The Pain of Change
Twilight finally felt her strength coming back in full as she and Spike walked slowly down the street together, but her mind was filled with only one question:
"Spike, what can we do? How can we help him?"
"Twilight, from what you told me, the best thing to do would be not to interfere!" Spike replied as he munched on a small bag of quartz, which Twilight had long ago discovered to be the dragon equivalent of popcorn. "The only way you could really help would be to either starve him of love or figure out how to get rid of the changeling half... and you said yourself that you don't know how..."
The gears in Twilight's brain began to turn more quickly as she realized what she needed. "Well, maybe I don't... but I think that I do know somepony who does!"
In an excited rush, Twilight pulled a scroll and pencil from her bag. She hated using pencils because they smudged so easily, but carrying a bottle of ink in her bag could end much more badly.
"Twilight, what are you doing?"
"Going to find somepony who's been helping Pennington all along!" She hastily scribbled down a note, signing it with a flourish at the bottom.
"Twilight... Do you really think it's a good idea to meddle like this?"
"Spike, I'm not meddling, I'm helping!" Twilight held up the scroll for Spike, who sent it away in a burst of green fire. "Trust me, Penny is going to thank me for this..." Before Spike had time to roll his eyes, he had been lifted into the air and placed on her back as she took off running again, this time towards the castle.
As Twilight walked through the familiar halls of the Canterlot Castle, she felt a strange feeling of trepidation. Though she had resumed her letters with the princess, she still had not seen her mentor face-to-face since their disagreement. It was perhaps the first time that she had ever not wanted to see Princess Celestia. None of the guards seemed to question her as she walked through the halls, and she quickly made her way to the hallway where she knew the Princesses personal rooms were, drawing from her memory of her escort by the lunar guards. As she neared Luna's room, she was greeted by three guards in night guard armor.
"I'm afraid that you're going to have to turn back here, Miss Sparkle." The foremost pony spoke with an emotionless, official tone as he stared directly ahead, just as he had been trained to. Luckily, Twilight had remembered something that she had learned long ago while she had been running to the castle, something that she prayed would work...
"Well, I really just wanted to ask Princess Luna a question, but maybe you could answer it for me?" She gave him a small smile as he nodded his head in affirmation.
"From where does the moon rise in these parts?"
The guard started in surprise at the question, finally breaking his staring contest with the wall in order to look directly at her.
"... Where the sun falls, the moon shall rise."
Ponies are lining up every day to work for Celestia, but not as many ponies want the night shift... That's where we come in! Pennington's words from her first tour of the New Lunar Republic rang true, and Twilight felt ready to dance with glee.
"And they will always be..." She continued, resisting the urge to smirk as the other guards exchanged knowing glances.
"In eternal rounds of harmony!" The guard that he had been talking to gave her a quick nod of acknowledgment.
"Thank you... I need help." Now that a trust had been established, Twilight spoke more freely. "I really need to talk to the princess on behalf of Pennington Inkwell! Would you please just tell her that I'm here? I sent her a letter earlier asking her to meet with me, but she hasn't replied."
"Twilight, as much as we all love the NLR... I'm afraid that not even Pennington himself would be allowed to just walk in and see Luna any time that he wanted." The guards behind him nodded their affirmation. "I'm afraid that the only ponies who could really help you would be-"
"A princess." A familiar voice echoed as the doors behind them swung open, revealing the Princess of the Night emerging from within. Immediately, the guards bent to one knee, lowering their heads in respect. Luna, with every bit of regal pride that she deserved, gave them a small motion to rise again as she walked past. As she approached Twilight, worry showed on her face.
"I received your letter only moments ago, Twilight. You claimed that you needed my help with obscure magic..."
Twilight felt somewhat bashful, now, with how official the Princess was acting. "May I speak with you privately, Princess? This isn't something that I want to talk about in the open..."
Luna nodded quietly as she walked back into her room. Twilight followed, giving the guards a small nod as she passed through the door.
