Day 1 - How It All Began

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What happened today... was truly unbelievable... and I have no doubt that you'll be surprised by what I'm choosing to write to you about. But I'm finding this difficult to keep amongst myself, and Spike insisted I write to somepony about all that's happened today, so... here goes.

I met a pegasus today.

The only problem with that was how we met.

One moment I was going about my usual business in my study, the next, she crashes through my window... the day after our nine-hundred and ninety-ninth Summer Sun Celebration.

Lucky for her it wasn't the day during.

And, putting aside the scarcity of pegasi here in Canterlot... what kind of pegasus just goes and crashes into somepony's home? Certainly not the ones I read about in my books. I mean, pegasi are supposed to be graceful, skilled, and agile! Not clumsy and careless...

Well after repairing any damage done to the room and carefully examining my bookcases and looking ever so closely for any damage done to the books, I insisted she go to the hospital. She refused of course, insisting she was fine.

Stubborn pegasus. I refused to believe she was fine. Eventually I got her to go, though honestly, I was indifferent as to whether she went or not. I suppose I never did care much for the company of others, but the fact remained I couldn't just leave her there, injured on my floor. No, she needed help, and had a home to return to.

And... if anything, she most likely would have distracted me from my studies.

During our short time together, I learned she had apparently lost much of her memory... and as I accompanied her to the hospital, little by little, I started to believe she had. I figured nopony would go through such lengths to fake such a thing. Well I was right of course, as it was soon discovered she had somehow gained amnesia. Now it looks as though I'll be stuck watching over her while she regains her memory... Who knows how long that'll take...

But it seems I'm getting a little carried away here. Allow me to start again from the beginning. It was another average, sunny morning in Canterlot. Ponies were going on with their usual daily routine, as was I, until... well, you know the rest...

"And that takes care of that," a particular purple mare stated with a satisfied grin, to nopony in particular. Raising a quill pen with her magic, checked off another box on her list. "Remove books from shelves? Check." Now with the floors of the tower a cluttered mess, she proceeded on to the next box on her list. Dusting. She looked up from her list for only a moment; a job like this would take hours. Well, she supposed it would take hours, for any old pony. A job like this however, was nothing to a unicorn like herself. She set the quill and list down on a nearby desk to her left, then walked towards the center of the room. Taking a deep breath, she flared her horn causing it to glow an ever so light orchid and unleashing the build up of magic, sent a wave of magic through the tower, rocking the bare bookcases back and fourth, knocking off any dust that may have built up over time. The magic subsided, leaving only a mass of dust clouds now nestled above the room. With another task accomplished, she trotted back over to her desk, and checked off another box. "Dusting. Check—" The mare paused as she felt a sneeze coming on. "Spike!" she called out. Her voice echoed throughout the tower, and on her command, a young purple dragon came stumbling into the room.

"Y-yes, Twilight?" Spike answered, now eying the mare across the room, noting with curiosity that she was holding a hoof over her muzzle. "There was something you needed?"

"Yes. I need you to—" She bit down on her lip. "—need you to open some windows!" At that moment she turned away and sneezed, right into her hoof. "Ew..." she groaned in detest, now with strands of mucus attached to her hoof.

"Is something the matter?" Spike asked, cocking his head in Twilight's direction.

"Oh no, nothing at all, Spike," Twilight assured her assistant, her back turned to him. "Just work on getting as many windows open around here as you can."

"Well alright," Spike nodded as he turned to leave, "if that's all you need..." He had almost exited the room when he heard Twilight's voice speak up again.

"And Spike?"

He paused for a moment, turning once more to face her. "Yeah?"

"Tissues please?" Twilight asked. She felt her cheeks grow warmer saying that. "Make it quick too, Spike..." she finished as she felt another sneeze coming on. Her eyes glared up at the ceiling. Stupid dust...

"Sure thing, Twilight," she heard him say, followed by the sound of fading footsteps. Before even realizing it, Spike had left, leaving Twilight all by herself as she let out another sneeze. This time, all over her desk, but more importantly to her, her to-do list and various other papers she had scattered across her desk.

"Oh no... no no no no no no!" she panicked, hastily wiping her hoof off on her coat, figuring she'd clean it later, as she observed what had become of her papers. "Not good!" Her list of objectives which had needed to be completed today was ruined! Well, in her eyes anyway. To any other pony, it would have looked fine, just what appeared to be a few drops here and there, not affecting the penmanship at all. But Twilight wasn't just any pony. "Great," she huffed out in irritation, "now I'll have to write out everything all over again!" She grumbled, crumpling the parchment with her magic and tossing it all into a nearby waste basket. "Great, now my work will have to wait..." She let out a sigh and turned, frustrated, walking past shelves and furnishings, past the large, golden hourglass filled with a white sand slowly working its way to the bottom, and stopped before a large, gigantic glass window taking up the front wall of the room.

Upon taking residency, she learned that this tower had quite the view of Equestria. Looking out, she could see the majority of Canterlot below, and if she squinted, could see beyond that, to some place called... Ponyville. Occasionally she would catch glimpse of the cloud city, Cloudsdale floating off in the distance, but today she found herself paying little attention to the outside world. "Great, just great... I'm behind schedule now..."

Twilight rested her forehead against the glass, letting out an irritated groan. "Stupid dust," she spat, eying the clouds of it floating above her from the corner of her eye. Her gaze returned to meet her reflection in the glass. "If only this window could open..." she grumbled, placing a hoof against the glass. She sighed, turning around to resume her work. "Well I won't get anywhere complaining. May as well—" She paused mid-sentence. For the briefest second she could have sworn she sensed another pony's presence. She turned around swiftly, gazing out the window...

What happened next? She happened. What I thought was perhaps a rainbow blossoming across the clear blue sky, was actually a pegasus, from... who knows where. I never got a good glimpse at the direction she had been flying from. All I knew was that she had somehow managed to injure herself, blacking out mid-flight and ended up falling right out of the sky, and was falling fast... right into my life.

Twilight let out a frightened scream as the pony drew closer, picking up speed as she fell from the sky. Without thinking, she dove to the ground placing her hooves over her head as the pegasus came crashing through the window, sending shards of glass flying everywhere. Panicking, Twilight conjured up a quick yet unstable force field which she used to shield herself from the oncoming bits of glass. The spell was still in its primal stages, and far from perfect, but it still served its purpose.

She shut her eyes, making it impossible to know what was happening but the sound of glass pounding against her force field like hail and a loud crash emitting from the far side of the room told her everything she needed to know. Her study was getting destroyed...

Eventually the sound subsided and she assumed the worst of it was over. However she didn't dare look... "Please don't be ruined, please don't be ruined, please don't be..." she muttered under her breath as one eye peeked out from under her hoof. Well, minus the gaping hole in the window, a now broken hourglass, and shattered glass and sand everywhere, it didn't look too bad... to any old pony that is. "No," she panicked, frantically looking around and muttering what seemed like a never-ending string of nos, "it's all destroyed!" And books littering the floor or empty bookcases certainly weren't helping the room's image. "This isn't happening! This can't be happening!" she fretted, placing a hoof over her forehead and raking her mane up in the process.

Twilight lifted a cautious hoof and took a single step forward, swallowing down a nervous gulp. With her pupils the size of pinpricks, she hesitantly took another step, then another, and another until she stood at the edge of it all and reluctantly began surveying the damage done, thinking up a way to fix it all... when she remembered the cause.

The pegasus. The one to blame for all this. It was her fault after all. Twilight looked straight ahead and began glancing around the room for the aforementioned pegasus, conjuring up protective shoehorns around her hooves as she walked. "I know you're here!" Twilight shouted, her voice fuming as it echoed throughout the room. The sound of glass crunched under her hooves as she walked. "You know you caused me a great deal of trouble crashing in here like that!" she continued, wandering further into the room, looking for the source of the crash. She was definitely in here somewhere. Twilight cautiously ventured deeper into the study, checking every shelf, every corner and crevice as she walked. "I was behind schedule enough already but it's not like you pegasi type care. Now I've got to repair all the damage your little stunt caused, and I still have to clear away all this dust..." Though unbeknown to Twilight, the window getting smashed open had inadvertently removed all the once-present dust. "Then I have to rewrite new lists detailing my jobs I've yet to complete before I can even get back to work on re-shelving everything. I do hope you realize this is all your fault..." Her voice dwindled, the mare finding herself at a loss of words. She had found the pegasus, and to Twilight's surprise, she was a mare. A... very hoydenish-looking, and sand-covered mare, but nevertheless, a mare.

Slouched upside down against a cabinet, and if Twilight had to take a guess, unconscious as well...

I had found her, and I'm not sure why, or even how, but my sudden rage dispersed. I was still angry with her of course; she had wrecked much of what had been my study. I wanted to yell at her, or at the very least, get her to repair the damage she had caused—well, when she woke anyway. But I couldn't bring myself to do so. I wish I could explain the feeling I felt back then... What happened next? I sat there, for ages it felt like, until Spike returned. I didn't know what to say, or even think around her, and so I just watched, waiting. Waiting until she came to. I just had to know more about her...

"Oh what am I going to do?" Twilight wondered aloud, dropping to the floor and resting on her haunches beside the pegasus. Her eyes rested on the mare. "Especially with you." What had started out as just another work day had turned into an utter disaster. She couldn't possibly be further behind on her work, her study was a wreck, and now she had some pegasus on her hooves as well. Things were not looking up for her.

She sneezed again.

Oh Celestia, not again... she grumbled, wiping her muzzle with a hoof. Then let out an embarrassed shriek when she noticed where she had sneezed. Right into the mare's coat. "Ew..." she groaned, utterly disgusted by the sight. She turned away, turning her attention to the stairs that Spike had proceeded down earlier. "Oh... Where is Spike with those tissues?" Twilight thought aloud, all while wondering, How long could it take to fetch such a thing? After a quick sigh, Twilight turned her gaze back to the pegasus. "Mm, well I suppose I can't just leave you like that..."

Nodding her head and taking a deep breath, she decided on fixing the problem herself. After all, how hard could it be? "Okay, I've got this, I can fix this..." she told herself. She gulped, closing her eyes and doing something she never would have thought of doing. She began wiping away at her fur with her hoof in an attempt to rub her... snot out. Oh Celestia this is gross! She squirmed, squinting her eyes and biting her lower lip. Please don't wake up, please don't wake up...

Thank Celestia she didn't.

"Well," Twilight began, with a shaky sigh of relief, "that takes care of that." She gazed down, satisfied with her job of cleaning up. The pegasus's coat was a bit crusty, and rather messy, but to Twilight is seemed good enough. Wiping her hooves clean, she proceeded to lie the mare down in a more comfortable position. Surely it wouldn't have helped things having her wake upside down, back against a cabinet.

Carefully placing a foreleg around her shoulders and another around her hind legs, Twilight strenuously moved her onto the floor, gently lying her down on her stomach, and in doing so, managed to remove much of the white sand coating the pegasus's body. "Whew..." she let out a sigh of relief. She wasn't used to lifting things, much less another pony. Especially one her size... "And um..." She looked around, trying to spot something for her to rest her head on. It seemed as though a book would have to suffice for the time being. "Ah, here we go!" She spotted one of her... not-so-favorite books and used her magic to lift the pegasus's head and place it underneath. Some spell book on facial hair growth. Spike himself seemed fond of it, but as for Twilight... "I always knew this book would be good for something."

Turning her attention away from the book, Twilight looked over the resting mare. She was an average size, no bigger than herself. Slender, light cerulean coat, shaggy tail and mane—rainbow mane... that wasn't something you saw everyday. A pony with a mane colored six different colors of the rainbow... Red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet... She would have to take a look into this later. But now just wasn't the time for such a thing. Still, she couldn't help but feel this pegasus was special. Different than the rest. Twilight leaned forward, brushing away several rainbow strands of her mane from her eyes as she quietly asked, "Just...who are you?"

Even more importantly, was she alright? Nothing was broken was it? The thought had just occurred to Twilight. She had been so caught up in removing the snot from her fur, or gawking over her mane she had completely forgotten to check for any harm done to her body. Her partially sand-soaked body had been left unscathed, save for a few bruises along her forelegs, upper body and the mess she could only assume were once her wings, but as for her insides... She closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath before her horn lit up and she lowered it over the mare's body. Slight damage to the foreleg and hind leg muscles... she concluded to herself, breathing out a sigh then moving her horn further up her figure. Almost like an x-ray, with a flare of her horn, she could use it to scan one's body and sense for any problems. "Now for her... oh..." Bloodied and torn, on the outside it looked as if feathers had been plucked straight from her wings, with whatever remaining feathers misplaced and muddled, sticking out every which way from her wings. On the inside... Muscle damage and tendons badly stretched in both wings it would seem... Looks like she won't be doing any flying for a while. Twilight shook her head as the orchid glow surrounding her horn diminished. Still, she couldn't have sustained all these injuries from a simple crash... I wonder what—

"Twilight!" Twilight's head rose up, startled from where she sat as she suddenly heard a familiar voice. "What happened in here?!" From the sound of it, Spike had returned.

"Oh, Spike?" Twilight answered, turning around for a brief moment and waving a hoof in his direction. "Over here, Spike." Before going to meet with her assistant however, quickly turned back to the pegasus and leaning in near her ear, whispered, "Don't move," then seconds later questioned why she even said that.

She's unconscious, Twilight, her conscious reminded her.

"I know that, Twilight—" She paused. Great, I'm talking to myself.

Casting the same protective hoofwear from earlier, she got to her hooves and walked over to where Spike stood. "So what kept you?" Twilight asked, a tad leery as she approached Spike. Her expression quickly became one of annoyance as she continued. "I've been waiting, you know." She noticed as she now stood before him that he clutched onto a packet of tissues in his left claw.

"I was only gone for a few minutes, Twilight," the dragon replied defensively, taking a step back before stopping. He gave her a bewildered look. "What's gotten into you?"

"Well..." Then it hit her. She remembered there remained bits of glass littered all across the floor. "Spike, please watch where you walk!" Twilight cautioned, beckoning the young dragon to stay put.

"I am, Twilight! I am!" Spike assured her. He wasn't blind, it was clear there was glass everywhere. He wouldn't have been foolish enough to actually step on it. "I swear you worry too much."

"Spike... you know I worry because..." Twilight paused, letting out a sigh. She knew he hated to here this. "You're still a—"

Spike gulped, realizing where Twilight was headed. "Don't say it!" he pleaded. But it was too late.

"—baby dragon," she finished, only to receive an audible groan of annoyance from Spike in response.

"I'm old enough, Twilight..." Spike insisted, rolling his eyes with an unamused look. He crossed his arms and gazed down at the blue, shimmering floor. Then he remembered the reason he had hurried back. "Twilight... what happened in here anyway? I mean, I was opening up windows like you asked when I heard a crash, followed by your usual—" The seconds those words left his mouth, Spike noted Twilight's expression quickly grew annoyed, and hastily backtracked. "C-calm and collected, uh... calls for help!" he explained, grinning back at an unamused Twilight. Though on the inside, he couldn't help but think that if only those outbursts had been calls for help, he probably could have made it to her in time before any of this happened. Spike nervously glanced around while maintaining his toothy grin as another thought passed through his mind. She didn't cause this... did she?

Twilight's unamused gaze lasted for a few seconds longer before her head drooped, and she let out a sigh in defeat. "This mess, huh?" How was she going to explain this one to Spike? She glanced back up at the dragon, staring inquisitively back at her as her face contorted into a look of embarrassment and uncertainty, her mind searching desperately for an answer. "Um, well it's eh, sort of a long story..."

Spike, in response, merely cocked his head slightly to the right. "Long... how exactly?" he inquired, stepping forward with a look of worry. "Mind telling me?"

"Well I guess not, but..."

There's no harm in showing him, her inner voice spoke, and Twilight found herself slowly agreeing. It was best that Spike learned what caused this, regardless of how he may react.

So, with her voice brimming with nerves and uncertainty, Twilight said, "Why don't I just show you instead?"

"Show me?"

"Yeah, come on. This way, Spike." Twilight waved a hoof as she turned around, motioning him to follow her. Spike followed, carelessly tossing the pack of tissues upon a nearby desk as Twilight took him to meet their 'guest'.

"Is she dead—?"

"Spike!"

"What?" Spike replied defensively, holding out both his hands before him. She was, right? How was he supposed to know? He looked back at the pegasus. "She looks..."

"Well she's not," Twilight told him. "Just... unconscious at the moment I think."

"So... who is she?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" There was a pegasus in their home and Twilight was telling him she had no clue who this was? Was this pegasus to blame for that giant hole in the window? "Twilight, how can you not know?"

"I just don't know, okay Spike?" she shot back. It wasn't like her not to know things, and Spike pointing this out made it all the worse. "I just... we just need to wait for her to come around."

Both sat in silence for several moments. Spike looked over at Twilight who sat dead silent, her violet eyes fixed on the mare's closed ones. "So she's the reason for—" Spike paused, pointing a finger over his shoulder, "—that?"

"Yeah," Twilight barely nodded, her eyes glued to the mysterious pegasus. "One moment I'm standing by the window, the next... she crashes through it."

"That's crazy!" Spike exclaimed for a brief moment before receiving a glare from Twilight. "I mean, uh... that's, awful?"

Twilight sighed. "No Spike, it is crazy." A pegasus whom she's never seen before, didn't know a thing about and crashed into her life out of the blue certainly wasn't ordinary. "Now I'm behind on my work because of—oh Celestia, my work!" Twilight jolted up, having completely forgotten about her chores she had yet to complete due to one disruptive pegasus. "I need to get back to work! Oh no, where did I leave off? And the books! Oh I'll have to check for any damage done to those..." Before running off, turned to Spike and said, "Watch over her, please."

Spike nodded but soon noticed the pegasus's eyes slowly start to open. "Uh, Twilight..."

"Not now, Spike," she replied, fretfully dashing across the layout of the room. Where to start, where to start... Flaring her horn, and with her magic, picked up individual pieces of glass, using them to rebuild both the window and hourglass. "This will hopefully take care of the window and broken glass situation..."

"But Twilight—"

"I said not now!" she snapped, focusing on the tasks before her, and on fitting the finishing pieces back into place. Once all the pieces were in place, she placed protective barriers around the glass furnishings, hoping to prevent either of them from coming apart.

"Are you sure?" Spike asked. "This is kinda important."

"More important than getting this work done? Oh I'm sure..." Twilight answered, her tone sarcastic. She dashed over to a waste bin, dumping in all the sand she collected. "Sorry, Spike. Whatever it is you want can wait until after this is finished."

Spike shook his head as he shrugged. "If you say so..."

"Man, is she always this uptight?" an unfamiliar, and... scratchy voice asked, stopping Twilight in her tracks and causing her ears to perk up. That definitely wasn't Spike talking... The voice softly laughed as it then proceeded to ask, "How do you put up with a pony like that?"

Twilight instantly turned and locating the source of the mysterious voice, stood there, completely flabbergasted. To her surprise, the pegasus had awoken. That was... fast.

But it wasn't just how fast she had recovered from a seemingly painful incident. No, it was the fact that she seemed completely unhurt by it all! I looked into her cerise eyes and as I assumed, she wasn't just any pegasus. There was something about her that definitely struck me as... different. But as for her attitude, that was nothing new. Carefree, lazy as I soon discovered, quite the jokester, and might I add she seemed to have a hint of an ego. I quickly found myself annoyed time and time again by her, whether it was her pestering me about my work habits, or asking, "what's this?" every five seconds. I tried ever so hard to ignore her outbursts but one fact still remained. I was stuck with her, and that I could not ignore. I had discovered through her constant rambling that she couldn't remember much about her past, where she came from... or even what her name was. I didn't know if she was telling the truth or not, but whatever the case, she was hurt and I couldn't just abandon her. So I was stuck looking after her for the time being, until I could find her the help she needed...

She's... awake? Twilight stood, jaw hanging open. She rubbed both her eyes. She couldn't believe what she was seeing right now. So much in fact, she shut her eyes telling herself this wasn't real, that her eyes were just playing tricks on her. When I open my eyes, she'll still be lying on the floor... Her eyes blinked open, but there she was, on the far side of the room beside where Spike stood. The pegasus, who was unconscious moments ago, was now wide awake, sitting back on her haunches and looked, better than okay! The picture of health even! Well, until she lifted a hoof anyway...

"Ow!" the pegasus cringed as she let out a muffled grumble, placing her hoof back down. "Stupid hoof," she spat, "I was only napping, why is it hurting like this? Must've sprained something..." She shrugged, and shook it off, lowering it carefully back on the ground and began glancing around with a frown.

"Uhm..." Twilight found herself speechless. What did she mean she was sleeping? Did she really believe that? "What... what do you mean you were sleeping?" Twilight asked, slowly approaching the pegasus.

"Huh?" The pegasus turned to face Twilight. She held a foreleg behind her head and from what Twilight could tell, still seemed to be concerned about her hooves. "Oh, well hello to you too," the cerulean coated pegasus replied. Not the response Twilight had been hoping for... "Man, it's all answers and work with you, isn't it?" She smirked as she went on to ask, "Mind at least telling me your name?"

Well if it meant getting answers out of her quicker... "It's... Twilight..." Twilight paused for a moment, leading the pegasus to believe that was all.

"Well hello, Twilight—"

"Sparkle," Twilight continued to say, cuing a confused "huh?" from the pegasus. "My name... it's Twilight Sparkle." The pegasus gave her a funny look, almost as if questioning whether she was serious or not. Then came the laughter... "It's not funny!" Twilight yelled at the pegasus, growing steamed.

"It totally is!" the pegasus replied in between laughs. "Twilight... Sparkle? What kinda lame name is that?" Twilight's cheeks grew red as the pegasus fell over from laughter. "Agh!" the pegasus suddenly screamed out in pain having hit the floor.

Well at least her laughter stopped... "You're still sore," Twilight remarked. "You have several damaged muscles in both your legs and wings—actually it's quite severe in your wings, and it doesn't help that you just fell back on them. Truthfully, you shouldn't even be moving right now, much less doing something like laughing—"

"Wait." She gazed up at Twilight with a look of confusion. "Sore...? Damaged? From... what exactly?" the pegasus asked, now stuck on her back, both of her wings lazily sprawled by her sides. "I was sleeping... wasn't I?"

"What do you mean from what?" Was she serious? She fell from the sky, smashed through glass, and rammed into a cabinet... presumably head first. "You were never sleeping, pegasus! You crashed through my window!"

"I did?"

Twilight gave an annoyed groan. "Yes..." She tilted her head to the side, towards the window. "You may not have noticed but I just finished repairing it. Please avoid smashing through it again, please."

"Wait, you serious? How'd that happen?"

"Argh, I don't know!" Why was she questioning her how it happened? She was the one who crashed through it! Twilight soon fell under the suspicion she was merely messing with her. "You tell me, pegasus. How did it happen?"

"Don't know," the pegasus admitted after a few moments. "I was hoping you could tell me, since you know, you were there when it happened..."

Twilight stared at her, utterly shocked. "Wait...wha, hold up!" There was no way she was telling the truth. "You were up in the sky when it happened! How can you not know what happened!? You were there! Don't tell me you can't remember anything!"

The pegasus remained silent for a few seconds as Twilight waited for an answer. "Well?"

"I... don't."

"You don't?"

"Yeah," the pegasus answered back, "that's what I said, smart one."

Twilight ignored the last remark. "So... you don't remember anything then... Is that what you're saying?"

"Is it? Not sure," the pegasus joked. "My head's aching though, I'm covered in this... sand stuff... and my coat's all crusty for some reason," the pegasus explained, pointing to a particular spot on her upper chest, "and man oh man, am I starving! Got anything to eat around here?"

"I-I'm not giving you anything of ours!" Twilight stammered in response. Not until she got some answers. She was obviously hurt but the question remained whether she could remember things or not, or if she was simply trying to mooch off of her. "Can you remember anything or not? What's your name? Where are you even from?"

"Maybe. Don't know. Don't know." The pegasus tilted her head up at Twilight, grinning. "Maybe if I were to have something to eat it'd help jog my memory..."

"I'm not giving you anything until I know if you're even telling the truth or not!"

"Aw come on..."

"No," Twilight said, easily growing fed up with her presence. "All I'm asking is that you tell me the truth."

"Uh, Twilight..." Spike interjected, entering the scene, "maybe... maybe it wouldn't hurt to give her just... one bundle of hay—"

"Spike!"

"Attaboy, little dude!" the pegasus cheered. "Although hay's kinda... blah." She paused, stopping and questioning what she just said. "Do I even like hay? Blah food? Hm..."

"What do you mean by that Spike?" Twilight asked him, ignoring the pegasus and now focusing on her assistant. She turned and lead him away from the pegasus. Lowering her voice, she added, "We don't even know who she is, Spike. Much less whether or not she's faking all this. I'm not giving up anything of ours to this... this—"

"Thief?" Twilight and Spike turned around surprised to see the pegasus lying before them and looking directly up at them, having scooted closer to the two. "That's what you think I am, right?" she asked, her goofy grin having disappeared. "I'm not you know... at least, I don't think I am..."

"Uh, well..." Twilight found herself at a loss once more. Yeah she thought she was more than likely, a thief. She kept joking around with her and refused to tell her anything. Even more so, she still knew nothing about her, and for all she knew, could have been on the run when... whatever it was happened and she crashed through her window. "How did you even hear us?" Twilight asked, in an attempt to change the subject.

"I could hear you talking from all the way back there," she explained, pointing a hoof behind her. "Just thought I'd scoot closer, didn't feel right being left out. You know, you really should learn to lower your voice," she added. "Right now you're not exactly good at it..."

"Well at the moment, you're not very good at telling the truth... Guess we're both not very good at certain things..." Twilight mused, turning away frustrated. "You know things would go a lot smoother if you were to just tell the truth."

The two remained silent for the longest time. Spike shifted glances between the two, finally asking, "So... are either of you gonna say anything? Are we done here?"

The pegasus sighed. "Okay, fine, Egghead. I can't remember anything, alright?"

"I don't believe you," Twilight said, not bothering to glance back at the pegasus.

Though she did hear a loud "What?!" following her reply.

"How can you say "I don't believe you"?" the pegasus asked her in disbelief. Twilight had wanted her to tell the truth and finally deciding to do so, she did! Only for her to not believe her?

"Easy," Twilight replied calmly, "it's because I don't."

"But I told you the truth!"

"Prove it then," Twilight said. If she really couldn't remember, she'd be able to prove it... somehow. "If you really are telling the truth and you really can't remember anything, then surely you'd be able to prove it."

"But how am I supposed to...?" The pegasus thought on this for a moment. How was she supposed to prove herself? It didn't matter how many questions she asked her, how many times she said she didn't remember, Twilight would more than likely say she still didn't believe her... "How do you suggest I do that?"

"Well..." Twilight soon found she wasn't too sure herself. "Just... I don't know! You're the one I'm asking!" she retorted, easily growing more frustrated. "Just... think of a way, alright?"

"Gee, thanks..." the pegasus muttered under her breath, letting out a deep breath and setting her head down against the marble flooring. Time passed as she lay there, eyes closed and leaving Twilight to question whether she was really thinking, or had simply fallen asleep.

Eventually Twilight decided to speak up. "Well?" she asked. The pegasus blinked her eyes open. "Come up with anything?" The pegasus mare shook her head, letting out a simple "nope," and unwittingly leaving Twilight utterly shocked. "You had more than enough time to... you were just, I thought you were... No!" Twilight snapped, starling the pegasus. "That's ridiculous! How can you expect me to believe that?"

"Look, Sparkles..." the pegasus began. "It's impossible for me to prove this, alright? You can ask me all the questions you want and I can keep saying I don't know, but that isn't gonna get us anywhere, is it? You wouldn't believe me anyway, right? So..." she paused, glancing up at Twilight. "It looks like this is something you're just gonna have to trust me on—"

"Trust?" Twilight cocked her head at her. She had never 'trusted' in anyone before, much less in a complete stranger. Besides, it was the facts that mattered. Facts which she had yet to provide. Maybe it was hard to prove, but how could she believe her unless she knew for certain the pegasus really had lost her memory. "I... can't do that. Sorry."

"Of course not..." the pegasus muttered in an exasperated tone. "What now then, Sparkles? You won't believe me, won't trust in me either..." Her voice began to trail off as she let out a sigh. "I'm hurt too, or so you say... Oh, and I'm still sorta hungry."

"You're hungry, you're hungry; I heard you the first hundred times..." Twilight whispered something to Spike and then proceeded to her desk as he left the room. "Look, pegasus, I still have much work to catch up on from earlier," Twilight said, now looming over her work area and using her magic to lay out a fresh scroll before her. "So here's what we'll do."

"Hey hey, hold up!" she interjected, having paid little mind to what Twilight had been saying and kept her eyes focused on the dragon, pointing a hoof in his direction as he left the room. "Where's he running off to?"

"Firstly..." Twilight began, not bothering to look up from her work station and proceeded to flare her horn. In an instant, a magical barrier formed around the pegasus with hopes it would stop her if she attempted to move. "Stop moving. That's the last thing you should be doing. Secondly, you'll be going to the hospital later. After I finish what needs to be finished, that is."

The pegasus stopped pawing against the barrier as she turned to look to her. "Hos... pital? What's...? That's not gonna hurt, is it?"

Twilight placed a hoof against her forehead. "It's not a thing, pegasus. It's a place. They'll fix you up there," she explained. Was she serious? How did she not know what a hospital was? Either she was a really convincing liar, or she really had lost her memory and it was much worse than she thought. Or she was just simple-minded.

Regardless, hopefully they would take her off her hooves as well...

"Well, thanks... but I think I'll pass," the pegasus replied, rolling onto her side. "I don't really feel like moving much. 'Sides, I'm not even that hurt!" she insisted suddenly, rolling over onto her stomach and jolting upwards, flaring her wings outwards. Or as far out as she could anyway, from within the cramped purple barrier Twilight had stuck her in. "See—" she paused, wincing and retracting her wings, letting out a stifled grunt. "Perfectly... fine," she managed to finish, forcing a fake grin in Twilight's direction.

Twilight watched her from the corner of her eye. Oh yes, very convincing... she mused, holding back a smirk. "You don't have a choice here, pegasus," Twilight replied, returning back to the matter at hoof and picking out a quill pen and using her magic, began to jot down notes onto the scroll. "You're going."

"And just how do you expect me to get there?"

"I don't know... Fly?" Twilight retorted. "You did say you were fine, right?"

"Uh, well I—"

"Was faking," Twilight interjected, finishing her statement. "I get it." She set the pen down for a moment, turning to face the mare once more, now seeing she had collapsed back on the floor. "I'll... think of something, alright?" Twilight assured her, then asked, "You can walk, right?"

"'Course I can!" the pegasus quickly exclaimed in response, once again jolting upwards, but not without grunting in pain as she felt a sudden stabbing pain in her hind legs, causing her forelegs to buckle and bend over, resulting in her losing her balance.

Twilight simply rolled her eyes as she turned back to face her work and as she began to write again, grumbled, "Didn't think so..."

"Hey, I can too!" the pegasus snapped back, lying once more on the floor. She lowered her head. Just not very well at the moment... "Well I sorta can... maybe if I—"

"Take it slow?" Twilight surmised, interjecting and finishing what she had suspected the pegasus to say.

Okay, that's getting annoying... That was the second time Twilight had cut her off, and guessed what she had to say.

And though she hated to admit it, she was right every time... "Uh, yeah..." the prismatic pegasus replied in a muffled voice. "Yeah, actually..."

"Good, it seems like you're actually starting to listen to me. Good pegasus." Twilight smiled to herself as she waved a hoof in the pegasus's direction, as if she were patting her on the head. The cerulean pegasus narrowed her eyes. Listen to her? Twilight just so happened to guess what she was going to say!

But even so, the pegasus thought. Maybe...maybe I should try listening to her. Irritating as she was, Twilight was willing to help and she wasn't exactly in the position not to accept it.

"So anyway," Twilight continued, "as I mentioned before, I do have plenty of work to finish around here. There's lists which need to be rewritten before I can even get back to work, then..." She stopped and pointed a hoof to a random area of the room where piles of books lay spread carelessly about. "See all of these books? I have to re-shelve each and every one."

"That's a lot of books..." the pegasus mused, having turned to look at them. "So... why exactly are they on the floor? Shouldn't they be like, on the shelves? Wait..." The thought suddenly occurred to her. "I didn't cause all this, did I?"

"No, pegasus..." Twilight replied after a moment of writing. "I, before you came crashing through here, decided to do a bit of cleaning around here. This tower—"

"Wait, wait, hold up," she interjected, stopping Twilight mid-sentence.

"Yes...?" Twilight questioned, wondering what she possibly could've wanted to know.

"So... this is a tower?" the pegasus asked. "We're in a tower...?"

That's all she was wondering? "Oh well, yes, we are," Twilight responded. "The Ivory Tower to be precise..." Jeez, what is she going to ask next? What a tower is? Since the pegasus had forgotten what a hospital was, the idea didn't seem too farfetched. Still, the thought of her asking such a thing caused a soft chuckle to slip pass Twilight's lips, which she quickly covered up with a hoof.

"The Ivory Tower... huh." The pegasus grew silent.

"What's wrong?" Twilight asked. "Does it sound familiar?"

"Not one bit," the pegasus mare replied, glancing back at Twilight with the same goofy grin from earlier. This took Twilight by surprise. She had certainly sounded like she had recognized the name from somewhere. And why was she so happy about it?

"Say, what's a tower?" she added.

Twilight's jaw dropped. "You... but you said, and I thought—" she continued to stammer, finding this impossible to believe. She couldn't believe it; this was too much. She had found the thought to be a bit humorous moments ago, but never thought she'd actually ask such a thing! Oh, how Twilight wished she really was just messing with her... If she wasn't, this really was worse than she could have imagined.

"Well?" the pegasus asked, interrupting her thoughts. "Gonna tell me, or just stand there stammering to yourself?"

Twilight blushed.

