, with a single O. You made the same mistake in the last chapter too, not to mention that "loosing" with two O is not an actual word.
So, it looks like it's either age regression, or stick Rainbow Dash in a mental ward.
4346283
Thank you for your comment! While you have a good point the way that I interpreted it is that the want-it-need-it spell was enchanted on Smarty Pants and the spell would effect ponies who saw the doll. Sombra and Chrysalis also use suggestive magic to the ponies and not change who they are in their core. I just find it hard to believe that magic can go into a pony's mind and alter the physiology of the brain. Thank you for reading!
I say age regress Rainbow Dash and let her friends raise all over again. She already imprinted on Twilight as her mother and taking the one mare that makes her feel safe would cause more damage then putting her in the metal ward and hoping for the best. Twilight has already taken responsibility for Rainbow and having RD grew up again still gives access to the Element of Harmony because Rainbow Dash has shown that virtue all of her life, the mane 6 cutie marks are proof she has all ways been the Element of Loyalty. Plus this would be a good life lesson for Twilight as one day she will find her special somepony and get married then have a foal or foals of her own. This is like the practice before the real thing in away.
There's a way out of the accident in the use the time travel spell and send a pony back for a minute to warn Rainbow Dash or Twilight before the accident happens if all else fails.
4348324 About that last part: PARADOX!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ARE YOU INSANE??!?!?!?!?!?!???????!?!???!?!?!?!?!?!?!?
4348836 A little I guess but all insane ideas sound good at first.
Woah woah woah. DO NOT SHRINK HER!!! If she gets age-regressed then this will become nothing more than a comedy! For me, it seems like she should learn stuff at a VERY fast rate, so soon she gets back to normal but doesn't remember anything. After that her friends try to explain was happened and tell her everything. It would be amazing
This is a nice fic, but Celestia really seems out of character. Glaring and snapping is not her thing, except maybe when faced with a dangerous enemy.
It seem so unnessicary to put rainbow in a mental ward, if the people with the strongest magic and best understanding in the land can't help her why put her in the mental ward with people with less experience. Also she isn't creating a problem. But this plot adds tension which in turn makes the story more interesting,
Please update this soon I must read more I'll even pre-read it for you.
Ps. I love this story
Now this is a flaw I believe, considering that rainbow dash was discharged after merely 1 day in her state, surely her fractures and broken limbs should have taken longer to heal, if it weren't for the magic which the Doctores used to help her.
I asssume what you wanted to say is, that magic can do very little about mental traumas, same as with PTSD for example.
Man... If I was Twilight I would've been a snarling mess if Celestia even mentioned putting Rainbow in an asylum. Does she realize that she would in fact be taking a filly away from her mother? Didn't the doctor say that separating Rainbow from Twilight would likely only harm her?
4393478 im guessing it is to do with the magic can only influence magical energy, not any other energy like neural impulses of the brain. so they can mend bones because it is a solid thing but if it was nerve damage there would be nothing they can do
4442066 I bet Celestia knows that, and she just like causing Twilight and the Mane 6 pain. She is evil, after all.
no matter what you say, i can only hate Celestia here, some things aren´t for her to decide, since they are Rainbow Dash´s friends, i believe they should have more to say then Celestia, princess or not, if she doesn´t want to be that type of princess, then Celestia would have to allow Twilight to make the decision.
There is really nothing good about what she planned for Rainbow Dash, and if she is worried what happens to Twilight, well Twilight should realize, that she probably don´t has to listen to everything Celestia is saying.
I mean, Guards or not since she made Twilight a princess i assume she has the same rights, at least enough to stop Celestia if she wants to do something like this i think.
4461903 old comment but have to add. Yeah while the memmory spell twi used worked it only cuase the memmories wre suprised instead of purged.