Once they were inside, Luna pulled open a pair of large curtains, allowing daylight to fill the room. "Well, Twilight? You certainly sounded vehement in your letter..."
Twilight took a deep breath, preparing herself to carry out the plan that she had thought of only minutes before. Spike had elected to wait outside the castle again, claiming that he didn't want to be any part of her "meddling." I've hardly thought this through at all... Pennington would be proud.
"I need a spell to completely eradicate a changeling from the face of the earth."
Luna gave her a surprisingly quizzical look, rather than the one of shock and disgust that she had been expecting.
"... Go on."
When Twilight and Luna re-emerged from the room, they both knew what they needed to do. Both were solemn, but happy. That sense of purpose drove them down the halls, and Twilight felt an overwhelming sense of confidence washing over her. Everything seemed to be working out according to her vague semblance of a plan.
That was until she saw the three ponies that could turn her world completely upside down: Princess Celestia and both of her parents. Her father, Nightlight, a light blue unicorn with a dark blue mane, and her mother, Twilight Velvet, a gray unicorn with purple stripes in her hair, were both standing with the Princess at the front of the castle. Twilight stopped immediately in her tracks at the sight of her parents, causing Luna to break stride and draw up short next to her.
"Oh, Twilight! I didn't know that you were in Canterlot, you should have told me that you were coming for a visit!" Celestia cried cheerily as she noticed the two of them. In a heartbeat, both of her parents had turned to see her, faces lighting up with joy.
"Twilight, sweetie!" Her mother cried, rushing over to embrace her daughter. Swallowing her initial shock, Twilight showed real joy as she gave her mother a tight hug. "How have you been? The princess is right, why didn't you tell us you were coming? I would have made us all dinner!"
Her father showed a little more restraint, waiting until her mother had finished before giving Twilight a hug of his own. "We miss you so much, little girl..."
"I know, Dad..." Twilight laughed as she nuzzled her father's shoulder. "I really wasn't planning to be staying in Canterlot more than an afternoon, that's why I didn't send a letter or anything... But what are you doing here, at the castle?"
"The Princess invites us for tea at least once a month!" Her mother smiled and gestured towards Celestia, who had a smug smile that made the entire encounter seem like more than just happenstance. "We talk about what you've been up to, how fast you're growing up, stuff like that..."
"Yes, it is a pleasure to meet you, Mister and Miss Sparkle." Luna smiled, doing her best to seem amiable with an awkward-looking smile. "Speaking of what Twilight has 'been up to,' we were actually on our way to make a rather important visit."
"Oh, really, Luna? Were you visiting her boyfriend?" Celestia asked, placing a barely-noticable accent on the last word.
"Her what?" Nightlight asked, forcing Twilight to smack her forehead in aggravation.
"Twilight..." Her mother turned to her with eyes brimming with questions.
"Yes, dear sister..." Luna rolled her eyes in frustration. "The poor stallion has been sick for months, and so it is our duty to visit him and make sure that he recovers well..."
"Twilight..." Her father gave her a suspicious look, and Twilight stepped past him to avoid squirming under his gaze.
"I didn't want to tell you until he was okay again!" She spoke with her back to her parents so that she could avoid tripping over her words. "I wanted you to meet him at his best, the way that I did! At his best, you could swear that he either belongs in a straightjacket or among the stars. He has the craziest ideas, but he never lets it stop him from trying! He's the most brilliant idiot in the world, and he's saved my life... But right now, he's injured and there aren't many ways that I can help him... so I was on my way with Princess Luna to do what I could!" Taking a deep breath, she turned back around to her parents. Her father seemed less angry, now, and her mother was more curious than anything. Celestia and Luna were talking off to the side in hushed tones.
He father blinked a few times, as if trying to decide what to say. Her mother slowly smiled and took a few cautious steps. After only a few steps, he wrapped her front legs around her daughter, giving her a tight hug.
