> Scattered Thoughts
>  by Coyote Mustang
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> The Beginning
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

To Miss Twilight Sparkle, my most faithful student,

In light of your recent accomplishments in the field of magical repulsion spell casting, it is my pleasure to ask if you would join me at the royal school for gifted unicorns to teach a series of lectures on the proper identification of threat spells and proper counterspell casting techniques that have been developed over the ages. The lectures will be presented to the four different levels of my Magic School, and the requirements of each lecture will, naturally, have to be adjusted to cater to the needs of each level. I would also like you to make up a list of spells for demonstration purposes for each level of class as well.

For each lecture, I wish for you to have information on all of magic theory in terms of both spell and counterspell and all advances made in this field. Also include many prominent figures in magic theory, magic casting and great wizards of time. This list can include but not limited to:

Clover the Clever- Founder of Hearth’s Warming Eve and inventor of many fire spells.
Wildstar the Witless- Inventor of the memory spells, created the first and only memory wipe spell. most likely by accident.
Decimus the Dreaded-Created body swapping spell, executed for high treason after found impersonating Celestia’s personal body guard.
Starswirl the Bearded- first official protege of Princess Celestia, Created numerous spells, your favorite spellcaster.
Lambtuck the Gormless- creator of many school implements for unicorns. Items to include magic counting beans, auto abacus, and pencils that sharpen themselves.
Periwinkle the Graceful- created first magic wing spell, also designed the first pony parachute.

As for the direction of each class’s demonstrations, I leave that completely up to you. I would advise caution simply on the ages of the students. I'm sure my graduates can handle a full powered aging spell with ease but a first year may have trouble with that. Please pick spells appropriate to each level and simplicity is key for proper learning. This doesn’t mean, however,  that it can't be in anyway fun. Humor is a good thing to have for both the students learning as well as the teacher’s patience.

As I have told you, this is a series of lectures to be done over the period of a week at the school. And seeing as it has been close to ten years since you were here last, i feel that i must inform you of each class and what I hope you include in your lecture.

The first lecture of the week is for the first year students at the school. If you remember your first year, you understand the level these students are at so I ask that you plan accordingly. I would suggest a basic spell demonstration but most of the lecture should be a simple introduction to the topic.

The next day’s lecture contains those who have advanced to basic spell casting. Again, the age-appropriateness of the lecture should be noted and followed. My suggestion is to bring in the beginnings of counterspelling and how one can tell the spells to be used. A more in depth demonstration can be used as well, but please keep it simple.

The third lecture of the week contains those in the Advanced Spell casting classes, and this is where your imagination can begin to blossom in terms of the creativity. Greater knowledge can be accessed here, beginning with a small review and moving quickly into a mostly demonstration based counterspelling lecture. Use the examples you wish to reveal, but make sure no student can harm another.

Lastly, the final lecture is for the graduates of the school. This lecture’s content will be left completely up to you, though I would suggest an in depth review of all previous information they have on the subject and then move into specialty fields of the art. I will however be making a small addition to the demonstration part of the lecture. I will be testing a special spell on the class this day, and wish to keep it a secret from them. 

Of course, you will need some time to rearrange your busy schedule to accommodate for this proposal, so if you could get back to me with a week in which you are free, we shall set up and proceed with the lectures.It is a tough task I have set forth to you, But I have no doubt that your organizational abilities will shine like they always do. I wish to reassure you that if you can not find a date suitable or if it conflicts with your schedule to the point where it would be impossible for you to attend, I will respect your decision and I will proceed without the lectures. 

I also know that the details in this missive are scant and leaves much to be said, but I fear that I will not be able to convey the full message to you in writing. If you do agree to do the lectures I would like to meet with you a few days before to go over what it is I have planned and what each lecture will entail. I apologize for this Twilight, but I wish to assure you that the students are truly excited to meet you. 

Thank you for your time and The students and me hope to see you soon.

Your Royal Teacher,

Princess Celestia
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Twilight reread the letter over and over again on the way up the mountain. She had read it so many times that she could recite it by heart if she were asked, but seeing as how she was the only one on board the 10 AM train to Canterlot, she resorted to just rereading the letter again. For Twilight this was a big day: she had never been asked to teach a class before, let alone four. And if Twilight were to be honest, she was really quite nervous about teaching. This contributed to her excessive reading of the letter as the train continued on towards Canterlot. 

She had spent the last few weeks writing out her notes in preparation for anything the princess could throw at her, determining the proper spell defenses to talk about and their necessity in the daily life. She had read through all of her books and tried to compile all of it into a single lecture for each class. She had even made note cards to read from, but as her friends pointed out, 600 cards was a bit too much information for each lecture to have. Twilight let out a nervous laugh at the thought as her eyes scanned the page once again. Before she reached the section on needing to rearrange her schedule, the conductor Interrupted her with a loud call.

“Next stop, Canterlot Station!” he yelled as he passed through the car. Twilight placed the letter into one of the pockets of the saddlebags she carried.

“It’s okay, Twilight,” she began, her eyes moving around the car. “This is going to be a piece of cake. You defeated Discord, a couple of classes full of young fillies and colts can’t be all that bad, right?”

Twilight’s feelings of nausea subsided slightly and for a moment, she felt like she could teach the lectures. But as the train decelerated to a stop at the station, her confidence flatlined. Twilight hadn’t taken her first step off the train when a loud voice called her name over the cacophony of sound that filtered through the train station. A few ponies turned their heads in the direction of the call, but most kept to their own business. Twilight stepped onto the station platform and made her way to the voices approximate location. She soon noticed the two armoured guards standing near the platform’s edge as she continued over.

“Miss Twilight Sparkle?” the taller one asked as they approached her. Twilight was startled when she looked at the guard’s eyes.

“Stormwind, is that you?” she asked as she watched the guard take off his helmet.

“I’m glad to see you still remember my name, Twilight,” Stormwind said as he placed his helmet in the crook of his foreleg.

Stormwind was exceptionally tall for a pegasus, towering over Twilight by at least a head. His blue mane hung over his eyes slightly, his black frame as strong as she remembered it. His armor held dents from previous engagements, and the shine wasn’t really up to Equestrian army standards. His  legs showed the scars of battle but his eyes showed nothing but compassion for Twilight.

He was flanked by a younger pegasus, a child compared to Stormwind. He had a much shiner set of armor, one not dented from abuse or worn from age. His armor looked like it had just been made, and the rank displayed on the front of his uniform proved her right.

“Private Squall, take miss Twilight’s bags and bring them to the carriage on the double!” Stormwind yelled, causing the mass of armor to move to retrieve her luggage. Stormwind turned his attention back to Twilight, who was giving him a soft smile.

“It’s been a while, Stormwind. How are you?” Twilight questioned as they began to walk out of the station.

“Life’s been going good for me as of late. I just got another promotion not too long ago. Oh I also got married,” Stormwind replied as he shifted his ears to show the earrings he wore. A small ruby sat in a  golden clasp near the edge of each ear, shining brightly in the station’s light.

“That’s wonderful to hear,” Twilight exclaimed with a large smile, “I knew you’d find someone eventually. If you don’t mind, I’d like to meet him.”

“How did you know it’s a he?” Stormwind laughed.

“You’d buy a featherband if its a mare, earrings are for colts,” Twilight said with a laugh of her own.

Stormwind’s muzzle flushed slightly as he let out another laugh, “Actually, Twilight, you’ve already met him.”

Twilight stopped in her tracks, her mind browsing to find a face. She looked back at Private Squall’s attempts to lift her luggage.

“No way!”

“Yep, I met him at the camp a year ago for basic. I thought he was cute and now we’re here,” Stormwind replied with a proud grin. Twilight laughed, giving him a soft punch to the shoulder. As the two of them continued to talk, they soon approached the carriage. Stormwind was about to yell for the private when a loud gasp came from the crowd in the station.

Twilight and Stormwind turned towards the sound only to see Private Squall try and lift all of Twilight’s luggage in one go and fail miserably as the luggage fell to the ground with a loud thud.

“I swear, that pony’s going to get himself in some serious trouble one of these days,” Stormwind grumbled as he made his way to the buried private. Stormwind tried to pull his underling out from under the heavy load, but soon shifted his efforts to removing the baggage before trying again.

“Oh, I can get those,” Twilight called from behind as she wrapped her magic around the luggage and slowly lifted the bags off the private, effortlessly placing all of them into the back of the carriage.

“Thanks, Miss Twilight, that was very kind of you,” Squall answered as he was lifted to his hooves.

“It’s no problem, Private Squall. My brother was an army captain, so I appreciate our troops a little more then the next pony,” Twilight answered as she closed the luggage hatch.

“Yes, the Captain has told me a lot about your brother, Prince Shining Armor. He’s told me how strenuous your brother made his training. I'm glad I had the Captain for mine,” Squall answered as he escorted her to the door of the carriage.

“I bet you were,” Twilight answered with a knowing smile, “Oh and Private?”

“Yes, miss Twilight?”

She pulled him close and spoke softly into his ear, ”Stormwind may seem like a different person on the job, but I can assure you he will love you until the end of time. Please don’t forget that. I also want to congratulate you for your choice in partner, He is quite the catch.”

Private Squall pulled his head back, gave a small nod and smile at Twilight’s approval. Twilight gave a small smile and sent him on his way.

“Miss Twilight, what did you say to him?” Stormwind asked as he watched Squall place his harness on. Twilight only gave him a smile as she looked forward in her seat.

They soon took off for the castle’s academy, her alma mater and one of the few places in Canterlot she had fond memories of. the flight continued over many of Canterlots points of interest, Hoity Toity’s shop, the rest of the shopping district and even Twilight’s parents home. She made a mental note to drop in and see them while she was there. 

They soon made a soft landing in the center of the school grounds, and the sounds of the normal school day could be heard. Twilight’s confidence began to waver as her first foray into the world of teaching began to settle in. She swiftly made her way into the school’s main campus building, trying her hardest to not be noticed by the students. As the doors shut behind her, Twilight breathed a soft sigh in relief and turned her attention to the building itself.

The school’s interior never ceased to amaze Twilight, from the radiance of the windows to the large decorated ceilings. Even the wood used for the décor was of impeccable quality. Twilight soaked in the elegance that she knew so well and sighed heavily.

“It’s amazing what ten years will do to some ponies. I have changed so much and yet this place seems to have changed very little,” she said out loud, her thoughts an open canvas to the world.

“Indeed, it has been a while now, hasn’t it?” a voice said out loud, echoing her feelings.

Twilight spun around in the direction of the voice and was greeted by the soft smile of a pony she had grown to know well.

“Princess!” Twilight exclaimed as she quickly bowed.

“Come now, Twilight, I told you years ago you need not bow to me, you have saved not only me but this kingdom enough times to warrant the end to that practice,” Celestia said, her smile glowing in the sunlight that shone in.

“Sorry, princess, force of habit,” Twilight answered, her face flushed with red.

Princess Celestia looked upon Twilight with an amused grin, her mind reflecting on all that Twilight had done for her kingdom. But as her eyes swept up to the clock on the wall she spoke again.

“Oh dear, it’s close to dinner time. Twilight, would you care to join me for a meal in the royal dining hall? I’m sure you and I have a lot to catch up on,” she said with a grin.

Twilight was about to refuse the princess’s offer, thinking she should probably get settled before she ate. However, her stomach had other ideas as it betrayed her with a growl, and begrudgingly, Twilight accepted.

The dinner they had was quite a small affair compared to the ones she was used to at the castle. Tonight, Twilight and Celestia were joined by Luna, and the meal only consisted of a small salad for each of them with a piece of cake for dessert. But the food took a background seat to the ferocity of the conversation that ensued at the table.

“What part of Inverse Planck’s Constant times Mole squared don’t you understand?” Twilight yelled out loud as she slammed her hooves on the table, her eyes aglow with anger.

“I understood that part, but why do you need the inverse when you’re just going to square the number anyway?” Luna responded, her voice edging towards ‘Royal Canterlot Voice’ loud.

The argument had been going on for a while, as the two of them locked horns over the advancement of magic protection spell ranges and how it’s practice could be improved. Celestia sat with her legs crossed in front of her, amused at the talk that ensued. After allowing the argument to continue until the clock tolled 8, Celestia stood up from the pillow she was sitting on and spoke to them.

“Well, this has been fascinating, but I believe Luna must attend to her nightly duty of raising the moon. Twilight, we have much to discuss about your role in tomorrow's lecture, if you would kindly follow me,” she said as she locked eyes with the both of them.

Twilight and Luna’s argument ceased at that point, the embarrassment on both of their muzzles apparent. Luna gave a quick goodbye and goodnight to her sister and with a flash, teleported, leaving Twilight staring at the cake in front of her with surprise.

“Princess, when did the cake arrive?” Twilight questioned. Celestia gave a small chuckle at Twilights obliviousness, her passion for argumentation apparent. Celestia pointed her wing at the exit to the dining hall and asked Twilight to follow her to her room. Twilight could only stare as she slowly stood and began to follow Celestia's lead.

Half an hour later, The two of them arrived at the large intricately carved wooden door that lead to the princess’s quarters. With a small blast of magic, it opened to display the antiquities and embellishments that came with a long life lived. Inside the room stood a large bed,  wide enough to hold the princess with her wings fully extended. A large set of older furniture decorated the empty space, each piece showing it’s age as the patina glistening in the lights of the candles. Celestia walked into her room followed closely by Twilight. The two of them sat down on the cushions she had arranged near her window.

Twilight quickly launched into her design for each lecture, outlining the numerous spells she had studied, the counter spells for all of them as well as all the applications where that counterspell could be used in modern society. Twilight began with the first years class, explaining the basics of object levitation and basic shield building. She next moved on to the next class, beginning with a small review before they began small spell deflection and fighting the ill effects of being hit by one. She move next to the advanced students, again beginning with a review but she had something special planned for that class. She told the princess of a new fire spell she had mastered and wanted to demonstrate for them. 