"I-it's sorta like..." she paused, stopping to think about it. She never had to describe what a tower was, of all things, to another pony. "Sorta like... one tall, enormous structure. They're usually thinner than they are wide, and..." What else could she say? Without boring or confusing her by talking about the history, functions, or mechanics of them either. "It's... our home too," Twilight finished. "Mine, and Spike's."

"Spike?"

"The 'little dragon dude'," Twilight explained, cuing the pegasus to let out an "Oh" in realization.

"So that's his name..." she mused. "So like, this isn't my home then, I'm guessing?"

Twilight shook her head, mentally rolling her eyes. Why would she think that? Twilight had already been over the fact she had flown in from somewhere else... "No, pegasus, it isn't," Twilight replied. "Why would you think such a thing?"

"Dunno," she answered as she lazily shrugged. "Guess my mind's not in the right place at the moment what with all the stuff that's happened..."

Twilight supposed that was understandable. After all, the chance of her faking was still there, but if she really was telling the truth then memory loss, mixed with multiple injuries, and an unfamiliar setting and surrounded by strangers would seem overwhelming.

"Just thought that maybe I had accidentally crashed into my own home by mistake or something while flying outside..."

"Well, I can assure you that wasn't the case," Twilight replied, as she went on to restate, "Spike and I are the only ones who live here... Sorry." The pegasus lowered her head, having been disappointed to hear that. "I never did get a good look at where you flew in from or anything," she added. "All I know is that you fell out of the sky."

Twilight was about to speak again when a faint growling sound could be heard coming from where the pegasus lay, stopping her. Twilight smirked, raising an eyebrow in her direction. "Is that? Are you...?"

The pegasus felt her cheeks grow warm. "I-I told you I was hungry..." she muttered, having closed her eyes and shifted away from Twilight.

"A thousands times too, I'm impressed!" the unicorn teased, causing her to grow more flustered than before.

Her eyes blinked open. "It hasn't been a thousand times!" she shot back, cheeks bright red. "More like..."

"A thousand and one times?"

"H-hey!" the pegasus yelled, shooting up from the ground. "Let me outta here! I'll, I'll—"

"Do nothing?" Twilight assumed, letting out a soft giggle. She quickly covered this up with a hoof, but even that couldn't stop the building laughter. She certainly was an interesting pegasus; that much she was right about.

"Hey, why are you...? What's so funny?" the pegasus questioned.

Twilight instead, simply shook her head. "Look... just, calm down, alright?" she said, having regained her composure. "I sent Spike to fetch one bundle of hay—"

"Hay?" The pegasus's eyes widened as a large grin began to form. "Wait... really? You mean it?" Her mind flashed back to earlier. So that's where he went off to...

"Just one bundle though, understand?" Twilight stated, snapping the pegasus from her thoughts. "Anything to stop your whining..." she joked. Though she would be lying if she said her constant whining hadn't managed to get on her nerves. "Besides, I suppose I can't leave you to starve..."

"Oh thank you thank you thank you, Sparkles!"

"It's Twilight," she said, getting rather tired of the 'Sparkles' nickname. "Please, do you think you could start calling me that?"

"Uh-huh. Anything you say, Sparkles." Her mind was still heavily focused on thought of finally getting something to eat. All she had heard from her was something about calling her Sparkles, or something...

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "Well anyway, moving on here..." Twilight said. "We need to address your name."

"My name?" the pegasus questioned. "What do you mean by that? Sparkles, I'm pretty sure I told you already that I don't remember it."

"I know you did," Twilight said, promptly returning to her work. "But I'm finding it rather tedious having to refer to you as 'pegasus'," she continued to say. "Of course that's what you are, but still... You'll need a new name."

"Hold up, hold up!" Even if she couldn't remember it, she still had a name. And she wasn't exactly thrilled about some unicorn suggesting she take a new one. "What if... maybe I don't want a new name?"

"Oh, so you would rather go by pegasus then?"

"Well no, but—"

"Then it's settled," Twilight said, "we'll address your new name later, after I finish what needs to be done." The pegasus gave out a muffled groan. It was pointless arguing with her it seemed... especially over some temporary name.

"Fine..." she answered back, less than enthusiastic. Twilight smiled softly to herself as she focused on finishing up the last of her writing and began thinking up a new name for her guest. She thought about it for many moments, finding herself unknowingly tapping her pen against the desk. And soon, completely forgot about finishing her lists. Her mind was solely focused on finding a name for her... But what? This was harder than she thought it'd be.

Then it hit her. The way the two had met, her unique looks... She'd make a name out of those factors. Excited, Twilight turned to the pegasus with a huge grin, and before the pegasus could even question what she was so happy about, Twilight exclaimed, "Rainbow Crash!" A pretty good name if she did say so herself. Twilight just hoped she would think the same. "Well? What do you think?"

Well... she uh, didn't. I guess she took the 'Crash' part of her name as a bit demeaning. So I tried again, and again, and I kept at it. Only for her to shoot down everything I came up with. She did seem to take a liking to 'Rainbow' however, and after becoming a little too irritated to give her name another attempt and unable to come up with anything herself, we decided on Rainbow for the time being. Once Spike returned, I gave her some hay to munch on, having lowered the barrier around her while I returned to what I should've been working on from the start. I inspected and returned many of the books back to their rightful place upon the shelves. Rainbow however, was doing nothing but carelessly chatting the time away with Spike, or tossing out an occasional question towards me while I worked. It amazed me how well she seemed to be taking supposedly losing her memory. It wasn't that I didn't believe her; I was starting to actually. But what pony, after losing not only crucial facts about their life but also basic knowledge, acts as if nothing is wrong? She could've been hiding it all sure, or simply didn't make it out to be a big deal, or perhaps was glad to have rid herself of her past memories...

"Blech, this is so... yuck," Rainbow groaned as her chewing slowed to a stop, finding it increasingly hard to swallow the hay, much less keep it in her mouth.

"Well you said you were hungry. Take it or leave it," Twilight responded from across the room, busy digging into a pile of books. "Now let's see... Gs, where are you...?" Re-shelving and inspecting the books were one thing. For Twilight, alphabetizing everything was no less important.

"Yeah, but..." She stuck her tongue out, brushing off pieces of hay with her hoof. "Got anything that's, I don't know... tasty around here?"

"Hay is tasty!"

"Well I guess someone has to think so," she mused, turning and positioning herself so she now had a good view of the unicorn. "So... no then? Man... I'm still hungry, Sparkles. Oh and thirsty too. That hay was a bit too dry..."

"But you wanted it!"

"And now I don't."

Twilight fought back the urge to scream. She was unbelievable! She finally decided to share a bit of food with her, and despite apparently starving to death, didn't want it. Calm down, Twilight... she'll be gone eventually... keep your cool... Taking a deep breath, she then replied as calmly as possible, "I'm not sharing anymore of our food with you." Twilight then added, "Perhaps you'll like hospital food better."

"Hospital food?"

"That place I'm taking you to later, remember?" she reminded the pegasus. "They offer food to the patients there so it'll looks like you'll be stuck eating whatever they serve you there." Before Rainbow could ask, Twilight cut in, having a feeling of what she was about to ask next. "And no," she added, "I hear it's not very good."

"And you know this because...?"

"Word of mouth, books—"

"So, you're telling me that you've never actually been to one of these... hos-thingys before?"

"Well I've never been hospitalized, if that's what you're asking."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't go crashing into other ponies' homes!" Twilight shot back. Hopefully that would do the trick and get her to shut up for five seconds.

But of course, it didn't...

Twilight groaned. Why couldn't she have come with an off switch? "Spike..." she weakly called out to her assistant.

The dragon looked up from the seat he had taken earlier at Twilight's own work station. "Yeah?"

"Keep her occupied please."

Spike sighed, carefully placing his issue of Batmare away for later. "Fine..." he replied, climbing down from the seat and walked over to join Rainbow. "Hey," he greeted the pegasus. "So... no hay, huh?"

"What can I say? I'm not a big fan..." Rainbow joked, making a slightly sour face towards the hay.

"You know I've never met a pony who hated the taste of hay."

"Guess that makes me sorta unique then, huh?" she asked, facing the dragon with a widening grin across her muzzle.

Then, not a moment later, her grin fell and voice lowered, motioning the young dragon closer as she asked, "Look, uh... Spots—"

"Spike," the dragon corrected.

"Spike, right... Look, are you sure you don't have anything better to eat around here?"

"Uh... well—"

"Don't you dare, Spike," Twilight warned, making sure Spike didn't give in. "She'll eat later, at the hospital. Isn't that right?" she added, shifting a glance at the pegasus. "Right?"

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Jeez," Rainbow muttered, rolling her eyes. Turning once more towards Spike, Rainbow asked in a whisper, "She's always like this, isn't she?"

"Who, Twilight?" Spike asked, looking back at the busy mare. "Well not normally, no..." he replied. "She's just... Well, you did mess up her schedule for the day... and she's uh, very persnickety..."

"Persincke-wha?"

"Beats me, I just hear Twilight use it when she's like this," Spike replied. He thought on the word for a moment. "I think it means... like, being obsessive or something," he added, causing a small chuckle to escape the pegasus.

"That sounds about right," she mused as she watched the lavender mare dig through heaps of books. A few moments of silence passed between the two before Rainbow decided to ask, "So anyway, how exactly do you know her?"

Spike was taken aback by the sudden question. No one had ever asked him about that. "Isn't that a bit of a personal question?"

"Is it?"

"Well... I-it's kind of a long story too—"

"It's cool, I've got plenty of time," Rainbow replied, calling out to Twilight, "Isn't that right, Sparkles?" No reply. Too busy working it seemed. "Yeah, that's right, Rainbow!" she said, in her best Twilight imitation. "See? Sparkles agrees."

Oh, I'm sure she does... Spike thought. But still, if it wasted time and kept her occupied, like Twilight had asked of him to do... "Alright, I suppose you win. I'll tell you..."

"Just one more book, and..." Twilight lifted a book off the ground using her magic and after a quick inspection, placed it with the others. "Done. Whew..." She wiped a foreleg across her brow, though hardly any sweat had formed, as she admired her work. Every book had been carefully examined, cleaned off, alphabetized and placed neatly back where they belonged. Not bad if she said so herself, and now with her work completed, could attend to the other matter on her hooves... Haven't heard from her in a while... Twilight realized, having noticed the absence of the rainbow-maned mare's ramblings. The same could have been said about Spike.

Must've zoned out while I was working... Twilight thought, figuring she had become too busy to pay attention to what they had been saying. Wonder what they're up to? She turned with this thought in mind and saw Spike and Rainbow sitting in the same spot as before, Spike sitting cross-legged opposite her and Rainbow lazily laid out on the floor. Spike appeared to be telling her a story or something... And as she listened in, she knew what he was telling her. "Telling her that story, huh Spike?"

Spike nearly jumped at the sound of Twilight's voice. "Oh Twilight! I uh, didn't know you were—"

"Done?" she assumed.

"Listening," Spike replied, having forgotten Twilight was even in the room, much less done with her work and eavesdropping on their conversation. "I was just telling her about—"

"My entrance exam, I know," Twilight said, taking a seat on the floor beside the two.

"You're not mad or anything, are you...?"

"Who me? No no, of course not," she assured, Especially if it kept Rainbow from distracting her while she worked. She would have to remember to thank Spike later for this. "So, remind me again... What part were you at again?"

"Only the part where you totally lost it and went all crazy-powerful with your magic!" Rainbow burst in. "Man, Sparkles, I never would've guessed you were so powerful!"

"I uh—what?" Twilight stammered in response. Powerful? Lost it? She was quick to defend. "I-I never 'lost' anything!" Twilight remarked. "Mind you, I was completely in control." ...Or am now, anyway...

"You know you don't have to hide anything, Sparkles," Rainbow replied. "We all know you're lying." Twilight gave her a funny look. Who? Her and Spike?

"Spike here did just tell me the whole story, after all," she continued. "And hey, that is pretty cool if you ask me! Having so much power inside of you—!"

"It's not 'cool' Rainbow, it's dangerous. Having so much power requires many hours of studying and intense focus to keep it in check."

Rainbow faked a yawn. "Yeah yeah, but you have it under control now, right?"

"Only somewhat, but—look, why are we even discussing this?" She shook her head, standing up on all fours. With a flare of her horn, she surrounded Rainbow's figure in a light orchid aura, pulling her off the ground.

"H-hey!" the startled pegasus stammered, between small laughs. "T-this tickles! And h-hey, easy! What are you—?"

"Just be quiet for five seconds, please," Twilight answered as she lowered her back down and set her back on her hooves. "Time to go."

"Go?" Rainbow questioned, still wobbly from Twilight's latest spell. Her body began to ache just being on her hooves again. "Go where?"

Keeping a magical aura wrapped around the pegasus's body, Twilight replied, "To the hospital. How many times am I going to have to remind you?"

"A few more times wouldn't hurt," Rainbow replied jokingly, though Twilight didn't find it as funny. She simply rolled her eyes, then turned and headed for the exit, forcefully dragging the pegasus along with her.

"I did say I'd take you after I finished what needed to be finished, and I did, so..." She pointed to a staircase that led down to the main entrance. "Off we go."

Rainbow hung her head, all while struggling to stand her ground, though to no avail. Though, in a weak, quiet voice, the pegasus whined out, "But I said I don't wanna..."

And in response, Twilight tightened her magical grip around the pegasus. "And I said you don't have a choice. You're going."

Before heading down the stairs however, Twilight turned to Spike. "Watch over the place while I'm gone, Spike. I should be back soon..." she told him as she turned and began her descent down the staircase. "Hopefully..." she added in a quite grumble.

So with my chores for the day having been completed and a very unenthusiastic pegasus trailing behind, I left for the nearest hospital I could think of. I did hope she would be alright under their care, and that everything would go smoothly once she was dropped off there. As in her wounds and, whatever it was that was wrong with her head would be treated, and she would soon be able to return to... wherever she came from. More importantly, I hoped she wouldn't wreck the place during her stay and cause damage that, for whatever reason, I myself could have been found liable for. I thought that maybe I should stay by her side, and perhaps in doing so, ease her nerves a bit. After all, I was the only one she apparently knew anymore. Well, me and Spike anyway. But, I couldn't. This was just going to have to be where we said our goodbyes. Still, I would be lying if I said I wasn't interested in what became of her, or... dare I say, miss her—only a little though! And not in like, a caring way or anything... but as annoying as she was, it was strangely nice having somepony else around, besides Spike. But she had her own life to return to, as did I...

"So, Sparkles, you know that really is an amazing talent you have," Rainbow remarked, floating above the streets and pathways, still bound by Twilight's magic as she walked. "I bet you could totally do anything you wanted, with a little training that is."

Well, anything except getting her to shut up... However Twilight paid little attention to what Rainbow was saying. Her mind was focused on other matters... Oh Celestia, this is so embarrassing! Her barely going out in public was one thing, but the one time she does go out in public and it's with some strange and unfamiliar pegasus from who knows where, bound and moved about by her magic. That must've been a sight for other ponies who were out on an afternoon stroll. Twilight kept her head lowered, not wishing to meet the gaze of other questioning ponies. She assumed Rainbow felt the same way. Or not, considering the way she was chatting away.

Twilight began debating whether or not to try a shortcut. Maybe cut through some alleyways? No, that was a stupid idea. Twilight Sparkle takes mysterious bounded pegasus into dark alleyway. She could see it now. No, it was best she stuck to the path she was on... and hope nopony paid her any mind. Maybe if they didn't focus on Rainbow too much, they may even think she was a balloon of sorts! ...Oh who was she kidding? Reputation. Ruined.

"Oh hey, a dessert shop!" Twilight heard Rainbow say. She glanced over her shoulder back at Rainbow, who was now looking off in the direction of a familiar shop she'd take Spike to every once in a while. That's was Joe's shop Rainbow had pointed out. She didn't actually want to stop there, did she?

"We should totally stop by there!" Rainbow exclaimed. Of course she did. Big surprise there... "Maybe after we leave this hospital place—or no, right now! We should totally go now!"

"I don't even have any bits on me, Rainbow!"

"Okay...?" Rainbow questioned, titling her head and looking towards the unicorn in puzzlement. "But you still have money, right?"

Twilight placed her left hoof against her forehead. This mare was giving her a headache... "Bits. Are. Money." How could she forget that? But at the same time, another thought occurred to Twilight. What did she mean by going afterwards...? Rainbow does realize we'll be going our separate ways after this, doesn't she? Thinking about it, and about the kind of mare Rainbow was, Twilight realized, Oh Celestia, she doesn't...

"Uh, Rainbow..."

"Okay, so I forgot what bits were. So sue me. It's not the first thing I've forgotten today—"

Twilight raised her voice. "Rainbow!"

"Huh, wha...?" Rainbow shifted her attention towards Twilight. "You say something?"

"Well yes, er, no—I needed your attention."

"Oh... well, you got it."

Twilight decided not to beat around the bush here, that it'd be best just to come out and ask what was on her mind. So she did. "You said something about the two of us going to that shop afterwards?" Twilight paused, then repeated what she had been attempting to put emphasize on. "Us?"

"Oh, well... yeah! I mean you'll be with me during my stay at the hospital so why not afterward—"

"I won't be staying with you."

Won't be staying...? Okay, whatever that meant. Rainbow mentally shrugged, figuring she meant she'd be returning to check up on Spike or something. She assumed that's what Twilight meant. "Oh... so, you won't be there with me. I see, that's cool," she assured. "I'll just... wait for you when you get back then."

"No, no no, Rainbow, that's not what I meant."

"Oh? Then what—"

Twilight didn't bother to wait for her to finish. She had a feeling of what she was going to say anyway. "We won't be seeing one another after I drop you off..." she explained to the pegasus. "...I'll be signing you in, then leaving you in more capable hooves." She kept her gaze fixed on the road ahead of her. "This... this is where we say our goodbyes, Rainbow."

Silence ensued. Twilight awaited an answer from her or some kind of sign that she had at least heard her. Twilight thought of stopping, or perhaps talking this over with her. After all, who knew what the pegasus was feeling at this moment. Anger? Sadness? Betrayal? She was the only one who she knew anymore, Spike aside.

"Oh..." Rainbow finally said. "I see."

Well at least she decided to speak. "Uh, Rainbow..." What was she supposed to say? Yeah, Rainbow probably didn't want to be left alone with no memory—no, she knew Rainbow didn't, but even so...

Twilight shook the thought from her head. What did she care? They hardly knew each other! Why was she even remotely feeling bad about leaving her alone? She would just drop her off and then they could each go back to their own lives... hopefully.

But still... Twilight found it all easier said than done, and some part of her felt empathy for the lone pegasus.

And soon, Twilight found herself needing to say something, even if it weren't necessarily true. "Look, I... I know how you feel—"

"I seriously doubt that..." Rainbow retorted, under her breath.

"But," Twilight continued, paying no mind to Rainbow's remark, "I have my own life to return to, as do you... and..." Oh Celestia, this was difficult.

And Twilight had a feeling whatever she said wouldn't make either of them feel better... "Look, I think... I think it'd be best if we just... you know, forget about each other, and forget any of this ever happened."

"Forget...?" Rainbow's tone turned bitter, telling Twilight exactly how she felt about her proposal. She couldn't believe what she was hearing... or that Twilight would suggest such a thing. "Sparkles, how can you suggest we just forget each other?"

"Easy," she replied, "we were never meant to meet in the first place and we'll probably never see each other again, anyway... It's best everything just return to normal as soon as possible."

"Says the least normal of all of us..."

"What—?"

"Look, just... never mind. Fine fine, you're right about us. It's not like we were ever meant to meet anyway. I'd just be a burden hanging around you and Spike anyway," she mused, faking a laugh. "Best if things just... went back to the way they were, right?"

Twilight was astonished. Rainbow was actually seeing it her way... She couldn't help but feel a bit pleased; this had gone better than she had thought. "Right..." Twilight agreed.

"And we are practically strangers after all."

"Exactly." Twilight continued walking, her thoughts no longer focused on what other ponies thought of them, but on the pegasus. If Rainbow had been lying to her just now, she could have fooled her. "Good to know you're seeing it my way."

Rainbow answered back in a muffled, "yuhuh." Not exactly the response Twilight had been looking for, but it was better than nothing. Neither of them said much after that. Not until arriving at their destination anyway.

"And here we are!" Twilight announced, setting Rainbow back upon the ground for a quick moment. Rainbow looked up at the building inquisitively. A rather large rectangular, mostly white and blue building, with rows upon rows of windows, and large brightly lit letters that hung above the entrance to the building that read, 'Canterlot Health Service Hospital'.

"So this is where I'll be staying?" Rainbow asked, looking around at her surroundings. Everywhere she looked there was a tree, or bush—or some sort of plant anyway planted outside. Even potted plants of various sizes rested by the entrance, while others hung above it. "Yeesh, what's with all the plants around here?"

"Typical hospital décor I guess," Twilight answered, not giving them as much attention as Rainbow was. "And yes, this is where you'll be staying. Try not to wreck it during your stay, please."

Rainbow turned to Twilight. "You're not gonna let that go, are you?"

Twilight softly chuckled. "Come on, you," she said, resuming her walk and lifting the pegasus into the air once more as the two passed through the doorway. A few ponies looked up from what they had been doing and questionably looked at the two... the ones that were lounging about in the waiting area, anyway. A couple mares stood behind a counter on the opposite end of the room and didn't pay them any mind. After spending seconds in the building, it quickly occurred to the unicorn as to why she hated hospitals. The smells, and atmosphere... She couldn't stand it.

"Alright," she sighed, "let's get this over with."

Twilight heard Rainbow murmur a quick, "oh joy" before heading to greet the receptionist. She stopped inches before the desk, as she suddenly lost her concentration and dropped Rainbow on the ground beside her with a thud. "Ow!" Rainbow yelped in pain. "Watch it, Sparkles!"

"S-sorry!" Twilight apologized, now realizing she accidentally dropped the injured pegasus a few feet from the ground. "Sorry sorry sorry sorry! I-I lost my focus and I wasn't paying attention and..." Her voice trailed as she remembered where she was again... with other ponies eying the two of them. Oh, terrific... she mentally groaned. They weren't even here for a minute and she had already succeeded in causing a scene. Forget what she had said about her reputation having been ruined. No, oh no. Now it had been mangled, crumpled, stepped upon, torn to shreds... Well, maybe if she spent the next week or two away in the tower, ponies would eventually forget! Oh who was she fooling...? Nopony would ever forget this...

The blonde mare looked up from her counter full of cluttered paperwork, shifting a suspicious glance at the two young mares on the other side. "Can I help you?" the receptionist asked, directing the question towards Twilight.

"Oh uh, well..." Twilight gazed down at Rainbow. "Um... She needs help."

"She?" the mare asked, casually glancing over the counter. "The... pegasus?"

"Yes," Twilight answered, finding it rather hard to make eye contact and preferred to keep her head low. She kept her gaze fixed on Rainbow as she continued. "She's hurt, and uh, could really use some help."

Jeez, Sparkles...what the hay? Rainbow thought, quietly listening in on what she was saying. This wasn't the Twilight that she, despite their limited time together, had come to know. This was... some shy, nervous, socially awkward Twilight. Rainbow couldn't help but wonder if she was only like this in public.

"Uh-huh, that's great to know, kid," the female receptionist replied, sounding almost completely uninterested. "Are you going to tell me specifically how and why she needs help, or...?"

"Well—"

This is too painful to watch... "Yeah," Rainbow spoke up, deciding she'd help Twilight out a little. "I uh, accidentally smashed through this here pony's window, and ended up damaging some muscles, inuring some joints, the works," she explained, much to Twilight's surprise. "'Think I lost my memory too—no, I know I did," she added. "This here unicorn though has been more than nice enough to watch over me and even escort me here, even if the ride was a bit bumpy..."

"R-Rainbow!" Twilight stammered, easily growing steamed. She could feel her face burning up. There was no need to mention the last part, much less explain the situation herself. Twilight had everything under control. Or so she told herself. "I've got this, Rainbow..." she whispered to the pegasus.

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow questioned with a laugh. "Then what's with the nervous speech? Uhm, uh, um... She like, totally um, needs help..." Rainbow mimicked, in her stuck up Twilight impression.

Twilight froze. "T-That's not how I sound!" she shot back, triggering further snickers from the pegasus. "I never use the word 'totally' either!"

"You don't say?" Rainbow giggled. Anything to waste time... she mused, smiling to herself. She heard Twilight let out another one of her typical groans whenever she got annoyed. She gets annoyed a little too easily... Rainbow paused, correcting herself. Or whenever she's around me, I suppose...

"Cute, no really, you two are quite the pair, but now's not really the time or place to be discussing such things," the receptionist commented, having watched their tiny argument from behind the desk. Rainbow and Twilight stopped and turned to face the nurse, both finding themselves blushing. Twilight, even more furiously than before. She had a point yeah, but did she have to use the terms 'cute' or 'pair'? She made it sound like... Twilight shook this horrid thought from her head. Herself with... her? There were so many things wrong with merely the idea of it all... She was a mare, first of all. Was that even possible? A mare dating another mare? Twilight didn't know, but was quickly disgusted by the thought.

She glanced over at Rainbow from the corner of her eye, and wondered if she were wondering the same thing. If the same thoughts were going through her mind as well. Or maybe she forgot what love, or dating was too... Wouldn't have surprised her.

"Right, it's not... we're sorry," Twilight apologized, bowing her head, having turned her attention back to the matter at hand. "Look, my... uh, acquaintance here apparently doesn't remember anything about who she is or where she came from. Plus there's the injuries which she of course already mentioned." Twilight stopped for a moment, choosing her words carefully. "I was hoping I could leave her here... under your care... I can do that, right?"

"It's a hospital, miss. Does that answer your question?"

"Uh..."

"Look, here's the sign-in sheet," she said, pointing to a quill and sheet of paper, lying on the counter. "Print the patient's information and I'll handle the rest, considering you never made an appointment or anything..."

They were supposed to? "Oh uh, sorry about that..." Twilight sheepishly replied, then headed to sign Rainbow's name in. She promptly picked up the quill from the counter and began to write. She stopped however, looking over what she had written and frowning, crossed it out. Oh, what do I put...? Are you allowed to lie on these things? Do I put Rainbow even though that's not her name? Twilight fretted over these thoughts.

"Is there a problem?"

Twilight snapped from her thoughts. "No, not at all!" she assured with a nervous grin. "Just..." She glanced back at the paper. It was a complete mess. Finding a small chunk of white space that was available, she wrote down one word, along with a few other minor things that came to mind. "Rain...bow," Twilight said as she finished. "There. All set."

"Uh-huh..." the mare said, questionably looking the sheet over, having lifted it away from Twilight using her magic. The numerous ink blots and cross-outs made the paper near ineligible. Though she could make out several words, scribbled off to the side. "Alright... you two go take a seat over there," she said, pointing a hoof at the waiting area. "There will be a doctor out to greet you shortly."

Out shortly, huh? "Alright... Um, thanks," Twilight said, receiving an annoyed "mhm," in response, then turned to take a seat, encasing Rainbow's body in a magical aura and picking her up from the ground. "Alright, come on Rainbow," she said as she began walking. She trotted over to where several bench-like seats lay, lined against the walls. She carefully sat Rainbow down as she took a seat herself.

Rainbow noticed Twilight take a seat and curious, asked, "I... thought you weren't gonna stick around?"

"I'm only 'sticking around' to make sure you receive the attention and help you need," Twilight explained. "I didn't quite care for her attitude, and, I just..." She stopped, now finding herself gazing down at the tiles on the floor, biting down on her lip and feeling her body heat up again.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Freezing up again?"

"N-no!" Twilight suddenly shot back, though quickly covered her mouth with a hoof, remembering where they were. "No," she repeated, in a quieter tone. "I only want to see to it they take proper care of you—"

"So you do care about me!"

"I must certainly do not," Twilight replied. "I simply want to know you'll receive the help you need, and the sooner I know this, the sooner we can get back to our own lives."

Rainbow thought on what she said for a moment. "That's still caring, Sparkles," she replied, much to Twilight's displeasure.

"No, Rainbow, it's not," Twilight insisted.

"It so is. Face it, you care about me, Sparkles."

"Do not."

"Do too."

"Don't lie."

"I'm not lying!" Twilight snapped, causing the rainbow-maned pegasus to back off, if only a little. "I don't care about you, alright?" she went on to say in a quieter, hushed tone. Maybe that was a bit harsh... But it's not like it wasn't true. "You've been nothing but a pain since we met. You're obnoxious, ungrateful, rude, annoying..."

"Interesting story, Sparkles—"

"It's Twilight."

"Eh, whatever helps you sleep at night I guess," Rainbow said, not seeming the least bit phased by anything Twilight said. "Anyway, I know you won't admit it, but I know you care. I mean you wouldn't have done all this for me if you didn't—"

"I'm doing this to get you out of my life. What part didn't you get?"

Rainbow laughed. "The part where you were trying to get me out of your life?" If Twilight really was trying, she wasn't doing a very good job of it so far. She smirked slightly as she shifted her gaze away from the purple coated mare to what lay before her. This was as good a time as any to change the subject, she supposed. "So anyway, what do you think that mare's problem was earlier?"

Twilight looked up at Rainbow, dumbfounded. Where did that come from? One minute they were arguing, the next... Oh hey, like Twilight. So like, what was totally up with that mare just now? She repeated Rainbow's question over in her head... more or less the way she had heard it. Was this supposed to be her attempt at changing the subject? Well, she supposed anything would be better than arguing back and fourth over ridiculous matters. "Dunno," Twilight finally replied. "Hard work day, perhaps?"

"Come on, Sparkles, try harder," Rainbow said, nudging her with her right foreleg. "Try being more, eh... imaginative." Rainbow laughed. "I'd say she got dumped today or something..."

Dumped...? Twilight wondered amidst herself. "Rainbow... that doesn't make any sense. You're saying she was thrown out?"

Rainbow had to try with all her might not to burst out laughing right then and there. Though, even with a hoof stifling much of it, Rainbow couldn't stop a few rouge snickers from slipping past and grabbing Twilight's attention. Though the quiet laughter only made the unicorn all the more curious.

"No, Sparkles," Rainbow replied after a little while, "dumped means, like..." Rainbow paused, pondering on how to describe this to her. "It means... Uhm, oh!" Then it hit her. "When you decide to quit being friends with a certain pony," Rainbow explained. "Or like, say you're in a relationship and your partner breaks up with you. You've been dumped."

Twilight couldn't believe what the pegasus had told her. Not the meaning, no; rather, the fact Rainbow actually knew something she didn't! And what surprised her more was her apparent knowledge on... romance? Oh sure, she forgets who she is was, what a tower was—even what a hospital was! But couldn't forget facts on dating and romance...

Unbelievable... Twilight mused. This thought had passed through her head and now it was passing through again. But she was definitely no ordinary pegasus...

"Oh, I knew that..." Twilight said innocently in response. She wasn't about to let Rainbow believe there was something she didn't know.

She really needs to get out more... Rainbow thought, holding back a grin. "Oh, sure you did," she replied in a sarcastic tone, further annoying the mare. "But anyway, I'm certain that's what it was! You heard what she said about us! You, me, cute together—"

"Rainbow, please!" Twilight said, growing increasingly flustered. "Look, many Canterlot ponies are like that. Her behavior had nothing to do with what you're suggesting—"

"What?" Rainbow replied, oblivious to what Twilight told her and instead finding this to be a perfect opportunity to mess with the unicorn. "You know we look perfect together, Dear," Rainbow jokingly said, leaning and placing her head against Twilight's left shoulder.

Twilight however, didn't find it as humorous. She quickly scooched her away, giving herself just enough room to move her foreleg, then slapped the pegasus lightly upside the back of her head.

Rainbow returned to her own spot, once again sitting upright and rubbing the back of her head. The slap itself? It hardly hurt. But the fact that it was Twilight that did so, did hurt. Terribly so. "Sparkles—?"

"Next time it'll be the horn," Twilight threatened, her tone growing more serious. "Don't ever joke about something like that."

She wasn't kidding either; Rainbow could tell simply by the tone in her voice, no matter how quiet it was. She was serious about this.

Still... she had only meant it as a joke. To her, there had been no need to have gotten so worked up over it... "Look," Rainbow began, "I, uh..."

"It's called saying you're sorry," Twilight interjected. "If you were even planning an apology, that is."

"An apology...?"

Great, did she forget what those were too? "What? Did you forget how to apologize as well?"

"Huh? No, no... It's just..." Rainbow's voice drifted off as she began thinking. Something about all this seemed vaguely familiar... It wasn't until Twilight spoke up again that Rainbow was snapped from her sudden thoughts.

"Hello?" Twilight spoke, waving a hoof before Rainbow's eyes. "Just what?"

"Oh uh... Look, just... never mind," she told Twilight. "Sorry, alright?" She huffed, turning opposite of the mare and resting her chin against an armrest attached to the end of the seat.

Well at least she apologized... "Uh-huh..." Twilight murmured, not wishing to say anything else. She folded her forelegs as she slouched further down in her seat. Neither of them had decided to speak after that. Rainbow remained sprawled out on her seat, using the armrest as an apparent pillow. Twilight however, continued to sit in such a fashion for minutes to come. She gazed up at the clock. For minutes it seemed, watching time tick by. More minutes passed as she stared at the clock. There had to be something around here to keep herself occupied. Twilight's eyes began wondering around the room in absolute boredom. The same ponies from before sat around, the same mare behind the counter—had she even done so much as to call somepony? Doctor stallions passed through the lobby every now and then, not paying her or Rainbow any attention. Twilight soon fell under the suspicion the two of them had been forgotten about. Agh! she mentally screamed. This is unbearable!

She turned her head to her left, looking to see if Rainbow was feeling the same way. Come to think of it, Rainbow had been pretty quiet ever since she muttered her apology. And soon, Twilight knew why. The mare had fallen asleep on her, much to Twilight's surprise. She watched the pegasus as she lay, completely exhausted it seemed, softly snoring and leaving a small trail of saliva where her mouth lay. Disgusting yes... but she couldn't have looked more innocent. Almost like when she had first laid eyes on her back in the tower. All her anger and annoyances with the pegasus seemed to have vanished once more. Great, she thought, what did I do...? Even if it were true they would never see each other again... Even if it was... kinda true that she wanted the pegasus out of her life; she didn't want the two to leave on a bad note...