"Well, honey, if he's everything you say that he is, then he sounds alright..." Holding her daughter at length, Twilight Velvet gave her a mocking scold. "But tell us, next time! Sick or not!"
"How exactly... did he save your life? When was your life in danger?"
"That is a very long story... one that we don't have time for, right now." Twilight tried to calm her father, who was obviously becoming very protective. "But let's just say that he's a stallion who's willing to fight for me." With that she walked over to Luna, who seemed to have finished talking to her older sister. "Are you ready?"
"Of course..." She muttered through her teeth, apparently having lost an argument with her sister.
"And we're going to come with you!" Celestia chirped, looking over to Twilight's parents. "If your parents would like to, of course. I simply thought, 'If one princess can help, then imagine what two princesses could do!' Not to mention that your father just said that he wants to meet Pennington, and what better time than the present?" Celestia's demeanor was unnaturally cheerful, as if she knew exactly how badly she was interfering with Twilight's plans. "If he's sick, we'll just visit him in groups of one or two so as not to cause him much stress, and I'm sure that having visitors will make Pennington cheer right up!"
It's like she's TRYING to make my parents see him half-changeling! Twilight screamed in her mind. Of course, she couldn't have another argument with the princess, especially not in front of her parents, and her father nodding in agreement did not serve to help her cause, either.
"I really cannot agree to this, sister-"
"Oh, Luna, you can't have all of the fun! I need to get out of the castle now and then, as well!" Celestia spoke over her sister, effectively shutting down any way that Twilight could have argued.
"Well, then let's get going!" Her mother spoke up, giving Twilight a sympathetic glance. She could seem to tell what Celestia was doing, as well, but Twilight knew that she secretly wanted to meet Pennington. "Where does he live?"
"Well, he's from Ponyville, but he's staying with a good friend in the Arbor Apartments." At this, Twilight got almost exactly what she had been expecting: a skeptical look from her father. While Twilight and her family had always lived in the area of the city closer to the castle, among those who didn't struggle much to make ends meet, the Arbor Apartments were close to the outside of the city. It wasn't right to say that that part of the city was poor or run-down, seeing as all of Canterlot was well-developed, but it was often a place for those who couldn't afford to live nearer the center of the city.
"Well, if he's your boyfriend, why doesn't he just stay with you in Ponyville?" Nightlight asked as the small group began to walk out of the castle courtyard and into the street.
"He doesn't want to trouble me..." Twilight scrambled for an answer, knowing that her father would not like to hear that Pennington was currently part-changeling and that if she were to spend to long around him he would turn into some kind of feral monster. "He's really self-conscious about his injury, and he needs constant attention. With running the library, taking care of Spike, and my letters to the princess, not to mention taking care of myself, I just didn't have time to give him that kind of 24-7 care... So a few of his other friends are helping him to recover until he can take care of himself in Ponyville again!"
"It seems as if you both understand each other well... You're both willing to sacrifice for the good of the other!" Twilight Velvet noted, nudging her husband with a smile. "That's an important part of a good relationship!"
"I must say that I would endorse Pennington, as well!" Luna spoke up, giving her sister a glance to show that she meant this to be specifically heard by her. "He actually applied to enter the Lunar Guard, once, then politely turned down the acceptance on the grounds of 'being needed where he was.' He makes a point of standing by his morals. I would have been delighted to have him on my personal guard, and he made a real impression on Captain Shining Armor, if I remember correctly..."
At this point, Twilight's father seemed not to be as tense, as if hearing that Pennington had worked with his son provided a semblance of comfort.
"Penny is an author, isn't he? He must be resourceful to get by financially on his few book sales every year..." Celestia mentioned, ignoring a near-scalding glare from Luna.
"Actually, Pennington is quite successful! He's a Commissionary Author, one of a kind!" Twilight replied, working hard to to keep a frustrated edge off of her voice. "Most of his income comes from working on a one-to-one basis with other ponies! He is resourceful, though, because he has to write everything from full-length novels to songs to even poetry and greeting cards! He can write almost anything for anypony."