She continued on to the final class of the day as Celestia listened intently, her smile held softly to her muzzle. She was surprised by the amount of time Twilight had spent working on this, but she knew that all of that preparation would be for nothing when she told her the actual plans for the final lecture. Twilight began this class like the others, a basic review and ill effects synopsis. She then moved on to multi spell launching and proper defensive training for that as well.

Celestia continued to listen until Twilight had finished her proposal, desperately in need to catch her breath. She waited for a few seconds to make sure Twilight was finished before she began.

“Twilight, although I am happy you have taken such initiative to come prepared for each lecture, I fear you may have over prepared for it. Your lectures throughout the week will only contain a fraction of the spells you have said, and each class will only be a hour and a half long, so we really don’t have much time for it all. I must apologize to you for all the work you think you are wasting, but I simply must keep this as basic as possible for some of my students.”

Twilight looked down at the floor, her embarrassment at over preparing had done her in again. She placed her head onto the cushion she was on and gave a small sigh. Celestia took notice and decided that her student deserved something for all the trouble she went through, and she knew just how to do it.

“Twilight, for my upper level class I not only have you speaking, but I have planned a final demonstration test for them to go through. I will be testing them on proper technique and I was hoping you would be kind enough to join me during the testing session?”

Twilight gave a tentative smile, she knew how hard her ‘demonstrations’ were, and if she had something planned for them it had to be a good one. She gave a short nod, accepting the request, but her mind kept turning over the day she had ahead of her tomorrow.

“Twilight, are you feeling ok?” Celestia asked as she looked her old student over.

“Of course, why do you ask,” Twilight answered as she wiped the sweat from her brow.

“You seem to be sweating like… well, to put it as your friend Applejack does, like a polar bear in Las Pegasus in the middle of July. You’re not nervous about tomorrow are you?” Celestia responded with a slight chuckle.

Twilight’s eyes widened, so she can see that I’m worried, she thought. Twilight was about to try and assure the princess that she was ready for it, when Celestia spoke up.

“Twilight, there is no reason to be scared. This isn’t a test. You can’t fail this time so there is no need to worry. I’ll be there watching and helping you as it goes along, so relax,” she said as she looked her student over.

Twilight’s mind became centered on her fear of the student’s laughter and the princess’s disapproval of her work. Twilight knew that this thought was completely unfounded as the princess would step in if it happened, but she still worried about it happening. Twilight knew the princess was only trying to make her feel better about tomorrow in hopes that it would allow her mind to calm down, but no time in the past had the princess’s words helped in that particular that area of thought and today was no exception.

This has to be a test, Twilight thought, she wouldn’t have brought up the test line if it wasn’t.

Twilight’s mind raced trying to figure out on what she would be graded on when the princess shook her head and sighed loudly.

“Damn it, I had hoped today would have been different but It’s still stressing you to no end isn’t it,” she said, rubbing her hooves to her forehead in defeat.

Twilight’s thoughts ran wild as she came up with all the different grading rubrics she had seen the princess use in her previous test. She thought of the requirements that she would need to cover and how she could get them in all done in the span of an hour and a half. Twilight focused on the requirements and was about to ask the princess for the test rubric so she could study it, when the princess cut her off.

“Twilight, I can read your mind,” she said with a small laugh, her head-rubbing now ceased. “To answer the question you just thought of, No, their is no test rubric for you to study. To answer the next question you're going to think of, The spell I’m using is a long forgotten thought spell that allows one pony to hear another pony’s thoughts,” she said to the now astonished Twilight.

Twilight looked her mentor over and tried to wrap her head around the idea of a mind reading spell. Her mind jumped between the mechanics of it and the power required, but her thoughts ended its barrage as one Question emerged to take over her mind singularly.

“Wait, if it was forgotten, how and why do you know it?” she asked.

“I discovered it purely by accident in the Starswirl wing of the library while I was trying to help Luna before the Nightmare Moon incident. And it wasn’t so much forgotten as it was hidden. This spell, if learned and mastered would cause endless problems for us all. Even you can see the uses for it, from cheating on tests to stealing ideas on items as well as the occasional home invasion and other types of robbery. the ramifications are something i don't want in my kingdom.” Celestia responded, stone faced at the thoughts on uses for the spell that she heard coming from Twilight. 

“This is the spell I will be demonstrating on the final day of your lectures, and I wanted to let you know that I will not be monitoring your mind during the lectures. You will not be graded, there is no test and all you have to do is teach what you and I think is necessary for the age groups. Twilight don’t worry so much, it will be a great day for you. And if the students approve of you a lot, I may offer you another lecture opportunity in the future.”

Twilight sat for a second, digesting the information the princess had given her. Twilight was all for teaching the more advanced students counterspells but she had thought of simple deflection magic, not one’s directed at one’s thoughts. Twilight thought it over for a few minutes before she spoke.

“Why would you want to teach them about this? Aren't you the only one that can do this?” she asked. 

Twilight knew why she had discussed this with her, she now knew that a threat to the crown was here and she would have to learn to defeat this power.

Celestia let out a tiny laugh as she picked at the ideas Twilight was circulating in her head, amused at her over thinking.

“No Twilight, I just want them to learn that not only is the external vulnerable, but the internal as well,” she answered, her laugh leaving a smile on her muzzle. “So I’m not teaching them the spell itself but how to defend against it.”

Twilight let out a small sigh of relief, knowing what the princess had planned let her relax a little. She still felt the anxiety of a test happening, but she now knew that it was just one on how to manage the spell itself. However the more she tried to focus on the lectures, the more she wondered about the spell.

“Princess, why are you using such a tough spell on your students? Have they done something wrong?”

Celestia gave another laugh as she thought over that question. 

“No Twilight, they haven’t really done anything to deserve it. When you meet them, you will see why I chose that spell.”

Twilight gave her a sidelong glance, but decided not to pursue it any farther than that. Her thoughts turned to another question she had.

“Princess, are there any sort of side effects to using this spell?” she asked, her curiosity piqued.

“I won’t lie to you Twilight, it does have its risks. The longer the spell is used, the more open your mind will be to the pony you are targeting. My research has uncovered that your target won’t hear your thoughts, but they can see them as their own in some cases,” She said to Twilight, and seeing the fear in her she quickly added, “I wouldn’t worry Twilight, it won’t be a problem.”

Twilight’s fear wasn’t resolved as she wanted to know how it made them see the caster’s thoughts as their own. Could Celestia have put thoughts into her head when it was active? Would she? Twilight began to look back at their conversation, going over all she had thought. She was about to ask when the princess answered it for her.

“Like in all spells, the longer it remains active, the more of a change that something might go wrong. In the case of this spell, the possibility of a thought exchange can happen. You never stop thinking yourself when you are under the spell and somethings things can slip out. It doesn’t sound so bad to begin with, but the more you think about the idea of the exchange the more dangerous it becomes. If somepony were to use this spell specifically for that effect, no ponies thoughts would be safe. And no, Twilight, I would never do that to you.”

Although not fully satisfied with the explanation, Twilight’s mind moved away from the demonstration for fear of Celestia scolding her and she soon found herself in a relatively comfortable line of thought. Twilight soon turned the questions she had towards the lectures themselves. They spent a few hours going over what each would entail, as well as the students’ names and ages. 

Twilight and Celestia talked until a loud yawn came from Twilight, signaling to the both of them that their talk should continue in the morning before the class. They both gave their good nights and Twilight made her way to the room sleepily. As Twilight lay down her head she thought only of the conversations she had that night and what awaited her tomorrow. Twilight quickly surrendered to her sleepiness and was swiftly taken to dream land.


__________________________________________________________________


Twilight awoke to the sound of the alarm on her clock. She gave a large stretch and looked around the room for any signs of light. Her windows were still dark with the night and the curtains were still in their posts. Twilight’s eyes traced the lines of the furniture and slowly her eyes fell on the clock. The time read 3:17 AM, a time Twilight had never set her alarm to, ever. She swiftly looked around the bed, her eyes as wide as they could be. She turned herself over and made her way to the edge of the bed and below her lay the floor of the library back in Ponyville. A noise made its way to her and it continued to sound as Twilight rolled herself out of bed. She descended the stairs to the library and was taken aback by what she saw.

Hundreds of ponies were inside the library, many of them eating the pages out of the books. Twilight began to shout at them hysterically, but her voice never came out when she did. She ran down the rest of the stairs and began to pull the ponies off the books, she struggled and struggled until she felt herself fall over and hit the floor.

Twilight awoke as her back hit the cold floor of the castle. She quickly looked around to see if the ponies were still there, but only noticed the walls of the castle, exactly as she had seen them the night before.

“Phew, it was only a dream Twilight. Nopony would ever eat one of your books. They all know the consequences of doing that,” she said to herself as she made her way back onto the bed. She looked over at the clock on the nightstand and noticed the time. 8:46, a few hours until class time. She sat and caught her breath before making her way to the dining hall for breakfast.

Walking into the hall, she found Luna and Celestia beginning their breakfasts. Twilight gave a small good morning to them both. Luna, apparently still mad at her for last night, swiftly picked her plate up and moved it to her room.

With a small smirk from Celestia and a whimper from Twilight, The two of them passed the time before the class eating a good breakfast as well as finishing their talk about the lesson again. Celestia went over all of the lecture notes with Twilight, giving her pointers and helping her come up with good examples for each of the classes to use. Their talk continued all the way up to the door of the classroom, and as they approached, the sounds of the students laughing and talking just before their class was to start flooded their ears.

Twilight hesitated for a second, a look of apprehension on her face. Celestia turned towards her and with a smile asks her a simple question, “Ready for the first class?”

Twilight gave a halfhearted nod and Celestia opened the door, and walked in.

The room went silent when the princess entered, and quickly the shuffling of hooves and chairs took its place. They all sat at attention as the princess smiled to them all and began her speech.

“Good morning class, now as I told you last week I was going to have a guest lecturer for you all to learn from. And I have kept my word on that. Now the mare you will all meet today was my personal protégé when she attended this school 10 years ago.”

“She is currently assigned to the library in Ponyville working on her studies of friendship as well as some other magic related inquiries. She has taken some time out of her busy schedule to talk to you all and I want you all to treat her with the respect you give me. So without further ado, may I introduce Miss Twilight Sparkle,” Celestia said as she raised her hoof to the door.

Twilight entered apprehensively, her hooves shuffling so as to not fall over. She arrived next to the princess and looked to the crowd of students that sat in front of her. They all stared back at her, some in shock at her, some acknowledging her with a nod and then there were the ones that laughed as she walked in. Twilight turned her head to the princess, expecting some help. All the princess gave was a warm hearted smile and a nod of the head before she walked over to a pillow in the corner and sat down.

Twilight turned her head to look at them again and found they were all still staring at her.

“Twilight, relax, its ok to be nervous. Introduce yourself to them and talk about the lesson we talked about you doing.” Celestia smiled at Twilight, calming nerves a little, and soon she addressed the class.

“Good morning class” she began, waiting for a bombard of mean looks and snide comments. Instead she received a unanimous good morning from the class. Twilight gave a smile, turned towards the board and with a small burst of magic took a piece of chalk and wrote something down on it.


Miss Twilight Sparkle

Defensive Magic


She turned to the class and soon the lesson was under way. For the students of this class, Twilight took her explanations to a highly simplistic area, beginning on types of spells and 3 or 4 harmless spell demonstrations. These students handled the demonstrations well, one even attempted to show off a spell she thought she had learned and mastered. It of course failed for that student, leading to a class wide giggle fit. Twilight on the other hoof made it a point to thank the student for trying and scolded the class for their unscrupulous behavior. 

The next class received more information about spells. She began with tactical applications as well as the beginnings of quick reaction training. Twilight was impressed by some of the ponies in this class. Those that seemed to pick up quickly what each spell did were rewarded by both Twilight and the princess with much praise and a few less homework problems to do. 

The third class of the day took the next level in stride. Twilight focused more on the reaction speed of spells and soon found the class attempting rather difficult spells to cast and deflect. Again Twilight was surprised by the speed in which some of the students could pick up the skills she had set forth. However an unfortunate accident in the class left one student with a small bald spot on his flank, leading to more written problems for the whole class.

As the final class lecture approached, the lunch bell rang and the students filed out. Many of them thanking Twilight for her help in learning today and some even wished she would come back to teach again.Twilight confidence was so high she wasn’t worried at all for the next class to come in. She walked with the princess to the cafeteria and they both took a meal and sat down. Twilight noted how strangely the students reacted when they saw the princess in the cafeteria but just as quickly as she noticed it, the looks were gone. They both talked as they ate their meals and were only interrupted by a couple of students wanting to talk to Twilight.

As they walked back to the class, Twilight’s smile was barely being restrained by the contours of her face.

“She wanted my autograph, Can you believe that?” Twilight said as she bounced around the princess like she was a filly again.

“Yes Twilight, remember I was there” Celestia answered back, a little worried about her guest lecturer and her ego. She moved along the corridor, giving Twilight room to bounce around her but they soon arrived back at the classroom.  Twilight made her way into the classroom swiftly, greeted the students and began her lecture with gusto.

The last lecture was for the outgoing graduates of the school and for the most part, her lecture was just a reiteration of all that they had learned. She discussed the uses of certain spell counters and mostly taught the strength of spells were the only thing one really needs to focus on after the initial determination. As the bell rang, Twilight became excited as the demonstration part of the day had arrived. Twilight gave the princess a large smile, and she made her way to the door. Celestia however, hesitated by the door.

“Is there something wrong” Twilight asked as she turned back to the princess.