Still, as much as Twilight may have wanted to, she couldn't just wake her up. No, she would have to wait for Rainbow to come around. But Celestia only knew how long that would take... Never minding that, how long would it even take for someone to get around to helping them? Rainbow had the right idea: sleep through the wait. Maybe she'd do that as well... Better than sitting around, staring at the clock, I suppose... she surmised as she closed her eyes and rested her head against the wall behind them. And before she knew it, had drifted off into a deep slumber...

"Twilight?"

Did... did somepony just call my name? At first she paid no mind to it, passing it off as her imagination. But then it grew louder, snapping her out of her dream-like state. "Twilight!" Her eyes groggily opened, soon discovering she was unable to see anything but blue before her, and muttered a tired, "What?" back at the voice. She still couldn't see how, or where even, the voice was coming from. Was it Rainbow talking? No, no that couldn't be right. She would have never addressed her as 'Twilight'. Instead she would have gone with the Sparkles nickname like every other time she addressed her. Besides, this voice sounded different...though oddly familiar.

"Are you alright?" the voice asked.

"Mm... who is this?" Twilight tiredly muttered back in response.

The voice remained quiet for a few moments before answering, "Uh, Twilight... It's Spike."

Her eyes widened. "Spike?" She couldn't believe it. "Why aren't you... Why are you here at the hospital? Did something happen while I was out?"

Spike stared at the unicorn as if she were crazy. What was she going on about now? "You never left, Twilight," he explained. "And what do you mean hospital? Twilight, open your eyes, look around... this is our home."

Home...? Was it true? Not wasting any time, she titled her head up from the ground and took a look around. The interior, furniture, books...it was the Ivory Tower all right. Spike was right. "Impossible..." she muttered. One minute she had decided to take a small nap, and the next, she was back in the tower. But How? She turned to Spike. "What am I doing back here?"

"I already told you. You never left," Spike answered, becoming worried for her. "What's gotten into you?"

"What's gotten into me? What's gotten into you?" Twilight retorted, finding herself unable to make sense out of all this. How could he say she never left? What? Had he somehow lost his memory too? Did he forget Rainbow too—? Then she remembered. "Oh Celestia, Rainbow!"

"Uh..." Spike cocked his head. "Rainbow?"

"Light blue pegasus, rainbow mane, around my height and size, loud, obnoxious..." She noticed Spike didn't seem to be following her. "She fell from the sky! She ended up crashing through here! You even told her my exam story! How can you not remember that?"

"Twilight... there is no 'rainbow' pegasus."

"Of course there is!" Twilight insisted. "She forgot who she was, a-and where she came from! She lounged around here without a care in the world, and even insisted on staying too—"

"You fell asleep, Twilight," Spike explained as Twilight gave a baffled, "huh?" in response.

"What... what are you talking about, Spike?"

"I went and opened some windows like you asked, but when I came back, I noticed you had fallen asleep by the window here," he said, holding a claw out towards the large window, which Twilight remembered Rainbow smashing through. Though now she wasn't so sure... Oddly enough, the window was completely repaired, without a single crack. No magic barrier surrounding it... as if Rainbow had never crashed through it.

"I fell asleep...?" she wondered aloud. "N-no..." If she had fallen asleep, that meant... "No no no no no no no no no, no!" she suddenly shouted. This was not... That couldn't have been... Rainbow existed! She wasn't merely a dream like Spike was suggesting! She had talked with her! Touched her, felt her... and on a lesser note, sneezed on her... How was it possible that she had imagined all that? "Where is she, Spike?"

Spike was surprised by Twilight's sudden question. "She?"

"The pegasus—er, Rainbow!"

"I've told you a a million times, Twilight, she doesn't exist. A pegasus never came crashing through here, okay?"

"No Spike, it's not okay!" Twilight fretted. She had to exist! No, what was she thinking? She did exist! She never even got to say goodbye, or at the very least, leave on a good note with her. She had to find her. But where would she even look? The tower? No, if she was in the tower, Spike wouldn't have denied her existence. Or maybe Rainbow was awaiting her in another room, unbeknownst to him? No, that was stupid! Why would she even be 'awaiting' her? She said herself after she left the hospital, that was it. No more seeing one another. So why would Rainbow stop by to see her again? Maybe Rainbow was feeling how she felt now? Like she had unfinished business with the mare? No, what was she thinking? The pegasus would still be too weak to move a feather, much less fly, or walk for that matter.

Then it dawned on her. It all started making sense again! Rainbow finally received treatment at the hospital, while herself, still asleep, must have been brought back to the tower... somehow. How she wound up in front of the window or why Spike was pretending to have never heard of Rainbow before were still a mystery to her, but insignificant nevertheless. If anything this whole act was the result of some joke Rainbow had taught him. She knew Rainbow was still at the hospital, and that's where she was headed. "I'll be down at the hospital, Spike," she said, leaving her thoughts behind and turning for the exit.

"No, Twilight," Spike spoke up, stopping the young mare in her tracks. "Please, what you need now is rest." She clearly wasn't well, and the last thing she needed was to be running about town, looking for some imaginary pegasus. "You just had a bad dream—"

"I wasn't asleep!" Twilight hastily shouted back, and before Spike could say another word, angrily stormed out of the room. She wasn't. That didn't make any sense. Why would she have just fallen asleep after sending Spike away and tossing out that scroll? She never even felt tired earlier, not once! So why would she...? No, it was made clear; she had been brought back to the tower after falling asleep in the lobby with Rainbow. Still, it puzzled her as to how the doctors and staff knew where exactly she lived. Sure they may have had her on file, but... Did Rainbow drop her off? This thought passed through her mind, but unlike others, it stuck. It made sense! If Rainbow had received treatment and healed...really really really quickly, maybe the pegasus had decided to fly her home? Even perhaps told Spike to act as if she never existed? After all, she had told Rainbow she wanted her out of her life. Yeah, it was starting to become clear... sorta. That's what had happened.

Though she'd never admit, it really made little to no sense at all. The idea of any pony healing in a matter of hours was ridiculous. But some of it still made sense, and that was good enough for Twilight. Especially considering the current situation...

She reached the end of the stairs in a matter of seconds it seemed, and with a flare of her horn, opened the door to the rest of Canterlot. She shivered stepping out into the night as she began to tread down the outer spiral stairwell and down the same path as before. Why is it so cold out? she wondered. Despite being late at night, it unusually cold out for a summer night. She glanced up at the sky. Cloudy too... she mused. Shuddering off the cold, she carried on, her thoughts focusing on one thing: seeing Rainbow again.

Twilight couldn't help but notice how bare the streets were, compared to earlier when she humiliated herself carrying the injured mare through the streets. But considering the time of day and the current weather, it made sense ponies wouldn't be out and about. Well, all ponies except for odd, obsessive Twilight, wandering the streets of Canterlot in the midst of night, only to say her goodbyes to some stranger, and prove she was right about her not being just a figment of her imagination.

Time flew by as she walked, having been preoccupied by these thoughts, and she now found herself standing before her destination. But something about it seemed... off. Way off... "No," she muttered, "don't tell me..." The building had been partially wrecked, more than likely the result of an explosion of sorts. The building remained dark, and, oddly enough, the place appeared deserted. "She didn't..." Twilight ran over to the entrance, and banged a hoof against the glass. "Hey!" she yelled, to no avail. There had to be somepony around who could explain to what in Equestria was going on. Somepony who had witnessed what had happened. But whatever it had been, please don't let it be because of... "Hey!" she hollered once more into the building. "Hello? Anypony?" No reply. This wasn't happening. Twilight backed down off the door, stomping a hoof into the dirt. "Agh!" she cried out as a single drop of rain splashed down onto her muzzle. How could she let this happen...? Rainbow destroyed it. Rainbow somehow destroyed it, and she was to blame. She! Celestia's prized pupil. Just another mare who spent her days undergoing studies in the tower which Celestia had granted her and Spike residence. A mare who never got in anypony's way or caused any trouble, was now responsible for... that.

She glanced towards the building once more, not expecting anything new... just taking once last glimpse at what she had caused... But what she did see, nearly caused her to jump out of her skin. She watched as a pony's shadow crept out along the wall of one of the hallways, and worked its way into the lobby. No, it wasn't just any pony! The shadow had wings... Rainbow? Twilight wondered, watching the shadow's movement. Who was she kidding? It had to be! "Rainbow!" she yelled, hoping to grab the pegasus's attention. "It's me, Twilight Spar..." she stopped, as she felt her eyelids rapidly growing heavier. Her vision blurred as she could feel herself becoming light-headed. "Kle..." she nearly finished, as she hit the ground. The last thing she caught sight of was a blue figure walking out from the hallway in which the shadow had first emerged from. Her eyes drifted shut, as she promptly fell asleep in the midst of an oncoming storm...

Twilight's eyes blinked open. Her mind was still fuzzy from earlier. I—went looking for someone... She... had gone to find... somepony, right? A pony... it had been a pony I was searching for... Her face was burning and her coat was drenched to the core. Not to mention the floor around her had become completely soaked... Wait, floor? Hadn't she been outside? The pitter-patter of rain sounded from outside, along with the occasional burst of thunder. She had been outside... right? All these questions continuously raced through her head. Why was she having trouble remembering? Where in Equestria was she, anyway? She steadily lifted herself off the ground, forelegs shaking and head pounding. She gripped her head as she stopped to gain her composure. She took a look around. She was in some sort of achieves room, or something... Shelves of books were lined up against every wall. Was this... her home? She turned and gazed out the window. Heavy rain pounded against the window, making the view outside near impossible to make out.

"Where am I?"

"You don't remember?" an... eerily familiar voice spoke to her from behind where she stood. She laughed, "That's funny, you forget just as I remember." The unicorn spun looking, searching for the source of the voice. "Over here," the voice spoke up again. Twilight turned and surely enough, another pony sat beside her, staring aimlessly out the window. A pegasus... Cerulean coat, rainbow mane, cerise eyes... She was— Twilight grunted as she felt a sudden pain. She placed both her hooves over her head as the pegasus watched the mare from the corner of her eye. "Hurts to remember, doesn't it?"

"To... remember?" Twilight questioned the rainbow-maned pegasus. What was she talking about? "Who... who are you?"

She laughed again, shaking her head side to side. "That hurts, Sparkles," she said jokingly, pretending to wipe a tear from her eye. "How could you forget me?"

The window cracked.

"I forgot you...?" What was going on? Who was she? Did she live here? Did she know her somehow? "Just tell me... Who are you...? A-and where am I?"

"Why does your head hurt so much, Sparkles?"

"My... head?" Twilight looked at her funny. What did that have to do with who she was or what happened? What did that have to do with anything?

"Here," the pegasus shifted closer, taking hold of her shoulders and urging Twilight to face the window. "You can see your reflection right?" she asked, as the two mares now stared at their reflections. Twilight nodded. "Can you see what's wrong?"

Twilight squinted. There didn't appear to be anything wrong with her, other than a rather flushed complexion and soaking wet fur. "I don't see anything..."

"Well duh, that's because your mane is in the way," the pegasus pointed out, brushing her mane upwards so it revealed her horn. "Now tell me."

More cracks formed.

"It's..."

"Broken. Duh." The pegasus brushed her mane down, covering up the shattered remains of her horn.

"But I-I don't understand! How did it—?"

"I remember why I ran away, you know," she said, ignoring Twilight's questions. "I remember now."

"You... remember?" Twilight shifted a glance at her. Ran away? "Remember... what? What does that have to do with this?"

"You really don't remember..."

The window broke open as the storm began pouring into the room.

"You don't remember anything, do you?" The pegasus's voice rose. "You have no idea where we are, what happened earlier... who I am... who you are!" Rainwater drenched the already soaking wet unicorn as she sat there. She didn't know what to say anymore, how to act... "Just forget it, Sparkles!" she shouted as a gust of wind shot into the room, knocking over a bookcase and sending it tumbling into the ground. Loose papers and scrolls were flung across the room. "Sure wish you had wings right about now, huh?"

Wings—?

"Catch ya later, Sparkles," she said, extending her wings and zooming past in a blur, into the sky. Before she could even react herself, was tossed out into the night sky. Her view of the tower became smaller as she now drifted helplessly in the storm. She wriggled about aimlessly, clutching onto empty batches of air, desperate to stop her fall. But she couldn't. There was nothing she could do. She was falling. Falling... And without thinking, she did what anypony would have done. She screamed. Screamed out for help. For someone to swoop down and save her. The chance of that happening was slim, but hey, maybe that pegasus would come back? It's not like she would just let her fall...

Her mind lingered on that thought, right until her body hit the ground.

But... miraculously, she didn't die.

The mare opened her eyes. She was lying on a floor... though it was impossible to tell where she was. Blue and grey-checkered flooring, cloud-like walls and columns lined against the walls... She shook her head as she sat up. A sudden pain struck her body however, causing her to lie back down. In her forelegs and hind legs, head, back... her body ached. She plopped her head down on its side, resting it upon one of her forelegs.

"Oh, you're awake?"

"Huh?" She looked up to see a pegasus lying at the end of a nearby bed, overlooking her. Her forelegs dangled over the edge as she curiously stared at her 'guest'. "Uh yeah... I guess—"

"You know that was completely uncool what you did," the pegasus went on to say, almost cutting her off before she got the chance to finish.

"What I... what I did?"

The pegasus hit her hoof against her forehead. "Look up," she instructed, pointing directly above the mare. "See what you did?"

She did as the pegasus instructed from were she lay—barely tilting her head upwards, but was confused as to what she was supposed to be looking at. A ceiling of... clouds? Large, white, cumulus clouds. The only thing that stuck out to her was an inwards gaping hole that lay between some of the clouds. Sunlight poured in, bathing her in a bright, warming light and lighting up the area around her. "I don't get it..." she replied, bringing her gaze back towards the pegasus. "What did I do?"

She was kidding, right? How naive could one pony be? "See that hole?"

"Yeah—?"

"You caused it," the pegasus explained. She waited for some kind of response from the mare. But nothing came. The pony instead kept staring up at the ceiling, wondering how that was possible. If that were true, that would have meant that she fell from the sky. But she didn't have wings, or... any way of becoming airborne! So how then did she...?

"You're probably wondering how you, an earth pony, ended up falling from so high up, right?" She didn't give an answer. "Well... I'm not sure myself, but I do know your little stunt created a large hole in my bedroom. Gonna have to waste some time fixing that, thanks to you."

The pegasus sighed, shaking her head and rolled onto her back, resting her eyes on the floating clouds above. "A hornless, wingless pony... what are the chances?" she asked herself, quietly laughing under her breath. "So," she continued, "what's your name?"

"My name...?"

"Yeah, y'know... name. What other ponies call you. Oh and while we're at it, why not tell me where you're from, and what happened to you?"

What other ponies call me... What other ponies called her. Where she was from. What happened to her... She was supposed to know these things... right? Then how come... "I don't remember..." she whispered under her breath.

"Don't tell me you can't remember. Come on... think!"

Her head hurt too much at the moment to think. "I can't..."

"You really expect me to believe that, eh? Alright..." she said, lifting herself off the bed and into the air with her wings. She flew over to a nearby wall and suddenly sent one of her hooves crashing into one of the clouds. The house shook. "Until you can remember," the pegasus said, "find another pony to waste their time."

The once solid ground started to tear apart, turning to mush under her hooves. "What are you...? H-how can you say that?!" the purple mare yelled, over the noise of the crumbling room. "I'm hurt, I... I can't remember!" she now sputtered, as she could feel her body slipping. The floors had been reduced to mere clouds, and now she was slipping right through. She didn't understand any of this. Why couldn't she remember? She shut her eyes and clenched her teeth, feeling anger build up inside her until she finally yelled, "What is going on?!"

"Don't worry, you fell from the sky once and lived; I'm sure a second time won't hurt ya."

"What—?" She was too busy struggling to stay on solid ground to have noticed the pegasus was no longer in the same space as her. She vanished, as if with the wind. Her forelegs dropped through the clouds, dragging her body down with them. She scrambled to grab onto anything, anything she could hold onto. Something to stop her from falling. But, there wasn't. Sections of the floor fell through the clouds, leaving the mare running out of options. Her body was urging her to let go, despite her mind screaming not to. The last piece of flooring that held her hooves gave way, and... she fell.

But she never touched the ground...

She nervously peeked an eye open. She was back in the tower again... or so she thought. She was overlooking it anyway. Wait... the tower? She could remember it! The Ivory Tower... in Canterlot, where she and Spike resided; it was all coming back! But why did her body feel so stiff...? No... never mind that. Why couldn't she move?

"Twilight... when did you become so soft?"

She heard a voice say. It spoke from below her, though she couldn't see who was talking. Her eyes couldn't move, no, she could only see straight ahead.

"Why do you care... about her?" Was the voice talking to her? "She's a stranger... a nuisance... Why are you becoming so attached?"

Was she talking about Rainbow? Suddenly the voice screamed out in fright. And then she felt it. Something pierced her. And she was falling again... Piece by piece she hit the ground... stepped upon by purple hooves. No, her pieces were being swept together. She was being rebuilt... but to no avail. Every sweep scratched her, causing more cracks to form. The pieces split, shattering into millions of tiny, little bits...

"Sparkles..."

Twilight's nose wrinkled.

"Hey, Sparkles..." Twilight's eyes groggily opened as she saw a rainbow streak lazily flicking across her face. Whatever it was, it was soft... and scratchy, and ticklish. She brushed it it off her nose, muttering a confused and drawn out, "what...?" in response. Her whole body was burning and the surface around her head felt completely drenched in sweat. Not to mention her body. Whatever her head was lying on was soft, and warm, almost like...

"Enjoying my flank?"

Her... what? Twilight rolled over onto her stomach, and gazed down on what she had been lying on. Blue fur, damp, rainbow-colored lightning bolt— Her head bolted away, realizing she had indeed been lying on her flank.

"Good to see you're finally awake."

"Awake?" Awake... Twilight glanced around. She was still in the hospital, resting in the same spot as before. Only difference was the room was a bit darker than before, and many of the ponies—no, all of the ponies minus her and Rainbow had left. The one mare from earlier wasn't at her post; Twilight took quick notice of this. Doctors and nurses still filed in and out of the room however, same as before.

"Yes, Sparkles. Awake. You were asleep," Rainbow explained. "Dunno when you fell asleep though, since well, I was asleep. But when I did wake up, imagine my surprise when I find you, fast asleep, and using my flank as a pillow." Rainbow grinned, looking down upon her flank. "Slobbered on it, sweated all over it... and we're not even dating yet."

Same old Rainbow. Twilight turned to face Rainbow, every bit of her still very weary. "I said if you made another joke about that you'd get the horn..."

"Aw what? Even after allowing you to sleep against me?"

So that was Rainbow's reason as to why she shouldn't... harmlessly give her one little poke? Twilight softly smiled at the mare. "Which is why I'll let it slide... Thanks."

"You know you talk a lot in your sleep..." Rainbow said after a few moments of silence, perking Twilight's attention.

She heard me talking? Twilight thought, now worried over what embarrassing things Rainbow could possibly have heard her say. "What... what exactly did you hear?"

"Eh, mostly a bunch of 'nos' and 'whats'..." Rainbow stopped, placing a hoof under her chin. "Actually, now that I think about it, you also mentioned something about missing me? Or that you couldn't find me? Huh, I forget..."

Twilight didn't answer back. She had said those things aloud... and Rainbow had heard her. Heard her muttering lines from her dreams. Stuff about her especially. About missing her, and wanting to find her, and... Celestia only knows what else. Great... Twilight mused, letting out a quiet groan.

Rainbow giggled at Twilight's response as she slowly sat up, carefully stretching out her limbs having been curled up in the same position for... at least a good hour or so and having one sweaty Twilight Sparkle sleeping on her rear. She glanced up at the clock, then into a nearby hall. "I uh, think my turn's coming up," she said to Twilight. "Some doctor-stallion guy notified me earlier," she went on to explain. She figured Twilight may have been a little happy to hear that news. But for some reason, Twilight wasn't.

She couldn't be leaving already... It was too soon. No, what was she thinking? She should be glad the pegasus was finally leaving! That's what she wanted! This was for the best she had told herself. But still... She wasn't even sure whether she wanted the pegasus out of her life or not anymore. Part of her said yes. That she was just some annoyance whom she was never meant to meet and should be forgotten about. There was a tiny part of her however, that disagreed and that said she was something else. Something more than what her other half perceived.

For whatever reason, Twilight soon found herself listening to the latter voice.

"Well its been fun, I guess—"

"Rainbow, wait!" Twilight interjected, cuing an inquiring look from the mare. Twilight bit her lip, lowering her head and letting her bangs cover her eyes. She could feel her body growing warmer again. This wasn't going to be easy... "Uhm..."

"Hm? What is it?"

She scooched closer to the rainbow-maned mare, awkwardly extending a foreleg around her shoulder.

Rainbow backed away a bit, a little freaked by her sudden action. "Sparkles... what are you—?"

"Shut up you stupid mare. This... this isn't easy for me," Twilight said, setting her other hoof on the mare's foreleg. Oh what did the book say again...? A hug is usually initiated by holding out one's forelegs and waiting for the other pony's response. Right, she was doing that much correctly... sort of. Always respect another pony's space. Check. Ask permission before hugging somepony, unless you are already on intimate terms with the pony. "You're okay with hugs, right?"

"Uh..." What kind of question was that? Was that what Twilight was attempting to do? Hug her? "Well, um... sure, I guess."

Check. Next up. Hug accordingly. Remember, there is a difference between a friendly hug and a passionate embrace. A hug between romantic partners is much different than a hug between two ponies who have just met. So make it friendly, Twilight... she told herself, moving both of her forelegs around the mare's body and gently wrapping both around the pegasus's back, being careful to avoid the wings. Twilight soon found herself lying her head upon the mare's shoulder as well, her mane rubbing into Rainbow's fur. Yeah, definitely not something she ever imagined herself doing...

"You've been a huge, unbelievable pain... but I think I kind of understand what you're going through..." Twilight murmured into the mare's fur. "I get it, and I'm sorry for saying, anything that could be considered hurtful to you."

Rainbow remained silent, allowing Twilight to continue. "I'm not sure if I really do want you out of my life anymore, although I still think it'd be for the best..." Twilight continued. "But, if and when things return to normal for you, if you ever wanted to stop by... Spike and I wouldn't mind the company all that much."

"Twilight..." Rainbow whispered, neither of them realizing she had just used her actual name. "Uh, well thanks, I-I guess."

Twilight stifled a sudden tear. Where did that come from? Why was she getting so worked up all of a sudden? She was merely giving her a goodbye hug and making things right between the two. The hug was already lasting longer than the book said a hug should last. Her instincts told her to pull away, but... Rainbow's coat; she found it be so soft and warming, and would have liked nothing more than to lay nestled in the pegasus's embrace for a while longer. So she did. Twilight hoped Rainbow wouldn't mind.

"You get this emotional around all the girls?" the pegasus joked, which Twilight responded to by lightly jabbing the mare in the shoulder with her horn. Rainbow stifled the urge to yelp.

"I warned you not to joke like that..."

"Alright... alright, I suppose I deserved that. Sorry." She felt Twilight nod into her fur. Soon she felt Twilight's grip around her tighten as well. "Uh, Sparkles... This is beginning to hurt a little." Quickly the pain built up and soon it became too much for the young pegasus. "Twilight!"

The unicorn's eyes blinked open as she heard Rainbow's voice call her name. She quickly lessened her hold on the pegasus, allowing her forelegs to fall to her side. "I-I'm sorry, Rainbow... I don't know what came over me."

Rainbow held a hoof over her back, simply waiting for the pain to subside. "No more hugs for today, alright?" she finally said, followed by a small laugh. "Body hurts too much, you know?"

Twilight blushed, placing both of her forelegs behind her back. That wasn't like her. Was it the dreams that brought that on just now? Had they really affected her in such a way? "Yeah... I-I know," she replied.

A small ding noise sounded throughout the near-empty lobby. "I thinks that means—"

"—that you have to go," Twilight finished. "I get it..." She watched as a stallion entered the lobby, pushing a wheel chair with magic of his own. She assumed he was here for Rainbow. So, this was it then. It had all gone by so fast...

"You're going to be alright, alone here... right?"

"Yeah, just fine. Don't you worry your pretty little head," Rainbow said, playfully patting Twilight on the head.

Twilight shook her hoof away. "Rainbow, please. Don't—" Though before she could say anymore, found herself being cut-off by the stallion.

"Miss... Rainbow? It's time to go."

"Right... I hear ya, Doc," Rainbow replied as she began to stand... only to fall back on her haunches. "Just like before, huh Sparkles?" she joked, turning to her and asking, "Mind lending me a hoof here?"

Twilight sighed, then lit her horn as she encased the mare's body in the ever familiar orchid aura and lifted the pegasus into the air and gently into the chair. "Is that all?" she asked. "Don't need me to take you for a walk, or rub your belly?"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Oh, am I your pet now or something?" she surmised. Twilight giggled in response, though quickly stifled it with her hoof.

"Maybe," Twilight replied. "Although you are a bit disobedient..."

Since when did she develop a sense of wit? "Funny, Sparkles," Rainbow said, lying back in the chair. "Well anyway, maybe some other time... not really the place or time, huh?"

"Yeah," Twilight agreed, "some other time then."

Rainbow nodded and soon she was turned away from Twilight and being wheeled away. Before leaving however, as if she forgot something important, Rainbow turned and looked over her seat, back at the mare. "Oh, and Sparkles! Think you could say goodbye to Spike for me?"

Spike...? "Oh um... sure thing!" Twilight assured her, making a mental note to do that later. "Well, try and get better soon. I'll be seeing—" Twilight paused mid-sentence with her goodbye. "—you..." She looked around, having been paying little attention while talking. Rainbow had disappeared from sight.

"Bye..." she muttered under her breath.

Twilight sighed, finding herself all alone once again. She was gone. Gone... Her eyes gazed around the room. There was no point in her hanging out here anymore. She had overstayed anyway. Thinking back, she had told Spike she wouldn't be long...

So I left... and headed back to the tower under the setting sun. I found that I was having more than a tough enough time removing Rainbow from my thoughts. The journey home went by like nothing, and before I knew it, I found myself standing before the tower's entrance. Back to life as usual I thought. I began my ascent up the stairs as my thoughts kept lingering on the prismatic mare. I couldn't tell you how many times I stopped and thought of perhaps going back to check up on her. Actually... eighty seven times. In other words, the number of stairs in the staircase. With every step I took, I stopped and debated this. But I kept going, until at last I reached the study. Everything was the way I had left it before leaving. Everything neat and orderly, floors barren and window pieced together by bits of magic. The only thing missing from the scene was Spike, though I assumed he was off working in a different area of the tower or in our room keeping himself occupied somehow. I'd check on him later; first I had to decide what to do. Normally, if my chores were finished and there was nothing more to do, I'd resume my studying. But today had been anything but normal. I don't think I could've concentrated anyway; my mind was still too focused on her...

I found myself pacing around the room, up and down the stairwell, and into every room I could find: the kitchen, dining room, den, bedroom—even the spare bedrooms... Desperate to find something to distract my mind from thoughts of her. But it was hopeless. She was the only thing on my mind... As I had assumed, Spike had settled down in our room and was rather surprised to see me come in. We talked for a bit, and I delivered Rainbow's message as promised.

Then, as I was lying on my bed, bored out of my mind and wishing that perhaps another pegasus would come crashing through my window... Spike suggested I try writing about all this. That way I'd be doing something productive that still involved her, and that it might help clear my mind in the process.

That... that actually isn't a bad idea. Twilight leaned up from her star-covered bedspread, giving the idea of writing about her experience some more thought. Writing about her day, about the pegasus, and her dreams! But would she keep this letter to herself...? She almost wanted to share this with somepony... To let others know what she went through today. Somepony who she could talk to about all this...

"You know, maybe the princess would be interested in your letter..." Spike suggested. A light bulb went off inside the young mare's head. "She is your teacher, after all—"

"I'll be right back, Spike!" Twilight exclaimed, leaping from her bed and darting out the room. That was brilliant! Tell the princess! Why hadn't she thought of that? She skidded to a stop, having reached her study and ran over to her work desk on the far side of the room. Stifling the urge to grin, she grabbed a fresh scroll and quill pen and began to write.

Dear Princess Celestia—

Twilight paused, thinking over what to write next. This was her teacher she was writing to. She shouldn't make it too personal, but it's not like it was an assignment or anything. No, never mind that. How was she even supposed to begin this thing? She slouched her body further against her desk as her head rested against one of her hooves. She wasn't exactly used to writing letters. Only essays, reports, analytic briefs... It's just a letter, Twilight... she assured herself, hoping to calm her nerves. Just be honest. Explain what happened, the events, how I felt...

She took a deep breath, and began to write again.

I met a pegasus today.

The only problem with that was how we met.

One moment I was going about my usual business in my study, the next, she crashes through my window... the day after our nine-hundred and ninety-ninth Summer Sun Celebration.

Lucky for her it wasn't the day during.

Stubborn pegasus. I refused to believe she was fine. Eventually, I got her to go, though honestly, I was indifferent as to whether she went or not. I suppose I never did care much for the company of others, but the fact remained I couldn't just leave her there, injured on my floor. No, she needed help, and had a home to return to.

And... if anything, she most likely would have distracted me from my studies.

Twilight stopped again, looking over what she had jotted down. Sure she was being honest, but... She couldn't help but feel the letter made her sound... a bit cruel. Oh how she hoped Celestia wouldn't think badly of her...

She paused as a sudden thump sounded in the distance. Her head glanced up from the paper before her as she looked around, searching for the source of the noise. "What was...?" It had come from within the tower... somewhere. But it couldn't have come from the room she was in, no... Twilight set down her quill as she went to investigate.

Room after room, nothing. She stopped by her and Spike's bedroom. "Spike...?" Twilight called into the room, now standing at the entrance. Was it him who had caused that noise? Or if anything, he may have had some sort of clue as to what did cause it.

"Oh, Twilight?" Spike turned to see her by the entrance. "Back already?"

"No, not exactly," she replied, not focusing on Spike too much but rather where the source of the sound came from. Nothing seemed broken or out of place. "Uh you didn't hear a loud thump-like noise just now, did you?"

Spike thought about it, then answered, "Well I think I heard something, though I wasn't really paying attention to it... It sounded pretty far away though, like it came from outside or something. Maybe upstairs, on the balcony—?" he suggested.

And before he knew it, the unicorn had vanished with the wind as she resumed her search, having been given an idea as to where to search next.

The balcony, of course! Twilight thought as she trotted out and up the stairs. The one place she had yet to check, and it did lead outside... In no time she reached the archway, sunlight pouring in and almost blinding the mare as she approached it. Though she was able to make out something which stood out to her. Something that looked... almost like the silhouette of a pony standing outside. It wasn't... It couldn't be... Rainbow?! Was she dreaming again?

No, she was certain this wasn't another dream. Rainbow stood outside, though appeared different than before. She wore hospital garb over her body and had multiple white bandages wrapped around her forelegs and hind legs, forehead, wings... Did she already check out? No, that didn't make sense... it had only been a couple of hours...

"Sparkles...?" Rainbow questioned, now noticing the purple unicorn standing a few feet away. At least she thought it was Twilight. All she could see was a blurred purple blob before her. She grasped her head, "I feel dizzy... I gotta... gonna to—" Her eyes rolled upwards as her forelegs wobbled and began to fall.

"Rainbow!" Twilight cried out. She didn't waste any time thinking about what to do next. Twilight galloped over to her position, and nearly caught the mare in her hooves before she hit the ground. That had been a little too close...

And now she simply sat there with a heavily-injured pegasus in her hooves, outside against the setting sun; now with a mindful of questions. Most importantly, what was she even doing here? It was clear she had received some treatment, but... Why wasn't she still there? How did she even get here on her own? She ran a hoof through her shaggy mane, which then proceeded to travel down her back. She repeated this motion a few times, hoping it would help... somehow. The pegasus's breathing had deepened and Twilight could feel her heart practically beating out of her chest. She didn't come here on her own, did she?

Twilight let out a deep breath as she adjusted herself off the ground until she was sitting upright, keeping the pegasus in her forelegs. "I got you..." Twilight assured her.

Rainbow barely shifted a glance up at Twilight, wearily replying, "You know you didn't have to do that... It's not like another fall would have hurt, or anything."

Twilight rolled her eyes, shifting a small smile down at the pegasus. "I know I didn't," she replied. "I guess my body just... acted on its own."

Rainbow chuckled softly. "I guess both of ours did."

"...Why are you here?" Twilight decided to ask after several long moments in silence. "I see you received some treatment, but..."

"Because, Sparkles," Rainbow began, "I couldn't stand it there! Ponies constantly asking me things I didn't know, running a bunch of tests on me, making me lie in bed, but above all that, it was just... so boring!"

So basically what every patient experiences during their stay at a hospital... Twilight mentally shook her head at the thought.

"So the second I got the chance, I snuck my way out and flew back here," Rainbow explained, though not without leaving Twilight with a multitude of questions. For starters, how did she even manage to fly?

"Man, am I tired..." Rainbow spoke up, disrupting Twilight's train of thoughts. "Any chance of you perhaps, allowing me to stay the night?"

Stay... the night? That actually... doesn't sound half bad— No, what am I thinking? "You need to go back! Celestia only knows what kind of trouble you've caused over there!"

"I don't care, Sparkles. I'm not going back." Rainbow's mind was made up. Twilight could plainly see this, and she supposed insisting any further would be pointless. It was getting late anyway, and taking her back now certainly wouldn't strengthen their relationship in any way. Twilight sighed. Stubborn pegasus...

"Fine," Twilight said, "fine, you can stay." She placed a hoof over the pegasus's lips though, before she could say anything, adding, "Only for tonight though, understand?" She knew Rainbow wouldn't want to hear this... "You'll be going back tomorrow—"

"No way, Sparkles," Rainbow insisted. "I'm not going back there."

"But you have to! You're still hurt!"