"An author? Sounds wonderful! Finally, a pony who might be able to write books as fast as you can read them!" Her mother joked, trying to lighten the mood as tensions rose.
"I would have preferred something a bit more consistent... An author doesn't get a steady paycheck." Her father muttered, barely audible. Her mother rolled her eyes and punched him lightly on the shoulder.
"Well, I really think that you should meet him before you pass any kind of judgement, and you should really meet him when he is feeling better!" Twilight replied, not looking at her father again. He had always claimed that she had gotten her stubbornness from her mother's side of the family, but she had learned better over the years. This is going to be tough...
As they finally reached Lily's apartment, it was almost comical to see the two Princesses and family of unicorns crowded into the small hallway. Motioning for them all to stand out of sight except Luna, Twilight knocked on the door.
"Lily, it's me! And I brought some help!" She called, leaning towards the keyhole.
"I think that you 'helped' enough last time!" Lily's voice echoed from within. "Pennington told us not to let you in for your own good!"
Twilight blushed a little as she turned back to her parents, who were both looking very confused.
"Then perhaps I could take a turn!" Luna replied, taking up a position behind Twilight.
There was a loud clamor from within, followed by an assorted plethora of whispers. After a few seconds, the door cracked open, revealing Lily's pale face.
"P-Princess Luna! I-I'm sorry! We didn't mean to-"
"You couldn't have known." Luna gave Lily her best reassuring smile, which seemed to work surprisingly well. "May I come in?"
"Y-yes, of course! Please, come in!" She opened the door wide, letting in the Twilight and the younger princess. When Twilight's parents and Princess Celestia came into sight, however, she looked as if she were going to faint.
"May we come and meet this mysterious stallion, as well?" Nightlight asked as he leaned over to see further into the apartment. "Twilight told us a lot about him, but we would really like to meet him face-to-face..."
Lily's mouth opened and shut at least a dozen times as she tried to stutter out an answer, but no sound came out.
Being around Pennington like this must be taking a toll... She's not just worried anymore, she looks like she's headed straight for a nervous breakdown... Twilight's mind barely recognized the thought as she tried to think of some reason, any reason, why Celestia and her parents shouldn't be allowed inside.
Before she could, though, they had already made their way through, with Celestia leading the way and her father close behind. As her mother walked in, Twilight grabbed her and pulled her aside for a moment. "Mom, you're embarrassing me! You weren't even invited in!"
"Well, somepony has to try to keep your father in check, and he seems pretty set on following the princess!" She whispered in return. "Nightlight, dear, don't you think that we should wait for a-" She fell silent as she came to see what had stopped the other ponies in their tracks.
Pennington, looking almost exactly as he had the last time that Twilight had seen him, with the exception of an absolutely gob smacked look on his face. The holes were still in his legs, he still had a pair of slightly-disturbing pair of fangs sticking out from under his upper lip, and his violet eyes now had a foggy look to them, almost like she had seen in some blind ponies.
There was a futile flash of green flames that made her parents scramble backwards in fear, and Pennington quickly looked like his normal self again, blue fur and all.
"You... must be Twilight's parents..." He chuckled nervously, extending a friendly hoof. "I'm Pennington..."
It was too late, however, for pleasantries.
Twilight's father lunged forward in an attack, barely stopped by a quick levitation spell from Twilight.
"You stay away from my daughter, you- you monster!" He shouted as he swung his hooves at Pennington, who was shrinking back in what seemed to be fear and a small amount of pain. "You won't lay a hoof on her!"
Twilight's mother was leaning against the wall, staring into space. "A-a changeling..."
"I'll be darned if I let a changeling anywhere near my daughter!" Twilight's father continued, still trying to reach Pennington. Pennington shot Twilight a pleading glance, obviously unsure of what to do.