“No, I just had a thought” she answered back with a smile.

“What would that be” Twilight questioned, her smile growing as well.

“Why don’t we have the demonstration outside today, it’s a nice day and I’m sure the students will enjoy it before they are all worn out.” Celestia said with a smile.

“That sounds like a great idea, it would allow for a better environment for learning as well.” Twilight added with her brilliant smile.

The two of them waited for the class to return from their sixth hour class before informing them of the venue change. They made their way outside, Twilight all the while, continued with certain sections of the lecture.


<---------------------------------Outside the Castle, near the royal garden------------------------->


Twilight’s review came to an end as they approached their destination, finishing on the importance of defensive magic and its applications in the normal world. She was finishing up on its use in the nuclear reactor maintenance field when the princess spoke up.

“Miss Sparkle, we have arrived at the training field, shall we tell the class what it is they will be learning to defend against?” Celestia said as she made her way to the front of the class.

“I think that’s a wonderful idea, princess.” Twilight answered with a small laugh as she knew what was to come next.

A large zap of magic penetrated the silence of the class as Celestia’s magic slowly lifted her from the ground and softly set her back as well. She stood there for a few seconds and let the student’s faces slowly contorted with confusion when the princess spoke loudly.

“FireBolt, that is no way to think about Hollybloom, you should be ashamed of yourself.” Celestia said, causing the young stallion to blush brightly and try to run away. The hoof that tripped him must have belonged to the aforementioned Hollybloom as the stallion went tumbling end over end until he hit one of the trees behind the class. Laughter erupted from the group as the event took place, but Celestia wouldn’t let them forget that a lesson was on.

“Starfire, why don’t you just ask him out, I’m sure he would understand. You are his friend right?” Celestia announced loudly, causing the Stallion’s head to turn and his face to light up red. The rest of the class laughed at his predicament but Celestia wasn’t having any of that.

“Flashfire I don’t know why you're laughing, and the same goes for you as well, Fallwind!” she yelled again causing the laughter to cease in an instant. They all stared at her with wide eyes, each of them now freaked out beyond what they were used to.

Twilight took this silence as an opportunity to talk to the class.

“Now class, if you don’t want to hear any more of your secrets spoken out loud, first I need to know what you think is happening here?” Twilight addressed the class, trying to hold back laughter.

The class stood silent, all of them thinking of the possible ways the princess could know about these things. They all had their ideas, but none of them wanted to say them out loud.

Sensing their hesitation, Twilight turned to Celestia with what she thought was a good idea.

“Princess, I think I need to have this spell cast on me so I can coax some of the students to talk, what do you think?” Twilight asked with a smile on her face.

What Twilight got in return was a look of worry from Celestia, a look that she never thought she would get.

“Twilight, this spell is a dangerous spell to have cast on you, I’ve told you the side effects and what may happen. Are you willing to take that risk?” Celestia asked as she eyed her former student.

“I understand the risk and I want you to know that if anything feels wrong to me I will ask you to stop it and we can continue on without me in the spell” Twilight answered, her eye’s a pure look of earnest attention.

“Well, as long as you know the risk and will tell me if anything is wrong right away, I don’t see the harm in casting it on you.” Celestia answered, and with another zap of magic Twilight began to hear voices in her head.

“Why did she ask to be attacked by the spell, she even said it was dangerous” a male voice said to her, causing twilight to laugh. Her laughter was short lived as another thought entered her mind.

“What the buck is she laughing at?” another male voice sounded off.
“Oh, what I would do to that pony.” a female voice said with a sultry flair.
“Oh Celestia, she just got struck by an attack” the first male voice though again.
“I hope I didn’t leave the stove on?” a female voice thought shortly thereafter.

Twilight’s thoughts swirled around with the cacophony of other thoughts and gave the unicorn a small headache. She gave a pained look to the princess and soon she felt the same magic as before used on her, causing the voices to cease.

“No, Princess it’s ok. It’s just a little disorienting in the beginning; I’ll be fine after I place a filter in.” Twilight yelled to her, and with a look of unease coming from the princess.

Twilight was enveloped in the spell again except this time she was ready. As soon as the first thought entered her mind, she put up her first defense, a simple word filter. The chatter in her head was dimmed slightly but the noise still hurt her head. Next Twilight expanded her filter to only questions.

This worked as much as any filter would; it let the questions in, just not ones Twilight could answer. Twilight gave it one last filter change and soon her head was clear of noise. She tested her theory to see if her filters had worked properly.

“Students, what the princess here has cast is a thought spell, it allows her and now me to hear every thought you have in your head. So I would be careful what you think about, unless you want us to hear,” Twilight said to the crowd of ponies, causing some of them to back up slowly.

“A thought spell, how can we counter that?” a male voice sounded in Twilight's mind, confirming her filters were working. She had filtered for specific questions pertaining to the spell itself.

“Twilight, I think it’s time for you to teach them the proper defense for this.” Celestia said to her as well as the class and her invasion on the students thoughts began anew. For the first few minutes, the students sat and fumbled for a way to counter the spell, but they all came up with nothing. They took the verbal abuse until Twilight looked at them all with disappointment.

“Seriously, none of you can think of anything to counter this?” Twilight asked out loud, causing some of them to think creatively. Suddenly Twilight heard the question she had been looking for in one of the student’s minds.

“Perhaps we can make a filter so the princess could only hear the thoughts we want her to?” a male voice thought loudly, giving Twilight hope. However she knew she couldn’t answer the question out loud; he had to put it into practice himself.

“It never hurts to try” Twilight thought to herself, trying to find another student with a proposed solution. Suddenly, the male voice spoke again with some information that Twilight didn’t expect.

“Did Miss Twilight confirm my suspicions?” the voice said but Twilight soon felt him place a barrier between himself and her thoughts.

“Did he just hear my thoughts?” Twilight asked herself internally, causing her a bit of unease to her actions, but she soon forgot about it as Celestia made another crack at another student and Twilight knew she had a job to do.

The class lasted for a good hour or so before most of the students grew tired of the constant spell casting, and so far none of the others had defended properly against the spell. All of them except for one. A red unicorn stallion was left standing, trying hard to defend against it. Twilight walked over to him and with a smile offered to help him out.

“Starfire, I think you have done enough today, I think it’s time we stop this spell and let you all rest. “Twilight said to him, her smile noting her tone of voice.

“No.” the stallion said as he increased his concentration on defending. Twilight’s fur bristled as she felt the magic coming off of him; to her this amount of power was frightening. Twilight tried to hear his thoughts, but found something blocking her from entering. “This must be the male voice I heard that had the filter idea, which means he thinks that all he needs is more power to keep her out. No, it’s not power but stronger filters he needs, I have to stop him.” Twilight thought to her and seeing the power level rise in him, acted quickly.

“Really, Starfire its time to power down and let this go, class is almost over” Twilight pleaded with him, knowing that the amount of magic he was using could be dangerous to him. Unfortunately for Twilight, it wasn’t only Starfire that it would hurt.

Starfire took his mind of the spell for only a brief second, but that was all it took. A brilliant flash of magic had engulfed them both and the sound deafened all those in close proximity to the blast. Celestia quickly released her magic on both her and Twilight and moved swiftly to the crater site. She found both students at the bottom, unconscious. 

Celestia yelled out for some of the students to run and get the royal physician. She heard a few run off and soon she turned her attention back to Twilight and Starwind. She applied a cocoon of magic around Twilight’s and Starwind’s limp bodies and rushed them away from the group, the tears flowing from her eyes.

She was met halfway by 4 guards and the physician on staff, an older unicorn that knew what to do. As Celestia’s magic ceased, the physicians took over and another cocoon of magic wrapped itself around Twilight. The guard swiftly picked up Starfire and they soon rushed them both off to the hospital on grounds. Celestia sat and watched them take her away, the tears in her eyes flowing faster and faster. Suddenly a voice came from behind her, shaking her out of her thoughts.

“Princess, are they going to be ok?” the voice asked the tone as heavy as the air around it.

“I don’t know young one, “she answered back, her eyes following the path of the doctor’s to the hospital, “I just don’t know.”
	
> Two Weeks Later
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight's eyes fluttered open, and she soon looked at the clock next to her. 3:17. 

Twilight sighed loudly at her lack of sleep and soon turned over to try and fall back asleep.

“Twilight.” a voice called out in the darkness.

Twilight swiftly pulled herself out of the covers that were on her and looked around the room.

“Who’s there?” she calls out in a panic, her ears trying to locate the sound.

The darkness gave no clues to the sound she heard, and Twilight’s anxiety grew as a result. Twilight slowly placed herself back under the covers and closed her eyes to sleep again.

“Twilight?” the voice called again, this time louder than the first.

Twilight flung the sheets off the bed quickly and stood up in defiance.

“Show yourself!” she yelled at the darkness, her horn a glow with magic. The light from her horn lit the part of the room she was closest to and all she could see was the floor of her house. Spikes bed lay empty and her bookshelves were bare as well. Twilight scanned faster around the room until her head began to hurt.

“Twilight.” the voice said again, this time loud enough for Twilight to know where it was coming from. It came from right behind her. Twilight’s eyes remained transfixed on the darkness as she slowly felt a hoof run its way across her chest, stopping right over her heart. With hesitation, she looked down at her chest. Her eyes grew wide as she saw nothing but an indent in her own fur. she watched the indent move across her chest as it lingered in certain positions before moving on. Twilight wanted to scream out loud at this ghostly pressure but it soon relented, scaring Twilight even further.

“S-s-s-show yourself,” Twilight stuttered as she looked back at the room.

Twilight searched in the darkness for the specter, afraid of every dark corner in the room. Twilight’s focus suddenly shifted as another sound took precedence in her mind.

A soft clicking sound came from the darkness, a sound like the clicking of pages left in front of a window when it was windy. The sound began to move around Twilight, who’s head shifted faster and faster to keep up with its location. Soon the pain in Twilight’s head began to throb, the pain stabbed at her as if her head was about to explode. Twilight tried hard to suppress the pain and find the specter that haunted her, but she soon couldn’t stand the pain anymore. Twilight released a powerful scream as the pain throbbed at its strongest and the world melted around her, releasing her from the nightmare.

Twilight jolted up from her bed, sweat dripping off her head as she looked around. The clock next to her told her it was 8:32 in the morning and a few rays of sunshine had begun to creep through the windows. She lay back down on the bed, trying to catch her breath and thought of the dream she had escaped from.

Twilight looked around the room and noticed the hanger of IV’s next to her. She felt her head, and found a bandage wrapped around it tightly. Twilight's mind raced to figure out what had happened to her, but the door to her room swung open and Celestia walked in.

“Twilight!” Celestia yelled as she saw her former student sitting up in her bed, “Doctor, she’s awake!”

Celestia ran to Twilight’s side and embraced her tightly, nearly choking Twilight in the process. She was pulled away gently by the doctor in charge, who soon began to examine her.

“Miss Sparkle, how are you feeling today?” The unicorn asked as he began to shine a light in Twilight's eyes.

“I have a little bit of a headache, but other than that I’m feeling fine.” Twilight answered as she followed the lights path, “What exactly happened to me?”

“A headache is a common side effect of the accident you were in, they should pass in a few weeks.” the doctor said as he moved onto her ears. “Twilight can you hear this?” the doctor questioned as he struck a tuning fork on the table and placed it close to Twilight’s ear.

Twilight nodded to him and after a few more tests, the doctor gave her a small smile.

“Well miss Sparkle, except for the slight memory loss it appears that you have suffered no ill effects of the accident.” he said to her, still smiling, and soon he bid them farewell and exited the room. Celestia had stood quietly in the room for the entire examination, noting Twilight’s answers and her expressions at the tests. Her muzzle held tight, her face a mix of shock and of joy. She had been told of the damage the misfire could have on her and to learn that nothing appeared to be wrong with her made her nearly jump for joy.

“Princess, you’re awfully quiet, is there something on your mind?” Twilight asked as she leaned towards her.

Celestia gave a small smile and answered, “No Twilight, I’m just glad you’re ok.”

“Princess, what exactly happened to me? That doctor dodged the question earlier.” Twilight asked Celestia, hoping it wasn’t something major.

“Twilight, what's the last thing you remember?” Celestia questioned kindly, hoping to establish where to start from. Twilight began to relay what she could remember from the accident and only when she seemed stumped did Celestia take over. Celestia told Twilight that the spell had backfire because of a lack of focus by the student.

“Oh, I hope he’s ok,” Twilight relayed to Celestia who gave a soft smile back.

“He’s quite alright Twilight, he awoke a few days ago and I’ve been told by the doctors that he’s begun to walk again.”

Twilight smiled at this information as she knew he couldn’t be blamed in this whole thing. 

“However,” Celestia began, her smile fading slightly, “It appears that the explosion’s pressure wave had not only damaged his ears but also the part of his brain that controlled speech.”

Twilight’s smile faded as well and her thoughts turned to sadness at the student’s condition. Celestia sensed this sadness and assured Twilight that she had made arrangements for him to take magic lessons on how to communicate without those faculties, bringing Twilight’s smile back.

Their conversation went on for a few hours before the dinner bell rang in the hospital. Celestia bid her farewell for the night and made her way off the premises. Twilight settled in for the night and soon after eating dinner she fell asleep again. This night came and went, dreamless, and soon the light of the morning entered the window to awaken her.

The next few days to Twilight were a blur of inactivity, most of it consisting of reading from various books Twilight could get from the hospital’s library. Twilight had her daily talks with Celestia and was even visited by the student that had caused the accident. They discussed, through an interpreter, the reasons behind the accident and why he had stayed so dedicated to countering the spell. They both had a laugh and soon another pony came into the room to wheel him back.