"Then I'll stay here and you can heal me," Rainbow replied. Twilight had to know some spell that could do the job. "Besides, docs say I do have a case of... uh... am-net... chia? Think that's right..."

"No Rainbow, it's not," Twilight said. She assumed it had been amnesia that she had, rather poorly, attempted to pronounce. "It's amnesia," she corrected. Great, she really had lost her memory...

"Right, well since this is the place I gained it, maybe hanging around here will help trigger some of those memories I lost."

"That's—!" Twilight paused. "Not... that bad of an idea..." But as for the rest of her... "I'm sorry but neither my magic nor this tower can help your physical injuries. You'll have to go back."

Rainbow groaned. "You can't be serious..."

"Oh but I am," Twilight replied. "But to make sure you don't fly off again..." She would so regret saying this. This would undoubtedly mess up her schedule for days to come. "I'll stay with you, by your side, until you're all better... okay?"

Rainbow's eyes lit up. She stared up at the unicorn in disbelief. "You?" She still couldn't believe, Twilight of all ponies, just said she'd stay. "You'll... stay by my side—?"

Twilight quickly cut in, placing a hoof over Rainbow's lips once more. "Only until you leave there, understand?" She smiled down at the pegasus. "So... that way you won't be alone, or bored out of your mind, okay?"

"Uh, sure! I mean, I-I guess," Rainbow replied, though trying her best to mask her happiness as she spoke.

"Great! Good to see you being so cooperative," Twilight said, loosening her grip around Rainbow as she slowly stood up. "Now if you'll just follow me—" Oh, what am I saying? She hit her forehead with her right hoof. She can barely move, Twilight reminded herself. Turning around and muttering a quick apology, Twilight enveloped the pegasus's body in a magical light, triggering the same ticklish laughter that occurred every time she lifted her with her magic.

"Oh," Twilight said, remembering there was one final thing she wished to address. "If you're going to stay here, you'll have to start addressing me by my real name, which by the way is Twilight, in case you already forgot."

"Aw, but Sparkles is—"

"—is stupid." Twilight interjected. "If you insist on using a nickname, at least think up something better than... 'Sparkles'."

"It's stupid, huh? Alright... a new name for Twilight, let's see..." Rainbow thought on it for a moment. How hard could it be to come up with a name? "Twilight... Twilight, Twily, Twiller, Twix, Twi—" That was it.

Twilight glanced back at the pegasus mare, having listened to the names she rambled off, then asked, "Having fun back there?"

Rainbow smiled down at the unicorn. "You know it, Twi."

So that was the name she had chosen. Twi... Better than 'Sparkles', I suppose. I explained the situation to Spike and allowed her a space in our room. Some sheets, blanket and a pillow was all I could give her in terms of a bed on such short notice. My bed was the only in the tower, and I wasn't about to share it.

And so with that settled, I went to resume my work for the night.

With one last candle lighting the room, she resumed work on her letter.

Well I was right of course, as it was soon discovered she had somehow gained amnesia. Now it looks as though I'll be stuck watching over her while she regains her memory... who knows how long that'll take...

Twilight paused, thinking about what she just wrote. She seemed to be rushing it a bit, skipping over much of what happened.

And with that, she continued her letter, detailing the times she first laid eyes on her, when the two met, coming up with a name, taking her to the hospital and what happened there, her trip home, meeting Rainbow again...

She looked over her work. Not half bad. A bit long, but a lot of things had happened today! Now all it needed was a conclusion. Twilight yawned. She was too tired to focus on writing an ending. No, what she had was fine. It was only a letter, after all. Instead, she signed but a few mere words at the bottom of the page.

Your faithful student,

Twilight Sparkle.

Faithful. It wasn't perfect, but Twilight had to admit... she liked the sound of it.

And so, with a satisfied smile, Twilight rolled up the parchment, and placed it on the center of her desk. A good enough place as any for it; it would catch her eye anyway, suppose she ever forgot about it. Not that that would ever happen to a pony such as herself. She'd have Spike send it tomorrow, before the two left for the hospital.

"Hey, Twi! What's taking you?" she heard Rainbow call outwards from the other room. "Come on, I'll let you sleep on my flank some more if you want."

Her flank...? Oh, she did not just say that with Spike in the room. Great, now she'd have to explain that to Spike. She yawned again. Not today, though. Besides, Twilight had a feeling things wouldn't be returning to normality for days to come...

Day 2, Part 1 - A Crash Course

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In some ways for Twilight, the day before felt like it never happened. Some unknown pegasus falling into her home, without a care in the world, seemingly apathetic to all that had happened around her... it had all felt so... surreal. So dreamlike.

And she wanted to believe it had been just that. A dream brought on by a seemingly endless, and rather uneventful slumber; but in the end, something had to cause that night of unrest... and that something was currently curled up, peacefully snoring while lying on the floor at the end of her bed.

As unrealistic as it seemed, there was no doubt in her mind Rainbow was real, that she had indeed been flung into her life from... wherever it was she had come from; and today was the first of many she'd be spending with her new found pegasus acquaintance. After catching a few more Zs before starting said day, that is. After all, wasting it away at some hospital with some pegasus wasn't exactly something she was looking forward to...

Twilight rolled over in her sleep, letting out quiet murmurs and kicking away the sheets that covered her body as she lay flat on her stomach, fast asleep with her head buried deep in her pillows. The curtains above her bed blew slightly from a rush of wind through her open window; the sound of birds chirping and singing their morning songs signaled the approaching dawn.

And soon, the sun began to rise; sunlight beaming in through the curtains onto the pillows where Twilight's head lay. It was then that she began to wake... immediately feeling her body dampened with sweat. Her eyes fluttered open, staring wide-eyed into the darkness her face was buried in.

A dream... It... it was only a dream... she repeated in silent thought, lying still and taking a few breaths as she worked to convince herself what she just experienced really had been just a dream.

But similar to the one I experienced yesterday... While it changed slightly, the basic string of events remained the same. Twilight lay still allowing the fact to sink in, and the darkened realization the dream she experienced yesterday at the hospital wouldn't be a one-time occurrence. But what was the point of these dreams? To put herself in Rainbow's position? To make her see things the way Rainbow did? She grumbled into her pillow; it was pointless to try and figure something like this out. At this time of day anyway. Instead, seeing as how no one else seemed to be awake at the moment and how she could still use some sleep herself, flared her horn and using her magic to shut the curtains, blanketed the room in darkness. A few more minutes... she thought, reaching for and pulling the comforter over her head. She closed her eyes, letting out a brief yawn and snuggling deep beneath the covers, ready for another minute or two of rest—

"Oh, Twi! Hey!" a sudden voice spoke up from somewhere within the bedroom. "You're awake?"

The sudden voice startled her, triggering a slight jump from the young unicorn. It seemed she wasn't the only one awake. She realized closing the curtains just then must have alerted someone in the room... and considering the only ones in the room besides herself were Spike and Rainbow, and the voice she just heard, she assumed it was the latter.

Before she had the chance to properly react, Twilight felt something land on the end of her bed, pressing down on her sprawled-out hind legs in the process. Her eyes blinked open, grumbling under her breath. So much for an extra few minutes... She sighed, waving any hopes of her sleeping in goodbye, as the voice spoke up again.

"Twi...?" That was definitely Rainbow's voice alright. She felt one of her hooves now softly poking her in the shoulder. "Hello? You alive under there?"

"Rainbow...?" Twilight said, deciding to give a reply. She assumed it was still early—given the sudden beam of sunlight from moments ago which she had been quick to cover up. Still, she had to be certain. "Mm, what time is it...?" she asked, letting out a silent yawn.

"The time?" she wondered. "Well..." Her eyes searched the room, looking for something that could provide a clue before turning back to the unicorn. "How should I know?" she replied, then redirected her attention to sun-soaked curtains. "Well I know it's sunny out if that helps..."

Twilight gave a brief sigh of annoyance as she assumed it was true what she had read about pegasi: they were always up at the crack of dawn. Why that rule only applied to pegasi, she couldn't say. Either that, or Rainbow hadn't gotten much sleep. Or using her magic really had woke her up.

Or maybe it was none of that and she was simply over thinking things again.

"I know it is. And no Rainbow, that really doesn't help," Twilight informed her, returning from her thoughts and rolling her eyes. "You know we have a clock, right?"

"A clock?"

Twilight mentally slapped her forehead. "It's a white, circular object, has twelve numbers labeled on the inside, makes a sort of ticking noise—"

"No no, I mean, I know what a clock is," Rainbow replied, putting an end to Twilight's theory just then about not knowing what one was. Though, if she really hadn't known, it wouldn't have surprised her. After all, this was the same pegasus who either forgot or hadn't known what a tower, hospital or bits were...

"I just don't see one anywhere around here."

Don't see one? Twilight thought over Rainbow's words, and for a second, believed Rainbow must have gone blind as well. It shouldn't have been all that hard to spot... "Did you try looking up?"

Up...? Rainbow titled her head upwards, and sure enough noted one hung above the bed. "Oh now I—" She paused, realizing just what an odd place that was to hang a clock. "Wait, why do you keep a clock right above your bed?"

"It's not like I had a choice, Rainbow... I don't exactly have a lot of wall space to hang stuff."

"Well maybe if you got rid of some of these bookshelves..." Rainbow mused at a whisper, taking note of just how clustered the room was. Mainly shelves cramped with more books occupied the walls, while Spike's bed remained nestled in a corner by the entrance. The dragon himself was curled up under the sheets of his own bed, sleeping soundly.

"So anyway," Twilight continued, "what does it say?"

Rainbow glanced back at the unicorn with a look of confusion. Why she didn't just get up and check for herself was one thing, but... "Right, uh well... the short hand thingy is a little past the six and—"

"Six?!" Twilight jumped out from under the covers and nearly tripped over her own hooves stepping out of bed. She took a quick look at the clock for herself and sure enough, as Rainbow had already explained, it was already well past six a.m.. "Oh no, no no no no no, no no! This is bad, this is very bad!"

Rainbow watched as Twilight stomped her hooves in short, jittery movements while looking about nervously with wide eyes... and other than the small grin she attempted to hide behind her hoof, all Rainbow could question at that moment was what had caused this sudden behavior. It wasn't the first time she had seen Twilight stress over something, but it was the first time she had seen her panic in such a way.

"Bad? Why? What's—?" she tried to ask before being cut off by Twilight, stopping long enough to explain.

"What's "bad" is that I have to lug you back to the hospital today and I'd rather not do so with others around!" the unicorn explained, raising her voice, and unintentionally waking up Spike in the process. Though taking a quick note of Twilight losing her cool for the millionth time and yelling at Rainbow over... Celestia only knew what, Spike instead sunk back in his bed, not wanting anything to do with their pointless squabbling...

Though thinking it over, Twilight realized that perhaps she may have exaggerated, but she'd be lying if she said that she hadn't been the least bit embarrassed during yesterday's events. It was because of that, she had hoped to get an early start and leave before other ponies started their day. Well, she had hoped anyway... Seeing as how it was already past six, it was unlikely the streets were still barren...

"So... that's all?" Rainbow queried. Leaving early so they wouldn't be spotted by other ponies wandering the streets? That's what she's worried about? Rainbow couldn't help but laugh a little.

"Yes—er I mean no, I—! It's not funny!" Twilight let out another one of her usual groans before pausing and taking notice of the pegasus seated on the edge of her bed, still sporting her bandages, though she had scrapped her hospital garb as she noticed it lying alongside the papers on the floor. "How... how did you even get up there?"

"It's a bed, Twi," she said. A bed no more than a couple feet off the floor. "I climbed up."

"In your condition? There's no way somepony like yourself was... was able to..." Twilight's voice quickly drifted off as she immediately became aware of what she was saying. Saying this to the same pegasus who somehow escaped a Canterlot hospital while injured, then proceeded to fly back here solely by herself...

As Twilight fell into silence, Rainbow began suspecting her and Twilight were thinking the same thing. "It's a pain in the flank to do so Twi, but I can still move about you know," Rainbow told her, who was now staring back at her—seemingly in disbelief—but also with a look as if she were urging her to continue. "I uh, guess the docs fixed me up pretty good... feels like I can actually move around now," she explained as she stood on all fours for a matter of seconds, extended her forelegs outward, one after the other as proof.

"See—?" She winced suddenly, and fell flat on the bed once more, cuing an inquisitive look from the unicorn. Twilight narrowed her eyes, unconvinced by the act. Though, she supposed if it were true, it would have explained how Rainbow had managed to fly back to the tower on her own. If it were true.

"Okay," Rainbow said after a few moments of lying still, allowing the pain to die down. "So maybe my body still hurts, but the pain isn't near as intense as it was yesterday."

"That may be, but that doesn't mean you should move around and— Oh Celestia what am I doing?" She paused long enough to focus her magic on the pegasus, lifting her from her seat on the bed and back on the floor, upon the wadded papers and scrunched up sheets which Twilight had provided her the night before. She then began work on straightening her bed up, taking everything off and dumping it beside her before rummaging through the pile and pulling out the correct layers in order and lacing them across the bed, all without lifting a hoof.

"Hey uh, do you ever not use your magic?" Rainbow asked, watching the mare make quick work of her bed. Not that there was anything wrong with manipulating magic for such a task—she was a unicorn after all. Magic was their specialty. But using it almost non-stop and when she just as easily could have used her hooves to arrange the sheets on her bed instead of magical powers seemed like a waste to the pegasus. Not to mention, lazy.

"Well it sure beats using your hooves," she replied, laying the comforter on top the stack of sheets and blankets.

"Yeah, well maybe, but still..."

"Look, we can discuss this later..." Twilight said, fluffing the few pillows she owned and placing them at the end of her bed. "But right now I don't have time to waste chatting with you. Okay uhm, let's see..." She trotted over to a vanity with a mirror she had conveniently set up between two bookcases. "First my mane! Let's just take a look and uh, oh..." Her sudden gleeful expression turned into a frown as she noticed the condition her mane was is. She turned to Rainbow, "Why didn't you mention my mane looked like this?"

"I was supposed to?"

"Ugh! Never mind!" She turned as she continued to mumble under her breath. "Brushing it will only make it look worse... Great, looks like I'll have to wash it." With that thought in mind, she remembered the previous day and her unintentionally sneezing on Rainbow, and getting snot caught in her own fur as well. I suppose her coat's no less filthy than mine...

"Hey, Rainbow," Twilight called out to her. They were pressed for time as is, and it was clear Rainbow could use one... "Would you like to join me?"

"Join you? Join you in doing what, exactly?"

"Oh well I was planning on showering, and you're welcome to join in too, if you want—"

I'm welcome to join, if I...? Rainbow stared at her, wide-eyed in astonishment. "Hold up hold up, Twi... you serious?" There was no mistaking it. She had heard right, but... but this was Twilight. There was no way someone like her would ever suggest such a thing... Well, until she proved otherwise with a simple "yes".

"I'm sorry, Twi. I mean, I get it; you think I'm attractive," Rainbow teased, only to receive an unamused glare from the unicorn. "But," Rainbow soon continued as she grew more serious in tone. "Do I need one? Probably... but with you? No no, nuh-uh. Sorry Twi, but the answer is definitely no. I'll just wait here until you're finished."

Twilight sighed, having expected such a response... and would have left it at that. She wasn't looking forward to this anymore than Rainbow, but time was a factor. "Sorry Rainbow, I know I asked whether or not you'd like to, but you don't have much of a choice. We're on a tight enough schedule as is, and need to leave as soon as possible, so excuse me for this but we really don't have time for both of us to take separate showers."

Before Rainbow could argue with her, Twilight caught the mare in an aura of magic and lifted the pegasus up into the air. Hearing a faint groan escape the pegasus, she added, "Look, I'm not exactly keen on this either, but it saves us time. Besides, there's no way you could manage to wash yourself in your current condition."

"Hey, you don't know that!" Without thinking, Rainbow shot back at the unicorn in her defense, resulting in Twilight coming to an abrupt stop. The two remained silent, completely motionless for some time—Twilight seemingly still shocked over Rainbow's sudden outburst, and why Rainbow would insist on something so insignificant... other than proving her condition really had improved.

Or it was simply Rainbow being her usual, overconfident self again.

Several long moments passed before it dawned on Rainbow what it was she had even blurted out, and she soon regretted saying anything at all. Twilight would never buy into what she said. Hay, she herself knew that wasn't true; she could barely move about, much less manage a proper shower.

Rainbow sighed, knowing it was impossible without Twilight's assistance, and that things would go a whole lot smoother if she simply went along with what Twilight suggested. She looked over at the unicorn, who remained completely still and at a glance, was at a loss of words.

"Alright Twi, fine. I'll let you this one time," Rainbow finally spoke, breaking the momentary silence, as well as bringing Twilight out of her thoughts. Before Twilight could get a word in however, there was one thing Rainbow had to make clear... even if it wasn't exactly true. "I'm pretty sure I could though..." she muttered out in a softer tone of voice, looking away once she noticed Twilight had turned to face her, her gaze now firmly fixed on the pegasus. "Shower on my own, I mean."

At first it was a look of curiosity. She's going to keep insisting on this, isn't she? Twilight asked herself, though it hadn't taken long for her mind to come up with an answer, and dismissed her curiosity as quickly as it came. After all, this was Rainbow she was dealing with. Anything she said or did that Twilight didn't understand—and there was quite a lot—she would simply chalk it up as Rainbow being... well, Rainbow.

Instead, Twilight smiled, simply shaking her head and finding it hard not to grin at the pegasus's behavior. "Come on, Rainbow," she said with with a small grin, rolling her eyes and turning around as she headed out the bedroom, and carrying the reluctant pegasus along against her will.

Trotting down the stairs, she headed for the the nearest bathroom she could think of, and in several more hoofsteps, she was there. Wasting no time, Twilight pushed the door open and stepped inside, getting straight to work. She gently set Rainbow down in the tub, before then turning to mess with the array of knobs, twisting the one furthest from her and in turn, activating the flow of water... only for Rainbow to let out a startled shriek once the near-scalding water splashed down against her coat.

"Sorry!" Twilight apologized, frantically working the other knobs in an attempt to adjust the water temperature. With a few twists and turns, she quickly got the water under control and sighed in relief, turning to check on the now dripping-wet mare who appeared to be slowly recovering from the seemingly painful incident. "Is that better?"

"Uh-huh..." Rainbow replied sorely, after a few moments of allowing her body to adjust to the sudden change. Though it was hard to adjust when a stinging sensation now filled her body, not helped by the resentment she held towards Twilight for that blast of hot water mere moments ago, and—and...

This feels nice... she thought as her mind went blank, closing her eyes and sighing contently. Any negative thoughts she had at that moment were washed away as the warm water washed over her body, relaxing her muscles and allowing her mind to enter a state of surrender.

It felt like her first shower in ages—hay, maybe even her first shower, period. ...Rainbow quickly dismissed the latter thought. She was certain she had taken showers in the past. She wasn't that unruly...

Though she hadn't been lying when she thought of it as her first in ages; it really felt as though she hadn't showered for the longest time. Or at least, not like this. It felt rejuvenating; all her pain seemed to vanish as the water swept it away. She tilted her head upwards, allowing some of the water to fall upon her face and parted her lips slightly, catching some of it in her mouth.

It was warm, sure, but she sort of liked the taste of it. And hay, even if she hadn't, she had been in desperate need of a drink since yesterday anyway—oh, and a bite to eat. Thinking back, she never had gotten a proper meal...

Her drink was cut short however, as Twilight decided to step in, sitting herself down in front of Rainbow. Right, she had forgotten Twilight was with her...

Twilight sat back on her haunches in a similar fashion, sitting opposite of the rainbow-maned pegasus, and closing the curtain around them... when it hit her. She was actually doing this... About to bathe with some pegasus— No, what was she thinking? It wasn't some pegasus; it was Rainbow.

To make matters worse, she was a mare. Tomboyish, but nevertheless, a mare. Around the same age as herself, no less.

She recalled times where she used to give Spike a bath, back when he was either too young or incapable of doing it himself. But those times were different. Spike was practically family to her, and to her, it was like somepony giving their kid brother a bath. Back then, neither of them thought anything of it, or cared for that matter. But now, Twilight did. Things were different. She was older, and so was the pony before her...

That desperately needed a good cleaning.

Twilight sighed. It looked like there was no getting around this. They were both in desperate need of a shower, and there was no way Rainbow could manage one herself without help. Then there were the time restraints, and even if it was... uncomfortable for her, she would have to pull through. It seemed a little late to have second thoughts anyway.

"Alright," Twilight grumbled, turning to face Rainbow, "let's get this over wi—" Her voice paused. Since stepping into the tub, she had kept her gaze focused elsewhere, averting her own gaze to the shower curtains. Turning to face her however, for the first time since preparing the shower, Twilight took quick notice of the way Rainbow looked.

It amazed her. The innocent, almost naive look Rainbow wore... Her flustered cheeks, patted-down fur and wet mane, motionless beads of water glistening along her face and forelegs. She was lean, yet firm, with trim muscles that rose with each breath she took. In a way it surprised her. She never would have thought Rainbow was an athletic pony. She looked so... Twilight rid herself of these thoughts. Wet, she thought. She looks wet. Nothing more, nothing less... and certainly nothing worth staring at her over—

Twilight shook her head, only now realizing she had been staring at her, and mentally slapped herself over the fact. Staring... at Rainbow. She prayed to Celestia Rainbow hadn't noticed.

"Uh, Twi...?" Rainbow began, wondering why exactly Twilight hadn't bothered to move a muscle since entering. She cocked her head, "You—?" However Twilight already had an idea as to what she was about to say, and was quick to deny it.

"I wasn't staring!" she blurted out, cheeks burning bright, and cuing a questioning look from Rainbow. An awkward silence soon followed.

"Never said you were," Rainbow replied after the momentary silence. "I was just gonna ask if you were okay, is all."

More silence ensued.

That's all she was going to ask? Twilight thought, suddenly feeling foolish for jumping to such a conclusion. Even worse, now Rainbow knew she had been staring. Her widened eyes began to narrow, letting out an irritated sigh before grumbling, "Let's just get this over with."

"So if you'll just let me— Argh, stop squirming!" Twilight said, making another attempt at cleaning the pegasus's fur only for her to retract away. "If you would just sit still long enough for me to clean your coat..."

"Well maybe I would if you'd quit scrubbing so hard!" Rainbow was quick to protest, shoving away Twilight's hoof, which she now had a cloth wrapped around, using it to make cleaning Rainbow's fur all the easier.

"Hard? I'm sorry but I'm doing this as gently as I possibly can," she replied, taking a firm hold of the pegasus with her hooves and then proceeding to wash every inch of the cerulean mare, much to Rainbow's displeasure.

Rainbow shut her eyes, letting out another grunt as the unicorn worked at cleaning her fur. "You—ah, you seriously call what you're doing, gentle?"

"As a matter of fact I do. Now please..." Her voice drifted, taking hold of Rainbow's face and began scrubbing away at the pegasus's facial features, washing away areas of drool that had dried around her lips—presumably from the night before—or stains of dirt hidden beneath her mane and layers of fur. "There," Twilight said satisfied as she backed away and wrung the cloth out with her magic.

With that, Rainbow gently shook her fur dry, coating the surrounding walls and tiles with a flurry of water droplets as she opened her eyes. "So what...? Are we done?" she asked. Oh how she hoped they were done...

"Far from it, actually," Twilight said, causing Rainbow to droop her head in response. "Let me see your ears."

Rainbow's head shot back up, her ears falling flat. "My... ears?"

"Yes," Twilight replied, "now hold still..." She leaned up, and placing a foreleg over Rainbow's head as if it were an armrest for support, began cleaning in and around Rainbow's ears and down her neck, only stopping every now and then to make sure her actions weren't causing the pegasus any pain. "Uhm, nothing's hurting, is it?"

"Twi, it's fine," Rainbow lied. The annoyance of Twilight's upper chest fur brushing against her face and the rest of the unicorn's body practically resting over her head was becoming a tad too much for the young pegasus to bare. Then again, her fur... it was soft, and warm, pressed against her own— She quickly shook those thoughts from her mind the second she felt her wings stiffen. "Just please hurry it up, will ya—?"

"All done," Twilight said, stepping down and away from the pegasus.

"Wha...?" Rainbow said, almost baffled by how quickly Twilight had finished up. "Already?"

"Well uh, yes... I was only washing your ears and around your shoulder line, after all."

Rainbow felt her cheeks grow warmer. "Uh right, I knew that..." she replied, looking off to the side. "So... now are we done?"

"Not quite," Twilight said only to have Rainbow roll her eyes back at her. She pointed a hoof at Rainbow's wings. "There's still the matter of your wings—oh, and your back."

"M-my what now?" Rainbow panicked, remembering the state of her wings. "N-no! Sorry Twi but those areas you mentioned, they're uh... still in way too much pain."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that? You don't sound sure..."

"No no, I'm sure. Believe me, if you were to apply pressure there, I'd imagine it would hurt pret-ty bad." She demonstrated, touching her left wing with her hoof and wincing as a result. "Ooh, uh yeah, ow... That hurts alright." Well she wasn't completely lying, they were still in pain.

Twilight tilted her head to the side, replying with a confused, "okay?"

"I'd say I'm already mighty clean anyway!" Rainbow beamed, hoping to change the subject. "Now, forget about me. Focus on getting yourself cleaned up."

"Well, uhm... alright... Oh, but first!" Twilight turned to her side, rummaging through, then grabbing two different containers from a shower rack with her magic and popped one of the lids. "A bit of shampoo and body wash never hurt anypony! Here, I'll apply some..." she said, squeezing a small of amount out onto her hoof before working it into Rainbow's fur, then turned her attention to her own coat once she was finished with Rainbow's.

"Think they'll be mad—?"

"Hold still, please," she told Rainbow as she squeezed a second substance out onto her hooves and began working it into Rainbow's mane. "Now I'm sorry, what were you saying?"

"Those doctor ponies... Do you think they'll be mad? About what I did?"

Twilight stifled the sudden urge to laugh. "Oh no, Rainbow, not in the slightest!" she said sarcastically, scooting aside and allowing the stream of water to freely wash over Rainbow's mane. "Why I'm sure they were thrilled to discover you had gone missing last night and have been spending the entire night here instead."

She closed her eyes as bits of shampoo began to drip from mane and trickle down her face. "Okay okay, that was a dumb question... We're in deep trouble, aren't we?"

Twilight nodded. "Most likely," she said as she let out a small sigh. Noticing Rainbow's mane and coat had been washed clean, Twilight turned, bringing her head underneath the flow of water as she began focusing on washing her own mane.

"Wait..." Rainbow began, uncertain why Twilight hadn't seemed the least bit bothered by the fact. "You're okay sharing the blame?"

"Well I allowed you to stay the night when I easily should have taken you back... I'm not okay with being blamed for your little stunt but I won't claim I'm innocent here either." She brought her head out from under the water as she continued to talk. "You and I, we're—" She paused, stopping herself before she accidentally said anything she'd regret. "—we'll both share the blame, and I think that way... it'll be easier on both of us. Of course we'll both be scolded and—"

"Say, we should come up with a lie or something," Rainbow suggested, much to Twilight's surprise.

"Lie?" Twilight pondered the idea. She hardly ever lied. Even if she did, the only other being she associated with on a regular basis was Spike, and what did she have to lie to him about?

"Yeah, you know, lie about what happened," Rainbow continued, bringing Twilight out of her thoughts. "Like let's say instead we tell 'em I was kidnapped or something, yeah! Then you, being the cool and awesome mare that you are, swooped in and rescued me, then brought me back here so you could watch over me and..."

"Rainbow?"

Rainbow stopped for a moment upon hearing Twilight call her name. "Uh... yes?"

"That's the most absurd lie I've ever heard anypony say," Twilight admitted, unintentionally crushing any hope the pegasus may have had of coming up with a good plan. "Besides," she added, "with the amount of trouble we're most certainly already in, lying doesn't sound like the smartest thing to do."

"Alright," Rainbow sighed in defeat. "It was only a thought after all."

Twilight nodded, turning to make sure everything was put away before exiting the shower. She shook her coat dry and grabbed a towel from a nearby towel rack with her magic and placed it over her dripping wet mane. After a few moments, she realized Rainbow had yet to leave the tub and turned to see what was taking her. "Alright, come on Rain—" She paused mid-sentence after noticing Rainbow with her head tilted and mouth hanging open, eagerly guzzling down the water as it rained down on her. "Rainbow!"

Rainbow's ears perked. She stopped, swallowing down the last bit of water as she curiously turned to Twilight. "What? I was thirsty..."

"Well I can get you something to drink soon," she assured Rainbow, as she turned to grab another towel, as well as a medical kit to patch up any spot on the pegasus which had previously been bandaged up. "Just please, not from the shower... that's disgusting."

Why? It was only water... Rainbow stepped out onto the bathroom floor, recklessly shaking her coat and mane dry... and in doing so, covered the walls and bathroom tiles in a thin layer of water. "Well If you say so..." she said with a hint of curiosity, plopping down beside Twilight... who groaned inwardly as she watched Rainbow's actions.

Could have waited until I laid down some towels, at least... She sighed, taking note of the now-expanding puddle of water beneath Rainbow. Looking around the bathroom however, she noticed the floor wasn't the only place Rainbow had gotten water. Looks like I'll have to get Spike to clean up in here later...

But for now, there was still the matter of a certain drenched pegasus before her. Using the towel she already held in her magical grasp, Twilight began drying Rainbow's mane and patting down her fur as gently as she could, hoping to avoid causing her the least bit of pain. She figured she was doing a decent enough job, considering Rainbow's lack of any grunts and groans, or the fact she had yet to whine about something Twilight was doing wrong.

"Isn't there some other way you could go about drying me that's ya know... quicker?" Rainbow asked after several moments had passed in silence. Twilight huffed out her sudden irritation. Then again, maybe she thought too soon.

"Sorry but there really isn't," Twilight explained. "It's either this, or sitting around and waiting for your coat and mane to dry on their own." With that, Twilight continued drying her off, only receiving an exasperated groan, followed by a few low murmurs she couldn't quite make out, in response.

"And there," Twilight said after a couple minutes had passed, placing the towel aside with a satisfied smile. "That wasn't so bad, was it?"

"I guess not..." came Rainbow's faint response, leaning up off the soaked floor and sitting back on her flank. "Still feels like it took longer than it should have though."

"Well just be glad it's over," Twilight replied, turning away from Rainbow and walking towards the sink. "Okay, now we need to patch you up again. Let's see..." She picked open the kit that lay on the sink counter and dug around before pulling out rolls of gauze and bandages. "This should do the trick!" Twilight grinned, sitting down on her haunches, and taking Rainbow's hooves one by one into her own. "Now hold still..." Careful not to lay a hoof on any areas that were sensitive to the touch, she began covering any areas that she could remember being bandaged up, or that Rainbow insisted were in pain.

As she applied the final bandages, Twilight thought back to what Rainbow had said about her. She remembered the words Rainbow had used to describe her while suggesting they lie about what happened. Cool... and awesome. Those were the words. Or in adjectives she preferred: marvelous, sensational, magnificent, wonderful—! She paused, now unknowingly blushing, as she debated why Rainbow would chose such words to describe her, or why it even mattered to her.

She was hardly ever complimented by others, and in some ways, she didn't mind. But it was Rainbow who did so, and that made her all the more curious. Especially when she considered the way Rainbow talked with her, and behaved around her... it seemed likely Rainbow had said those things simply to ease her into the idea of lying. Still, a part of her had to be certain. "So..." she began, finding herself staring down at her hooves as she continued. "Um, earlier... did you mean that? What you said about me being 'cool'... and 'awesome'?"

Several long seconds passed as Twilight awaited an answer. However, when the answer didn't come, she nervously peered up from her hooves, only to note Rainbow staring blankly back at her, unsure of whether or not she had heard correctly. Twilight was wondering about that? Well, then again, it shouldn't have surprised her. This was Twilight; it would have been unusual for her not to over-think something like that.

Rainbow scratched the back of her mane, searching for an answer, before eventually replying, "Eh, not really."

Right... Figures. Oh well, she thought, standing up and looking down at the newly-bandaged pegasus. "Well anyway, you're all set," Twilight informed her, tossing both their towels into a nearby laundry hamper. "Now, how about some breakfast?"

"About time," Rainbow remarked, grinning in excitement at the thought of finally receiving a decent meal. Twilight nodded and without hesitation, picked Rainbow off the ground in a magical light, and unlocking the bathroom door, exited the steamy—and partially soaked—bathroom.

With their shower successfully out of the way, Twilight headed downstairs into the kitchen, carrying Rainbow along with her.

And after a few more steps, they now stood on the lowest floor of the tower. To their right was a convenient, and rather cozy den where Twilight would spend some nights reading—when she didn't have a project to attend to or a new spell to master; and to their left, a quaint dining area complete with a small cooking space.

Twilight glanced to her right. Walking into the den and curling up in front of her fireplace with a good book was almost too tempting for the young unicorn, but unfortunately, she decided, it would have to wait.

Sadly, she still had a pegasus and some breakfast to attend to.

She sat Rainbow down at the table before immediately getting to work, grabbing a selection of goods and ingredients from the fridge and placing them on the nearby counter. Normally I'd have Spike take care of all this... Too bad he's asleep... She would have to handle the cooking this time. If only she was any good at it...

Which is perhaps why she hadn't drawn anything from the fridge that involved a lot of effort. Instead, she grabbed an assorted abundance of fruits and vegetables, a container of milk, and bread and various plants she had kept on the counter where she worked. Slicing fruit or preparing sandwiches was hardly any effort.

Taking a breath and relinquishing in the brief silence she had, took hold of a knife with her magic and began focusing on carefully cutting an orange when she heard a sudden groan Rainbow let out in frustration from where she had been sitting, followed by, "You almost done over there? I'm sorta starving over here," disrupting her concentration and causing the knife to slip and almost cut her own hoof. Twilight stepped back a few inches, eyes widening as she gulped.

"Well?" Rainbow spoke up again as her body remained hunched over against the dining table. Her head lay on its side, eyes blurry and barely open, lazily staring off into the kitchen space.