"DAD! STOP IT!" Twilight yelled over her father, as she dragged him through the air and into the hallway.
"Twilight, if you think that I'm going to let this happen-" He hissed as he tried to push his way past her and back into the apartment.
"Dad, you need to listen to me-" Twilight began as he tried once again. "Dad. Listen. Listen to me!" Nightlight finally stopped his struggle, giving in to his daughter's words.
"What?"
"He is not a changeling!" She looked straight into her father's eyes, knowing that it had become a case of his stubbornness against hers. She had never fought with him before, but now... now she needed to. If Pennington can stare down kings and monsters, I should be able to do this... "Pennington is a unicorn! He was captured by the changelings trying to save me, and is lucky to even be alive! So help me, Dad, if you attack him again, I- I- I don't know what I'll do, but I'll do something!"
Twilight's father was taken aback for a moment, and before he could respond, the two of them were joined by her mother, Princess Celestia, Lily, Constant Care, and an unfamiliar bespectacled black pegasus that Twilight could only guess was Ace in a hasty disguise. When she looked to the door, Princess Luna was standing inside, and gave her a silent nod before shutting and locking it. Twilight returned the nod, bracing herself for what she knew was about to follow.
"What is she doing?" Lily asked quietly, staring at the door. "She told us all that we needed to leave... She said that if we stayed, it would be 'more than we could withstand.'" She looked over at Twilight, craning her neck to see above the almost half-dozen other ponies. "Whipstitch was the only one who refused to leave..."
"Well, from what she told me..." Twilight swallowed loudly as her heart began to pound in her chest. "If Pennington wants it, she's going to try to kill the changeling without harming the pony... She never showed me the spell that she was going to use, she claimed that it was dark magic, but supposedly it's a concentrated manifestation of hatred and fear... Perhaps the strongest form of negative emotions ever known. The main cause for concern is whether or not his body can withstand it..."
"And she's going to just... zap him with it?" Her mother, who seemed to be recovering quickly, asked quietly. "That sounds really-"
AAAAAAAAAUUUUUUGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!
A screeching scream wrenched through the air, ripping away at every pony's ears, and even Celestia cringed at the sound, looking away from the door.
STOP, PLEASE! STOP, I'M BEGGING YOU! LUNA, PLEASE STOOOOOOP! LUUUNNAAAAAA!
Most of the ponies shuddered and shied away from the screaming door, but Twilight watched with morbid horror, stepping forward to the front of the group. Wisps of purple smoke leaked out from under the bottom, and Twilight could see blinding flashes of green and red light shining out from the keyhole. Ponies from nearby rooms stuck their heads out of the doors to complain, but immediately retreated after seeing Princess Celestia standing in the hall.
OH, SWEET FAUST, I'M DYING! I'M- I'M DEAD! I'M DEAD AND ALONE IN THE DARK! PLEASE, COME BACK! PLEASE!
SOMEPONY! ANYPONY! HEEEEELP MEEEEEEE!
Twilight screwed her eyes shut, but she couldn't overcome the urge any longer. With a burst of energy to the lock, she blew the door open and ran inside of the hellish nightmare.
"LUNA! You have to STOP! It isn't-" She drew up short as, amidst the lightning and smoke, she saw Pennington.
He was standing on all four hooves, spread widely apart for stability as Luna funneled the magical energy into him. The room was filled with purple smoke, some of which was pouring out from the corners of Luna's eyes, but the flashes of light illuminated every horrifying detail of his body. His fur was rapidly alternating colors, flashing in a strobe-light fashion between black and blue along the steepest of gradients. His mane and tail were exuding the smoke, as well, making it look as if he were filled with some kind of smoldering embers. The holes in his legs even seemed to be changing and morphing, opening and closing rapidly as muddy-colored blood ran down through his fur and into the carpet. Worst of all, his body seemed to be losing its form, blurring around the edges like a pony who moved too fast in a photograph. His eyes were the only thing that stayed constant, glowing a verdant green with a blood-red center.