The next day, Twilight learned that she was going to be discharged into the custody of her friends back in Ponyville. Twilight tried to assure the doctors that she was ok and her friends didn’t need to help her, but it was Celestia’s orders and no pony questions the princess’s orders.

Twilight was soon wheeled out in front of the hospital and slowly she stepped out of the wheelchair.

“I hope that’s the last time I need one of those for a while.” Twilight commented as she made her way to the princess’s chamber. She gave a small knock and soon the doors swung open for her to enter. Celestia was finishing up some paperwork when Twilight entered the room. They both let out a small laugh when they tried to greet each other at the same time, but soon Celestia’s voice changed from one of laughter to one of concern.

“Twilight, I know this seems like a joke, but I want you to take this seriously. Magical backup in a unicorn can spiral out of control if one is not careful.” Celestia said, her smile disappearing, “Spells cast during this time may amplify in power to the point one can’t control them.”

“I understand Princess, the doctor’s explained all of this to me before I left, and they told me to maintain a steady schedule and to rely on my friends for help in the next few weeks. They also told me to get plenty of sleep as well.” Twilight answered, her smile trying to infect Celestia.

Twilight let out a sigh when she saw Celestia’s face go unchanged for a few seconds.

“I know they told you Twilight, but I also know you and that independent streak you have about you.” Celestia said as she looked over Twilight's medical information.

“Princess, have a little faith in your most trusted student. I know I can do this and you know I couldn’t lie to you.” Twilight answered, trying to calm Celestia’s fears.

Twilight noticed a small smile growing on Celestia's muzzle and with that she knew she had at least partly convinced her. Twilight knew that this would be a very strange thing for her as she didn’t like her friends worrying about her. But she would bear with it for as long as it took for the headaches to stop.

Twilight gripped her head in pain as another headache took hold of her. She felt the pain move from her horn and into her head. Twilight winced in pain and let out a small hiss to the pain.

“Another headache, Twilight?” Celestia asked as she looked over at her.

It took a minute for the pain to subside to the point where she could answer.

“Yeah, just a small one though.” Twilight answered as she looked back up at Celestia.

Celestia gave Twilight a look of sympathy and soon they began to discuss what she had to do to get better. Twilight was told that mainly Applejack was going to be staying with her during her recovery, but her other friends would be there on other days. Twilight tried to argue with her that Applejack had more to do in her daily life then take care of her, but she was silenced as Celestia gave her a cold look.

“There is no weaseling your way out of this Twilight. Besides, Applejack was the first to offer her assistance in this matter. Granted your other friends were not far behind in telling me the same thing, but I left it to Applejack because she would be the best influence on you to keep with what the doctors want you to do,” Celestia said as she stared Twilight into silence.

Twilight kept quiet as the princess finished her work and her explanations for how the next few weeks would go.

Twilight felt lost as she boarded the train back to Ponyville. She had waved goodbye to the princesses as well as the two guards that had picked her up when she arrived. Turning back to the empty car she was situated in, Twilight's mind was left to wander for the remainder of the trip home. She thought of her experience before the accident, the hospital time she had endured and even the trip to the station was occupying her thoughts.

Soon though, her mind brought itself to Applejack and her friends taking care of her for a few weeks. She knew it was a large intrusion into her friend’s lives and she didn’t want to be a burden to them. Twilight’s mind drifted, flowing from one thought to another and slowly she felt her head begin to ache, the same type as the one in the princess's chamber.

“Uhh, I hope this is the last time I have a headache like this for the rest of my life.” Twilight groaned as she curled up on the bed in her cabin. She placed her head on her front legs and slowly closed her eyes, hoping to quell the headache she had. Twilight's pain slowly subsided and she soon slipped into a peaceful sleep, one without dreams, without the worries of the outside world.

Twilight was awoken by the train’s whistle, a jarring noise that could have woken the dead if it tried. Twilight lifted her head and through rested eye’s looked at the cabin. She found the empty cabin she had fallen asleep in was now crowded with a circle of ponies, all of them with looks of shock on their muzzles. Twilight’s cheeks began to glow red at the embarrassment of having a lot of ponies looking at you can conjure up.

“Hello everypony, can I help you all?” Twilight questioned, her face still glowing red. The staring continued until the loudspeaker on the train called out.

“Next stop, Ponyville” the voice on the loudspeaker called, bringing the eyes of the crowd from Twilight to the speaker itself. The crowd dispersed quickly, everyone rushing back to their cabins to prepare for their arrivals. Twilight watched them all leave with a questioning look, but soon she found herself preparing as well.

Twilight was greeted at the station by her friends, the five of them gathered for a group hug around her and soon they began to walk to Twilight’s home.

“Twilight, not to be rude or anything, but why is everypony staring at you?” Rarity commented as they all looked at the passengers disembarking off the train.

Each of them wore a face of shock, and most of them seemed to be running on auto pilot to get to where they needed. Twilight tried to think back on her trip, wondering if she had forgotten something that made them all like this, but whenever she tried, all that came up was white. It was like she knew something had happened but she just couldn’t remember it. Twilight felt lost, it was a ten hour train ride back to Ponyville and she couldn’t remember a single aspect of it. She thought and thought as she continued to walk with her friends, but all she was doing was frustrating herself at it all. Twilight let out a frustrated grunt, much to Rarity’s dismay.

“Really Twilight, there is no need to be so unladylike as to grunt like a brute.” Rarity said as she turned her nose up at the gesture.

“I’m sorry Rarity, but I haven't the faintest idea what happened and it’s frustrating me. All I can remember is falling asleep on the train and waking up with every pony surrounding me like vultures.” Twilight said as she returned glances at those that stared too long.

Rarity was about to question Twilight again, but Applejack was quick to change the topic.

“So, Twilight, We kept the library cleaned for ya, Spike’s dern near driven us crazy waiting for yah to arriv’. We did have a small problem earlier today, what with Rainbow Dash crashin’ into your tree and tossed all of them books yah own all of the floor,” she said as she continued to walk forward. “But ah’ wouldn’t worry none, Spike and all of us...”Applejack began before another noise took her off guard.

A crack like thunder and the smell of ozone wafted into Applejack’s nose as she looked at the scorch mark that Twilight had left.

“Didn’t the doctors AND the princess tell Twilight she shouldn’t use her magic for a few weeks?” Rainbow Dash said as they looked on in disbelief. They resumed their walk, at a brisker pace than before, and as soon as they opened the front door, the war zone of the library became apparent.

Twilight stood in the middle of the library with a look of pure panic, and she saw that her fears had been true. Many of the books on the shelves had been knocked off and now found themselves spread widely around the room. The explosive power of her teleport arranged the books in a circular pattern, the pages wrapped amongst each other. Twilight looked over the carnage as the door to the library swung open.

“Twiligh’ yah just magicked away before I could finish mah sentence.” Applejack said as she surveyed the damage from her warp.

Twilight's cheeks lit up as she looked at her friends in the doorway. Applejack let out a soft sigh as she took a step into the library. Her friends slowly followed her in and soon they began to laugh at the situation.

“Looks lik’ Spikes got a lotta work to do for the next few days.” Applejack laughed as she softly moved books out of her way.

Twilight cast her gaze around the destruction zone and in a panic began to levitate the books off the ground. She was about to start filing when Rarity interrupted her magical grasp and forced Twilight's magic off.

“Now Twilight, you know what the doctor’s said, no magic for the next few weeks.” Rarity spoke as she placed all the books back on the ground.

“But...” Twilight began as she tried to place her magic over the books again.

“No buts, Twilight. We as your friends want you to get better and so we shall, whether you like it or not.” Rarity said back, her dismay showing.

Twilight let out a large sigh and slowly made her way to her room. As she approached the top of the steps, a thought occurred to her.

“Where is Spike?” Twilight yelled down the stairs to her friends.

“We sent Spike out to get food and some other items so you wouldn’t have to worry about them.” Fluttershy’s voice floated up the stairs, her tone on of kindness, “That is ok with you, right?”

“Cours’ it is Fluttersha’, Twiligh’ needs tah get better , and Princess Celestia told us that she don’t need stress in her life for a few weeks.” Applejack’s voice drifted up after hers, her tone the same southern drawl that always accompanied her speech.

Satisfied, Twilight made her way into her room and slowly got into bed. Twilight smiled at the thought of her friends helping her. She felt for the first time in a while, completely at peace with her captivity for the next few weeks. Twilight’s smile continued as her head hit the pillows on her bed and she soon fell asleep, her thoughts clear of the worries she had had on her way back home.

Twilight awoke the next day with a massive headache. She felt it in her horn to start and the pain amplified as it traveled from the tip to the base of her neck. Twilight groaned loudly as the pain slowly overtook her. She made her way to the bathroom, hoping a warm bath could calm the pain.

She began running the hot water, the steam wafted around the room by Twilight’s breath. As the tub approached half full of water, Twilight readied herself over the water. just as she began to seat herself, a noise from downstairs caught her attention. Twilight poked her head around the corner of the bathroom door and the sound continued through the halls.

Twilight turned the water off in the tub and slowly made her way down the stairs. She stopped at the bottom step of the stairs and listened for the sound again. A sizzling sound continued from the kitchen, driving Twilight’s anxiety up to astronomical levels. She searched the room for a clock and seeing that it was only eight thirty in the morning knew Spike was asleep right now. No pony else was supposed to be in the kitchen, let alone the library. She slowly crept forward and carefully looked around the corner into the kitchen.

Twilight's eyes grew big as she saw a pony she didn’t know at her stove. Her golden hair hung low around her calves and a hat lay on the kitchen table. The sound of sizzling continued as the lyrics to Burning Ring of Fire were being sung by the intruder. Twilight began to think of a way to get the jump on them and how she could get help. Twilight thought through a plan and just as she was about to enact it, the figure turned around and reveal its vile face.

The green snake like eyes she saw bored holes in her mind, pushing the pain from her headache in to the forefront of her mind. Twilight winced as the pain took over and the figure made its way towards her. Twilight let out a scream as she felt the hooves grab her and begin to squeeze the life out of her. Twilight saw the world around her dissolve into a haze of shapes, and a voice penetrated her haze. A primordial hiss came from the shape in front of her and the voice’s sound, she reckoned, could shatter glass if it were around.

“Twilight, Are you ok?” The voice hissed, its sound penetrating her mind. Twilight tried to speak, but the pain in her head had grown tremendously and all she could do was passing out.

Twilight came to staring at the face of a pony she recognized immediately. Applejack stared down at Twilight, her face in a twist of horror. Twilight was about to ask her what was going on but soon the pressure on her back took her attention. Twilight looked down at her hoof placement and a bright blush came across Twilight’s face.

“Umm Applejack, why are you holding on to me?” Twilight asked, her voice denoting her discomfort. Applejack swiftly let Twilight go, much to Twilight’s surprise. Twilight’s head fell the last few inches to the floor and impacted with the hardwood. Twilight let out a small squeak of pain, but after she rubbed the pain away she swiftly stood up and confronted her friend.

“Applejack, why were you holding on to me, and why am I not in my bed?” Twilight questioned the orange mare, her tone accusatory.

“Twiligh’, you were the one that fell into mah hooves when y’all had your littl’ freak out moment a few minutes ago, remember?” Applejack answered back in a confused tone.

Twilight gave Applejack a look of incredulity; she knew she hadn’t freaked out at Applejack. She looked over Applejack’s features looking of her usual tell for lying. 

Twilight looked hard for the tells, the avoidance of eye contact, the scrunched up face she got when she did and the holding of breath. All she saw was Applejack’s green eyes and her hair minus her hat. Twilight knew she wouldn’t lie to her, but she couldn’t remember anything so she pressed her for more information.

“What happened during my supposed “freak out” moment, Applejack? Did I try to burn the house down, try to murder spike in his sleep, what?” Twilight questioned her, looking for some information.

Applejack related the previous thirty minutes of Twilight’s life, from hearing the water running to Twilight yelling that someone had broken into her house. She had even walked upstairs to the bathroom, expecting to prove that no bath had been drawn, but instead she found cold water in the tub. Twilight was starting to worry about herself; how she could not remember anything she did for the last half hour. She searched her memories for something to go on, but all she could remember was falling asleep the night before.

“I’m really sorry Applejack; I hope I didn’t do anything to hurt you earlier?” Twilight asked, her eyes examining the floor below her.

Applejack gave her a small smile, her mood calmed by her apology. “It’s alrigh’ Twi’, I know you didn’ mean nothin’ by It.” she replied as she made her way over to her. 

Applejack placed her hoof around Twilight and they both shared a hug. Soon after, they both made their way to the kitchen where Applejack had been cooking, only to find the charred remains of the apple pancakes Applejack had been making a few minutes ago.

Twilight and Applejack laughed at the destruction of breakfast, and soon decided that Sugarcube Corner would be a better place to get breakfast. They both sat in the foyer of the library, waiting for Spike to wake up. They talked mostly about the past few weeks since Twilight’s excursion into the academic field. Spike awoke an hour after Twilight’s episode and soon they were on their way to Pinkie Pie’s.

Pinkie Pie had greeted them when they arrived and soon all of Twilight’s friends had joined them. They shared tales of Twilight’s away time as their food arrived. Twilight and Applejack had only glanced at their food before it was quickly devoured, leaving the two ponies full and happy. Applejack had neglected to tell them of her little incident earlier that day and for that Twilight was grateful.

Rarity was the first to leave, noting her dress orders have increased since the Gala. However she made a note that she would visit Twilight all day tomorrow. She even extended an offer to Twilight to join her and Fluttershy at the spa later that day as well, which she kindly accepted.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were the next to leave, each of them off to the jobs they had.