Then in a flash, a light appeared before her, startling her, and causing her to stumble back in her seat. The light came and went, and in its place stood Twilight, with the very same look of anger Rainbow had seen the mare give her a dozen times before. "Uh, so I've uh... never seen ya do that before—"

"Rainbow!"

Rainbow backed further away, innocently holding both her hooves before her. "What? Yeesh Twi, what did I do this time?"

"What did you..? What do you mean, 'what did I do'?" Twilight hit her forehead with her hoof, letting out a troubled groan. "You disrupted my concentration, that's what you did! I nearly slit my own hoof because of that!" Finishing, she held up the very hoof that, in her mind, would have been cut clean off.

Upon hearing Twilight's words, all Rainbow could do was tilt her head in confusion. "Okay?" she replied while thinking over in her head what that word even meant.

Twilight turned and faced away from the pegasus, feeling herself growing angrier by the second. "Ugh, I don't believe you! You are so...! So—!"

"H-hey, look, no need to get, uh... however it is you get," Rainbow cut in softly, hoping to calm the mare's nerves and get her to relax. She still wasn't sure what she did exactly, but if it meant avoiding any further arguments, and getting a meal faster... "I didn't know I had disrupted your... whatever, and sorry I did... what I did to your hoof, alright? Sorry... I'll be quieter, okay?"

Twilight paused, allowing Rainbow's apology to sink in. She stopped, finding her breathing had become heavier than usual, and remained still for seconds to come, until finally turning to face the pegasus. "Fine... look, just don't do anything that may disturb me while working, alright?" She noted Rainbow nod in response. "Alright, well... Well hey, I'm still in one piece. No harm done, I suppose... How about we just, forget this ever happened."

"Please," Rainbow replied in agreement.

Twilight nodded, then turned and headed back into the kitchen space. "So um... I'll just get back to work then." She glanced back at Rainbow for a brief moment. "Breakfast should be ready in a few minutes, alright?"

"Uh-huh," Rainbow replied, seemingly uninterested as she went back to lazily lying against the table.

More time passed and Twilight finished preparing a nicely put together breakfast for the two of them. Well, she considered it a nice enough breakfast anyway, considering her lack of experience in the matter. However it hadn't taken minutes like she had promised, but rather a good ten minutes, at the most. An entire ten minutes spent silently regretting having snapped at Rainbow over something that she may have over exaggerated in the first place. Resting her head on her hooves, she found herself leaning over the counter with only one thought in mind. She looked down at the hoof, that, to her, almost would have been cut. It's fine... she thought. I suppose Rainbow didn't really do anything. Maybe I should—

"Hey, uh... Twi?" Twilight perked up upon hearing Rainbow call her name. "I uh, know you pretty much wanted me to stay quiet while you work, but uh... well... Are you almost done?"

"Oh Celestia," she cursed under her breath, realizing she had completely forgotten about their breakfast. "Uh, yes, yes I am!" she answered, turning and walking towards Rainbow with plates and glasses held aloft with a simple spell.

"Well?" She eagerly peered up at the assortment Twilight held above her head. "Don't keep me waiting Twi; what did you make?"

"Well Rainbow, since you refuse to eat hay like everypony else, I've prepared something a little different for us this morning," Twilight explained, laying down the assortment of goods upon the table Rainbow sat at. A couple day lily sandwiches, loaded with sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, sweet onions, and fresh basil herbs, apple and orange slices, a couple fruit salads, and two glasses of milk. "How's this?"

"Uh..." All this was for her...? She stared down at the meal, licking her upper lip and swallowing, soon realizing she was salivating more than usual, and just how starved she had been. Staring down at the food, she realized something else. The food actually looked good. Well, it was a step up from the hay she had been given the day before, anyway. Though why Twilight had prepared double of everything did leave her a tad curious. Ah well, the more the merrier, she thought, happily grinning... until a simple wave of Twilight's hoof before her eyes snapped her out of it.

"Hello? Earth to Rainbow? I asked if the food was okay."

"Oh, um..." She asked that? Rainbow thought, realizing she must have zoned out while overlooking the food. "Well, I guess it looks pretty cool, for breakfast anyway."

I'll take that as a yes, Twilight thought, rolling her eyes. And now that their breakfast was prepared and Rainbow was content, there was one more matter which she needed to attend to.

"Alright, well I'll be back in a flash," Twilight said, turning for the stairs leading up to her room. "Just gotta run up stairs real fast, and pack up a few things... for later, alright?"

Rainbow nodded and replied with a quick "Mhm," never once taking her eyes off the food before her.

With that, Twilight proceeded to head up the stairs as she thought about just what to take with her. Things that would keep Rainbow, and on a lesser scale, herself, occupied. Doubt Rainbow was ever much of a reader... she surmised, finding the idea of somepony like Rainbow actually picking up a book a rather humorous one. But books would have to suffice. It was most of what she owned, anyway.

As she entered her room, she was quick to notice Spike was awake, and up and about. "Morning, Spike," Twilight greeted, alerting the young dragon. "Just getting up?"

"Oh, Twilight." Spike turned, surprised to see her. "Well, uh actually, Twilight... I've been up. You seemed to be in a rush earlier, and busy with Rainbow, so I didn't say anything..." he explained as the mare trotted past to some nearby bookshelves. "Earlier... you uh, kinda woke me up."

"Oh I did?" she questioned, sounding less than interested. "Sorry about that, Spike." Though that was the least of her problems. Her mind was elsewhere as she crouched and began examining the contents of one shelf in particular. Okay... do I bring this one? No... Maybe this one? I like this one, but would she—?

"Uh, Twilight?"

"Oh, by the way, I'm gonna need you to clean up the bathroom later," Twilight added, thinking back to the watery mess Rainbow had caused earlier that morning. "That's not a problem, is it?"

"Well no, but..." He found himself cleaning up after Twilight every morning... after every shower in fact; it was hardly any trouble mopping up some water. But it wasn't the work that was bothering him, but rather the way Twilight was acting all of a sudden, walking on by without a second glance and barely paying him any mind. She seemed almost entirely focused on something else... "Twilight?" he asked, stepping closer to the mare now feverishly pawing through the selection of books and stacking several of them in a pile beside her. "Is something bothering you?" Well, Rainbow aside, though he wouldn't have been surprised if that pegasus really was the reason for Twilight's sudden behavior.

Got to make sure I have enough here to keep Rainbow occupied— Twilight's thoughts were interrupted the second she heard Spike's question. "Right... I haven't told you yet, have I?"

Spike titled his head in puzzlement. "Told me what?"

"Oh, just that me and Rainbow will be leaving soon..." She pulled one last book from her own personal library and neatly stacked it beside other items she selected. There... these should do... she thought, glancing briefly at the stack. She stood, inhaling a deep breath before turning and trotting over a chair with a violet saddle embodied with her signature mark, slung over it. She lifted and placed it over her back with the help of some magic, tightening the strap a few times, then trotted back to the place she had been standing just mere moments ago. She gazed down at the pile beside her. "I came up here to gather a few things to take with me... hopefully these will keep Rainbow occupied—" Twilight quickly stopped what she was saying when it finally occurred to her just who she had been talking to this whole time. She had only gone upstairs to grab some things, but ended up pushing Spike to the side as she did so. She had yet to go over any of this with him...

"Oh my Celestia, I'm so sorry Spike, I wasn't... I didn't mean to..." she stammered on her apology. "I really meant to go over this with you earlier, it's just... well, Rainbow, she—" Twilight only stopped once Spike raised his hand, motioning her to quiet down.

"Twilight, it's fine, really," Spike insisted. "You've been busy with her, I get it. I had a feeling you guys would be leaving soon anyway."

"Still... Oh you'll be okay here by yourself for the next few days, right?"

"Twilight, you're acting as if this is my first time staying home alone." Reassuringly, Spike added, "I can handle myself just fine."

"Aw, I know you can Spike." She trotted past him, to a small work area where she grabbed a small scrap of paper and began jotting down notes. "Now I'll be stopping by every now and then to check up on you. Oh and if necessary, I put together a list of ponies you can contact in case of emergency," Twilight said as she handed Spike the slip. Twilight pointed a hoof near the bottom of the page as Spike glanced it over. "I uhm, also included mother and father's information, if you feel you need some grown up supervision. I'm sure they wouldn't mind looking after you. I mean, we are practically family after all. Oh, and Shining should be available to look after you, if needed, though I'm not sure for how long, and—"

"Twilight!" Spike said loud enough to disrupt the young mare's ramblings. He understood Twilight was worried for him, but it seemed she had forgotten he had been left alone dozens of times before. Yesterday had even been one of those days. He sighed, allowing his voice to lower. "I'll be fine... alright?"

"Oh I sure hope so, Spike..." She turned and began filing things into the sides of her saddle, hoping Spike was right. He'll be fine, it'll only be for a few days. Plus he has those contacts, he's old enough, anyway, she tried to convince herself. If only she could.

"Twilight..." Once more, Twilight found Spike's voice bringing her out of her thoughts. She shook her head, placing the last item of hers within one of the pouches on her saddle as Spike continued. "You don't have to do this for her, you know."

"I promised her I would though, Spike," she said, straightening up and turning her attention towards the young dragon. "Besides, we're stuck with her for the time being anyway, and if I don't go with her, she may try something again." She told herself this was the only reason she would be tagging along with her, to keep her from running away again... but she did find herself wanting to spend more time with her, even if she couldn't explain it, or want to admit it to anypony. Twilight groaned inwardly, letting that last thought sink in. She actually wanted to spend time with Rainbow. Rainbow, of all ponies! And not to learn more about her anymore. It was official, she was losing her mind...

Spike nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I guess in that case you better go with her then."

Twilight leaned down before Spike, and what Twilight planned on being a brief goodbye hug, quickly changed into a hoof being placed on his right shoulder. "So... I'll stop by later to check on how things are going. Keep an eye on the place, and... please be safe?" Shifting her gaze away from Spike, Twilight added in a whisper, "I don't need anypony else crashing through windows around here..."

"What?" Spike asked as Twilight realized what it was she just said.

"Uhm, nothing Spike!" Twilight blushed, scrambling away from the young dragon and quickly stood up, turning for the exit. "Well, I think that's enough of that..." she said, flustered, and finding her gaze wandering as she continued to walk towards the exit. Before exiting, lifted a hoof and waved a quick goodbye. "I'll uh, see you soon..." she assured him before exiting and leaving one confused Spike inside the room.

Moments passed as Spike stood there, staring at the spot Twilight had previously been standing with an eyebrow raised and one question racing through his mind. What's gotten into her?

Argh! Stupid, stupid, stupid! Why did I say that out loud? she scolded herself in thought, mentally slamming her forehead over and over in embarrassment as she trotted down the main staircase. Don't go falling out windows. What was I thinking? Oh how she hoped Spike hadn't actually heard her, but who was she kidding? He had, and Twilight prayed to Celestia he would think nothing of it.

She sighed again; this pegasus was rotting her mind. Thoughts were one thing, but now she was letting this pegasus affect the way she talked. Nearing the entrance to the kitchen, she began to think maybe it all had to do with the fact she had barely eaten since this whole ordeal. That her stomach was simply empty and it'd help once she got some food in her system.

"Yep, I'm just hungry is all," she told herself aloud, stifling a grin as she stepped down from the stairs and immediately spotted Rainbow sitting at the same spot as before. "Hey Rainbow," Twilight greeted, trotting over to join the cerulean mare. "So I grabbed what I needed and I— I..."

Rainbow craned her head over her shoulders, glancing back at the unicorn who was now frozen in place, mouth agape. She spun around in her seat, grinning as she let out small belch which she quickly covered up with a hoof. "Oh uh, 'scuse me," she said, feeling a blush coming on. "So that uh, that food was pretty good!" Quickly changing the subject and shining a large grin at Twilight, but after several moments of dead silence, her grin began to diminish and Rainbow knew she had unknowingly made another mistake. "Okay, what did I do this time?"

Twilight remained practically oblivious to all of what Rainbow was saying. "You ate all... all my..." she sputtered, eyes wide and walking up to the table littered with empty plates and bread crumbs. "That was supposed to be for the both of us!"

Rainbow paused in the middle of picking her teeth. "Oh uh... you mean this wasn't all for me—?"

"No!" Twilight shouted, her voice cracking a little.

Rainbow's eyes widened as she gulped. She had really done it now. "U-um, okay okay, well... it's not like you were that hungry—"

"I was too!" Twilight rebutted. "I practically went the whole day without eating yesterday because you just had to show up. Then I prepare some breakfast, for both of us, and you eat it all!''

"Twi, take it easy. Just grab something from the fridge, or some hay or something."

"Oh please, like I even have a scrap of food left after you've eaten it all—"

Okay, now she was over exaggerating. Twilight wouldn't have gone through everything she owned to prepare a simple breakfast. "Twi..." Rainbow began to say, but was quickly denied by the mare.

"—and now I'll probably have to do some grocery shopping later—" She paused for a brief moment. "Oh wait, I can't. I have to spend the next few days with you."

"Twi, you're making way too big a deal outta this."

A big deal...? Rainbow meant to tell her it wasn't a big deal? Eating her share of the meal and plowing through her own food like it was nothing. No, it was a big deal. She was acting exactly how anypony would act in this scenario... or at least, how she imagined other ponies would act. "So what if I am?"

"Jeez, do you always freak out like this?"

"I never 'freak out' Rainbow, I just—" A sudden sound came knocking at the door upstairs, and almost immediately Twilight replied.

"What?!" she yelled, glaring at the pegasus before angrily turning and leaving to answer whoever it was at the door. "Whoever it is, now really isn't the time..." Twilight said again through gritted teeth. "I don't mean to be rude, but if you could, please come back another— Why hello!" Her tone shifted suddenly when she noted just who stood at the entrance, and the ponies she had been yelling at...

Before her stood two of the city's royal guards, both unicorns with dark grey coats and clad in golden armor and a helmet with crests matching their white striped tails. Their usual serious expressions were replaced with looks of concern and confusion.

"Morning, Twilight Sparkle. Is everything alright?" one of the stallions greeted, looking down curiously at the young mare. "You gave a shout just moments ago and we heard some mumblings—"

"Y-yes! Uhm, please excuse my outburst; that was nothing! Everything is perfectly fine around here," Twilight lied, through a grinning smile. "Now uh, w-what brings you here...?" Sure she had met members of the royal guard before, whether wandering the streets of Canterlot, or whenever she visited the castle—she had even come to know some of them... partially due to her brother being captain of the guards, but that only made her wonder. Had something happened involving Shining? It was either that, or a matter involving Celestia herself. It made sense, after all; they served under the princess and catered to her every whim.

Though either of those possibilities filled her with worry, she just hoped one of those was the reason for their visit and not—

"We're here under the order of the princess herself. We were ordered to investigate reports of a pegasus that..." The guard paused as Twilight felt her body tense up. "Isn't from around here. We would like to learn more about where it is she came from." He stepped forward as Twilight stepped back as he glanced around her. "She is residing here, under your care... correct?"

"A pegasus...? Uh no! Oh no, no no no, why would I be sheltering a pegasus?" she responded with a nervous laugh. "That would be ridiculous! I'm just a student! What would I gain by doing so?"

"We should ask you the same thing." The stallion reached into a case he had been carrying and pulled out some paperwork. "Miss Sparkle... the hospital filed a report that this particular pegasus had gone missing." He held the documents up with a magical aura so Twilight could have a better look. One of the papers he flipped through that Twilight was quick to recognize was the sheet she had used to sign Rainbow in the day before. "We also received documentation that states you had dropped a pegasus off under the alias 'Rainbow'."

Twilight lowered her head. "Oh Celestia..." she muttered, realizing her one mistake.

"Yes, my student?" The guards at her doorstep stepped aside, allowing a white mare with a flowing, celestial-like mane to step forth, stopping once she came before Twilight. "It would be wise not to use my name in vain in such a way."

Twilight's head shot up, eyes wide. "Oh, Princess Celestia!" Immediately she bowed down before her teacher. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean—! I mean, I didn't know you were..." Twilight tired to explain, though finding herself unable to do so.

On second thought, why bother saying anything anyway? She was so dead for this.

"It is alright," Celestia assured her pupil, to her surprise, though her body remained still, her gaze focused on the ground below. "However, there is something important that I was hoping to talk with you about." Twilight peaked up in curiosity. "Something about a pegasus...? Rainbow, is it?"

Twilight's eyes returned to the floor. Why had she even bothered to hope it would have been something else? Why else would she have come here? To say hello? She was always too busy to visit, and the one time she does, it's because she got the princess involved in her own mess...

"Yes... well no, technically it's not," Twilight spoke into her hooves, making it hard for anypony to make out what she was saying. "It's what I decided to name her... since she apparently lost all memory of who she was, and maybe more... it's not really clear—"

"Heard my name!" Rainbow chimed in, appearing suddenly from the stairwell and limping over to where Twilight stood, bowed over before the princess. "Well it's not really my name, or maybe it is... dunno." She quickly glanced over at the unfamiliar visitor, then down at her mare responsible for her. Crouching down next to her and raising an eyebrow as her gaze remained fixed on the unicorn, she whispered, "So, what are we talkin' about?"

Instead, all Rainbow got was a sudden "shh" noise as a reply and before Rainbow could question anything, Twilight spoke. "Stay down and don't say a word, Rainbow," she whispered, just loud enough so Rainbow, and only her, would hear what she was saying. "We're in enough trouble already and I don't need you making things even worse, for either of us."

Rainbow smirked. "Oh, and since when have I made things worse?" she whispered back to her. Twilight turned her head slightly, glancing at the pegasus as if she had gone crazy. She was kidding, right? Twilight shook her head and shifted her gaze back away as she heard the princess's voice speak up.

"So this... pegasus is Rainbow then, I presume?" she asked, resting her eyes on the mare.

Twilight nodded softly. "Look, Princess I... I understand if you're disappointed with me..."

"Disappointed with you?" Celestia stepped forward, gently placing a hoof on her student's shoulder. Feeling her hoof on her shoulder, Twilight gazed up only to meet Celestia warmly smiling back at her. "Now why would I be disappointed? You've done nothing wrong here, my student."

"I... I haven't?" Twilight found herself confused by her teacher's words.

"Regardless of how you went about doing it, you chose to look after another in their time of need. While I do not know all of the details, it would appear you've done... a well enough job looking after her, and I can say I'm proud of how well you've handled this situation thus far."

"I have?" Twilight asked, this time with a hint of glimmer in her eyes as a small smile formed... only to fade when Rainbow commented on how the princess herself said she didn't know all the details.

She quickly brushed off Rainbow's remark as another thought soon came to mind. "But Princess, surely you know about the incident at the hospital last night, and how Rainbow flew back here."

"Yes, I am aware, and neither of you are in any trouble."

"I allowed her to stay the night when I really should have brought her back and—" Twilight paused as Celestia's words began to sink in. "I'm sorry?"

"I payed a visit to the hospital you dropped Rainbow off at before arriving here," Celestia explained, sparking not only Twilight's interest, but for the first time since she had shown up, Rainbow's as well. "Not to worry, I smoothed things over with the head staff when I spoke with them."

Twilight couldn't believe it at first, what she had heard... Just like that, they were apparently off the hook.

Twilight breathed a sigh of relief. All thanks to Celestia, she supposed. She had never really thought about, but it was times like these, she was thankful she had Celestia looking out for her...

"Now then, Twilight," the princess spoke up, softly smiling down at Twilight. "If I may, will it be alright if I sit and talk with her?"

Twilight opened her mouth to speak, ready to question why she'd want to do such a thing, but Rainbow was quick to interject. "Wait wait wait, hold up. Why does some mare wanna talk with me?" Rainbow questioned, finding she was no less confused than Twilight.

Some mare...? Twilight nervously grinned at the princess before turning her attention to the pegasus beside her... who really needed to learn to keep her mouth shut. Quickly covering the pegasus's mouth with a foreleg, she turned back to the princess with the same nervous grin as she explained, "I'm terribly sorry, Princess; please excuse her attitude. She banged her head pretty bad and must've uh, forgotten how to properly address one such as yourself."

Rainbow opened her mouth wide enough so her tongue could leak out and with it, gave Twilight's foreleg a quick, sloppy lick. Anything to free herself from Twilight's grasp... Rainbow immediately made a sour face, followed by a small blech sound and her repeatedly brushing off the base of her tongue with a hoof. It seemed to work however as Twilight pulled her foreleg away the second Rainbow licked it. She too seemed to be having the same, disgusted reaction to the act. Brushing her one foreleg off with hopes that that would actually do something, she turned and prepared to yell at the rainbow pegasus... starting with the one name she found herself shouting over and over again... "Rainbow!"

"Look, I needed to say something and your arm there was... kinda in the way."

"So you licked it?"

"Would you have liked it better if I bit it?"

"Well no, but—!" Twilight found herself at a loss for words, and realized she could do nothing but let out another agitated groan, briefly turning away from the two. Taking advantage of the situation, Rainbow quickly stifled her laughter and turned to look up towards Celestia.

"So anyway, as I was trying to say..." Rainbow began, glancing at Twilight from the corner of her eye. "Before I let you talk to me, or whatever you want, I wanna know who you are."

Celestia placed a hoof to her chin, looking up as if in thought. "I suppose I never did introduce myself to you properly... Alright." She leaned down, becoming eye level with Rainbow. "My job is to assure the safety of ponies like yourself and ensure that all goes well throughout the land."

"Okay...?" All Rainbow could do was tilt her head to the side in confusion as she stared back at Celestia. "What?" She shifted her gaze towards Twilight who seemed to have calmed down, though appeared more embarrassed now than anything. "That's it?"

Twilight looked over at Rainbow, realizing the question had been directed at her. Rolling her eyes, she grabbed the pegasus, pulling her close and whispering in her ear, "She's the ruler of Equestria, Rainbow," Twilight said, triggering Rainbow's eyes to grow wide in astonishment. "She's tasked with raising the sun at dawn and moon at dusk, and..."

And? Rainbow thought, staring off ahead of her, and never once changing her expression. Staring indirectly at the mare ahead of her, Rainbow thought Twilight's words over, in an attempt to process how any of what Twilight told was even possible. But what surprised her more was the fact Twilight seemingly wasn't finished, thinking only, What else could there be?

"She's my teacher," Twilight added, "so please, show some respect."

She's... Twilight's teacher? Rainbow, for a moment, found herself amazed by the fact. Only to hide it seconds later behind an unimpressed demeanor, followed up by another one of her usual ill-mannered remarks.

"Alright... but you know, she could've just said that."

Twilight lightly shoved Rainbow away with a single hoof and turned to face the princess. With Rainbow's questions out of the way, she could finally ask what was on her mind. "Forgive me for asking, but... you said you wanted to talk with Rainbow?" Sure, it made sense she supposed, but still... "Rainbow?"

Rainbow shifted a look towards Twilight, her eyes narrowing, unamused. "You know I'm standing right here, Twi," she faintly added in, though Celestia had managed to catch some of what the pegasus had muttered out.

"Twi?" she asked, looking to her student. That was new. Never in the time she had known Twilight, had another pony referred to her by such a name.

"It's a... nickname, Princess," Twilight explained. "A name Rainbow insists on calling me." She stopped for a moment, glancing at Rainbow from the corner of her eye. "Although I'm not sure why..."

Celestia merely chuckled softly at what her student had told her, holding a hoof over her lips as she did. "Is that right?" she questioned as her quiet laughter began to die down. "So, if I may..."

"Oh, y-yes! Please, come in!" Twilight said, now blushing profoundly as she realized just how off track the three had all gotten. "This way, Princess..." Clumsily backing away and picking Rainbow off the floor, she motioned Celestia in, leading her into the entrance room, and down into the tower's den.

Day 2, Part 2 - Celestial Intervention

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So... they were no longer in any sort of trouble? That's what the princess had lead to her believe, wasn't it? It seemed that way, but Twilight didn't know for certain. All Twilight did seem to know at that moment was that the princess had asked to have a convenient little chat with somepony whom it'd be easier questioning a brick wall than it would her.

Twilight sighed. This whole day up to the moment Celestia had arrived at her doorstep had been a mess, and Twilight couldn't make heads or tails of it. Heck, even now, it was still a mess. It went from wanting to leave early—a simple enough desire—to discussing their possible punishment and getting... a tad bit angry with Rainbow once or twice. Now the Princess was in her home, seated around a blazing fireplace in the tower's den... and she was having more than a tough enough time taking it all in.

Rainbow's voice entered her mind, bringing the mare out of her thoughts. She glanced over and sure enough, Rainbow was going on about something... Something that, as she listened, began to recognize. Of course Rainbow would choose this as a topic of conversation...

"Seriously, Princess, she even yelled at me for the billionth time like, right before you showed up, complaining about how I was wasting all her food and how "The food was for the two of us, and I ate it all," blah blah blah."

What were they even talking about beforehand? She supposed, had she not been zoning out, that Celestia could have asked about her morning, or something along those lines. Or Rainbow was simply stating something to embarrass or make her look bad. Either way... the latter thought was certainly ringing true and Twilight found herself with no choice but to intervene. "But it was!" she interjected, much to the surprise of Celestia and Rainbow. "And you are eating all our food!"

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow retaliated. "Well... uhm, you uh... i-if you were really concerned about that, you never would've given me anything to eat."

"Well maybe I only shared with you so you'd quit your constant whining—"

"Calm down. Both of you." A moment of silence came and went before Celestia spoke up again. "Neither of you should be arguing with one another like this."

"But Princess—!"

"She started it—!"

The two young mares exchanged confused glances with one another before Twilight decided to speak first. "Oh so I was the cause of this? Is that right?"

"I dunno, maybe you were," Rainbow answered, followed with a shrug. "Perhaps you should have labeled yours, or something."

"Label my... what?" Twilight stared at her, stunned. Rainbow had said some senseless things in the short time they had known one another, but that... "That doesn't even make any sense!"

"Will the two of you please stop this pointless bickering?" Celestia spoke again, this time raising her tone, and almost immediately both mares did as they were told. Though their arguing had ceased, their eyes remained fixed on one another, glaring each other down.

Celestia sighed, wondering, as she watched their behavior, how the two managed to survive the previous day together. She looked down at the unicorn sitting beside her, and lowering her voice, she said, "Twilight, my student... you shouldn't blame Rainbow for what she did, if she was not aware to begin with."

Rainbow grinned the second she heard Celestia's words. "Yeah Twi, no blaming me! Princess's orders," she said, briefly sticking her tongue out, and bringing Twilight's attention back to her. The act however, only left Twilight more confused than anything, and left her wondering why she did such a thing.

Though she simply passed it up as Rainbow's lips being dry, what Rainbow had said before managed to get under her skin. After deciding what she'd say, Twilight opened her mouth to speak... only to turn her attention back to the princess when she discovered she had beat her to it.

"As for you..." Celestia began, turning her attention towards Rainbow. "I ask that you show a bit more consideration for Twilight... She has been good to you after all, has she not?"

"Well...!" Despite multiple shortcomings and arguments with one another, Rainbow hated to admit it, but... yeah, she supposed Twilight had. "Er, yeah... she has," Rainbow admitted in defeat, allowing her head to hang slightly and letting out a tiny breath of air. "Sorry," she added, letting out a nervous chuckle as she placed a hoof behind her head, her lips forming an apologetic smile as she now focused on the studious mare sitting across from her.

The lone act had caught Twilight's attention, and while Rainbow's eyes had the habit of drifting between her and the floorboards, Twilight's eyes remained fixed on her; feelings of confusion, yet... astonishment swelled up inside her. The new, and... rather uneasy behavior, was an unusual sight for her in the time she had known Rainbow. Though perhaps even more unusual for the mare, was the fact Celestia had brought this on.

She didn't know what to think, or even say at that moment, if she even should've. However, she realized two things at that moment: she really was lucky to have Celestia looking after, and, at that moment, a new feeling overcame her; a feeling she was certain had never felt before. One she couldn't quite describe... But she liked it.

Hopeful thinking perhaps, but at that point, Twilight found herself wishing this would signify a new start for the two... or that their relationship improve, if only a bit.

As her mind filled with these thoughts, she almost didn't realize Celestia had continued speaking, and with a quick shake of her head, returned to reality, listening in on what her teacher had begun to say.

"I do not know what it was that caused yesterday's events, but the two of you were brought together because of it," Celestia went on to say. "I can understand how stressful this situation may seem, but having senseless arguments won't change it any."

Twilight and Rainbow softly nodded as Celestia finished, her words lingering in both of the young mares' thoughts. Celestia was right. Hay, they knew she was right. Twilight had agreed to make her home a home to somepony without one... well until she was fit to return home, wherever that may be. But here they were arguing over what exactly? No, Celestia was right. No more pointless arguing, or losing her temper... If this were to work, she'd have to become more tolerant of the pegasus... even if it'd pain her to do so... she'd give it a shot.

"You're right..." Twilight acknowledged in a soft tone, her eyelids lowering as her gaze fell to the floor. "Sorry Princess."

Celestia nodded, gazing down at the two with a caring smile. "Now then... perhaps we can get along a little better?"

Neither of them wasted any time deciding their response as they both replied, "Yes," in unison, seemingly surprised at first that each of them seemed to agree on the subject. But they both agreed, and that was enough for Twilight. Enough to know that Rainbow was willing to cooperate and hopefully make this whole situation easier on the both of them.

Looking one another in the eyes, neither spoke, unsure of what either should say. Biting her lip, Twilight's eyes fell to the floor for the briefest moment, debating what to say—she supposed an apology would suffice... or maybe she should simply wait for Rainbow to speak up. It wouldn't have surprised her if Rainbow had wanted to get the first word in. But to her surprise, Rainbow seemed no less certain than herself, leaving Twilight with no other choice but to say something. Anything to break the silence...

Letting out a small breath of air, and deciding what exactly to say, Twilight turned to face her. "Sorry Rainbow... I keep telling myself I shouldn't be so hard on you, and yet everything you do causes me to... to..." Her voice slowed to a stop, realizing she was at a loss for words. She knew what to say, how to say it, yet... she found herself unable to do so. Whether it was due to feeling uncomfortable, or at the moment, embarrassed; Twilight didn't know. All she did know was this had all sounded so much easier in her head...

Making matters worse, she realized Rainbow was still staring at her, awaiting what couldn't be said. Great... she mused, lowering her head and letting a faint, flustered groan escape her lips, followed by a light hit to the forehead, subsequently brushing a corner of her mane up as her hoof ran through it.

Similarly, Rainbow equally found herself at a loss of words. With one eyebrow raised, she couldn't help but wonder, So... I cause her to break down and slam her forehead repeatedly?

"I cause you to do... that, huh?" Rainbow asked, cracking a grin and doing whatever she could not to burst out in a fit of laughter right at that moment. But Rainbow wasn't that far off. After all, Twilight did find herself falling victim to those habits nearly every time the pegasus got on her nerves. So she nodded.

"In a way, yes..." Twilight replied, the voice she had so desperately needed moments ago now returning to her. Her hoof fell from her forehead, though she soon found herself clutching her other foreleg as she looked off to the side, nervously biting at her inner bottom lip.

Several seconds passed with neither saying a word, until Rainbow decided it was a good enough time as any to get a word in; and taking advantage of the silence, she did just that. "Yeah, well... I suppose I shouldn't just be thinking of myself here," she admitted, rubbing a hoof behind her neck and surprising Twilight as she spoke. "I guess I ended up roping you into all this because I was probably flying recklessly or something... when you didn't want anything to do with any of this, or me." She glanced down at the floor as her lips formed a fake smile. With a halfhearted shrug, added, "Hay, you probably still don't—"

"That's not true..." Twilight replied in a faint tone, her eyelids half-lidded and gazing downwards, past Rainbow. Hastily turning red, she prayed Rainbow hadn't heard her just then—hay, she herself wished she hadn't heard that. With her luck however—the same luck that brought a pegasus crashing into her home—it was unlikely Rainbow hadn't heard her... and she was right.

Rainbow's foreleg froze, her gaze quickly returning to Twilight, as she let out a baffled, "Huh—?" in response. Though before a chance to properly question anything, Celestia, having remained passive as the two talked, decided to intervene.

"Well," she began, "I suppose that's enough for now. It's good to see the two of you have reached an understanding." She smiled, finding herself rather impressed with both their behavior. Minutes ago the two were at each others' throats, but now they were forgiving, and willing to work together... if only a little. Maybe there stands a chance of this working after all...

But for now, there still remained questions that Celestia had been meaning to ask since she had first heard of the pegasus's arrival, and now having the chance to do so, she calmly asked, "Rainbow... how are you feeling?"

"Feeling?" Rainbow repeated in question, a bit taken aback by what the princess had asked her and it only made her wonder why she had even asked such a thing in the first place. Did she look as though something was wrong with her? Or on second thought, perhaps she was referring to her physical injuries? Rainbow could only assume that's what she must've been getting at. "Well my body feels sore in some places, that's for sure," she explained, smiling nervously as she placed a cautious hoof over her lower back. "It's sorta hard for me to move about, so Twi here usually carries me about with her magic."

"Is that right?" Celestia chuckled slightly, moving a hoof to cover her growing smile. "Actually I was referring to the incident yesterday... and how you're taking losing your memory..."A brief pause followed and during that time, Twilight thought over what the princess had said. It surprised her that the princess had been so direct about this, much less asked about it. Though, truthfully... she would have been lying if she had insisted she hadn't wondered about it numerous times the day before and would have questioned it directly too, had she only found a moment to before it slipped her mind.

Well, Twilight supposed it didn't matter now. She would be getting an answer any minute now, so long as Rainbow complied anyway.

"So if it's okay with me asking," Celestia continued, "I'd like to learn how you're taking this. If you're worried at all—"

"What's there to be worried about?" Rainbow questioned, though abruptly, and right away Twilight assumed this had been a sarcastic remark from the mare, but she had sounded completely serious. "I bump my head, lose some memories, bang myself up a little... no biggie. I have someplace to stay, have somepony nice looking after me, and it's not like it's permanent or anything. I'll recover my memory eventually anyway," Rainbow finished with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Well that's..." Celesta started, when Twilight finished for her, stating what her and the princess had both been thinking.