Keeping his horn in contact with Luna's those unseeing eyes shifted to her, pleading for help with all of their might, begging to be saved from the fear. He lifted one of his trembling hooves, dripping with blood, and reached out towards her, as if asking her to rescue him.
"Twilight! What are you doing? Get out of here!" Whipstitch screamed above the thunderous noise of the spell, running though the room and lifting Twilight into the air before tossing her out of the door. Before she could reply, Twilight was back out in the hallway and the door had been slammed in her face and locked into place with a powerful spell.
Nopony said anything from then on, and Twilight never took her eyes off of the door until the screaming had stopped. When the door opened again, Luna emerged alone. She gave Twilight a solemn nod.
"It is done... I would like to meet with him personally once he's healed, but... for now, I would only recommend that Whipstitch and Constant stay in there for a few days..." She nodded to the nurse, who quickly slipped past her and through the door. "Whipstitch showed remarkable fortitude in the face of the most grisly of spells, and Constant's medical attention will assure us that his vitals remain, well, constant. Until he is ready for more ponies around him, Ace and Lily can come to the castle..." She turned to Lily, who had broken down crying several times during the procedure. "I shall have the carpet replaced, Lily... I'm afraid that the blood will not come out, no matter the effort we put into it, and there are a few scorches..."
"So, he's alive?" Twilight asked quietly, feeling more guilt and shame than she could remember. I was the one who even suggested that we do this...
"Alive? Yes..." Luna whispered, locking her steely gaze on Twilight's eyes. "His heart was still that of a pony, and it seems to belong to you in its entirety... Not an army of changelings nor the greatest fear a pony can experience could take it. You should treasure that, Twilight Sparkle... That is why he not only survived, but endured. He will recover more quickly, now... But any kind of other strain on his body will likely injure him further, so there are to be NO, and I repeat, NO VISITS that haven't been approved by myself or Constant..."
Twilight nodded quietly, looking down at the ground.
"There will always be a small part of the changelings with him, a connection of both the body and mind... One he'll have to live with for the rest of his life. But it will be under control, now. I hope that I have helped all that I can, Twilight..." Luna gave a short nod, then walked away. As she passed out of sight, however, she made one more announcement.
"And Tia... If your goal was for Twilight's parents to see Pennington at his worst, you came very far from success."
The rest of the ponies left one by one, starting with Princess Celestia, until only Twilight and her parents remained. Spike was the only addition to their group, having joined them soon after Luna had left. At her advisement, he had waited outside. She told them everything, sometimes crying about the most amazing moments, sometimes telling secrets in the faintest of whispers. She didn't hold back a single detail this time. The hours passed and the sun set, leaving them in the dim light of a few lanterns.
"Twlight, honey... I think that it's time that we left." Her mother noted, breaking the silence that had settled over time.
"This was my idea..." She muttered, ignoring her mother's words. "Not just the cure, but the visit to the changelings to begin with! How was I to know? Why didn't I just take better care of him?"
"Twilight, I don't think that he sees it that way, nor do I..." Her father placed a hoof on her shoulder as he spoke softly. "Every stallion who's ever been in love knows about doing stupid things, and we all know why we do it, too. Pennington seems to me like any other stallion on the planet, except stronger and more willing to sacrifice everything for you..." When Twilight looked up at him, he was giving her the same warm smile that she had seen so many times as a filly when she was scared or hurt. "Honey, as much as you took me by surprise with all of this, and in spite of how bad his first impression was... I'd like to give Pennington a chance."
Twilight felt her heart raise a little in her chest, and her spirits rose accordingly as her mother nodded her head in approval. With tears in her eyes, she pulled them both close into a tight group hug.
Spike, who had dozed off in the corner soon after Twilight had started her story, suddenly started from his sleep. "Huh? What? Is it time to go home?"
"Home? To Ponyville? You're not serious, are you?" Her mother asked, abhorred at the very idea. "You come back with us, Twilight. and we'll have dinner and let you two spend the night there!"