Pinkie Pie was here and there for the most part, but soon Mrs. Cake had her busy with customers that Twilight saw no way for her to talk anymore. Spike made his exit as he headed back to the library, saying he had ‘things’ to do. Applejack and Twilight bid her farewell and departed towards Sweet Apple Acres.

Twilight helped around the farm, moving what she could for the Apple’s and even at one point out doing Applejack with a single buck. The day wore on and soon the sun had begun to sag in the sky. Twilight bid farewell for the day to Applejack with another apology for earlier and with a wave she began her way back to the library.

Twilight passed some ponies she knew along the way, but her walking slowed as her head began to ache again.

“Oh no, not again,” Twilight said as she stopped to rub her head a little. She had hoped the headache would abate a little, but her pain only remained as strong as it was before. When she lifted her hooves away, she looked up to the darkness of the clouds looming overhead.Twilight rushed home, in an attempt to avoid the rain, the pain growing with every step. She thought her pain would overtake her before she could get out of the storm, but salvation loomed on the horizon in the form of the library she called home.

The door opened with a little squeak as Twilight made her way in. Spike rushed to greet her at the door, but what he saw gave him great pause. Twilight at this point was not a pony that needed a greeting, she needed a doctor.

“Twilight, are you ok?” Spike yelled as Twilight closed the door.

Twilight’s face was contorted in pain; her eyes barely open enough for her to see. Tears streamed down her face as the pain slowly continued to progress. Twilight tried to speak, but as the words began to come out, the pain throbbed horribly. Spike swiftly ran to her side and helped her up to her bed.

He laid Twilight down and pulled her sheets up for her. He ran swiftly downstairs and into the cupboard that held the herbs that Fluttershy had given them when Twilight had stayed up for a week and she had headaches as well.

Spike brewed the herbs into a tea for her to drink and brought it to her bedside. As soon as Spike placed the tea down, Twilight swiftly grabbed the cup and slammed the tea back. She didn’t even wait for it to cool off. Spike looked on in amazement. He knew he brewed it hot, as per Fluttershy’s instructions, but how could she have drunk it so quickly? She could have hurt herself by doing that.

“Twilight, how are you feeling?” Spike questioned his eyes wide in worry.

“Spike, draw a bath.” Twilight groaned from under her covers, her tone that of a command and not the soft voice she usually used.

“But Twilight, Fluttershy said that if you had a headache not to take a bath; something about only numbing the pain.” Spike said as he picked up the tea cup.

“SPIKE, I SAID DRAW ME A BATH!” Twilight yelled at the top of her lungs, the pain probably amplifying her disdain. Spike didn’t waste a second, hurriedly taking the cup and plates down stairs. He swiftly ran back up to the bathroom to draw the water, in as big of a hurry as he had ever been in. 

As the tub filled Twilight yelled for him again, this time for support to get there. Spike complied, baring  most of her weight as he helped her into the tub. Twilight yelled for him to get out as soon as she seated herself in the tub, and didn’t thank him for the help he had given. Spike sat outside the door as his eyes began to water; Twilight had never be mean to him before, Why was she yelling at him?

Spike’s tears drove him up to the shared bedroom in the library and over to the chest of drawers next to his bed. He packed a few things in a suitcase; a few gems, some bits he had saved, and a picture of him and Twilight together and soon made his way down the stairs. He opened the door to the town and the howling of the thunderstorm raging outside. He gave one last look into the house and, with a tearful sigh, left for the night and headed over to Rarity’s.

Twilight’s yells went unanswered as she lay in the tub, forcing her to move herself without her lazy helper for support. She made her way down to the first floor and she picked a book from the shelves. She glanced at the covers for only the briefest of seconds before she placed the book on the floor and made her way back and grabbed another book. This bizarre behavior continued into the early hours in the morning as Twilight worked diligently at her task. She continued until her mind slowly pushed her into a haze and soon she passed out in the center of the first floor.
	
> The Morning After
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Rarity didn’t even knock as the door to the library nearly came off its hinges in anger.

“Twilight, how could you?” Rarity yelled the tears flowed from her eyes, as she made her way into the library. “Of all the things...” she began as she scanned the room, only to be stopped by the sight in front of her. Twilight lay in a proper circle of books that towered up from the floor. Each stack had one more than the last and by the end; it had almost touched the ceiling in the home. However more startling than this was the way Twilight lay in the circle. Her hair lay splayed over her head in the shape of a halo. Her legs lay folded on top of each other and he mouth was closed so hard, Rarity could hear the grinding of them as loud as her voice was.

Rarity made her way to the circle and stared at the peculiar arrangement Twilight had taken. She scanned her body for any signs of why, but was startled as Twilight’s eyes opened.

Twilight sat up quickly, her eyes scanning the book arrangement in bewilderment.

“Rarity, why is there a circle of book on my floor?” Twilight asked as she stood up. Twilight touched her hoof to her throat as she talked, her voice scratchy, and it hurt for her to both talk and in some cases breathe. Her throat burned as if she had something hot to drink and she hadn’t remembered to cool it first. This lead Twilight to believe that her night on the floor had caused her to begin to fall ill.

“I might need to make some of that tea that Fluttershy gave me for my last cold” Twilight said to herself, soft enough for Rarity to miss it. Agreeing to look into her throat pain later, she looked at her friend and noticed the tear stains in her coat. “Rarity is something wrong?”

Rarity regarded Twilight with a blank stare, and an open mouth. Her mind was still trying to wrap itself around what she had just seen. Rarity tried to reason with Twilight’s confusion; maybe she had a late night and forgot to place her books away. But that doesn’t explain why they were in the position they were in. Now the circle she could understand, Twilight sometimes would work off a few books on a subject at a time, but the stacking showed that she really wasn’t studying. The towers of books made their way to the ceiling, Rarity thought; wouldn’t that make it impossible to read?

“Rarity, why were you crying” Twilight’s voice called to her, moving her thought back to their original purpose. Rarity came out of her thoughts with a visible jolt, her mouth closing quickly and Rarity gritted her teeth as her anger returned.

“Twilight, how could you hurt Spike like that, to be so cruel to your supposed ‘Number One Assistant’?” Rarity questioned, her anger driving her teeth to begin to grind.

Twilight’s eyes grew large and her teeth also gritted at Rarity’s anger. Rarity knew she would never do anything to Spike. And to have Rarity accuse her of such a thing drove Twilight to do something she hadn’t done since she first met Rarity, she yelled at her.

“How dare you come into my house and yell at me for something I didn’t do. You know full well that I would never harm Spike, both physically and emotionally. Why would you tell me such lies; I thought you were a friend.” Twilight yelled her voice stained in the tears she began to shed. Rarity was about to argue with her more, but the door to the library swung open again as Spike walked through the door.

“Twilight, I’m sorry for what I did yesterday, I shouldn’t have questioned you last night.” Spike said as he ran from the door and embraced Twilight with tears in his eyes, “Please don’t yell at Rarity, I just told her what I did yesterday night and she left in a huff quicker than I could stop her.”

Twilight’s expression changed from one of anger to one of pure confusion. She didn’t remember even talking to Spike last night, let alone do anything to him. Her expression caused Rarity to stop grinding her teeth as well, her face more towards one of mild annoyance.

“Twilight, I know you can be demanding sometimes, but Spike did everything you asked and all you did was yell at him.” Rarity said to her, her eyes falling on Spike’s tears. Rarity pulled out a handkerchief and slowly rubbed the tears away. She gave him a soft smile, and soon brought herself back to Twilight.

Twilight’s confusion followed over into Rarity’s conversation, her mind racing to recover what she could from her memories. Twilight remembered the headache she had in the square, and that was it. She couldn’t remember anything after that.

“Rarity, what exactly did Spike tell you about last night?” Twilight asked, her questioning tone unwelcome by Rarity’s ears.

“Twilight, You were yelling at me all last night, Do you not remember?” Spike said before rarity had the chance to verbally assault her again.Twilight’s cheeks began to burn with embarrassment, but she knew she couldn’t hide it.

“No, I don’t remember anything after I left Applejack’s last night.” Twilight replied. She gave Spike a small smile, her mind telling her that it was only a small consolation to what she may have done last night, and received a small one in return.

Rarity looked at the two of them and slowly her annoyance left. It was soon replaced with one of wonder. She had seen the books left around Twilight when she came in, but when she looked closer her curiosity grew with her wonder. Her eyes drew her to the book she found at the start of the circle, a book on animals, and she looked the cover over. A manticore stood prominently on the cover and behind it laid two coiled snakes. Rarity wondered why this book would be Twilight’s first book to read that night. Animals weren’t really Twilight’s interest:; that was Fluttershy’s job. Rarity was about to ask when Twilight walked over to her and gave her a soft nuzzle.

“Thanks Rarity for housing Spike last night, I know how hard it must have been to take him in and calm him. I really apologize for doing that to him and I hope you can forgive me.” Twilight said as she looked at Rarity, a soft smile on her face.

Rarity wanted to scold Twilight, to yell at her to make her understand what she truly did to Spike yesterday. However, she would hold her tongue until she could get Twilight alone, simply for Spike’s sake. Rarity accepted the friendly gesture and reciprocated it for Spike to see. She told Twilight she would be around later that day with Fluttershy to go to the spa if she still wanted to. Twilight accepted if only to talk to her and set things straight. Twilight gave a small wave as Rarity disappeared out the door and from her sight.

Twilight turned around and faced Spike, a smile forced to sit there, the tears she started to shed slowly forming. She walked up to Spike pulled him into a hug, her tears in full production, and she held him tightly for a while. When she let go, her eyes were stained with the emotion she had held out of the conversation. Although she couldn’t remember anything about the night before, for Rarity to come in without knocking and flip out on her it must have been horrid.

Twilight gave Spike the day off from chores as something of a weak apology to her number one assistant. Spike gratefully accepted it and went up to his room to unpack his things. Twilight toiled around the library for a few hours, placing her books back on the shelves, and cleaning the mess she had left in the bathroom. Twilight was so busy in fact that she neglected to hear the bell for the front door ring a couple of times.

Rarity and Fluttershy made their way through the door to the library, announcing as they did for Twilight's attention. Twilight placed the last book on her shelf as she heard Rarity’s cries for her. She met the two of them on the ground floor and greeted them kindly. Fluttershy had smiled and answered softly back. Rarity only nodded, not even a small hello escaped her lips. With Fluttershy confused and Twilight deeply worried, they swiftly made their way to the spa.

“So Twilight how is your day?” Fluttershy asked as they both sat down in the mud baths the spa had. Twilight told her of her morning, down to Rarity’s leaving on somewhat strained circumstances. Fluttershy listened to her friends problems, offering some support and ‘there there’s’ for her to feel better. As they approached the end of the story Rarity finally made her entrance causing the two of them to cease talking so Rarity wouldn’t get angry at Twilight any further.

Rarity slid into her mud bath with an elongated sigh, her muscles relaxing as the warmth overtook her. Rarity sat silently in the bath, causing Twilight’s nerves to get the better of her.

“Look Rarity, I’m sorry about last night, but I really don’t remember anything from it.” Twilight said to her, causing Rarity to tense in the mud. Rarity slid her mask off, and slowly turned in Twilight's direction.

“Twilight, what you did to that poor dragon nearly kill him. He had been walking through the rain all of last night, without a coat and crying as well. He looked like a lost puppy when I awoke and went downstairs to the bell to my shop. Twilight, I know this whole accident thing has you worried, but you have no reason to treat him like that!” Rarity spoke, her words dripping in venom.

Twilight sank lower into the mud bath, her eyes and snout the only things above the mid line. She knew it was bad, but she had never guessed it to be that bad. Her tears began as she swiftly stood up from the bath and ran to the shower room.

Fluttershy watched Twilight run, her tears washing away the mud near her face. She glared at Rarity and her lack of tact with that talk, and she stood from the bath and ran after her. Fluttershy searched the spa’s locker room to no avail; Twilight wasn’t at her locker crying. She was about to check the front desk when the sounds of running water brought her to the showers the spa had. She found Twilight on the floor, her face tucked into her hooves and the sound of sniffing coming from her. Fluttershy moved towards Twilight, talking calmly to her as she approached. She lifted Twilights muzzle out of her hooves, and looked her into the eyes.

Twilight’s eyes were bare of emotion, the tears she had shed leaving trails down her face. She looked off into the room behind Fluttershy, seeming to focus on nothing in particular, or anything at all for that matter. Fluttershy was shocked to notice that her eyes weren’t out of tears or even out of focus, it was like they were out of Twilight herself. Her eyes lay pitch black as she looked forward in a thousand yard stare. Fluttershy shook Twilight, yelling for her to snap out of it. Twilight’s head only seemed to sway with the movement as the blank stare remained. Fluttershy ran to Rarity and apprised her of Twilight's situation.

They both returned in a panic, Rarity’s anger lost in the ensuing rush. She made her way to Twilight’s side and, with almost super pony strength, heaved her onto her back and set off for the local hospital.
	
> 16 Hours Later
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Twilight awoke to another white ceiling, her thoughts circling her mind as to why she saw this color again. She sat up on the bed and was shortly greeted by the doctor that stood outside.

“Good morning Miss Sparkle, how are you feeling today?” The doctor asked as he made his way around her.

“What happened to me, all I remember was going to the spa and now I’m here.” Twilight answered as she followed him with her eyes.

“Apparently you had some sort of breakdown in the spa and your friends rushed you here as quick as they could. And if my math is correct, you have been close to catatonic for the last 16 hours.” he answered back, placing his hoof on her neck to balance the stethoscope on her back. “Give me a deep breath in and out.” he asked as he listens to her breath.

Twilight’s mind raced to find information on her situation. But again her mind was blank; no information came forth to answer her predicament. Twilight's mind raced faster and faster, and so did her heartbeat, the monitor to her side told the doctor as he was finishing up his exam.