"Optimistic," she said. Well, among other things. It was already made clear to her the way Rainbow was. But now Twilight could add a sense of childish optimism to the list. "A bit too optimistic actually, Rainbow. This may be permanent..."

"Yeah, well... I hear ya, but I'm pretty sure this isn't," Rainbow simply said, laughing off Twilight's concern. "Look, you said I could crash here for a while until I regained my memories, right? So I guess we'll see whether they return or not."

Crash here? That part in particular had caught the princess's attention. So her student had allowed this pegasus to reside here. That was certainly unusual of her... "Twilight?" Twilight turned, curious as to what the princess wanted to know from her all of a sudden. "You said that?"

Right! I never mentioned... Great, it had slipped her mind. Well, on second thought, she had mentioned it in her letter she had written up the night before— Oh, right! How could I forget about that? Without a word, Twilight scrambled to her hooves, and dashed out of the room to fetch what would hopefully answer some of the princess's questions.

Twilight's abrupt leaving however, only left the two exchanging confused glances. Though, neither Celestia nor Rainbow could deny that they hadn't expected this from her. Still, why she had suddenly trotted off left the two with a multitude of questions, soon followed by an awkward silence.

"So, uh..." Rainbow placed a hoof behind her neck, "Is she usually so... eh, you know..." Her voice slowed to a stop and soon Rainbow found even she had no idea how to put Twilight's behavior into words. She supposed awkward was one way of putting it. Brash, and not exactly what you'd call social, perhaps a little temperamental... strike that; way temperamental.

"Twilight's... different than most others. She's..." Celestia paused, seemingly unsure of what to say, or how to say it. "Not like you and I."

"Yeah, you don't say?" Rainbow grinned, letting out a soft chuckle.

"She can be difficult sometimes, but she can also be a very kind, and understanding individual," Celestia explained, though her smile soon went from warm to sheepish as she went on to say, "Lately though, she's become increasingly involved in her studies; it seems to have gotten a bit out of control... I've told her to go out, make some friends, but she's come to prefer solitude I suppose."

Not surprising... Rainbow mused, smiling at the thought.

"But please," Celestia continued, looking Rainbow squarely in the eyes. "Give her a chance, and maybe..." Her eyelids lowered as her voice became that of a whisper. "You can change her for the better."

"I— Wait... wha—?" Had she heard correctly? First Twilight, now her teacher... what was with everypony muttering things around her? "What did you—?"

"Got it!" Twilight's voice rang through the den and a brief second later, the unicorn reappeared, skidding to a stop beside Rainbow and holding a rolled up piece of parchment in her magical grasp. "Here... I, I wrote this last night," she said, panting as she hovered the piece over to the princess. Falling back on her haunches and wiping a foreleg across her brow, Twilight continued to catch her breath, while the two couldn't help but wonder if she had ran back and forth between... wherever it was she had gone off to. It sure looked like it. Nevertheless though, Celestia graciously accepted the parchment and unrolled it as Twilight went on to explain, "I had planned on having Spike send this to you, but then you showed up, and well..."

She placed a hoof behind her head, letting out a nervous chuckle. "Point is, this should help you understand some of what happened yesterday."

"How very kind of you to do so. Thank you, Twilight."

"Uh-huh," Twilight nervously replied. She found that was all she could say at that moment, until a thought occurred to her. She never had answered Celestia's question from earlier... "So uh, sorry about running off like that..." she apologized. A good enough way to begin, she presumed. While Celestia went on reading, nodding slightly at her student's remark, Twilight hesitantly continued. "To answer your question from earlier... I did. Yesterday, Rainbow, she... insisted that she stay here with me, hoping that doing so might bring back some memories, and it seemed like a good idea at the time..."

Weakly, Twilight added as she closed her eyes, "Sorry, Princess..." Sorry for a number of reasons. For one, not telling her sooner. Here the princess was, talking with the two of them, and Twilight couldn't help but feel like a complete scatterbrain over the fact she had yet to bring up something as crucial as the two living together!

And from the way the princess had asked her, Twilight assumed she wasn't all too thrilled with her decision of taking Rainbow in. Well, that's what Twilight had assumed, anyway.

"Sorry?" Princess Celestia almost sounded surprised that her student apologized for her actions... and admittedly, she was surprised. Twilight had no reason to apologize. "You needn't apologize so often, Twilight. It is alright."

"But I—" Twilight paused, her wide eyed gaze returning to meet Celestia's. "Really?"

Celestia nodded, tucking the letter under her wing as she went on to explain, "Watching over this one until we can learn where exactly it is she comes from and granting her a place to stay is not something to be ashamed of." With a reassuring smile, she added, "Aside from a few minor mishaps, you thought rationally and with others in mind, went about handling this situation to the best of your ability... doing what you thought was best. You've done a fine job, my student."

She did a fine job? That's what she had heard alright, but hay, Twilight still couldn't believe it! Princess Celestia had congratulated her on how she went about looking after Rainbow... even if she wasn't completely sure as to why. To Twilight, she had done barely okay... but then again, Rainbow was still in one piece and would be getting the help she needed, they were both seemingly out of trouble, and Celestia seemed pleased... Maybe she hadn't done such a bad job after all... "Oh uhm, t-thank you, Princess," Twilight said, graciously accepting Princess Celestia's words. But there was still one question on her mind...

"B-but... well, you aren't going to leave her in my hooves, are you?" Not that she was entirely against the idea, but it made sense she would be taken away now, taken to live somewhere else... the palace perhaps, where Celestia could keep an eye on her personally and monitor the situation herself. It seemed likely, it made sense...

However there was no way Rainbow would ever go along with the sudden change... and it was for that reason, Rainbow would have to remain here, with her, for the time being anyway. Now she'd only need to convince Princess Celestia of allowing her to keep watch over the pegasus. It wasn't a task for a student, obviously, but if Celestia had freely admitted to her doing a fine job, then perhaps just maybe, she would allow it.

Unbeknownst to Twilight however, Celestia had already decided. "She'll stay here, with you."

"Alright, but at least consider—wait... you said she can stay here?" Twilight blinked a couple times, staring absentmindedly at the princess and baffled by the fact Princess Celestia had allowed such a thing. Either Celestia saw her as the only one capable of dealing with a pegasus such as Rainbow, or realized just how stubborn Rainbow was and thought it'd be easier to simply have her stay. Either way...

"She can stay..." Twilight muttered aloud in thought, and right then, felt her heart hammer against her chest as blood rushed to her cheeks. Unknowingly, her lips formed a smile. A new feeling rose up from deep inside her, and although she was unsure of the feeling, she could tell it wasn't a bad one. Something about Rainbow staying made her feel... nice, and soon a warm feeling overcame her...

"You can stay!" Twilight exclaimed, full of excitement as she turned to Rainbow, and before she could even begin to realize what she was doing, found herself standing up on her own two hind legs and lifting Rainbow by the bases of her forelegs along with her in a tight embrace; and she continued, holding her close enough that their muzzles brushed against one another for the briefest moment and staring back at her with the same silly grin she thought only somepony like Rainbow could make... Guess it had rubbed off on her.

Rainbow simply stared blankly back at her, not even sure what to think. Only that the entire act was... unexpected. What happened to the Twilight she had come to know? It seemed like she was simply caught in the moment, but... why? Since when did Twilight actually want her living here?

"Gee Twi, I-I'm happy too, but uh, by any chance, could you maybe let me down? This is ah, really starting to hurt..." Being lifted off the ground by somepony who could barely lift her off the ground, with trembling forelegs and clearly no idea what she doing was starting to take its toll on the young pegasus.

Regardless of whether or not Twilight had forgotten about her injuries, regardless of how she was holding onto her... it was causing tremendous pain to shoot up through her body... and Rainbow could only bare it for so long.

Then it occurred to Twilight what she doing, and she immediately let go of her.

She stifled a quick gasp with a hoof as took a step back with her other hoof against her cheek. "Oh my—" She caught herself, remembering whose presence she was in and went on to make sure Rainbow was okay, all the while in her thoughts, scolding herself, and sputtering a near-endless string of the word sorry... Well, until she ran out of breath anyway.

So she grabbed another one and continued with another onslaught of apologies... until she could have sworn she heard Rainbow say it was okay... that she didn't need to apologize. She almost couldn't believe it. "Excuse me? I don't have to? But Rainbow, I acted—!" Well actually, she had no idea what exactly she just did, or why she did what she did. She had permission to watch over Rainbow and she'd be staying here, so what? Was it really that important to her? "Look, I don't know why I did that, but I shouldn't have done that... whatever it was that I did. You're injured and I should never have lifted you about like that..."

"Twi, it's fine, really. You were just excited—"

"But why? What reason could I possibly have for—?" She paused right as she noticed Rainbow form a small, humored smile. "I-I don't like you!" she said, being quick to defend herself, and cheeks burning red.

"Sure you don't," Rainbow replied in a sarcastic tone, causing the mare to become even more flustered and her entire body to burn bright red which Rainbow was quick to note. Perhaps she had gone a bit too far...

Or perhaps she shouldn't have mentioned that in front of Twilight's teacher and lone ruler of Equestria! Twilight let out a quiet groan. Rainbow really needed to learn when to talk, or when not to spout out jokes about her... She could only hope Celestia hadn't caught on to what Rainbow had suggested.

And she hadn't... but watching the scene unfold before her, other thoughts began to surface, and one of which was becoming clear... The two were becoming friends...

Even if neither had come to realize this. It was already clear Twilight wasn't sure what to make of this. How to act, what to say, why she acted the way she did, or why she felt the things she did... it was all new to her. Nothing but a foreign concept to the young unicorn. It was however, only a matter of time before she realized it and the more time the two spent together, the faster the two of them would hopefully come to this realization.

"So, um, Princess... why exactly are you allowing this again?" Twilight asked, hoping to change the subject. And truth be told, she'd be lying if she said she wasn't interested in finding out herself. "Allowing Rainbow to reside here, I mean."

"Oh, well..." Celestia snapped back to reality, taking notice of Twilight, and Rainbow quietly grumbling and attempting to brush off the pain from earlier. "You see, my duties as both princess, and serving as a teacher for you leave me with little time to look after somepony such as Rainbow."

She supposed what Celestia said had held some truth to it. Rainbow was a hoofful after all. But even so, the idea didn't sit all too well with her. "So, you're leaving me in charge simply because you don't have time... is that it?"

"You could also say I wish not to disrupt Rainbow, who seems rather content, here with you."

Twilight opened her mouth as she prepared to speak, ready to retort against what she had said... when it hit her. What Celestia had said just then, had been her own reasoning as well, and it made sense. "Okay, okay... I get it."

Princess Celestia nodded, then stood, as the conversation between them drew to a close. She had seen and learned all that she needed... "So I'll be leaving you in charge of her. Think of it as an... assignment."

"A-an assignment? Princess...?" So looking after Rainbow was now an assignment for her to undergo? That's how she wanted Twilight to see this? What was she even supposed to learn—?

"One that will teach you to look after others."

"Oh..." So that's what she was supposed to learn? "But what does that have to do with my magic studies? Or anything for that matter?" It didn't seem to matter. It didn't affect her magical studies, or her ability to control or manipulate magic... it was just her, learning how to care for somepony. It occurred that perhaps, just maybe, Celestia made this an assignment so she wouldn't be split between her regular studies and looking after Rainbow... and making this her only assignment would make things easier on her.

"Twilight Sparkle..." Twilight broke away from her thoughts and looked up towards the princess at the mention of her name. "You are a brilliant young mind... However, there is something in which you lack." She paused, momentarily glancing over at Rainbow. "Rainbow, Twilight isn't the only one... I expect you to learn from this experience as well."

Rainbow stifled a grunt and turned to Celestia, a puzzled look plastered across her face. Celestia wanted her to learn something? Sounds boring... was her only thought before the pain soon snapped her from her thoughts.

Though Twilight wasn't so easily distracted.

Lack? "I... lack something?" That left the mare without words, and unsure of what Celestia was even getting at. She didn't lack anything... or so she insisted on telling herself. If it was caring for others, it was already made clear she would work on it. It was an assignment of hers now, after all. But if she had meant something else... She stood now, slowly rotating a hoof in a circular motion toward the princess, as if motioning her to explain. "Which is...?"

What Twilight got however, wasn't the answer she had been looking for.

"I'll let you discover that on your own," came her vague response, though it only left Twilight with more questions. But Celestia spoke up again before Twilight was given the chance to ask any. "Now, first thing's first, we need to get you and Rainbow back to the hospital."

Oh that's right! Twilight slapped her forehead and scolded herself over the fact she had forgotten something so important. Hay, Princess Celestia was right. Even if the princess's words had been lost on her young student, now wasn't the time to question them. No, what mattered most was getting Rainbow back there, and hopefully without a single mishap this time around. "Okay..." she agreed, and as the princess nodded and turned to leave, another thought suddenly popped into the young mare's head. "But Princess... you—you're saying that... you're not going to help me, or her... That this is all something I must handle on my own?"

Twilight's final question left the alicorn frozen in her tracks. She glanced back over her shoulder at her student who looked back at her with almost baffled eyes... seemingly worried she would be left to deal with this all on her own. She had placed all this responsibility on her shoulders and never once mentioned how she would help—if she would help at all. She felt foolish having never brought this up until now, when she did indeed intend to help. "Both myself and members of the royal guard will be out delivering and gathering information from neighboring towns and cities. If she did fly in from somewhere else, we'll be sure to let you know," she finished explaining as Twilight's spirits lifted a little knowing she wouldn't be... completely on her own as she dealt with this.

"Sorry for not informing you sooner, my student."

"Oh, no need to apologize, Princess. It's... fine, really," Twilight assured, though she wished Celestia had mentioned this earlier... but at least she had brought it up, and now she knew others would be helping out too... That's all that mattered.

"Now let us go." Princess Celestia motioned both to follow her before proceeding to the exit herself. "You two may ride with me."

Well, that was new. Twilight had never been given the opportunity to ride with the princess before. Or, come to think of it, she had hardly ever ridden in any means of transportation before. Or with royalty, for that matter. The idea alone made Twilight a little excited, and at the same time, glad that she would no longer have to fret over carrying Rainbow through the cobblestone streets on their way to the hospital.

Breathing out a sigh, and watching as Celestia walked up the stairs to the tower's entrance, Twilight turned to face Rainbow who seemed more concentrated on shaking off any lingering pain from earlier. "You heard her, Rainbow... Come on."

Rainbow winced for a brief moment, straightening her back and stretching her aching forelegs one after the other. With a sigh of relief, she relaxed her muscles and let her shoulders droop before turning to Twilight. "Aw... already?" she groaned, hoping perhaps they could have gotten another hour or two before heading back.

"Rainbow—!" Twilight nearly yelled, when she caught herself. "I mean, uh... yes, Rainbow, it's that time already. Now please, come along..."

"Ugh, fine..." She groaned, wishing she could just waste the day here, within the tower instead. But this was something she had to go through... and the sooner she got it over with, the better. Well at least Twilight would be accompanying her... that was something. "Well?" Rainbow began to say, from her spot on the floor. "Go on, do your thing."

"Do my... what—? Oh, you mean carry you... Right." Her horn lit up, and used her magic to carefully lift the pegasus from the floor and into the air. "Well, I think that's it then." She tightened the saddle around her body and double checked all the pockets and sleeves to assure that she had all that she needed, and took one quick glance around the room before heading for the exit... when something stopped her.

"Twilight?" a voice called out to her from the nearby staircase leading upstairs, and right away Twilight and Rainbow recognized who it belonged to. Twilight spun around, unintentionally causing Rainbow to as well, as she noticed her assistant watching from behind a small opening between the stairwell and the den where the two were situated.

"Spike?" Twilight questioned, cocking her head. She could had sworn he had been upstairs while they were meeting with the princess. "How long were you...?"

He stepped out into the open and walked over to them, watching Rainbow from the corner of his eye. "Long enough to know she'll be staying here—"

"Only until she's able to return home," Twilight was quick to correct. She figured that must have been when Spike entered the scene, but why he had chosen to stay hidden still made little sense to her. "You know you at least could've come out and said hello."

"Well at the moment it didn't seem like a good time to interrupt," he replied. Spike stopped before Twilight, suddenly finding his gaze wandering and unable to face Twilight directly. He clutched his arm as he quietly added, "You know... you got pretty excited when you found out she'd be staying..."

He saw that? Well it shouldn't have surprised her, considering that happened right after it was revealed Rainbow would be staying. But she found herself growing flustered over the fact he had seen her whisk the pegasus off her hooves. Something she still had no idea why exactly she even did it to begin with.

"Look, Spike I— Believe me when I say I have no idea why I did that."

Spike shifted a suspicious glance in her direction. "You don't, huh?" Somehow, he doubted that.

"Well actually Spike, it's because she—" Rainbow replied with a hint of witticism, though was quickly interrupted by Twilight before getting the chance to finish. There was no way she'd allowed her to finish that statement.

"Be quiet, Rainbow." Twilight huffed out in annoyance. Now so wasn't the time. The two of them were already running late, and as troublesome as it seemed, this would have to wait until later. "Look, Spike, can we please talk about this some other time? When I check by here later perhaps?" She placed a hoof below her chin, glancing over her shoulder. "I'm sure the princess is wondering what's keeping us..."

"Go on then," Spike said, forcing a smile and waving them off. "You shouldn't be keeping someone like Celestia waiting."

"Oh uhm, well... alright," Twilight said with a questioning glance, surprised by his rather sudden shift in tone. "I'll be seeing you later then, I guess," she told him, while in her head, she mentally shrugged. Whatever was bothering him, if anything at all, hopefully it could be resolved later.

"Come along, Rainbow," Twilight added as she turned and began trotting towards the doorway, hoisting the pegasus above her while she went on about... something; Spike couldn't tell what, nor did it particularly interest him.

"Alright, but seriously Twi, I'm telling you I'm fine! My body's not even in that much pain! I mean, I don't see why I have to go back there when I could just rest here instead..." Her voice continued—Twilight shaking her head once, and saying things in response that Spike couldn't quite make out—until at last, they had left.

From high above, the door to the Ivory Tower shut behind them, and for a moment, Spike stood motionless. Silent and still, cast aside. He stood in thought, unsure of how to feel, or what to think. Twilight had said she'd talk with him when she got home. That was if she wasn't too preoccupied with her new found obsession.

He sighed, lowering his head and closing his eyes. No, Twilight would never break a promise like that. She would be back eventually, he'd just have to wait until that moment came. But what was there to do until then? He supposed he could do some work to pass the time. The kitchen was most likely a mess, especially if Twilight had tried her hoof at preparing something; and he had made a small dent in the bathroom, though for the most part, it remained a soggy, soaking mess. Peering back up at his surroundings, he settled on doing just that.

Still, as he slowly walked to the kitchen, he couldn't help but think back to moments earlier... the look Twilight had given him.

Oh yes, he was the odd one... No, this wasn't a matter of him acting odd, it was simply a matter of being unable to express how he felt—about all this. He didn't have a problem with Rainbow, or her staying here even! What he did have a problem with was her seemingly stealing his one and only caretaker—and friend—away from him...

"Ah... this is nice." Rainbow let out a relaxed sigh as she stretched her hind legs out, resting them on the seat in front of her. Both mares sat facing forward in the back row of a two-row carriage, Celestia taking the front row which remained cut off from the back by means of a glass window. "So much better than being carried around by you." She slouched down in her seat, allowing her head to sink into the plush velvet backing of the seat, barely turning to her right to have a better view of Twilight. "Hey, speaking of not being carried around by you, I guess you no longer have to do that, huh?" she joked, lightly nudging her with a hoof.

But Twilight had barely paid her any attention. It seemed her mind was focused on other matters, and all she could manage was a muffled, "uh-huh..." in response.

"Uh-huh, huh?" The pegasus grinned as her gaze returned to that ahead of her. "Man I am so not looking forward to later... Think they'll just let me lie in bed all day?" After a few moments passed and still no reply, Rainbow turned to face Twilight. "Hey... hello? Twi? You listening?" she asked, lazily waving a hoof past her eyes.

"What am I supposed to learn from you?" Twilight finally asked, never once glancing back at the pegasus, and remaining indifferent to the ponies around her. All she could focus on was what Celestia had said about the two learning from one another. It made no sense. Rainbow was... well, not exactly knowledgeable for one thing. Or in her current condition, anyway.

"That's what made you go all silent on me?" Rainbow smirked. She should have known by now it was Twilight she was talking to, and if she had learned anything from their time together, it was that Twilight was always one to sweat the small stuff. Though it had occurred to Rainbow that perhaps she did have a reason to worry. Somepony as smart as she was... suddenly being told there was something she had yet to learn. And that something was to be taught to her by some memory-ridden pegasus whom she had only know for over a day.

But that pegasus had no idea what she was even meant to teach her... Still, Celestia said there was something both of them could learn... guess that meant she'd be learning something too. Rainbow shrugged. Whatever it'd be. Still, Twilight wasn't the only one and at the least, could remind her of that. "Well, hey, she said I could learn something from you too!" She paused, looking away in embarrassment, realizing now just how little that helped anything. "Only well... I guess it's different in my case what with no memory and all..."

She just realized that? Twilight questionably glanced over at the rainbow-maned mare. If that had been an attempt to make her feel better about all this, it hadn't been a very good one.

"But you do seem pretty smart..." Rainbow continued, turning back to face her. "Hay, you could probably teach me anything!"

"Sure, if you were willing to listen." Which Twilight couldn't help but feel she wouldn't be. Twilight narrowed her eyes as she concentrated on the prismatic mare. "But you... What could you teach me?"

"Well..." Rainbow thought about it for a moment herself before coming up with an answer. "I have wings!" she exclaimed, pointing a hoof over her shoulder.

"And I have a horn," she replied, mimicking Rainbow by pointing a hoof at the horn atop her head. "Your point?"

"They're something you don't have!" She stretched out one of her wings for a moment—brief enough for Twilight to take notice—before wincing and quickly bringing it back to her side. "I could... kind of talk to you about them. Maybe attempt to teach you something about them—"

"I already know enough about wings, thanks," Twilight rebutted, passing off Rainbow's offer without a second thought. There's nothing she could tell me I haven't already read about...

"You do, huh?" Rainbow shrugged, turning her head straight. "Alright..." Well that idea didn't last long. Still, it had been worth a shot. "Well anyway, I'm sure it'll come to you, sorta like my own memories. Just gotta give it some time, and by then, maybe you'll know what it is you're supposed to learn, or maybe you'll have already learned it."

"Well maybe that's how you prefer to go about things, Rainbow, but I refuse to just sit around and wait for something apparently oh so important that I'm supposed to learn to just... come to me."

So she hated waiting... Rainbow shook her head before lying back against the seat. Maybe she was meant to teach her a little patience then?

The carriage slowed to an abrupt stop as Rainbow finished her thought. It seemed they had already reached the hospital, and soon her suspicion was proven correct. She watched Twilight glance out the window to her right, and sounding no less enthusiastic about this than Rainbow, said, "We're here."

"Oh joy..." Rainbow grumbled under her breath while rolling her eyes, which Twilight managed to take notice of.

"Hey," she softly said, nudging Rainbow's shoulder with a hoof. "I'll be with you, remember?"

"Oh joy," Rainbow repeated, this time in a joking tone... only to remember having been told to ease up on the... remarks about Twilight.

And taking quick notice of the narrowed-eyed, unamused glare from Twilight, now seemed like a good enough time as any to start. "Sorry," Rainbow said, grinning sheepishly, a hoof meekly scratching at her right cheek. "Uh... thanks, Twi... I appreciate it."

"Uh-huh," Twilight replied, simply rolling her eyes. The more she was around Rainbow, the more she had come to expect Rainbow to say those sort of things, and the less it seemed to bug her. Though at times it came off as insulting, Twilight began to realize that, deep down, Rainbow didn't mean any of it—she was the one who pleaded for her company, after all.

Even so, she wished Rainbow would ease up a bit, and in ways, it seemed she was starting to. That was a start, she supposed.

"Well anyway, it'll be over before you even know it," Twilight added with a reassuring smile, hoping the things she said would ease Rainbow's, and even her own nerves a little. Neither of them were looking forward to this, but they could at least convince one another—and themselves—it wouldn't be so bad.

She returned to gazing out the window while allowing her magic to unlock the carriage door. "Alright... well, come on; we can't spend all day cooped up in here, can we?" she said with a sigh, pushing the door open and stretching both her forelegs and hind legs out before stepping out herself, then turning to get Rainbow, enveloping her body and carefully maneuvering her out the door.

Once outside, and levitating the pegasus behind her, she trotted up to the front row door of the carriage where Celestia had been seated. Twilight tilted her head up at the princess, visible through the open window, and readied to say her goodbyes and thank her for everything... when Celestia spoke up first.

"It was a pleasure seeing you again after all this time, my student," Celestia said, casting a benevolent smile down at the two mares, and peering up at Rainbow for a quick second, added, "I'm glad to have met you as well, Rainbow."

"Yeah, uh... me too?" Rainbow replied with a nervous grin, not sure what Celestia was even getting at, or why she'd even be glad they did meet in the first place. Eh, probably just being polite or something.

"Thank you, Princess," Twilight said, happily smiling back at her. "It was really nice of you. Rainbow and I, we uh, really appreciated it." Whether or not Rainbow actually had remained unknown to the unicorn. Though she wasn't about to tell her Rainbow hadn't.

Celestia nodded. "Now before I go, I ask of one last thing from you."

One last thing? There was still more that Celestia asked of her? Twilight broke her smile, now inquisitively looking back at her teacher. "Yes, Princess?"

"I would like for you to write to me about how things are going, and that also includes any news concerning our lost friend here," she explained, and though Twilight listened, one word stood out to her in particular.

Friend...? Now what had she meant by that? Rainbow wasn't a friend. She didn't have a need for friends, nor did she want any. Though the princess could have meant it in a number of ways, she nevertheless loathed the word, the idea behind it... Becoming attached to some pony out of personal affection, wasting away time day after day, and devoting time to them... distracting you from what really matters.

Like now... she thought, letting out a sigh, and scolding herself for allowing that word to consume her... allowing it to catch her off guard... There were more important matters that needed to be addressed. Celestia had mentioned that she... write to her, and Twilight was interested to know more. "Write to you... So you mean, like a progress report?"

"In a way, yes..." Celestia said, confirming her student's own suspicions. "Now I ask only that you write when you feel the need to," she added. "Do not worry over when or how often you write to me, so long as you keep me informed on how things are going."

"Oh uh, yes! You can count on me, Princess," she assured her with a look of confidence, before her mind once more drifted off in deep thought. Funny how I already wrote something similar the night before... Who would have guessed she'd insist on me writing more of those letters.

While Twilight remained silent in thought, Celestia chose that moment to discuss another matter, particularly with the pegasus who idly floated in the air above them, darting her gaze back and forth as if looking for anything to pass the time. She thought back to their earlier meeting together, when she skimmed through Twilight's letter, and remembered a detail; one she was certain Rainbow would be interested to know would soon be resolved. Turning to catch Rainbow's passing gaze, she said with a smile, "Twilight wrote that she had difficulties providing a proper bed for you last night."

With that said, Celestia had her attention... and all Rainbow could do was look down on the unicorn who was seemingly oblivious to all around her, and wonder about what the princess had said, a curious expression written all over her face. She wrote about... that? Rainbow's disbelief hadn't lasted long, remembering who it was that wrote the letter. Still, it made her wonder. Just how much had Twilight written in that letter of hers, anyway?

"I'll have a bed sent over later this week," Celestia continued. "One with the texture of a cloud, made specifically for pegasi. It should arrive before you're discharged from the hospital." As she finished, Rainbow felt a subtle smile tugging at her lips, and soon it couldn't be contained, expanding into a large grin.

"You mean it?" Rainbow asked, now beaming with excitement over the gesture. After last night, the idea of getting a warm, cozy bed to sleep in was great news to her. Though puzzling as well. As kind as the offer was, and although she appreciated it... it made her wonder why Celestia would go through the trouble of having a bed delivered when it was unclear how long she'd be staying.

"Well eh, that's cool, I guess," she added with a shrug, stifling her grin. She wasn't about to humiliate herself showing gratitude over a bed. Talk about uncool.

Celestia nodded, smiling wholeheartedly at Rainbow's tough demeanor. Because behind it, she knew how Rainbow truly felt, and for the briefest moment, she had shown it. The lengths she went to hide it however, amused her. Calm and collected, brash, mischievous... and yet, this pegasus could prove herself essential to Twilight... to Equestria if she only remained with Twilight; and she'd make it easy for Rainbow any way she possibly could... to avoid discomfort, or another potential argument with her student.

If only keeping Rainbow content was her sole concern, but soon another rose from her memory. It had been brought up briefly in her letter. Nothing more than a mere mention. But what it had mentioned gave even the princess an uneasy feeling. Her student had mentioned nightmares... when the sun had begun its gradual descent from the sky. Though Twilight had summed it all up as nothing more than visions brought on by yesterday's events, Celestia feared otherwise.

Days had passed since their Summer Sun celebration, and in another year's passing, it would mark their thousandth. One thousand years since her banishment... The days draw nearer... could it be but a mere coincidence? The recent happenings, this ordinary pegasus—a promising young symbol of loyalty—entering her student's life when she may need it most... no, this was more than a mere coincidence...

"Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow..." she spoke, grabbing Rainbow's attention, while Twilight on the other hoof, hardly took notice of Celestia's voice as it passed by her ears; her brow furrowed as her eyes focused on the cobblestone pavement below her hooves.

"I must be on my way now," Celestia confided with the two of them, her mind focused on other matters. She smiled, adding, "I wish you the best of luck during these next few days."

"Oh uh, thanks," Rainbow replied first, though in her mind, wished Celestia could stay, if only a little longer. As dull and... uncomfortable being rendered motionless mid-air and forced to sit still was for her, she'd endure it if only it meant prolonging her inevitable hospital stay a minute or two longer. Heck, she'd take Twilight's magic slathering over her body causing it to go numb, and an occasional snicker to pass her lips any day over some doctor prodding her coat with needles, forcibly bandaging her wings and limbs up after making a considerable amount of incisions, most notably—and painfully—in her wings.

At least, that's how she remembered it.

But even if the worst was over, even if she'd most likely spend the next few days stuck in bed, even if Twilight would be with her every step of the way... those memories were enough to send shivers down her spine, and again she wished nothing more than to simply rest up at the tower instead. But no, she grumbled in thought. Twilight's reasoning was simple: her recovery needed to be monitored and looked after by those certified, and Twilight claimed she was unfit to do so. Rainbow had disagreed of course, which only led to more arguing between them.

Celestia turned her head straight, raising a hoof and signaling the guards onward. "I'll be seeing you, Twilight, Rainbow," she said, audibly enough that Rainbow heard and gave a slight nod in response, though Twilight's mind was focused elsewhere...

Then, in a moment's passing, Celestia's carriage began pulling out of view, until the two were left alone outside the hospital with nothing more than the sounds of the city, and distant, bustling voices of ponies to accompany them.

Rainbow tolerantly waited for Twilight to budge, at least an inch... or to say something, anything! She glanced from one direction to the next, examining the crossroads that interlaced with the hospital pathway; the mares and stallions that walked the early morning streets that were up were few and far between, and hardly paid either of them any mind.

This is what had gotten Twilight so agitated? Unbelievable... Rainbow mused. Here she was earlier this morning, fretting over... what? A few ponies on their way to work? The thought made Rainbow smile to herself. From the looks of things, most of the populace wouldn't be fully awake for a while yet.

Well if there was one thing she could say she liked about Twilight, that caused her to smile, for better or worse, it was often her anxious, and rather... fretful nature. Speaking of...

Her eyes once more looked down upon the mare holding her afloat. She stood unresponsive, seemingly unaware of the world around her, and mulling over... whatever thoughts were gnawing at the back of her mind. Thinking back, she had been like that since Celestia last addressed her, about those letters—Rainbow rolled her eyes. She froze up because of that? she thought, allowing a small groan to escape her lips and if it hadn't been for Twilight's magic constricting her movements, would have hit her forehead in sheer astonishment at the realization.

"Uh, Twi...?" Rainbow questioned, only for the unicorn to stay completely oblivious, lost in thought. Rainbow let out yet another groan at this. If only she could move a foreleg, just an inch... enough to prod the mare's shoulder and snap her out it.

Instead she closed her eyes and breathed out a sigh as she tried again, raising her voice as she spoke. "Twilight!" This time, it worked as the mare jolted from her thoughts and spun around, surprisingly not looking the least bit ticked off, but rather seemed more surprised than anything.

Twilight pointed her head up at the pegasus, cocking her head and raising her eyebrows as she did so. "You... you used my name?"

"Uh, well... yes?" Rainbow replied, sharing a similar look of confusion. Needless to say, she hadn't expected Twilight to react as calmly as she had. "Look, I only use it to grab your attention when you go silent on me like that, so don't go gettin' used to it... I still prefer the nickname, you know?"

"Figures..." Twilight's head drooped and ears flattened, the mare letting out a sigh as she decided to move onto other subjects. "So then, what was it you wanted again?"

"Your attention, Egghead," Rainbow repeated, followed up with a sudden, teasing laughter. "You were kinda zoning out there."

"Oh... but wait, if that's true, then...!" Her eyes widened in realization, swiftly looking all around her. "The princess! Where—?" Twilight paused. It hadn't taken her long to spot the speck of a carriage as it was pulled down the road by a pair of unicorn guards.

"Oh no..." Twilight muttered under her breath, eyes becoming pinpricks and rubbing a hoof up along the side of her face. "No... no no no no, come back!" she shouted out, galloping several feet down the street and catching Rainbow in a state of surprise as she was unexpectedly whisked along. "Come back..." Her eyes lingered on the sight ahead of her for a few more seconds until her body came to a halt, her eyes fell to the stone pavement, her body following suit.

"Ugh... stupid stupid stupid," she muttered out, taping her forehead repeatedly against the pavement, her body now lazily sprawled out, flat against the ground. "How could I, her student... ignore her like that?"