Suddenly, an intense wave of tiredness washed over Twilight, and she simply found the offer too tempting to refuse. She and Spike followed her parents home, where they scarfed down a quick meal of daisy salads to hold them over until breakfast, which her mother promised would make up for the lack of food that night. Twilight had actually been the one insisting on a light meal because she felt her eyelids growing heavier by the second, so she didn't mind at all.
As she climbed into the bed in her room (which her parents had left untouched just in case of visits like these), Twilight fell asleep almost instantly. That night, she didn't remember what exactly she dreamed about, but one image stayed with her:
Pennington, still half-changeling, standing in the moonlight. There was mist all around him that hid the holes in his legs well, but the black-and-darkened-violet mane and night-blue coat, along with piercing violet eyes confirmed the remaining presence of the changeling inside of him. The moonlight shown down on him in a multitude of tiny shafts that bathed him in sliver light as he looked back at her. She noted that his cute mark had changed, but only slightly. The scrolls looked as if somepony had held them over a candle, singed along the edges and slightly wrinkled. The compass of his cutie mark seemed to have been thrown askew, but as Twilight examined it more in her mind, she saw that the compass rose still has a definite "North": straight towards her.
That image stayed with her though the night, almost as if Pennington were trying to stand over her like a sentry. In that moment of dreaming, she felt closer to him than she had in what felt to be an immeasurable amount of time, and she knew that he hadn't abandoned her for a single moment. Not a single one.
We'll be together soon... We just have to wait a little longer, Penny...
Stats
Page generated in 0.033 seconds
Total duration
941 users online
262,252 hits today, 2,314,256 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
I must say my dear fellow, Every. Single. Time. I read a new chapter, i become more and more addicted! This is a story that once it is finished...i will read over and over and over again....
2441437 I'm glad to hear that you like it!
You'll really have a lot to read, because I have SO MUCH planned! 
But it's going to take a while...
2440138 Finally, somebody catches that!
Regarding your other comment, I really cannot know what it's like to go through a seizure... It sounds absolutely horrible, most of all a gran mal.
Sleep Paralysis may not be as scary to some as to others, but my first encounter with it was absolutely horrifying: I was about seven years old, face-down in my pillow, thinking that I was about to suffocate to death with my oblivious brother only a few feet away... It's actually not as scary to me anymore, but it took me years to get over, and I still have trouble with it.
I am in NO WAY trying to start some sort of pity party, nor am I saying that what I go through is worse than what you go through, having a seizure sounds absolutely horrifying! But that's just my story. It's nice to meet someone who kind of understands.
... Well, that was worth missing about 15-20 minutes to do homework to read that. Thanks!
2441581cdn.memegenerator.net/instances/400x/35074448.jpg i.qkme.me/36hxz9.jpg
2441896 Turns out it WASN'T a waste, because the assignments I was SUPPOSED to do disappeared, so I couldn't work on and submit them anyhoof. Go figure! Guess I get to read moar pone instead! 8D *Shots class' grade in the hoof*
2441471 Every single moment is worth the wait my friend ^.^
Wow, Tia's a horse apple this time around. I can't wait for more, each installment is so incredible!! Made me teary... You have an amazing talent for pulling your readers into the story!!!
2443985 I honestly thought that I could have done it better. Pennington's screaming felt underdeveloped and overdone.
Thank you so, SO, SOOOOO much, though! Call me a sadist, but hearing that my readers get teary-eyed or even outright cry really is what lets me know I'm doing stuff right.
(audience) = 
(Me)
30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m2ahlyH5nq1qlqukyo1_500.gif
Pennington's cured?
Good news! Let there be joy and celebration. Let jubilation reign!
Now if you'll excuse me, I need to "requisition" Princess Celestia's cake and pastry supplies for the next month or three.
I'll probably end up on the moon, but still totally worth it. 