“Miss Sparkle, is everything ok?” The doctor asked, worry in his voice. Twilight began to shake her head in frustration, her thoughts couldn’t focus properly on the situation she was in, and the hospital seemed like a place found in the distance of her visions. All she could think about was getting home and having some time to think, to figure out an answer for her on how to remember anything she had done before. She scrambled out of her bed, causing her I.V. to pop out of her arm, letting loose a pink mixture of blood and the saline solution. Twilight made her way to the door before the voice of the Doctor registered in her head.

“Miss Twilight, I know this is a bit disorienting for you, but if you would calm down we still have tests we need to do.” He spoke his voice trying to sound calm and collected, as he made his way over to her.

“I’m sorry sir, but I have to go. I’ve already been in one hospital in the last few weeks, I don't need another. I need my home, my living room, my books. Those are the comfort I need at this time, not some silly tests.” Twilight answered in a hurried voice, as this conversation was forestalling her departure. Her eyes glanced around the room, the walls of white showing the stains of the past patients here, the remnants of sickness she knew she wasn’t supposed to be a part of. 

“I’m not supposed to be here, I'm not supposed to be here,” Twilight spoke to herself as she scanned the room some more. Her eyes darted around to see all the cracks in the ceiling as well as the walls. She continued to talk out loud, telling of her anxiety for being in the hospital.

“Miss Sparkle, I need you to say here so I can attempt to figure out what's wrong with you,” the doctor spoke as he made his way towards her.

“That’s just it Doctor, I DON’T know what’s wrong with me. And if I don’t know what’s wrong, I’m pretty sure you won’t as well. I keep waking up with no memory of what I did the time before and all of this is starting to worry me. Can you name me a condition that causes that in a normal pony?” she replied to the doctor, her words speeding up aggressively as she went along. 

Without giving him time to answer properly she continued, “That’s what I thought. So now all I want to do is get to my home, sit, have a cup of tea and try to figure this out; because that’s what I do when I’m stressed about something. But now I’m here with you trying to tell me something I already know and all I want to do is leave.” she finished, her eyes growing larger and larger as her speech continued to speed its way through her thoughts. “Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going.” she said as she turned back to the door in her haste.

“Miss Sparkle, I can’t allow you to leave before all the tests arrive back. Now I know you are worried about this thing, but if we are to do anything to fix it, we need your cooperation in it. Miss Sparkle, I need you to bear with me for the next few hours, at least until the tests come back. If they all come back negative and we see no reason to keep you we will release you to your home. Will you just give us the time to do this?”

Twilight gave the doctor a look of pure chagrin, but relented at least for his sake. She sat back down on the bed, her legs softly swaying at the beginning, but as the hours past that small sway turned into a violent fidget. She sat in the bed, her eyes glued to the ceiling, waiting for the doctor to come back with the results. 

Finally, three hours later, he returned with two other ponies in tow. Applejack strolled into the room and made her way to Twilight's side, her smile giving Twilight a warm feeling of having some-pony she knew around. The Doctor looked over the chart in front of him and soon closed the lid and gave Twilight a look of puzzlement.

“Miss Sparkle, we have tested everything we can that could account for the memory loss as well as the loss of consciousness, and everything came back as normal. There doesn’t appear to be a thing wrong with you.” the doctor told her, his look of bewilderment still visible to every pony in the room. Twilight let out a loud sigh, her frustrations realized. She knew that they would find nothing wrong with her in the end, but she let them do it anyways. Twilight tried to stand up, but Applejack gave her a gentle push back down, telling her she had to listen to something more.

The Doctor that stood near the door slowly made his towards Twilight. He gave her a soft smile, his small white beard flexing with the facial movement. Twilight didn’t like the looks of this; she knew this wouldn’t allow her to leave any faster. Her legs continued to fidget as the second doctor made his way to his colleague’s side.

“Miss Sparkle, I’d like to introduce you to one of my colleagues, this is Doctor Slip.” he said as he pointed his hoof to his left, giving the older pony a name and a designation.

“How do you do, Doctor Slip?” Twilight answered, a little unsure as to why another doctor was called. The test results were negative for anything right?

“I’m having a good day so far, Miss Sparkle, though I’m sure the same cannot be said for you,” he answered back with a small chuckle. Twilight looked to Applejack for any answer as to why he was here, But Applejack still gave her the smile she had when she walked in, but this time Twilight found something underneath it. Applejack eyes showed her kindness and caring, but they also showed her fear. Twilight looked back at the other doctor and gave a slow nod.

“Now, I need to take care of a few things, so I’ll leave you alone to talk with Doctor Slip. He has seen your records as well as the test results so he knows everything about your case.” the younger doctor said as he took his leave from the room. Doctor Slip looked at Applejack with a surprised look; he had expected her to leave with him.

“Miss Apple, you don’t need to be here for this, Twilight and I are just going to have a small chat.” Doctor Slip’s eyes swayed between the two of them.

“Ah’ was the only one that didn’t want your help on this, So ah wanna hear what you have to say,” Applejack’s eyes narrowed at the older stallion.

“Very well, Miss Apple, I understand your concern,” Doctor Slip’s attention shifted back to Twilight, and his voice took a happier tone. “Now Miss Twilight as you know my name is Doctor Slip and I have been lead to understand that you’ve been having trouble remembering things for the past few days, is that correct?”

Twilight gave a small nod.

“I am also lead to understand from your friends that you have been having mood swings, is this also correct?” His eyes continued to watch Twilight, waiting for her answer and silently looking for signs of the disorder he suspected it to be.

“Yes, Doctor Slip, but I can’t remember any of the swings. It’s like it wasn’t me controlling my body.” she answered back, her eyes moving to Applejack’s. Applejack gave her that same smile again, it was like she knew what she was thinking, but the sympathy was just for her to sit and bare the onslaught of questions.

“Twilight, have you experienced a loss recently?” he asked her, his eyes drifted this time from her eyes to Applejack's.

“No I haven’t, at least not to my knowledge.” Twilight answered back quickly, alarmed at his question. “Why are you asking these questions, they don’t have anything to do with my physical health?” Twilight verbalized, her eyes swinging back to Doctor Slip.

Doctor Slip gave a small stroke to his beard, as if in contemplation. He placed his hoof back down and asked another question, seemingly forgetting Twilight’s in the process.

“Miss Twilight, have you ever heard voices in your head that aren't yours?” he asked, his tone as calm as it was when he began.

Twilight nodded her head, her mind telling her that if he had read her files, he would know about the accident and the spell as well. Twilight looked back at the older stallion with a look of understanding and received one in return. He eyes tracked back to Applejack, expecting her comforting smile to be there.

Applejack didn’t want to believe it, but her friends were right about Twilight. Applejack’s mind began racing, going through all of her interactions with Twilight and wondering how she had missed it. Applejack’s thoughts barraged her with warning signs, with symptoms and with everything she had ever done with her. But something else came with it as well, her memories of the gala, winter wrap up and all the fun she had ever had. She felt the warmth she had when she shared those experiences with her friends and her decision was made then and there.  

Applejack was so caught up that she soon noticed Twilight's eyes looking into hers and slowly she put on another smile, one of sympathy and of love. She knew she had to support her through this, at least for Twilight's sake.

With Applejack’s smile, Twilight felt that her time was almost up with this doctor and he was getting to a diagnosis. She knew it had something to do with the spell. Her confidence bolstered, Twilight looked back at Doctor slip and awaited his judgment. Doctor Slip had only one question left and he knew this was the last one he would have to ask.

“Miss Twilight, have you ever been institutionalized?”

Twilight’s smile disappeared in an instant, her mind choosing to focus on the question rather than on anything else she could do. She sat in a state of emptiness to the outside world, as if she only knew to breathe. Twilight's mind tackled the question, wondering how he had reached his conclusion in that conversation. she remembered the definitions of the words spoken, but somehow it wasn’t making any sense to the situation. he’s a doctor, someone that looks at the physical and makes diagnoses, why were his questions mental rather than physical?

Twilight felt the headache began; her mind’s rushing around causing it to appear. She gripped her temples with her hooves, swirling them to suppress the pain and trying to get her thoughts back in order. She thought and thought her way around the question, trying to think of why he would ask this when the pain in her head gave a large pulse of pain, brought Twilight to her answer, and what came next was a shock to all.

An explosion of magical energy engulfed the hospital room, blinding the ponies that stood near the door in a blast of white light. as Doctor Slip regained his sight, his focus shifted quickly to the space where Twilight and Applejack had been, and only found the charred remains of Applejack's hat. The younger doctor from before came sprinting into the room, the light had startled him on his lunch break as Doctor Slip noticed the sundae he was having was now being worn on his scrubs.

“What in Tartarus happened in here?” he asked as he took in the situation.

“I think she did what we unicorns called a teleport spell, though I’ve never seen such power used before,” Doctor Slip answered with a long sigh. Doctor Slip made his way past his colleague and to his office. the sounds of the lock rang in his mind as he sat at his desk and looked at the piece of paper he had on his desk. The letterhead on the paper as well as its contents were something to behold for everypony, everypony except Twilight.

Dr. Freudian Slip Psy.D

Ponyville General

Ponyville, Equestria

46773


Princess Celestia,

My name is Doctor Freudian Slip, And I am the head of the department of Psychiatry at Ponyville General Hospital. I would like to discuss the details of an incident at your school involving one Twilight Sparkle. We believe that during said incident something may have harmed not only Twilight’s body, but her mental status as well. It is my professional belief that the incident at your school may have fractured Twilight’s mind into two distinct personalities leading to psychotic breaks from reality and memory loss as they transition back.

Enclosed you will find a dictation between me and Miss Sparkle and the conversation we had after she arrived at Ponyville General in a state categorized as Glasgow coma stage of 6.

Although she appeared to be alert, she didn’t respond to either pain or voice stimuli. However two hour after she was admitted, she began to talk to us, but what she said gave us cause for concern. She began to speak to her friends Applejack and Rarity, and asked them for help on a research project involving ten cans of beans and a bottle of water. While the research project was slightly worrying, the fact that we hadn’t let her friends come and see her yet raised the most alarm. She continued for several hours in conversation with her friends, and soon fell asleep. They all stood in the observation room next door and peered into the room to see her condition. We all came to an agreement that if Twilight displayed the correct symptoms when she awoke next, we would ask her to voluntarily commit herself to the asylum for a 72 hour hold.

She awoke about an hour ago, and we proceed with a physiological exam. I just finished this psychological evaluation as well or I would have finished if she hadn’t of warped out of the office in a brilliant flash of magic. As this letter entails, We are concerned that her mental status has begun to decrease and fear that she may become a hazard to herself or others. If she has another incident like this we may have to institutionalize her for her safety.

Please review her case carefully and let us know of your actions in the matter.

Thank you for your time and I hope for the best in Twilight’s case.

Dr. Freudian Slip

Doctor Slip sealed the letter with a quick stamp and, using his magic, sent it to the royal hospital’s mailroom for the staff to have her read. As the magic faded, Doctor Slip sat in his chair and placing his hooves between his eyes, rubbed them in frustration at the letter he had just sent. He knew of her reputation and being wrong about this could cost him his career. But it was a risk he was willing to take, If it meant he could save the mind of such a brilliant pony.
	
> A Brief Teleport Later
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	A large swirl of magic made its way from the floor of the library and as it reached the ceiling, the shadows of 6 ponies could be seen inside it. Another thunderclap of sound burst forth in the confines of the room and the 6 ponies plummeted to the ground. Each of them lay in an awkward position inside the library and each of them seemed to be shocked at the sudden disorientation and movement.

Rarity was the first to stand, her hair having been mushed up against one of the bookshelves in the library was quite livid at Twilight's interruption. Her eyes held a glow of hatred as she approached Twilight.

“Twilight, how dare you warp me to your home without warning. Me and Sweetie Belle were having a good time baking one minute and the next I’m smashed against a bookcase and my hair is ruined.”

“Yeh, Twi’ what’s the big idea?” the southern drawl of Applejack came from behind the ruined couch in the back of the library.

Rarity and Applejack made their way around Twilight’s figure, as it sat in a heap on the floor. They looked for answers to her warp, but her figure only sat there, her breaths shallow and ragged.

Applejack made her way to the others, pulling their bodies out of walls and the plants they fell on when they were warped. They all stood in front of Twilight's form, their eyes looking side to side, as they didn't know what to do with her. Unfortunately they didn’t have to do anything for her, she could do it herself.

Twilight’s magic slowly seeped its way out from her form, grasping the legs of each of her friends with a pink tendril. Twilight looked up from place on the floor, Her eyes aglow in magic and anger, and she looked on to the 5 of her former friends scare nearly out of their minds.

“You all tried to have me committed to a mental hospital!” Twilight screamed at her former friends, Her magic starting to wrap itself fully around their lower legs.

“Twilight, we were only doing what we thought was best for you, You obviously need some help and we were only helping you get better.” Rarity stuttered as she watched Twilight's magic root her in place. 

“Yeh Twi’, we was only trying’ to help. Ah’, in the beginning, thought this was nothin’ but bull patty. But when yah told the doc yah heard voices, I only thought of you and how he could help,” Applejack yelled frantically as she felt the magic of her friend make its way slowly up her calf.

Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy gave similar accounts of their experience with the Psych doctor, but nothing seemed to calm Twilight.

“None of you know what's going on with me, what makes you think you have the right to tell some quack that I need mental help. This problem is not mental, it’s a physical problem and now all the doctor’s at this hospital can see of me now is some... some... Crazy Pony!” Twilight’s anger boiled over in a single shout, her magic overtaking her friend’s legs and bodies. Twilight’s friend found themselves being levitating in the air within the grip of Twilight's magic, and were soon being held against the ceiling of the library.