The magic around Rainbow's body began to ease up, and slowly, yet steadily, the pegasus was lowered to the ground. Touching down, Rainbow carefully stretched out her forelegs and ever so slightly arched her back before letting her shoulders droop. She let out an exhausted sigh, turning to face the mare who had been tasked with watching over her, now with her face planted firmly against the street. Seriously? she thought, looking upon the grumbling mare with that of a deadpan expression. And she was worried about making a scene?

Rainbow took another look around her. Surprisingly, no other ponies were seen walking the street, or ones linked to it, ponies seen earlier having already moved on. It was just the two of them, alone in the streets... one of which now uttering obscenities into the vacant street. She so doesn't realize how lucky she is right now...

Rainbow shook her head, leaning over the exasperated mare with a small grin plastered on her face. Seeing Twilight talk to herself... Well, it was amusing to say the least, if not a bit expected of her.

And, she figured, a good enough opportunity to have a little bit of fun with her—and make her feel better! Getting her back on her hooves was top priority, of course. Still, she could help and have an... eensy amount of fun too, she concluded.

"Come now, Twilight... it's not like you meant to, or anything." Rainbow's voice entered her mind, trying as it could to mimic Twilight's own voice. It came out rather stuck-up and snobbish, but Rainbow deemed it a good enough impersonation.

Well, she had, anyway. Not a second had passed before Twilight spoke up, bringing an abrupt end to Rainbow's short-lived amusement.

"I know it's you, Rainbow," she muttered out, her voice muffled as her face remained buried deep in the pavement. "Oh what does it matter if it's you or some inner voice telling me this... The point remains that I still did." Her eyes squinted tighter together in an attempt to shun away the thoughts forcing their way into her mind. "I can only imagine what she thinks of me now..."

"Yeah, so can I..." Rainbow said, allowing a small chuckle to escape her stifling hoof. "Look, I know she doesn't think anything bad of you—"

"Oh yes, and you know this because...?" Twilight hardly waited for Rainbow to give an answer before sighing and shakily sitting up to face her, her voice quavering as she continued. "I ignored her, Rainbow. Me, her student—"

"She was only saying goodbye you know... I'm pretty sure she thought you were listening anyway," Rainbow chimed in, though her words were quick to fall on deaf ears as Twilight went on.

"What kind of student ignores her teacher like that?" Her voice continued, abandoning the shaky, quavering tone of her voice for a louder, more stern tone, stressing the words as they came. "Well, me apparently... now that I'm stuck with you."

"Me?" Rainbow leaned back, a hoof over her chest and a baffled expression written all over her face, taken aback by what Twilight had accused her of. "Hey, it's not my fault you can't pay attention!"

"Oh really?" Twilight inquired, lifting an eyebrow. "Yesterday, you were all I could think about... Then today, I go to say my goodbyes to Spike, only to warn him about falling out windows!" She quietly groaned, hitting her brow with a hoof, allowing it to slide down her face. "Oh but that's not all. Then the princess stops by for no other reason than to make you into my new to-do list. Then she tells me I should do this, and this, and this and this..." she grumbled, waving her forelegs about in front of her before eventually allowing them to drop to her sides and exhaling a shaky breath of air.

And for a moment, there was silence.

"Then I spend a moment, just one measly little moment thinking; thinking about what I could write, what would be worth writing about... and next thing I know, I hear your voice, and when I look around me, she's gone..." Twilight managed a single, weak ironic laugh. "I don't know what's worse, Rainbow... The fact that I can't quit thinking about you, or that..." Her cheeks unknowingly reddened as she averted her gaze and placed a hoof behind her neck, letting loose a sigh in defeat. "I don't seem to mind..."

Rainbow's eyes only grew once she heard those words uttered by Twilight herself. There was no way Twilight had been telling the truth just then. She actually didn't mind? No... that couldn't have been true. Not after ranting on about how she was affecting her judgement and clouding her thoughts... She isn't that crazy, Rainbow reasoned in thought, her lips forming a smirk. Sure, she's kind of crazy, but not...

"Oh, why did I just say that?" Twilight groaned in annoyance, squinting her eyes shut and falling back on the pavement. Several seconds passed with nothing more than the occasional chirping or carriage wheels rocking along the faraway roads to break the silence. She opened her eyes slightly, immediately being greeted by near-blinding rays of light from the mid-morning sun, and was quick to move a foreleg over her eyes. Staring up at the sky above, half-lidded, Twilight quietly muttered, "How did today end up like this...?"

Yeah, definitely crazy, Rainbow thought, forming a humored smile. Shaking her head, she leaned over the still unicorn, prodding her exposed stomach with a hoof. "Look, Twi—" Then she heard it. Though it had lasted for a mere second or two, Twilight had let out a giggle in response to her hoof.

At first Rainbow backed away, surprised to say the least. Looking down at the mare lying below her, Rainbow took notice of the remnants of a smile, still tugging at her lips. It was at that moment when it occurred to her. Twilight was ticklish.

That gave her an idea.

With a small, mischievous grin creeping its way across her face, Rainbow lifted both her hooves and before Twilight realized what Rainbow was about to do, was sent into a fit of giggles. "R-Ra-Rain..." Twilight stuttered out between giggles. "Bow-ah-hahaha! Her giggles quickly became boisterous fits of laughter as she scrambled to remove Rainbow's hooves from her underbelly, but to no avail.

"So... nerdy little egghead is ticklish, huh?" she teased with a smirk, continuing her hooves' assault. Despite the uncontrollable laughter and flailing limbs, Twilight managed an innocent shake of her head while her body squirmed and shook, a blush forming in her cheeks and tears at her eyes.

"Really? Sure looks like it," Rainbow said with a chuckle, gazing over the trembling unicorn pinned to the stone pathway with her hooves. "You know... you've tickled me 'til my body's gone numb with that magic of yours one too many times, Twi. Now, it's my turn." Twilight's eyes widened for a moment in fear. She frantically squirmed her body and flailed her limbs harder than before, desperate to free herself... but it was no use. When her hooves even so much as made contact with Rainbow, they went on unnoticed.

Her horn sparked and sizzled, sparks of magic flying from the tip, but she couldn't focus long enough to cast a spell. It wasn't helped by the fact that Rainbow was still injured... somewhat anyway, and she wasn't about to take the blame for injuring her further. On the outside, she continued to laugh; on the inside however, she groaned at the realization that she was now completely at Rainbow's mercy...

Twilight's eyes scrunched tight, longing to say something, anything to get Rainbow to stop. "N-no-oo... no!" she managed to say, the words fumbling out of her mouth. "St-ah-hahaha... st—"

"I'm sorry?" Rainbow tilted her head slightly. "Trying to say something, are we?"

"Y-ye-yes!" Twilight sputtered out, throwing her head back an instant later in another fit of laughter.

"Oh, well then... out with it," Rainbow prodded, never once easing up her assault.

Twilight mentally rolled her eyes. Rainbow was clearly teasing, knowing she could barely form a sentence but yet... she was right. She had to say something. So she said the first thing that came to mind. At least, she tried to. "Ra-Rai-Rainbow, s... st-ha-op!" Twilight cried out, her words mixing with bits of laughter, and an infrequent snort or two.

"Huh?" Rainbow looked at her puzzled, her brows furrowed in curiosity "St... ha-op... oh, stop!" she exclaimed as it dawned on her just what exactly Twilight had been trying to get across. "Is that all? Hm... okay." As she finished, Twilight's face lit up, though only for a moment. "But," Rainbow continued, "if I stop, then... you gotta stop beating yourself up so much, alright?"

Rainbow's hooves slowed to a stop, granting Twilight a moment a catch a breath, and rid her system of any lingering laughs. With one last deep breath, she opened her eyes slowly and almost immediately gazed up at Rainbow with an inquisitive expression, her mind racing with thoughts. For starters, what had Rainbow meant by 'beating yourself up'? She never once abused herself like Rainbow was suggesting.

Noticing Twilight's curiosity and remembering who it was she was talking with, Rainbow simply smiled warmly back at her as she went on to explain, "I meant that you shouldn't get so upset over every little thing that happens." Twilight wanted to protest, wishing to get a word in, though Rainbow wasn't about to let that happen.

"So you never got a chance to say goodbye to the princess... so what? You'll see her again before you even know it!" Rainbow beamed, broadly grinning. "So you accidentally ignored her for like, two seconds... Twi, she didn't even notice." Twilight looked away, reluctantly allowing Rainbow's words to sink in. "I'm sorry about all this, but... sheesh Twi, look at yourself! You're lying in the streets, acting like it's the end of the world!"

Twilight slowly sat back on her haunches, holding a foreleg behind her head and discovering she was having an increasingly difficult time looking the pegasus in the eyes. "I mean, what would Celestia think if she saw you like this?"

Celestia...? The mention of her name caused her eyes to widen at the thought; a gut-wrenching sensation swelling up inside her. She hadn't thought of that...

"Alright, I get it..." Twilight admitted, breathing out a sigh. "That was foolish of me... But it's just, so much has happened—!"

"Which is why it's good to relax! Laugh a little," Rainbow said. "After all, didn't it make you feel better?"

Did it? She thought over Rainbow's words carefully. She supposed it had felt nice... triggering a warm, cozy feeling beneath her fur. No, not just nice; it felt amazing to laugh like that. Not since her fillyhood had she felt so carefree, not since...

Twilight shook her head. "Y-yeah..." she stuttered out in agreement.

"Great! I knew it'd lighten you up," Rainbow said with a relieved grin, lighting tapping her companion in the shoulder with a hoof. The grin soon faded however as she now looked at her with concern in her eyes. "So uh... no more acting crazy, alright?"

"I wouldn't call my earlier behavior "crazy," Rainbow," she stated in a defensive tone, placing a hoof of her own over Rainbow's and removing it from her shoulder.

"Okay yes, whatever... you weren't acting crazy," Rainbow admitted, subsequently rolling her eyes. "But... you know what I mean," Rainbow continued, only to have a musing silence fill the air moments later. Twilight gazed directly back at the pegasus with a quizzical look.

"I meant no more collapsing in the streets, smart one," Rainbow explained.

"Oh," Twilight's gaze returned to the street, biting her inner lip and rubbing her left foreleg with her other hoof. "Right..."

Another moment of silence ensued, during which Twilight straightened her back before standing up on all fours. Taking a swift look around, she noted how bare the streets had become... not that she wasn't thankful they had been granted a bit of privacy. Better the streets were bare than have it look as though Rainbow and her were some escaped mental ponies from the nearby... Hospital! Right...

Again, she had forgotten, but they were here now, and the thought was fresh in her mind. She picked Rainbow off the ground and smiling up at the stunned pegasus, said, "Come along, Rainbow," as she turned and trotted down the street. "I still need to get you back to the hospital... and it's about time I did that."

Rainbow groaned, taking note of Twilight's foreleg as they stopped before the familiar building once more, noticing it was outstretched in front of her and now pointing towards their destination. "Alright... but just... please make this stay interesting for me, alright?" Rainbow asked, her tone almost pleading.

"Oh don't worry about that. I've brought several things along that I just know will keep your mind occupied," Twilight stated reassuringly, thinking back to the custom saddle she had strapped around her body. Though most of its contents were books, she hoped Rainbow might have been an avid reader before they met, and maybe, just perhaps, she'd enjoy a good book or two during her stay—

Well she supposed Rainbow could give reading a try, anyway.

"Yeah well, knowing you, you probably packed some weirdo egghead stuff, or something," Rainbow remarked with a laugh, and cuing an eye roll from Twilight. "But uh, whatever you brought along, I'm sure it's better than nothing," she continued, taking sudden interest in the sky above, watching a rather captivating cloud float on by. "So... thanks, I guess." Unbeknownst to Rainbow, her cheeks had grown ever so brighter.

"Oh uhm... you're welcome, Rainbow," Twilight replied, finding herself surprised over Rainbow's sudden display of gratitude. Needless to say, it wasn't the first time, but if there was one thing she had come to learn about Rainbow, it was that she wasn't exactly one to show appreciation.

The walk seemed to drag on, with Twilight unconsciously taking her time. She had her reasons—not looking forward to her stay anymore than Rainbow was one of them—but there was one slightly more important to the unicorn. "Hey, uh, Rainbow," she began. "About earlier... regarding the pincess—"

She had expected Rainbow to respond rationally, to question what was on her mind. Instead, she received a heavy sigh. "This again?" Rainbow questioned, allowing her eyelids to drop into a deadpan manner. "Look, Twi, I thought we talked about this—"

"W-we did!" Twilight assured her, with a sudden raise of her voice. Then, with moment of silence, her tone began to simmer down, and she added, "It's just, well, while I was... eh, zoning out... what exactly did she say?" She turned her head to look towards Rainbow, yearning for an answer.

That's what was bugging her? Rainbow smirked at the realization. She supposed Twilight would have asked sooner or later. But yet, she already explained what she had said... unless Twilight hadn't heard her. Thinking back, it became increasingly apparent that she hadn't.

"Uh, well..." Rainbow thought back to the few words she had exchanged with the princess. "She pretty much just said her goodbyes..." she explained, and believed that was it, as her voice began to trail off... only to remember something else. "Oh, and that I'll be moving in with you! Yeah, she's getting me my own furniture and everything!"

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks, eyes wide and swallowing down a gulp, unsure of what she had heard. "S-sh-she w-what?" Princess Celestia was... moving Rainbow in with her? No, no way in Equestria that was true. Well, okay, sure Celestia had allowed Rainbow to stay with her, but nopony said anything about Rainbow moving in with her! "Why would she—?" Twilight began to question as her hooves once again began carrying her weight down the pathway, never once taking her eyes off the pegasus. "I mean what reason would she have—?"

"Twilight!" Rainbow's voice entered her mind, alerting her just in time as she took notice of the view ahead of her. Now staring wide-eyed though the double glass doorways, she realized she had unknowingly been one hoofstep away from walking smack-dab into the building's entrance, and immediately took a few hoofsteps back.

Sheesh... this girl... Rainbow thought with an amused smile, remaining watchful of the mare below her. "Alright look, I won't be "moving in," okay?" Rainbow assured her, who upon hearing those words, snapped her head back towards the pegasus; the look on her face was torn somewhere between relief and bewilderment.

Twilight parted her lips ready to speak, ready to question what Rainbow had meant, when Rainbow beat her to it. "I'm pretty sure she's just trying to make my stay more comfortable. Said she'd have a cloud bed delivered sometime before I left the hospital, that's all."

That's all...? So that was all then. Princess Celestia was simply working to make Rainbow's stay more enjoyable. At least it made sense... though it failed to ease her mind. Now she'd have to find a place for the bed supposedly being delivered... one of the spare rooms would suffice she supposed, seeing as how there was little-to-no space left in her own room. But that only meant wasting more of her time preparing a room for Rainbow to reside in, filling it with whatever Rainbow could possibly need—

Her fretful thoughts however, soon slowed to an abrupt stop, and what she did next, she couldn't believe.

As Rainbow suggested, she let out a laugh. To any other pony within hearing range, it may have sounded contrived and awkward, and barely audible due to the stifling hoof held over her lips. But to her, it was a laugh. After all, here she was, pointlessly worrying over something that perhaps wasn't such a big deal after all. No, she'd worry about getting Rainbow situated when the time came, but for now, she had other matters to attend to.

Like getting Rainbow inside this Celestia-forsaken hospital before sundown. Who would have thought it'd be so difficult?

Well, it shouldn't be, Twilight thought, raising a hoof to the door and as she was about to push, someone inside opened it for her. Her head tilted up, her gaze meeting a stallion's, dressed in the usual white hospital attire, and distinctly familiar.

"Twilight Sparkle?" At the mentioning of her name, Rainbow let out the faintest snicker, though it had gone unnoticed. For the most part.

Shifting his gaze away from Twilight and towards the floating pegasus, he asked, "And... Rainbow?"

Both mares nodded, now sharing a similar look of curiosity.

The stallion stepped back with a welcoming smile and ushered the two in.

"Welcome back."

Day 2, Part 3 - Hospital Blues

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And so, with that unexpected welcome, the two mares were once again back in the same hospital lobby as yesterday. Only this time it was... emptier. Actually, looking around, both unicorn and pegasus noticed it was empty, save for a few employees seemingly at work. Another thing only Twilight seemed to pick up on was it felt no different than their last visit. The room felt empty, so... silent, so discomforting. Nothing but the sound of early-working hooves clattering along the floor could be heard, and accommodating the dank, chilling atmosphere... it was all so... dreary.

All the more reason as to why she hated them, she supposed.

Normally she'd welcome the silence, but after her meeting with Rainbow, she had adjusted to the constant ramblings and distractions Rainbow would often cause.

She wondered if Rainbow felt the same about all this, and as she went to glance over her shoulder, back at the pegasus, her ears suddenly perked as she heard the doctor clear his throat before beginning to speak.

"You realize, when you left, we had no idea what to think," he began, turning to face Rainbow. "A pony taking flight during the midst of her treatment, while in no condition to fly, much less move about was... unheard of, to say the least." With his eyes focused on the young pegasus, all Rainbow could muster was a sheepish grin before averting her gaze to the side.

After a brief sigh, he continued where he left off. "When you left, none of us here knew whether or not you'd be returning, but yet... here you are." His amused expression lasted a mere moment before changing into a look of curiosity as he continued, "Though I must ask... why did you leave?"

The doctor looked at the pegasus as she scrambled for an answer. "Uh, well... you know..."

"S-she, uh... s-said it was 'boring', Sir," Twilight cut in, finding the words that Rainbow had struggled to say, but not without struggling a bit herself. "Among other things..." Twilight added in a low murmur, going unnoticed by the others.

"Boring?" he questioned in disbelief as his eyes once again met Rainbow's. Every patient experiences boredom during a stay, and yet, this one pegasus... couldn't bare it? Shaking his head upon hearing her reasoning, he said, "Well, this may come as a surprise to you, Miss, but a hospital stay is unlike a trip to the local amusement park." Shaking his head once, he added in a murmur, "Why Princess Celestia excused a pony like yourself I'll never know..."

Taking note of the silent, blank stares the two mares gave in response, he asked, "She did inform you two of this, did she not—?"

"Oh uh, y-yes!" Twilight hastily blurted out in embarrassment, having barely given the stallion enough time to finish his own question... which Twilight immediately regretted doing and placed a hoof over her lips. Seconds passed and Twilight's hoof fell beneath her chin and with a shy grin, said, "Yes... we were. Sorry, I... I wasn't thinking clearly."

"Clearly..." The stallion nodded understandingly, though slightly put off by her response. "Well personally I don't agree with letting you two off the hook so easily, but I can't argue with the Princess's decisions... Rainbow is free to return to her room," he said, nodding reassuringly towards the both of them before turning his gaze towards Twilight as he asked, "I'm assuming from what the Princess told us, you'll be joining her?"

Twilight stood staring absentmindedly back at the stallion for seconds before even realizing he had been addressing her, and once she did, shook her head and quickly worked to think up a response. "Oh uh, yes! I mean, maybe... I don't know! Can I? Am I allowed to?" After a moment of awkward silence passed, she assumed the worst as her head fell and she asked, "I'm not allowed to, am I?"

"Well under normal circumstances, no... However, the Princess is allowing it—"

"That, and if she doesn't stay, I won't stay," Rainbow added, surprising both Twilight and the stallion, if only because of the way Rainbow had put it, or the fact that Rainbow actually said she'd leave a second time in front of ponies who were only willing to help her. "If I escaped once, I can do it again—"

"Rainbow!" Twilight said suddenly in response, her temper rising and voice noticeably raised. She clenched her teeth for a moment, her inner voice telling her to remain calm. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply, exhaled and after a few more moments, reopened her eyes and added, "Please, don't be rude."

As Twilight began lecturing Rainbow—Rainbow arguing she was merely speaking the truth and hadn't meant anything bad by it—the doctor all the while had been taken aback by Rainbow's comment. It was incomprehensible...

Incomprehensible as to why anyone would refuse treatment all because one pony in particular wouldn't be staying with her. "So... you'll leave if she is not allowed by your side, is that right?"

Both mares' mouths snapped shut, both their eyes turning attentively towards the stallion. Then, not a moment later, Rainbow spoke. "What can I say? She really livens things up... and makes things less boring for me, you know?" she explained through a sheepish grin, and with an admiring gaze, which she looked down upon Twilight with, that lasted but a moment. But Twilight had caught it, and although it surprised her, although she had the suspicion Rainbow had simply meant it as some sort of joke... Twilight couldn't help but smile back.

It seemed that deep down, she felt the exact same way about Rainbow, for better or worse.

"Well," he continued, "I suppose I don't have much of a choice in the matter. I'll allow it." He sighed, turning and motioning the mares further into the lobby and down a hallway to their left. Excited, Rainbow breathed out a quiet "Yes!"

"But," the doctor continued, "allow me to remind the both of you to behave yourselves. No disturbing the other patients, no loud noises... no more escape attempts..." His voice drifted for a moment as he looked over his shoulder at the two trailing closely behind, specifically Rainbow, shooting her an unamused look. "While Miss Sparkle has permission to come and go as she may choose—"

"Which she wouldn't do, but whatever," Rainbow muttered the second she heard him pause for a brief moment. Quietly—almost at a whisper—not wishing to get scolded by Twilight over being 'rude' again.

"—You are to remain in your room at all times." He finished explaining the rules, then turned to Twilight. "I realize you'll be staying by her side during her stay, but I don't want you prolonging her recovery. Please, allow Rainbow time to recover and get plenty of sleep."

"But I already got some sleep, Doc!" Rainbow insisted. "A lot actually! Please," —She rolled her eyes to the side with a smug grin— "sleep is the last thing I need."

"Rest then," the stallion replied, his hooves coming to a halt and stopping before a wooden door Twilight could only assume was Rainbow's room. "Anything that will keep you in one place..." His voice drifted as he turned to Twilight again, this time taking notice of the saddle Twilight wore. He pointed a hoof past her, at the packed sleeves of her saddle. "I see that you came prepared..."

At first Twilight turned her head in the direction he had pointed, forgetting she had been wearing a saddle. Looking over her shoulder, it all came back to her and waving it off, replied, "Oh, uh this old stuff? Uh... no worries, it's stuff I brought along to keep me occupied. Just me, nopony else," she finished explaining with a wide grin, staring nervously back at the stallion and praying he'd buy into her lie. Her gaze shifted to the right, then the left, and eventually back to the stallion. The silence was starting to get to her...

"...Right." He sighed, not wishing to make a fuss over it. He found her behavior suspicious—sure, it seemed she had been lying. Then again, it seemed she was also a stuttering, nervous, and rather shy klutz of a unicorn. Not to mention, the odd behavior both mares seemed to exhibit during their visits. Perhaps then, it was normal behavior for her? Whatever the case, it wasn't worth over thinking. If she said the stuff was for her, it was for her.

"Well anyway, here we are." The door was pushed open to reveal a typical hospital room. A cushioned chair in one corner, a cabinet in the other, a crafted nightstand to the left of the bed, curtains, an open window— Was that how Rainbow escaped? It seemed plausible. The thought passed through Twilight's mind for a brief moment, before another popped into her head. They really should close that...

The only other thing that stuck out to her was a hospital bed centered in the middle of the room, presumably for patients. Heck, this was a first for Twilight, having never set hoof in a hospital room before. Looked comfy, at least...

"I'll give you some time to get situated," the doctor said, focusing his words on Twilight as he walked into the room. Twilight soon followed, her first instinct being to head over to the bed and settle Rainbow in, which she eagerly hopped into upon letting her go. Taking another quick look around the room, she spotted the chair and, after plopping her saddle down on the floor beside her and bringing it beside Rainbow's bedside, decided she'd take a seat on her haunches beside her.

"Now there will be nurses checking in here every now and then, alright?" he went on to say as both Twilight and Rainbow nodded their heads in unison. "Alright then..." He nodded as well, and seeing both mares had settled in, reassuringly added, "This will all be over before you know it."

Shouldn't be more than another day or two, he thought. It's amazing how fast her body has managed to recuperate... But even with her condition improving, it was clear her body was still in pain. It would be some time until her body healed completely and she was free to leave.

"Though please, do try and get some sleep; it's important that your body receives plenty of it," he continued, turning to leave. "Now if you'll excuse me..." With that, the stallion slipped out into the hall, softly closing the door behind him and leaving both Rainbow and Twilight in an awkward, lingering silence.

Until Rainbow broke it, that is.

"Sleep, pfft... they tell that to everypony, don't they?" Rainbow crossed her forelegs and grumbled, leaning back and resting her head upon the headboard behind her.

"Probably, though it's hard to say." Twilight shrugged her shoulders. "I said before how I don't visit hospitals often, so you're the only patient I've ever heard them say that to."

Rainbow's head shifted to the right, turning to glance out the window with her brow furrowed in thought, letting out a huff of irritation. "Yeah well, you can forget it! Ain't no way I'm doing that!"

Twilight simply rolled her eyes in response before she soon found herself smiling back at the pegasus. "Well I'm not a doctor, Rainbow, I won't make you..." Her smile faltered into a small, humored smirk and her gaze lowered as she added in a low murmur, "Not that I could anyway." Rainbow's face lit up upon hearing her words, though before she could thank her, Twilight continued. "But at the very least, stay off your hooves... It won't do you much good walking around on them."

So in other words, lounge about in bed with nothing to do but talk. She sighed and turned towards Twilight. "That's so boring, Twi."

"Which is why I brought this along!" Twilight exclaimed suddenly, drawing the pegasus's attention to the lone saddle with both her forelegs.

Rainbow could only stare back at the mare with a baffled look. "A... saddle?" Twilight seemed excited about it—that somehow it would resolve her boredom, but Rainbow didn't understand how exactly an over-packed saddle would solve anything.

"No... er well, yes. I packed some things I figured we could do together... or by ourselves too, I suppose." She figured hospitals had no problem with patients partaking in certain activities during their stay, but thinking back to the way that one doctor had sounded... It seemed as though Rainbow was the exception.

Still, Rainbow was insistent on having something to do, and so long as neither of them got caught...

"Oh really?" Rainbow's curiosity peaked as she leaned over towards the violet mare and more importantly, the saddle that may just hold the answer to her boredom. "Like what exactly?"

"Well..." Twilight's horn flared and soon the saddle was reeled into her lap. She unlocked the pouches and revealed its contents to the curious pegasus... only for any and all hopes she had of Twilight having... anything she actually cared about ultimately crushed. "As you can see, I packed many books. Many of which are personal favorites of mine! Oh, and some I figured you may like as well."

Rainbow's eyes narrowed. "Books...? Seriously?" She should have known. It was Twilight, after all.

"Well, yeah." To her, books would ease anypony's boredom! She found them to be chock full of excitement and wonders... Surely Rainbow would feel the same about them. "What's the problem?"

What's the problem? What did she mean, 'what's the problem?' "Twi... even if I can't remember, I'm certain I was never into reading books. I mean, it's nothing but pages and pages of boring text, right?"

"Well, not really—"

"Whatever. Look, don't ya have something in there that's like, more fun than books?" And by that, Rainbow meant anything other than books. "Like... oh I dunno, a game or something?"

A game? Now that she mentioned it... "Actually..." Twilight skimmed through her tightly-packed together selection of books until she found a much larger, yet slim cardboard box. Spike was more into this than she was and she rarely ever found herself using it, but there was a chance maybe Rainbow would like it...

"So... how does this game-thing work again?" Rainbow stared blankly at a game of sorts which Twilight had set up at the end of her bed. Two plastic trays, connected by a screen going up the middle. Apparently this made it so either pony couldn't see the others' moves.

"It's not that complicated, Rainbow. It's just a strategy-based guessing game designed for two ponies in which they attempt to hit each others' games pieces."

"Sounds boring," Rainbow scoffed, "and not really my type of game."

Type of game? Could Rainbow even remember what her 'type of game' was? "But you haven't even tried it yet!" Twilight replied, disbelieving that somepony so persistent on looking for something to keep herself occupied, kept shooting down every suggestion she made. "Look, you may or may not like it, but you'll never know for sure if you don't try. Besides, I think you'll like this..."

"You think, huh?" Twilight was pretty smart, and hay, if she said she'd like it, well... she probably would. But still... She examined the board, then the opened game box which contained the apparent game pieces off to the side. "I still don't know Twi. I mean, a game that involves attacking weather ponies, clouds, and... eh, seagulls is definitely, undoubtedly, lame."

"Well you wanted something to do!"

"Yeah, but..." A game involving seagulls? The concept alone sounded lame, sure, but... how could a game featuring seagulls possibly be fun? "I don't know..."

"Look, just... give it a shot. If you don't like it, we'll stop, okay?"

Twilight's this insistent, huh? Well, she supposed she could give it a try. Besides, if it passed the time... "Okay, alright, fine... you win. I'll play ya."

So the two began playing with Rainbow curled up at one end of the bed, and Twilight seated at the bedside; the game board positioned at an angle between them. It started out slow, with Rainbow unsure of what to do and more often than not finding herself referring to the game's instructions. Even with Twilight guiding her, it took her minutes before she even began to learn the basics of it all. But once she caught on, suddenly that game of clouds and seagulls didn't seem so lame after all. Hay, she was loving every second of it!

Which one would be captured next? Which one would be found, zapped, maybe even stung! Or which piece would get lucky and breeze on by? It was almost sorta fun not knowing! Both ponies soon found themselves caught up in it all, calling out the names of spaces on the board. Cloud three! Cloud one! Sky seven! Cloud four!

And oddly enough, Rainbow was the one winning... Then with one final call, Twilight had been beat.

"You... won?" Twilight questioned, still in a state of shock over her loss.

"I did?" Rainbow herself asked, no less surprised than Twilight that she had managed to pull off a victory.

"You actually won..." Twilight quietly muttered out, mouth hanging open and gaze fixed on the game board before her.

"Oh hey, I did!"

"B-but I don't understand... this was your first time playing..."

Rainbow leaned back, shrugging lightly. "Yeah well, guess I'm just naturally good at it," she found herself boasting, though she did briefly question if it actually were true, or if she simply got lucky. The game was purely luck-based, after all. But even so... Maybe I used to play this...

Twilight smirked, shaking her head. "I guess you are," she said, looking up at Rainbow before asking, "Want to play again?"

"Nah, once was enough. I think we should pack it up." The two had spent some time playing together and having lost track of time, neither of them had any idea when somepony might walk in unannounced, like the doctor had mentioned to them both briefly before. "After all, that doctor guy from earlier said other ponies would be stopping by to check up on us and I doubt it'd look good if me," she continued, pointing both her hooves up at her, "a pony who's supposed to be resting, was up playing a board game."

"Good point," Twilight said in agreement, and on that note, began disassembling and putting it away into its box. Though now that they were done, Rainbow was bound to become bored again... There had to be something else they could do together, or that Rainbow could do anyway. Well, she still had sleeves full of books... "But you could still try reading!"

She's not gonna give up on this idea, is she? Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Twi, I'm not reading, alright?"

"Oh come on." Twilight leaned towards her, prodding her chest once with a hoof while sporting a small grin. "One book."

"No," Rainbow quickly denied, without giving the idea a second thought.

Stubborn mare. Why anypony would be against the idea of reading so much was beyond her, but regardless, Rainbow was refusing. Though maybe... "Half a book?"

"Nuh-uh."

"Okay..." Twilight was almost out of options. Her grin slowly fading, she cocked her head to the side and asked, "One paragraph?"

"Nope."

Relax, Twi— Great. Now she was addressing herself as such. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again, placing her hoof over the book in Rainbow's lap. "Okay look... how about I read and you just listen. How's that sound?"

"Terrific..." Rainbow grumbled. The only problem however, was Twilight could rarely tell when and if Rainbow was being sarcastic or simply stating how she felt.

"Great!" Twilight sat back, using her magic to lift the book along with her, flipping open to the first page, clearing her throat then levitating the book before her eyes.

"No no, Twilight, I didn't mean—!" She paused, finding it pointless to try and stop her... Once Twilight put her mind to something, it was clear she'd go through with it. Heck, it almost seemed like she was the one who had been wanting to read from the start. So why stop her then? It didn't seem so bad. She wouldn't be reading herself; Twilight was willing to read for her, and all she had to do was lie back, relax, and listen. At least it'd keep her mind occupied.

Rainbow wriggled beneath the sheets and sunk deeper into the bed, giving in to the idea of Twilight reading to her. She listened as Twilight began reading about an injured pegasus crash landing in an unfamiliar and hostile environment, on a quest to discover some temple she had sought after for days on end. Daring was her name, and in some ways, Rainbow found herself relating to the fictional mare in more ways than one. Though she was lucky. Her wing was the only thing she had injured.

More time passed as Rainbow lay still in bed, eyes shut and listening to the words Twilight was speaking, and doing her best to envision them in her head... even if it were true she had no idea what it was she was envisioning, she did her best.

The sound of approaching hooves and the door handle being turned, alerted both mares. While Rainbow snapped from her thoughts and turned her attention to the door; Twilight's magic had been disrupted from the sudden sounds and the book fell from her sight onto the floor, startling her further. As she scrambled to retrieve it, the door opened and in came a mare slightly taller than the two of them, with a caramel brown mane and tail and wearing a traditional nurses' uniform. She entered, carrying a tray of... food, it seemed, with the use of magic. That made Twilight curious. Was everypony who worked here a unicorn?

She walked over, greeting the both of them before lying the tray down before Rainbow on the bed. "It's time for dinner now, Rainbow," she told her with a smile, though Rainbow found herself focusing more on the contents of the tray before her.

Disgusted, she looked back at her and forced a grin. "Yeah, uh... thanks... looks good."

"Well then, if you're both all set, I'll be on my way." The second the nurse turned and left the room, closing the door as she left, Rainbow let out a sigh of relief.

She quickly dropped the facade, looking at the food in question. "Ugh, what is this?"

"I'm not sure myself..." Twilight replied with the same confused look as Rainbow. It was certainly food. Unidentifiable food, but food nonetheless. Though Twilight could sense Rainbow's hesitation and decided she'd help her out the only way she could think of. "If you don't want it, give it here. I still haven't had anything to eat today, and—" She paused, looking once more at the assortment of food. "—I'm sure it's edible. Can't be that bad, right?"