Alright, looks like I'm finally caught up. This had been on my list for a while and I'm glad I finally got around to it. And all in all, pretty good and very entertaining.
My only complaint would have to be Celestia. She's coming across as a terrible pony, especially her actions in this chapter, to the point where I can't really even reconcile her as being the same character as in the show. At the moment I'm assuming this is a case of severe headcanon disconnect.
Seems like what we have discussed on Skype turned out very well for you on this chapter.
2445120
Bah, well I made an honest guess at it. Ace attorney Changeling was funny, though.
2441519
I think I've got it lucky, truth be told. The kind of epilepsy I've got means that any serious seizures I do have are pretty much guaranteed to happen while I'm asleep, so I basically sleep through the whole thing. The experience I talked about before is the exception (me noticing what's going on), not the rule.
I was totally freaked out when I woke up with EMSes standing over my bed (my roommate called them) when I had my first seizure. I had no idea why they were there, because I didn't remember having any seizure. I went to bed, and woke up with some people trying to get me into an ambulance.
Once I got diagnosed with epilepsy, my neurologist put me on one medication (really expensive!
), then a couple months later she added another medication (much cheaper!) because she decided the tingling in my left arm was a localized seizure. After that, she decided to take me off the first medication, to try and find the lowest possible dosage that works. I had no symptoms after adding the second medication, and nothing changed when I removed the first, so now I'm on just the cheap stuff (srsly, I pay like $11/mo) and it works like a charm. Even though I'm not supposed to stay up late or drink caffine (both aggravate my condition, but I do both anyway -- I bleed Dr Pepper! 
), I've never had a problem so long as I don't miss more than one dosage.
Sometimes about 30min after taking my medication I feel like my eyes are crossed, but "blurry vision" is one of the listed side effects. The other medication I used to be on had pretty scary-sounding side effects like depression and suicidal thoughts.
(Not that I ever experienced any of those side effects, thank goodness.)
Interesting note: The meds I'm on work because they're what's called "salt-channel blockers". There are natural sources of salt-channel blockers... like Red Tide, or the bacteria that makes the Blue Ring Octopus poisonous.
2444433 I know that Celestia has been acting very much unlike herself, lately, and I do have my reasons for doing so....
I'm afraid that I can't tell you why, yet, but it should be in the next chapter. 
Please just bear with me a little longer? 
2445148 Ace is one of my friend's OC's, and he's a big Ace Attorney fan, so he wanted his character to be like the famous lawyer.
I actually don't know much about the Ace Attorney games other than what I saw in the first three parts of "Turnabout Storm..." 
I'll get around to it eventually... 
(I get to pick on him because he's my friend. If this were someone else's commission, I wouldn't waste time.)
He's since asked if I could make a few changes and even offered me a commission for an edit/rewrite.
2445620 No worries, I haven't given up on the story or anything.
Celestia, you're looking for a buck in the face! I expect a good explanation for this behaviour!
At least Pennington looks to be on the mend. Though treatment does not look to have been pleasant
talk about blunt
TIA, YOU ARE NOT SUPPOSED TO REVEAL NEWS LIKE THIS WITHOUT PERMISSION!!! How dare you...
Oh shit, Plains Of Lore time
Twilight: *Blushing a bit with an angry expression* FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
Twi: OI, it's Luna out here!
Lily: *opens door instantly* Oh...You still can't come in and Penny still can't remember you at all or else... yeah... But Luna, please do come in!
Twi: Nope, WAY to dangerous. You heard what she said behind the door. Basically if he so much as remembers me, the sickness will get beyond worse.
Stop feeding him...
Is that Sombra's magic?
Why Celestia?! Why do you have to be like that?!
As much as I thought Celestia's argument with Twilight a few chapters ago reminded me a lot of when she was angry with Twilight in "A Canterlot Wedding" and "The Crystal Empire", at this point it feel a little out of character for her. I also felt Pennington's Changeling problem was resolved a bit too quickly.