Fluttershy let out a soft squeak as she struggled against the magic grasp on her. Rarity tried to repel the magic with her own, but the power she found was something she had never seen before. It was like Twilight's magic had found a new source and she was using it all to keep her friends confined.

“Twilight, you’re hurting us!” Rarity yelled down, the pressure on her legs growing heavier as the tendrils that surrounded them began to constrict.

Twilight sat on her floor, her eyes still aglow with magic and she gave a wicked smile. “Good, now you will all know the pain that your betrayal has caused me.”

The pressure steadily grew against Rarity, and she knew that the rest of them were probably feeling it too. Rarity began searching her memories for something to calm Twilight, a memory she knew would bring her down from the magically enhanced state. The sound of wax cracking under pressure began to resonate throughout the room, Rarity feared she was listening the breaking of bone in her friend. But all at once the magic that was holding them up released and they plummeted again to the floor.

Rarity looked over to where Twilight was standing previously and only found a small black scorch mark in her place. Rarity knew all of Twilight's spells, and the crack she had heard was not one that she remembered her using. Rarity made her way around the room, making sure her friends were OK before she went to study the black mark. The magic glow it left behind as residue shimmered in the light of the library. The opalescent color and slight gold hints lead Rarity to only one conclusion.

“Twilight, I just got a message from Princess Celestia!” Spike yelled as he ran into the room. He stopped cold when he saw the carnage wrought by the warp spell he had missed not more than a few minutes ago. He looked around the room and settled his eye’s on Rarity.

“Rarity, weren't you supposed to be home with Sweetie Belle today?” He asked as she pulled some debris from her mane.

Rarity looked at Spike with a soft smile, one that’s used when you’re hiding important information from someone you didn't want to hurt. She walked over to him and pulled the parchment roll from his hand.

“Thank you Spike, I think the message is for all of us, not just Twilight specifically.” Rarity unfurled the letter as 5 tickets fluttered down from the folds. The note simply read,

Come to Canterlot Castle, I’ll explain it all when you arrive.

P.C.

Rarity scooped up the tickets from the ground and walked over to her friends. She told them of the note and with a silent nod, they all made their way out of the library, each to go pack for what they thought would be the last time they would see Twilight for a while.

They all arrived at the train station early; each of them held the solemn expression of a friend under stress had when they didn’t know the future of their friend’s life. Rarity had spoken to Spike the previous night, spending the night over, if only to comfort the young dragon.

She knew Princess Celestia didn’t want Spike to see her in the condition she would probably be in, but she also knew the princess highly underestimated the young dragon’s loyalty to Twilight. Spike had spent the night in a mixture of emotions, from depression and a lot of crying into Rarity’s coat, to anger at the princess for not letting him have a ticket, and ending in acceptance that he really shouldn’t see her like this, explaining it to himself that she could be fix and she would be back better than ever. Rarity smiled lightly at his optimism, if only so she could try and leech some from him.

Rarity hadn’t slept at all, her mind focused only on getting to Canterlot and figuring out what was wrong with her. She and the rest of her friends made their way aboard the train. After a short delay they set off for the castle and hopefully to Twilight’s salvation.

The train ride there was another solemn affair, not a single one of them wanted to talk about what they thought was going on with Twilight. They all knew they had screwed up, that they should have trusted Twilight to figure it out for herself. But they again thought they knew better than her. Applejack had sat next to Rarity the entire trip, her head resting on her shoulder, like a child seeking comfort in the parent. They knew they had done the worst of the damage to her and they were the two that wanted to apologize to her the most.

The train arrived in the station ahead of schedule, a first for the Ponyville Express. Rarity however thought that maybe it was divined for them to arrive early. The princess herself was waiting on the platform of the train station, this job too important to be left to a few guards. She greeted them with a sad smile, her tears staining the opalescence she radiated slightly. They swiftly made their way to the castle grounds and into the hospital on the campus of the school.

Twilight lay asleep on another hospital gurney when her friends arrived. Her hooves had been strapped down to the sides, and her bed lay under a strong magical shield. Rarity made her way over to Twilight's side, or as close as the shield would let her. She looked upon her with wonder, how a unicorn like her could contain such powerful magic. Her eyes made their way down Twilight’s body, noting the bruises that lined her hooves and body her struggles shown in top form.

Applejack made her way to Rarity’s side, the two of them shared in a collective sigh before they made their way back to their friends. Princess Celestia was waiting for them to return, her eyes fixed on the bed in the room.

“Princess, Your note said you would explain what is happening, so what exactly is happening?” Rarity asked her eyes fixed on the princess.

Celestia’s eyes lingered on Twilight's frame for a few more seconds before she turned and brought her focus to Rarity.

“It’s my entire fault.” Celestia said as she hung her head low. The 5 ponies around her gave confused looks to their ruler, but before they could ask how, Celestia continued on. “I shouldn’t have done that spell on Twilight, I knew the risks, but I still did it anyways. Oh how could I be so stupid?”

“Princess, what exactly do you mean, how could you have caused this and what spell?” The questions spewed out of Rarity, her composure crumbling a little every second she watched.

Celestia’s gaze made its way back to Twilight, her eyes beginning to tear up. “Oh Twilight I’m so sorry.”

Celestia brought the five remaining elements of harmony to her chamber and explained how she believe all of this was her fault. She explained the spell Twilight had asked her to cast on her, the explosion that had knocked her out and how she could explain the symptoms she was suffering from.

“So you’re saying that the spell you cast on her may have created a separate personality in Twilight's mind? And that all of this is a result of the explosion? And you cast it on her because she said she understood the side effect? Celestia, She had just heard of the spell’s existence a day before you did it, how could she have known? Did you even think about that before you cast it?” Rarity yelled at Celestia, her eyes gave of a glow of fury.

“Rarity, don’ you be yellin’ at the princess, she did what Twiligh’ asked and it’s not her fault, Twilight's got as much blame as she does.” Applejack yelled at Rarity. She knew this was an accident, the princess had no idea that this could occur. She stepped in between Rarity and Celestia, guarding the two of them from each other. Applejack took a deep breath before she looked at Rarity, her eye’s full of sympathy and of understanding.

“Look sugarcube, ah’ know what the princess said has you mad, but yelling at her ain’t solvin’ anything. Now I think the four of y’all should go visit Twi’ for the time being, I want to talk to the princess alone.”

“Oh, no you’re not, We want answers just as much as you do.” Rarity yelled back, and received the support in a unanimous yeah from the rest.

“I know y’all do, but Celestia can’t take any more abuse from this. Y’all know that Twi’s just as at fault so if y’all can’t handle that notion, I suggest y’all leave.” Applejack said as she looked over her friends.

Rainbow Dash looked on with disdain. But Applejack was right, she knew it wasn’t the princess’s fault, but she still didn’t like it. Rainbow and Fluttershy gave each other a look of agreement and made their way back to Twilight’s bedside. Pinkie Pie was soon to follow, if only so she could see Twilight again. Rarity sat on the floor, her eye’s held the anger she had, but her calm nature soon won out. Applejack and Rarity both stood in front of Celestia and listened to what the princess thought of the situation fully.

Celestia explained that although the spell may have left this second personality in her, she postulated that the spread of its influence was slow enough that they could block it from growing more and Twilight wouldn’t be affected much. She also knew that if they did stop it, Twilight would never be one hundred percent ever again. She knew that the episodes would still happen, but she assured them that the episodes would be kept to a minimum. She moved on to treatment options and the risks they entailed. Celestia believed that with the use of the same spell, she could find the division and lock it up inside Twilight’s mind.

She offered the two of them a choice in Twilight's treatment, the first option entailed a lengthy magical surgery to remove as much of the alternate personality as possible. this would reduce her relapses to the bare minimum, but it could harm or even kill Twilight in the process. 

The second option was just as dangerous and just as risky. This option entailed the use of a magical barrier that holds the other personality a bay, keeping the effects to a minimum. This option’s risks were just as bad. Celestia explain that the barriers were not permanent, and that she would need to have a new one placed every year for the rest of her life. Not only that, but if the barrier was placed incorrectly it could stop Twilight’s functions for breathing and heart rate causing her death. 

Celestia also let them know that a third option was available, but it entailed letting Twilight have the second personality and institutionalizing Twilight for the rest of her life. This would keep her risk of death to near zero, but she would lapse in and out of it for the rest of her life, essentially leaving the situation to grow worse by the day.

Rarity and Applejack thought the three options over, their minds focused on how Twilight would react to the situation. The third option was dismissed right away, as Twilight deserved to have a relatively normal life, not one stuck in an institution with regular hours and visits only. That left them with brain surgery or magical barriers.

The first option seemed the most appealing, as it was a one shot thing, she’d be in and out and back to her normal self in no time, but it did require lengthy surgery to fix it, brain surgery nonetheless.

The second option was appealing as well. this option left out the hazard of rooting around in twilight’s head to get it and instead, leaving it in but keeping it under wraps so to speak. but it did have the risk of killing her slowly and painfully if they did that and the multiple visits could affect her as well.

Princess Celestia noticed the discomfort of the two of them in thinking and deciding on a plan in such a short time was not something to take lightly. She could see the impact of the decision was having on them and decided that this problem was something the rest of the elements had to know about. Princess Celestia gave the two of them a soft smile and presented them with a solution. Celestia knew that the faster they act the better her chances are at recovery, but She reasoned that they could have the night to discuss it and think it over, as long as they had to have an answer by morning. The two of them gave her their thanks and made their way to Twilight’s bedside.
	
> The Slow Walk into the Unknown
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Princess Celestia arrived at the hospital with a tired expression. Her sleep had been haunting her with the words Twilight had said to her no more than a month ago. Her mind couldn’t seem to hold its focus for the beginnings of day court, leading to some very inappropriate measures being put into effect. But she could worry about that later; right now she had to see Twilight.

Celestia arrived at the door to Twilight’s room with a weary smile as she looked on at her friends. They all lay around Twilight, two to a couch, some in chairs; even the floor had a pony on it, all of them in a circle around Twilight. They appeared to be asleep to the princess; some of them snored to prove it. Her smile grew as she laid her eyes on Twilight’s figure. She lay on her bed with an expression of calm on her muzzle. She would have laughed, knowing this was probably the first time she had ever seen that face on her most faithful student, but a voice in the room brought her attention elsewhere.

“Mornin’ Princess.” Applejack yawned as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

“Good Morning Applejack, sleep well?”

“I slept ok, you on the other hoof look like you haven't slept in a thousand years” Applejack answered back, her expression one of sympathy.

“No, I suppose I haven’t.” the princess answered back.

A light chuckle came from the both of them, their collective thoughts needing the release. Applejack stood up from her chair and moved alongside the princess. They walked out of the room and began to talk. They made their way over to the hospitals coffee shop and ordered some. It came to pass that the coffee they found was rather lacking in the taste department but it kept the conversation light and happy as they both knew they would be making the decision of a lifetime in the next few hours.

Celestia and Applejack made their way back to the room, each in their own state of thought about how best to treat Twilight. Their thoughts flew around in their minds as the slowly made their way back to Twilight’s room. As they approached the door, cries of pain and of anger could be heard in the room, it’s intensity growing by the second. Applejack and Celestia quickened their pace, afraid of what they would find.

The door exploded off its hinges right in front of the two ponies, the magical blast following behind. The two of them made their way into the room, only to see Twilight not only awake, but extremely pissed off at the fact she had awoken in restraints. Her thrashing and magical talents were in full swing as Celestia entered the room with a startled expression. She deflected the blasts that made their way at her, and swiftly made her way to Twilight’s side. Celestia’s horn began to glow as she set it against Twilight's head. her eyes sprang open as she began to back up slowly.

“Princess is everything ok?” Rarity said as she watched the scene unfold.

“That’s impossible” was all the princess could get out before she fell to the ground.

Celestia awoke a few hours later, herself placed on one of the hospital’s beds. She glanced around the room and found that both Applejack and Rarity stood vigil by their princess. The looks of relief they held gave Celestia a soft smile. Her smile quickly faded as she remembered why she had been placed her in the first place and apparently this information was what the two of them wanted to know.

“Princess, not that we ain’t relieved or nothin’ but why exactly did you pass out after doin’ that thing to Twiligh’?” Applejack gave Celestia a look of concern, her eyes slowly welling up. “Is Twilight going to die?”

Celestia tried to give a look of comfort the two of them, but she couldn’t give it to herself. She had seen it; she knew what it was and the implications of the thing she had found would be catastrophic. Celestia gave a small sigh and stood up from the bed. She wobbled slightly as she did, but she soon righted her balance and made her way out of the room. She stood in front of Twilight’s room and slowly opened the door.

She walked alongside Twilight and sighed again. she turned towards Applejack and Rarity and answered their question with another.

“Would you like me to explain it, or would you just like to see it for yourselves?”

Applejack and Rarity looked at each other and then back at Celestia, dumbfounded at her request. They slowly made their way over to the princess, unsure of what would come next.

“See what?” they both questioned simultaneously.

Celestia’s horn gave a soft glow again, this time placing the two of them in a sphere of light and soon they were transported to a place they had never expected to go, a place no pony had and probably would ever see.

Applejack shook her head back and forth trying to get the ringing in her ears, one of the spells after effects, under control. She looked to her left and found herself alongside Rarity, who yawned loudly as she too was waking up from the spell. Applejack leaned down and extended a hoof to offer her help in standing up, which Rarity kindly accepted. The two of them looked around the void that Celestia had placed in front of them, seeing only a white backdrop that would accompany their experience.

A hiss came from the distance, leading the two ponies to jump in surprise and quickly they searched for what made the noise. they looked all around them again, and soon Rarity noticed a hazy shape moving around the void. As she informed Applejack, they both began to walk towards it.

What they found in front of them in the void was startling to say the least. The hazy outline that Rarity had seen was that of a pony, the blackness of its body contrasted with the whiteness behind it. Rarity and Applejack gave each other a sideways glance as they took in the figure in front of them. 

It stood in its haze, with only two features that stood out; its eyes, as pitch black and emotionless as a starless night, which stare at the two of them and the two large rows of teeth, as sharp as scalpels and as long as fillet knives outlining the edges of its muzzle. Applejack and Rarity took a few steps back from the shape, unsure if it would try to attack them.

Rarity and Applejack stood there, too afraid to talk, as they watched it paced back and forth in a circle. They watched as its eyes held steady on the two of them.

Rarity was soon absorbed by the entity’s motions and she watched in unwavering fascination as the entity walked back and forth across the landscape. Rarity’s pupils constricted, her thoughts raced, and her breathing quickened as different endings to this time in her life played themselves over and over again in her mind. 

It hissed at the two of them, eliciting a small whimper from Rarity. She attempted to grasp at Applejack’s leg for comfort, but all her hoof met was air. Rarity’s eyes swiveled up to her friend and she could only watch in horror as Applejack took a step towards it. Slowly but assuredly she made her way closer to the entity.

As she approached it, Applejack swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat as she drew close enough to look the beast in the eyes. She carefully took another step towards it, cautiously eying the razor sharp teeth she saw. Applejack drew closer and closer to the beast, and it made no movement towards Applejack.

“Applejack, what exactly are you doing?” Rarity called out to her, her body tense with fear. The hissing it made seemed to signal an invasion of space for the entity. What if it took a swipe at Applejack, tried to attack her, maul her, main or even kill her? Rarity’s mind flashed through all of these scenes as she watched Applejack move closer and closer to the entity. “Applejack, don’t get too close.” she called again, and this time she was answered, but not by Applejack.

“Don’t worry My little ponies, I am keeping it from attacking the two of you, but it will only last so long. See what you can learn for yourselves and get out of there as quick as you can.” Celestia’s voice called from the emptiness reminding the two of them the task she had set for them. Applejack heard Rarity’s sigh from across the room, so she had heard her too. Applejack continued to step closer to it, but now she knew that it wouldn’t attack her.

“Ah’ righ’ time to see what it is yah’ are.” Applejack said as she took a step towards it again. The entity bared its teeth at her and took a swipe when it thought she was in range. Applejack swiftly jumped back and just out of its reach. Applejack landed and turned to run away, but Celestia’s voice called her again, this time with an apology.

“I’m sorry Applejack, my magic slipped slightly there, its OK I have it under control again.” She said, causing Applejack to slowly turn and face it again. Her brow furrowed at this little slip of hers, knowing that she could have been hurt or killed if it had hit her. But as she turned back she noticed something odd about the figure. Something she had to look closer at. Applejack took a step towards it again; a little hesitant at first, but soon her steps fell with regular frequency.

Applejack approached it again, this time close enough to look into its cold eyes. Applejack looked deep into its eyes and saw only an endless void of black haze behind its pupils. It looked back at her and growled loudly.

“What are you?” She roared loudly as she glared at the figure in front of her.

The form it took began to fold around the eyes and teeth she saw, the haze shifting back and forth behind this features and never seemed to settle as the time passed. Slowly the haze seeped out from around the eyes, engulfing the white below and about this feature and continued down towards the ground itself. The face morphed into the head of a lion as it reared down onto its legs and a tail popped out from behind, longer than what had been there before. The form of a Manticore came from the haze and it suddenly roared back, saliva spewing forth from its maw.

Rarity stared at the entity that had been held in Twilight. She saw the form of a Manticore, but the place where its paws would have touched the ground lay barren of haze, as if it could not fully complete its form correctly. Her gaze looked over the figure as it changed again, this time the haze shifted into a slender figure, but one that was just as deadly as the last. Rarity's eyes grew wide as the form of a cobra materialized in front of Applejack.

“Why is it doing that, Applejack? Why does it keep shifting into these most unsettling forms? Applejack, why are you moving towards it still? Applejack, stop moving towards it. Come back here,it’s safer,” Rarity yelled to Applejack in the distance.

Applejack turned her head around to look at Rarity. 

Boy did that girl ask questions when she’s scared, Applejack thought to herself.

She turned to Rarity and gave her a heartfelt smile in hopes of calming her, but it was to no avail. Rarity was approaching tears as she watched Applejack get farther away from her.  As she began to yell back at her that she would be OK, the entity released another hiss, showing her that she shouldn’t turn her back to it.

Applejack turned forward and this time it was not a snake but a bear that stood in front of her. Its teeth and eyes still the same. The piercing empty gaze it held on her as well as the sharp teeth that dripped with saliva and, if she didn’t know better, venom in its purest form.

Applejack picked up a hoof and noticed the feeling she had when she did, she felt the ground move as she lifted to look and felt the breath she wafted onto it as she gathered her thoughts. 

Something in Applejack told her that what she was planning was a bad idea. In fact she knew this was probably going to be the single stupidest thing she had ever done. Applejack thought of the consequences of this act over and over again as she continued to stare at the beast. Her curiosity towards the beast in front of her propelled this simple need to find out.

Rarity watched Applejack, from behind, examine her hoof for a few seconds and pieced together what she was going to try. Rarity yelled for Applejack to stop, but it was too late. Applejack reached her hoof out and touched it. She felt her hoof go right through it, and coolness accompanied it. The poke sent the entity into a vicious fit, but Celestia's magic held it so it wouldn’t strike Applejack.

She had seen it correctly; the haze seemed to keep moving, like nothing was actually set in stone for this creature. She went back to touch it again, but as her hoof touched it; the coolness was replaced by an overwhelming heat coming from its skin. Her hoof held its place on the entity’s shoulder, and soon Applejack withdrew it quickly as it attempted to snap its jaws onto her hoof.

Applejack grabbed her hoof, cradling it with the utmost care, for though it had not been bit, it still burned from the creature’s skin.

“What in Tartarus are you?” She screamed at the entity as she stared back at it.

The entity hissed as it shifted back to the form of a snake, this time it was that of a rattlesnake. It coiled up and a rattle came from its hind end, causing Applejack to back off slightly.

“Applejack, why would you do that? How could you do something so stupid? I am not losing another friend to that, that “Thing” over there,” She yelled angrily at Applejack as she watched from a distance.

It shifted its focus to Rarity, and suddenly a wild cat burst forth from the haze, growling and hissing at her comment. Rarity flinched at its growls, turning her back slightly.

“Hurry up, ponies, I don’t know how long I can hold it down.” Celestia’s voice called, strained from the pressures of holding both spell up at the same time.

Applejack walked back to Rarity’s side, her mind already worn out. “ Ah don’t know what to do next but whatever we do it has to be dun’ in a hurry. Ah don't’ think Celestia’s hold on it will last for much longer,” Applejack said as she stood next to Rarity.

“I think you’re right Applejack.” Rarity said as she looked at her friend. She was about to call out to the princess but another noise took its place in her mind. The entity gave out a large growl as it stood up from its position on the ground. It gave a wicked smile, its sharp teeth gleaming in predatory glee. And suddenly it lunged at them both, its fangs gleamed as it approached their standing point.

Applejack and Rarity let out shrieks of terror and began to move away from the beast’s landing zone. As the beast landed and let out a growl that chilled them both to the bone, Applejack yelled for the princess to bring them out of the spell. They both began running in midair as two separate balls of light encased them and brought them out of the nightmare before them.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Applejack and Rarity awoke to the sound of the monitor in Twilight's room, blaring loudly as she heart rate flew off the charts. They were swiftly escorted out of the room, as the physicians attempted to stabilize Twilight. Celestia as well was escorted to her room, and they soon settled on the princess’s room to speak about what it is they had seen.

Applejack was the first to speak as soon as they entered Celestia’s bedroom, her surprises still evident in her voice.

“Pardon mah’ language, yer’ highness, but what the buck was that?” she said as Celestia sat down on her cushion.

Celestia’s fur gave a small frazzle as she heard Applejack’s use of language, but she knew that this was to be expected. She slowly turned to gaze out her window, her mind lost in the thoughts of how to tell them about it. she sat for a few minutes as the two of them got comfortable on the cushions in her room.

“Applejack, what exactly did you see in there?” she asked, her gaze not moving from the sunset she saw out her window. Applejack and Rarity relayed their experience, with all the frights and amazement they had. She regarded their comments in silent contemplation, but soon she knew that their need to know would need to be sated.

“We don’t know what it is,” she began, her eyes now locked on Twilight’s two friends, “And we still have yet to know why it does what it does. All we do know is that if we don’t do something fast, we may never see Twilight as the same pony she was ever again.” Applejack and Rarity both looked at each other with tears, The Twilight they knew was never to be again.

“You have seen this ‘Thing’ before?” Rarity croaked.

“A few times, It tends to be the case when you’ve lived as long as I have.”

She related a few experiences with this beast over her tenure as princess. She explained the process each went under from the moment of inception to the eventual ends of the ponies. She explained that a spell casting was always involved but it was never the same spell. The creature, they thought, could sense the energy and that was what it fed on.

They left her breath for a short time before asking the one question she truly wanted to avoid.

“Is their anyway to fix it, to make Twilight well enough to return to Ponyville?”

Celestia didn’t answer this question. She knew they had never found a cure, and even with the modern technology this age granted her, she still had little hope for a good outcome. But Twilight wasn’t like the rest, She was stronger than the others.

“Now, I know that you are both scared, but I want to assure you we will do all we cannot stop it’s spread from affecting Twilight any more than it already has,” Celestia spoke with a weak smile, one uneasy with the lie she had just told. 

Applejack and Rarity looked on as Celestia made her way back to the hospital, her mind now focused on Twilight's immediate recovery. The two of them began to follow her, but were told that what she needed right now was for her friends to continue their lives as if she were just on a long vacation. Celestia let them know that Twilight would be back to see them as soon as she was better.

Rarity and Applejack began to protest, but with a stern look from the princess they knew this was serious. They slowly turned to go to their sleeping quarters when the princess gave them one final instruction.

“Applejack and Rarity, I want you to know that we will do our best. But for the sake of the others, please lie and tell them nothing of what you have seen here today. Do this for me and I will give you my vow to get Twilight back to you as soon as possible.”

With a small nod, the two of them made their way back to the sleeping quarters they had been in. Rarity told the others that they had chosen to have the surgery done, as it was the most surefire way of fixing it, and that Twilight should be back to her usual self in no time. It was a collective sigh of relief from the remaining elements, but Rarity and Applejack knew it wouldn’t be the same as it used to be when or if she did arrive back home.

The next morning Twilight’s friends made their way back to the train station, accompanied by royal guards. Applejack and Rarity again shared their car, the two of them lay next to each other, still worried at the future of their friend. They both gave a quick glance back at the castle as it faded in the distance and soon found their ways into each others hooves, crying and yelling for the time they had with Twilight to return.
	 
	
> Three Months Later
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------


Celestia made her way into the royal library, her student’s favorite place to be when she needed to be alone. She gazed upon the countless shelves of books that contained most if not all of the knowledge the world they live in had to offer. Celestia found herself in a bookworm’s wonderland, it’s paper contents threatening to spew out and engulf her. she was so enthralled in the books that she failed to notice the stack of books she ran into, causing her to stumble.

Celestia righted herself, and found a pony in the midst of the chaos that was the towers of books in the library. Twilight sat staring at the book in front of her, her eyes scanning the information it held. She soon moved onto another book in her circle of books, her eyes scanning it just a quick.

Celestia gave a soft smile as she sat next to Twilight, and she soon found herself reading along with her. They sat and read for the next few hours, Twilight and Celestia never exchanging a word. Soon the sky began to darken and Celestia knew it was time for Twilight to return to the hospital, of another round of treatments had been scheduled for the next day. Celestia soon wrapped Twilight’s form in her magic and warped the two of them to Twilight’s room in the hospital, a soft padded room without a sharp object to be found. The walls were magic proofed, and the door held the same enhancements as the walls. She placed Twilight's form on the bed she used and with a soft kiss bid her good night.

Celestia walked out of the room with a sigh, and noticed the guard she had posted for duty tonight stood vigilant in his stance.

“Lieutenant Stormwind, how are you this evening?” she asked in a soft tone.

the Lieutenant snapped to attention and saluted the princess,  “Everything is optimal, your Highness.”

“At ease Lieutenant, its OK for you to speak your mind. Now how has it been guarding Twilight for the past few days?”

Stormwind gave an uneasy smile as he looked the princess in the eyes.

“Your highness, is there any progress being made in helping Miss Twilight?”

Celestia’s smile faded as she took in his words. She knew they were doing all they could, and she knew he held the same thoughts, but the unease that had settle told them otherwise. She placed the same uneasy smile Stormwind held and gave a soft nod.

She bid him a good night and slowly made her way to her room. She glanced out the window and admired her sister’s night sky. Celestia’s eyes began to tear as she thought of Twilight and her abilities in helping Luna grow accustomed to modern society. Celestia began to cry loudly as she watched the moon rise for the third month and she soon fell into the same tear induced sleep she had grown to loathe.

Celestia opened her eyes to the world as the sun began to rise, and she saw the thing she most wanted in the world to have again. Twilight lay next to her, her eyes still in the midst of a dream, her fur soft against the princess’s, the way they had been when she had first moved to the university. She reveled in the touch she had and soon found comfort in Twilight’s soft snores. Everything was as should be, and Celestia knew it wouldn’t last.

Celestia’s eyes opened in an instant, the dream she was having disrupted by the alarms from the hospital going off again. She gave a soft sigh to a dream-scape wasted and swiftly took off towards the hospital and to another night of Twilight’s magic fueled mania.