"Be my guest," Rainbow said, handing her the tray. "But..." Her expression began to grow serious, and even more so curious as to why Twilight would be willing to eat this slop instead of going out and treating herself to something she considered tasty. Then again, this is the same mare who thinks hay is tasty... Rainbow grinned at the thought, finding herself forcibly holding back a snicker or two. In a moment's passing however, both her grin and the thought faded, her tone once again growing serious. "Twi, you can leave," Rainbow said, reminding the unicorn that unlike herself, Twilight was free to leave whenever she wished. "So why not go and bring back something that, oh I don't know... actually looks and tastes good?"

"You mean go out and buy something?"

"Duh," Rainbow replied with a laugh.

"Well as much as I would love to, I don't have any bits on me at the moment—"

Then as quickly as it came, Rainbow's smile faded as she threw her forelegs up in frustration. "Oh, come on!"

"W-what?" Twilight questioned, taken aback by Rainbow's actions and began pondering what exactly she said or did to trigger such a response.

"Do you ever carry money with you?"

"S-sometimes...!" she shot back defensively with a hint of a blush. "Look, maybe I'll pick some stuff up later. For now I'm fine eating... this. Whatever it is."

"Good luck," Rainbow said with another chuckle.

Twilight turned her attention back to the dish before her and took a closer inspection of the green, yellowish... glutinous blob of... food? Whatever it was, it had to be edible. She poked it with her hoof, and to her displeasure, bits of the substance stuck to it. Ew... she thought, grossed as she now stared at her stained hoof from all sides. Well there was only one way she'd get it off...

"Oh Celestia." Her cheeks inflated and threw both her hooves over her mouth, barely able to keep the substance in her mouth. Her eyes squinted shut as she was eventually able to force it down, letting out a few deep breaths as a result.

"Having trouble?" Rainbow watched with an amused grin on her face, doing everything in her power not to grin or fall back in a fit of laughter right at that moment.

"It's strong..." Twilight choked out, her eyes slowly reopening. "V-very bitter, and ugh... a tad spicy..." Its appearance hadn't helped things either, making her sick to her stomach simply looking at the mashed slop.

"It's that bad, huh?" This was too painful to watch... seeing Twilight forced to eat what had been meant for her in the first place. Seeing it only made Rainbow feel worse for eating her breakfast earlier and reducing her to eating... that. Whatever that was. "Look, Twi, I can't ask you to do this, I'll finish it."

"N-no, really Rainbow, I don't mind the taste—"

Rainbow chose to ignore the mare however, knowing full well she didn't really mean any of it. She reached over and scooped up a bit of the sticky substance with a hoof and bringing it back to her mouth, lapped it up. Twilight watched as Rainbow finished, wiping her hoof off and aside from her a moment where she appeared to have shivered slightly, seemed fine. "Well I don't see what the big deal was, Twi," Rainbow remarked, a massive grin on her face. "It's not so bad—"

"Honestly Rainbow..." Twilight stepped out from the room's bathroom carrying a washed out wastebasket, shaking her head with nothing more than a peeved expression written all over her face. As Twilight walked closer, Rainbow's series of coughs seemed to slow, and as Twilight placed the basket surrounded by her magical aura back on the floor, she noticed Rainbow slowly starting to catch her breath. "You're so reckless; I could have told you that would happen."

Taking a few more breaths, Rainbow kept her gaze averted to the floor and only after a few moments had passed, chose to softly mutter, "I-I didn't think it'd be so bad."

Twilight once again shook her head, turning to the nightstand where she had placed the tray of food before Rainbow's... accident. "Here, try and wash the taste of it away with this." She picked a large glass filled with a dark blue liquid off the tray with her magic and brought it close to her muzzle, taking a couple curious sniffs before quietly letting out a sigh and lifting it over to Rainbow. "I... think it's some kind of juice."

"Thanks," said Rainbow as she quickly wiped her lips dry and without a second thought, graciously accepted the beverage.

Twilight nodded and soon turned to take a seat back in the chair, stumblingly climbing up and falling back on her haunches. She smiled, turning to face Rainbow. "Still... thanks for trying to help, even if you did end up regurgitating."

Rainbow lowered the glass into her lap, meeting Twilight's gaze and giving a small sarcastic laugh in response. "Funny."

"Oh, no no, I wasn't trying to be, though... I did mean it when I said I appreciated you trying to help." She breathed out a sigh, lifting the emptying tray in a pale, orchid glow, and placing it upon her lap. "I'll finish what's left of this..." Maybe if she plugged her nose or ate it all in one quick flash, she'd barely sense the taste. Then perhaps it wouldn't seem so bad.

"Whoa, wait... you're actually gonna try and finish that stuff? You're crazy, Twi." Rainbow chuckled softly, turning her gaze to that in front of her and after spending a bit of time fiddling the glass in her hooves, casually held it out to Twilight. "Here, you'll be needing this back then."

"Oh uh, thanks..." Twilight reluctantly took the glass in her hooves, thankful she'd have something to drink, and attempted to eat the remainder of her dish in small, yet quick, bites.

The two sat quietly for a while longer, both partaking in some small talk as the time passed. It then occurred to Twilight, she hadn't been keeping track of the time, or how long the two had been here. More importantly, she had promised Spike she'd stop by later and had she neglected to keep that promise, she just knew she would have a hard time forgiving herself. So she began scanning the room for a clock and it hadn't taken her long to find one hanging above the doorway. She squinted at the clock while taking a quick drink, only to nearly spit it out when she realized just how late it actually was.

Five already? she thought, eyes wide and absolutely bewildered that it was already so late into the day. Well this day sure went by quickly... Almost too quickly. She'd have to make a mental note to stop and pay her assistant a visit later. But she supposed she still had some time until then; time she could spend reading, or studying... or—

"Hey Twi?" Twilight snapped from her thoughts the second she heard Rainbow's voice.

Or chatting with Rainbow some more, apparently.

Though her tone this time around sounded so somber, so... different than her usual high-spirited, energetic tone. Curious, and unknowingly a tad worried, Twilight turned to face her, almost immediately taking note of the uneasy expression she wore as she stared straight ahead. Now she knew something was bothering her. "Yes, Rainbow?"

Several moments passed with neither of them saying a word, Rainbow sitting with her back against the headboard and forelegs crossed. She narrowed her eyes in concentration, gazing out the window. "You... you think they've noticed?" she spoke up at last, amongst the silence and in a low, scratchy whisper.

"Noticed what?" Twilight was quick to ask, slightly tilting her head to the right for a moment as she continued. "And who's 'they'?"

Rainbow let out an irritated huff. "You know..."

"No, Rainbow, I don't," Twilight replied dryly, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "Care to elaborate?"

Rainbow bit the left corner of her lip, lowering her eyelids while staring absently out the window. "My hometown, or... wherever the hay I came from," Rainbow explained after a few more moments in silence had passed. "Do you think they've noticed my disappearance?"

Twilight looked stunned as the realization of what Rainbow had been trying to say sunk in. Rainbow actually made an allusion to her home... the ponies she used to live with. That's... progress, Twilight supposed, smiling inwardly at the fact that Rainbow had decided to open up to her, and that she actually cared about a life she once had before crashing into her own home. Yet on the outside, she fretted over what to tell her. "O-oh! Uhm, well..."

Come on Twilight, answer her! Her mind pressed her to say something, but she hadn't a clue what to say. To say she had been caught off guard would have been an understatement. She had expected Rainbow to make some absurd remark or comment on how bored she was, but instead her voice showed signs of doing neither. Instead it came out soft and wistful, hints of worry in Rainbow's voice that surprised her all the more. In the short time they had known each other... for the first time Twilight sensed genuine anguish; a need for her to tell the pegasus that somewhere in the wide world of Equestria, there existed a town she grew up in, and was a part of, full of familiar faces longing for her return.

But she couldn't promise Rainbow that... not when she wasn't sure herself. Yet, she realized there was something else she could say. Something she could state with certainty, with the possibility of raising Rainbow's mood in the process.

"I wouldn't worry too hard, Rainbow. You've only been gone for roughly a day and a half now, and that's barely enough time for somepony to have noticed—" Then she stopped herself. Oh what am I saying? Sure it may seem unlikely others have already noticed her disappearance, but... Oh I can't tell her that. She reached over and nervously and almost reluctantly—drawing her hoof back a couple inches for the briefest moment, placed a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. "I'm sure plenty of ponies have already noticed your disappearance and have set out to find you."

Well, she supposed it was possible, if not a tad unlikely; and in ways, it seemed Rainbow was beginning to feel the same.

"But what if they haven't?" Rainbow rebutted, instantly shifting her shoulder out from beneath Twilight's hoof and turning to face her. "Hay, what if... what if I never even had a home to begin with?"

Now she was suggesting she never even had a home? That was crazy. Of course she did. She had to... or so Twilight hoped. Though whether she did or didn't, this all sounded rather strange coming from the prismatic, and often cheery pegasus.

"Gee, what happened to all that positivity of yours?" she joked, though proving ineffective once she took notice of the indifferent look Rainbow gave her. "Alright, sorry, but look, the Princess said she would be sending out notices to neighboring towns and cities across Equestria. Heck, she's even sending members of the Royal Guard!" Her voice raised, attempting to place emphasize on the fact Princess Celestia had actually gone through the trouble of doing so. "Somepony is bound to reply or come looking for you, just you wait."

Rainbow looked into Twilight's eyes for a few seconds longer, searching for truth in the words she spoke. Then, averting her gaze and allowing her eyes to close, Rainbow realized the only thing she saw in the unicorn's eyes was uncertainty.

With a faint nod and a sigh of relief, Rainbow replied with a simple, yet dispirited, "Yeah..." Her eyes once again opened and she glanced towards Twilight. "I hope you're right."

"Me too..." Twilight quickly added under her breath before she soon got an idea. A harmless little joke, one she had a feeling Rainbow would catch on to. "And hey," she continued, directing her gaze back at the pegasus, all while struggling to hold back a grin. "If you really have no home... or if nopony comes looking for you, you can always live with me; hay, you've practically moved in already." That had to lighten her mood, after all, why would Rainbow ever want to live with her? She was sure the idea alone would trigger a grin, maybe a laugh of two from the pegasus, and sure enough she noticed Rainbow staring back at her, eyes wide and seemingly in disbelief before her face broke into a widening grin.

And for a while, Twilight believed she had raised Rainbow's spirits a little. The two made idle chit-chat, all the while Rainbow acting like a completely changed mare, and even stating that Twilight was 'kind of awesome' after all. Though she hadn't the slightest clue why.

Then after some time had passed, Twilight began to notice Rainbow had grown quiet, her expression somber and full of thought. Full a moment, there was silence, and instantly, Twilight became worried. Before she had gotten the chance to question her however, Rainbow spoke. "Hey, uh Twi... can I tell you something?"

At first, Twilight was motionless and didn't respond, baffled by what she had asked. "I guess so, but... you've never had any trouble speaking freely the whole time I've known you. So why are you suddenly asking me if it's alright?"

"Yeah well, look it's uh... different than all that other stuff, alright? It's something I've sort of uh... kept to myself this whole time and," —She paused to let out a sigh— "I think it's about time I let you know."

So she has been hiding something... figures. Twilight rolled her eyes. She should've suspected, after the incident, that Rainbow had been hiding something from her.

Then again, she hid it pretty well, Twilight supposed. All this time Rainbow had fooled her, and convinced her she was fine. Guess I should've known better...

So Twilight nodded, telling her it was okay, and after looking into her eyes, Rainbow knew she could tell her. "Whenever I try to remember something—anything about myself really, it... well, it sorta uh..." She averted her gaze to the bedside, appearing a bit flustered and muttering out a few inaudible last words.

"Please Rainbow, do you think you could try and enunciate? It would make things a whole lot easier."

Rainbow rolled her eyes before turning to face Twilight, shooting her a vexed look. "I don't even know what that means, Twi!" she retorted. "Urgh, whatever," she then continued, turning to face forward and crossing her forelegs. "Look, it's probably gonna sound stupid and all, but... it hurts."

It... hurts? With wide eyes, Twilight stared at her, a million questions racing through her head. "How fascinating—!" She paused mid-sentence once she took note of the excitement in her own voice, and the sullen-turned-perturbed expression Rainbow now wore. "I-I mean, uh, it's not like I think that's a good thing, but..." Her horn glowed and within a moment she had drawn out some objects from a compartment on her saddle; on her right she held a quill and on her left, a notepad. "Please... tell me more. How exactly does it hurt? Does it perhaps cause some sort of emotional distress for you? Oh! Or maybe it's due to all those injuries you sustained yesterday! Or—"

"Argh, I don't know!" Rainbow exclaimed suddenly, throwing both her forelegs into the air. The sudden act startled Twilight, causing her mouth to snap shut, and for a little while, not a sound could be heard as the two sat in an uncomfortable silence.

Twilight, after a couple moments, leaned back and closed her eyes, letting out a single quivering breath as she allowed her magic to fade. The items dropped into her lap, though it all went unnoticed as she thought over what she had said... how she pestered a pony for an answer she didn't have, so she scolded herself. Brilliant, Twilight... you got so caught up in trying to get an answer, you forgot who you were dealing with.

"Sorry," she uttered out. Then, her eyes shot back towards Rainbow, believing she heard her say the same thing at the exact moment. Rainbow met her glance, and the two found themselves in awkward silence, staring into one another's eyes and attempting to keep a straight face... only to break into a small fit of laughter mere seconds later.

Moments passed and their laughter began to die down, both of their smiles beginning to fade.

Rainbow fell back upon the bed, a saddened smile on her lips. "It's just that... my head starts hurting whenever I like, try to remember something, alright?" She rolled onto her left side, facing Twilight, a sheepish grin replacing her once saddened smile. "Couldn't tell ya why... just does."

'Just does', huh? Twilight chewed over those words. Rainbow could have been hiding something, but after her confession, it seemed to Twilight she was telling the truth. It seemed Rainbow truly didn't know.

It didn't make any sense... but then again, hardly anything about Rainbow made an ounce of sense. Twilight shook her head and began jotting down a few notes in her notepad as a small grin formed. "You are one strange pegasus, you know that?"

Rainbow chuckled at the remark. "And you're an even stranger unicorn, Twi," she replied.

She smirked, lowering the objects for a moment to give Rainbow an inquisitive look. "Oh, and since when am I the strange one?" There certainly wasn't one strange thing about her—well, aside from what Rainbow said about her magical ability the day before. Not that she saw anything strange with it herself.

"Since you took this strange pegasus in and decided to watch over her," Rainbow responded, much to Twilight's surprise. Honestly, she had been expecting some wisecrack about her magic. Though for Rainbow to bring up residing with her and Spike instead was... unexpected, to say the least.

"Yeah... Why'd I do that again?" she asked, jokingly while placing a hoof over her lips as another smile formed.

Rainbow grinned at the comment, then turned away from the unicorn, looking straight ahead as silence filled the room once more. Her grin began to fade away as she began to speak. "Must've done something terrible, then. I mean, if it hurts this badly—"

"Rainbow..." Twilight began. She had a feeling she knew where Rainbow was headed. "You may be an obnoxious, rude, self-centered, egotistical, slob of a mare..."

Rainbow's eyes narrowed, staring at Twilight with an unamused, deadpan expression. "You've known me for a day, Twi."

"But, I'm almost certain you're not malicious," she finished, smiling back at the pegasus. Rainbow's expression however, morphed into a look of puzzlement and after Twilight explained what she meant, the room once again fell into silence. Even after Twilight explained that she couldn't have done anything terrible—that she wasn't like that—and even after her mood seemed to have lifted, neither knew what to say. Rainbow placed a hoof behind her head and ruffled the back of her mane nervously while Twilight searched for a potential topic starter. "Uh, so hey!" she exclaimed, spotting the book she had been reading laying upon the nightstand, and whisked it off with in a magical aura. "You still have an unfinished book; why not focus on reading some more?" she said, placing a hoof over the book's cover and subsequently drawing Rainbow's attention to it. "It'll help get your mind off all that nonsense." After a motionless response however, and a perplexed expression from the prismatic pegasus, Twilight suggested, "or perhaps I'll continue reading, and you can listen as I read... alright?"

Rainbow shrugged, turning to look straight ahead and cuing Twilight that she didn't seem to mind either way. So turning to where she remembered last leaving off, Twilight cleared her throat and began reading once more, doing her to best act out the differing voices of the characters.

All the while, Rainbow had one final thought before listening in on the story Twilight was telling.

Though Twilight had insisted she couldn't have done anything wrong, she couldn't shake the feeling that she had messed up. The pain in her head wasn't helping things... neither was the uneasy feeling in her stomach. She began to worry, What if I'm not accepted? What if they don't want me anymore? Tears welled up in the corner of her eyes. What if... what if they hate me for what I did—?

"Hey... are you okay?" Twilight's voice entered Rainbow's mind, snapping her out of her thoughts. realizing she must had seen the tears, Rainbow quickly blinked her eyes clear and turned to face her, a faint blush on her cheeks. "I... never expected you to have a sensitive side," Twilight continued, softly smiling before once again turning her attention to the pages of the book. "Then again, this is a rather emotional turning point in the story, and you are sort of like her, so I suppose—"

"Uh, yeah," Rainbow cut in. "Yeah Twi, I'm fine." She smiled sheepishly back at the unicorn mare. "Sorry... you were right, it really got to me... but I'm good now." With a reassuring nod, she added, "You can continue reading now, if you want."

"Oh... well, a-alright, if you're certain." She noted Rainbow reply with a little nod before turning away, and that was a good enough answer for her. She turned back to the book before her, and leaning in with squinted eyes, began scanning line after line of the page she had been reading. "Now then, where did I leave off...?"

A moment was all it had taken for Twilight to find the spot where she had left off, and before long she was carelessly reading away.

And Twilight continued reading, until the very end, and as Rainbow listened to the story being told, she again began to think.

Perhaps it didn't matter what mistakes she made— What she did, who she was... It was all behind her now. Nothing more than forgotten memories; strange, yet dreadful feelings gnawing at the back of her mind... and it caused an irksome pain each time she attempted to recall them.

So why try at all? Why bother when it caused her pain? Why bother when... she had a new home now. A new name, a new life... a life that didn't cause her pain. She looked as the bookworm read away, seemingly lost in her own little world, simply enjoying what she loved doing. And watching her made Rainbow smile.

A home with Twilight, like she had assured her earlier... it sounded nice.

Of course there was still the matter of whether or not ponies would come looking for her, and, as Twilight stated, if nopony showed, then she would be assured a home with her. So—if anypony even came—she'd turn them down... preferably without Twilight knowing.

Even if she did find out, what would Twilight do? Scold her? Forcibly send her back home? No... she wasn't like that. Hay, she'd probably be honored I chose her over... whatever I had before all this happened—

Or shocked, her inner voice proposed. She'd probably be a little upset as well...

Oh what do you know? she argued with the sudden voice in her head. I don't see what the big deal is; she said I could live with her—

Only if you have nowhere to go, the voice corrected, causing Rainbow to let out a quiet huff of annoyance. Besides, the voice continued, her tone seemingly provocative. Aren't you acting sorta brash here? Giving up a life you know nothing about all for a new life with a unicorn you've only just met?

Rainbow crossed her forelegs as those words sunk in. She hated to admit it, particularly to that bothersome voice in her head, but it was right. Who knew what she had before meeting Twilight, or what she was leaving behind. Maybe a part of her was curious as to what awaited her beyond this city... what kind of ponies she used to live with, the friends and relations she might have had... But another, more convincing part of her was telling her that there was nothing waiting for her; that if there was, she wouldn't be wanted... and deep down, she hated it. She hated the thought of being alone, the thought of a hometown that didn't want a thing to do with her.

At least a life with Twilight, she figured, would be one a little less lonely. Besides, she isn't 'some unicorn' I just met, Rainbow thought. She's... she's my friend. Possibly the only friend she had at this point. And... I like her, she added, and I kinda like it here as well; neither cause me any pain when I think about them... She glanced down at the bedspread with a half-hearted smile. It's weird, but... I feel drawn to her. There's something about her. She glanced over in Twilight's direction, casting a warm smile at the sight. I haven't known her for long, but hay... I don't think I could abandon her even if I tried.

A couple moments passed in spellbound silence, Rainbow continuously watching as Twilight turned another page. But then, to her dismay, the voice in her head spoke again, this time in a disapproving tone. You're lying to yourself, you know, the voice told her. Trying to justify all this nonsense. Convincing yourself you're not wanted anymore, that you belong here... that some moody egghead is actually your friend—

"Argh, shut up already!" Rainbow grumbled out, raising her tone in response to the voice, and surely enough it did. Her only mistake however, was speaking it aloud. Her eyes widened in realization and she quickly covered her mouth with a hoof and gulped. Keeping her gaze fixed firmly ahead and not daring to look in Twilight's direction, attempted an apology. "I-I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean—!" Before Rainbow could say anything else however, she was cut off by a sudden laugh, and turning in surprise, Rainbow saw Twilight with a hoof over her own lips and chuckling softly.

"Well I suppose the villain's monologue is a bit jarring..." She looked Rainbow in the eyes, an amused grin remaining on her lips, though partially hidden by her hoof. Lowering her hoof and taking a quick breath, she shifted her glance away from the pegasus, and instead back down at the page. "Sorry, I'll just skip over this remaining bit."

And Twilight resumed reading, thinking nothing of what the pegasus had said, much to Rainbow's relief.

Letting out a sigh, Rainbow slouched back into the comfort of the mattress. She wasn't lying to herself. She wasn't trying to convince herself of anything, nor was she running away from anything. She wanted to live with Twilight, simple as that. And she had to believe that Twilight wouldn't mind her decision.

Turning again to her left, she took one last look at Twilight before taking note of the book Twilight had been reading. Rainbow could only stare at it in surprise, shocked that the unicorn had read through it all, save for a remaining pages. In the time span of an hour or two—Rainbow didn't know, having been lost in thought while occasionally listening in on the story being told—Twilight had read through an entire novel.

And then before Rainbow even knew it, she closed the book with the words, "The end."

"So," Twilight began, setting the book aside and looking towards Rainbow with an affable grin. "What did you think?"

Rainbow however, at that moment, remained oblivious to all around her and only after Twilight's expression become one of worry, did Rainbow realize the unicorn had been talking to her. She briefly shook her head and scrambled to think up a reply. "O-oh! Uhm, well..."

Taking note of Rainbow's flustered behavior, Twilight chuckled lightly, figuring the story left her speechless. "It was wonderful, wasn't it? Oh I just knew you'd end up liking it."

"Uh... y-yeah," Rainbow agreed, while in her head, pondering how Twilight came to that conclusion. She supposed she was right though; she had liked it, or, what she had heard of it anyway. Rainbow broke into an amused grin. "Yeah, I guess I did."

Twilight nodded, returning the smile. Though as her eyes glanced to the nightstand, particularly the book which rested upon it, her smile broke and her eyes narrowed. "Though I suppose it wasn't perfect. I mean, the writing was a bit weak at times..."

"It was fine Twi, really—" Rainbow tried to tell her, though her words fell on deaf ears as she continued.

"Then again, this was the first book in the series and I'm sure mo—er, the author was probably a little inexperienced," Twilight concluded, brandishing the same friendly smile from moments ago, though there might have been some truth behind what she had said. To her, the series had seemed to grow and improve with each new installment. "Perhaps you'll enjoy some of the later books in the series even more."

Rainbow's ears perked at the mentioning of a series. "Wait wait wait... you're saying there's more?" she asked, excitement in her voice.

"Oh uh, well yes," Twilight answered, startled by how much she must have liked the book.

"Well why didn't you mention that before, Twi?" Rainbow asked, suddenly becoming more eager, and interested to know more about this 'series'. "Come on, you have more in that saddle of yours, right?"

More? Twilight peered down at the spot on the floor where the aforementioned saddle lay, and shook her head. "Actually... I don't," she admitted, much to Rainbow's dismay. She breathed out a sigh before continuing. "I was kind of in a rush earlier this morning—"

"Yeah, you don't say," Rainbow teased, flashing back to earlier that morning.

"Well, I grabbed what I could, and... well, I wasn't sure whether or not you'd even like the series! I wasn't going to bring an entire series with me only for you to end up not liking the first volume."

"Alright, I get it," Rainbow said, holding her hooves out in front of her chest and prompting her to relax. She gazed down at the saddle. "What else ya got in there then?"

"Well..." She lifted the saddle off the floor in a light magical aura over to the bed where Rainbow lay, emptying out the pouches at the opposite end. Rainbow leaned up and scooted closer, examining the pile and without hesitation, began pawing through the selection... only to end up disappointed, and a bit annoyed over the books Twilight had chosen.

"Canter in the Sky, Ponies and Prejudice, The Horseback of Notre Dame, To Catch a Mockingbird, The Great Gallopsby, Artemis Foal, Hairy Trotter, Lord of the Pegasi—

"Bor-ring," Rainbow simply stated, then leaned back against the headboard and closed her eyes, tilting her head to the right and crossing her forelegs. The act, needless to say, left Twilight dumbfounded.

"What...? No they're not!" Twilight shot back defensively. True, none of them were quite as adventurous or action-packed as the Daring Do books, and no doubt had Rainbow been looking for something similar, but they certainly weren't what she'd call 'boring'. "I mean, you haven't even read them! How can you say they're boring?"

"Just can," Rainbow replied, cracking a sly grin as she glanced towards Twilight with an accusing hoof now pointed directly at her. "You're into boring books, Twi."

"I'm not 'into them', Rainbow," Twilight retorted, crossing her own forelegs. "They're just... nicely-written stories that I enjoyed reading. That's all."

"Uh-huh..." Rainbow raised a suspicious eyebrow in her direction. "And you thought I'd enjoy them too?"

"I thought, yes, but..." Twilight sighed and leaned towards the pile, her horn aglow, deciding she may as well pack them up. She knew she should have brought some of Spike's comic collection, or maybe that vampire pony series... At least that would teach her to appreciate what she already brought... "If you don't want to read them..."

"Oh no, I'll give 'em a chance," Rainbow assured, placing a hoof over the pile while casting a smile in Twilight's direction. "It'll give me something to do... and hey, how bad could they be?"

But despite what Rainbow told her, Twilight could only stare back at her with disbelieving eyes. She couldn't have heard right. Sure Rainbow seemed willing, but... seconds ago she claimed they were boring! So why would she change her mind so quickly? Unless... No, she's probably just being nice, Twilight concluded, rolling her eyes and deciding that was the case.

Still, she was willing to try, and the fact alone caused Twilight to smile. Spike never gave them a chance, but at least with Rainbow, she was willing to.

It excited her, knowing that somepony was actually taking an interest in the books she loved. And so, without thinking, Twilight began digging through the pile of books, all the while bearing an excited grin. "Then allow me to recommend one for you! This one is one of my favorites."

Rainbow examined the book that Twilight now held close to her chest, taking particular notice of the size. It was huge—a thousand pages, at least! It was that 'Lord' book she noted moments ago, but... Twilight couldn't seriously be expecting her to read it. The promise of pegasi aside, it looked complex—the type of book an egghead would read for hours on end, and not to mention the length—

Twilight however, was quick to note Rainbow's weariness regarding the book. "No worries, Rainbow," she assured. "I know this may be seem a bit daunting, seeing as how it's an omnibus, and quite lengthy, but this also happens to be an abridged copy."

"Huh?"

"It means it'll be easier for ponies like you to understand."

Rainbow let out a short "oh" of understanding before her expression contorted into one of surprise, then annoyance. "Hey wait! What do you mean, 'ponies like you'?"

Twilight giggled into her left hoof she had placed over her lips. "Relax, Rainbow," she said, though a smile remained present on her lips. "Look, all this means is that it's shorter, more to the point... alright? I figured you'd rather read this than some thousand-page novel."

"So in other words... short and sweet, huh?" Rainbow glanced at the book for a moment, then up at Twilight with a relieved grin across her muzzle. "I like the way you think, Twi." Twilight's face flushed in embarrassment in response to the comment, staring back at the pegasus mare with wide eyes and a look of disbelief written all over her face.

Until Rainbow's own grinned faltered and the pegasus began to question whether or not she was okay, which Twilight replied with a haste "uh-huh," after a shake of her head. Twilight then turned away, placing her other hoof over her left foreleg and biting the left corner of her lower lip.

"So, uhm..." Twilight continued, her eyes drifting to the floor as she extended the book over to the bed where Rainbow lay. "Now that that's out of the way, you may read it now, if you like."

Rainbow nodded and reached out with a hoof to collect the book. "Tha—" The book dropped from Twilight's magical hold right into her lap, leaving the pegasus stunned for a couple moments before she reluctantly brought the foreleg back to her side. "—nks..." she muttered out, briefly rolling her eyes and scooping the book up in her hooves.

Rainbow sighed, opening up to the first page... then groaned seconds later, narrowing her eyes. On the upside, it was readable, as Twilight had assured her. On the downside, she hardly understood a word of it...

She let out a yawn.

This was going to be tougher than she thought...

More time passed—time Twilight spent answering every question Rainbow tossed her way, though most of her questions simply asked what certain words meant, or how to pronounce them. She had gotten over the embarrassment from earlier, though now found herself more peeved than anything.

But eventually the questions came to a stop, and for a short while, there was silence. No questions, grumbling or complaints from the pegasus... only a series of long, drawn-out yawns—

Then it dawned on her. She didn't... she couldn't have... Twilight thought, figuring there was no way she could have dozed off. But surely enough, Twilight turned to look at Rainbow and there she was, sprawled out beneath the sheets, one foreleg bent above her head and the other dangling off the bedside, with the open book covering her face and a soft, barely audible snoring coming from beneath the pages.

Twilight simply watched the sight with her jaw hanging wide open for a moment before soon closing it and shaking her head. The sight shouldn't have surprised her; it wasn't the first time Rainbow fell asleep on her, completely unnoticed no less.

And reflecting on their day together, Twilight almost couldn't believe Rainbow stayed awake for as long as she did. In the end, Twilight couldn't really blame her for falling asleep.

Though whether or not she fell asleep because of the book was a mystery—if anything, the book helped. But... she didn't seem to mind, even if it had been the cause of her falling asleep. True, the fact that somepony fell asleep while reading a favorite of hers did irritate her, but... At least she tried, Twilight thought. When she didn't even want to... that's something, I guess.

Twilight got down from her seat, now standing by Rainbow's bedside. "Hey," she spoke, only to go unnoticed. She frowned and tried again, prodding Rainbow's shoulder once with her hoof. But it was no use.

As she assumed, Rainbow was in a deep sleep, and decided she may as well let the pegasus sleep. Rainbow needed it, she supposed.

Twilight sighed again and removed the book from where it lay on the pegasus's face, closing it and setting it upon the nightstand. Returning her gaze to the sleeping pegasus, Twilight was given a clearer view of the mare, and she froze. That same look of innocence, each and every time she caught Rainbow sleeping soundly.

She could've passed for an almost entirely different pegasus when she slept. The innocent, peaceful expression she wore... Twilight hardly ever saw it when Rainbow was awake... and although she didn't realize it, she liked seeing it.

Shaking her head free of these thoughts, she continued where she left off, she grabbed hold of Rainbow's hanging foreleg with her magic, and after a short chuckle from the sleeping pegasus, proceeded to tuck it securely under the covers. Rainbow's own grin faltered, though a content smile could now be seen. Wonder what she's dreaming about... Twilight thought, simply watching Rainbow, a warm smile on her muzzle.

Standing there for a few moments, her own warm smile became saddened as she continued to think, At least hers seem pleasant...

Sighing, she remembered there was someplace else she needed to be, that she couldn't waste time pegasus watching. She turned, deciding that Rainbow would be fine while she was out—and presumably asleep the whole time as well—and began packing all the unwanted books back into the sleeves of her saddle, all except for the one Rainbow had attempted to read. Somehow, she had a feeling Rainbow would be interested in reading more, or having somepony read it to her, anyway. Locking the pouches, Twilight secured the saddle around her body and casting one last glance and smile back at the pegasus, turned and left the room.

It was late in the evening city as Twilight walked home, the city of Canterlot glimmering all around her, strings of lights draped up and across the front of buildings, streets signs, lampposts... The city streets themselves were alive with the sound of bustling hooves and ponies chatting with one another along the crowded cobblestone roads, while others trudged on past to their destination. Others, Twilight noticed, were seated around nearby tables at the outside dining areas of local cafés, or window shopping outside various boutiques.

It truly was a beautiful evening, and yet Twilight found herself paying little mind to it. The only thing on her mind was heading home, then heading back to the hospital. It was odd... she couldn't explain why, but that was the only place she wanted to be at that moment. Just her and Rainbow, together without any distractions... maybe even partaking in a little reading together!

...Once she awoke, that is.

Twilight stopped, shaking her head. Oh, why am I even thinking this way? Sure, reading with somepony else around is fun, but... Her thoughts focused on the little dragon of hers, waiting for her to return home. Spike's my top priority at the moment, not Rainbow, and, —Staring ahead with a confident smile while taking a step forward, thought— I'd never forsake my own assistant for some pegasus—!

"Twilight!"

Startled, Twilight's eyes went wide and she snapped from her thoughts, and jumped at the sound of the outcry... only to end up tripping over her own hooves.

And before she knew it, she had hit the ground, landing face first on the stone pavement.

"Twilight!" the voice once again called out, the sound of panicked hoofsteps drawing towards her with each passing second. Twilight herself let out a groan before glancing up, her head aching and eyes spinning.

"Rain... bow...?" Twilight sputtered out, gazing at the blurred creature before her.

"Oh my gosh, are you okay? You're not hurt, are you?"

Okay, that's definitely not Rainbow... Twilight concluded, placing a well-needed hoof over her head and blinking her eyes clear. "Uh, y-yes..." she answered. Whoever you are... Shakily standing up on all fours and breathing out a sigh, Twilight lifted a hoof to clear her eyes while for the first time getting a look at the... presumable pony before her.

Or ponies. Before her stood three unicorn mares, around her own age, each with a shared look of concern etched on their faces. The one, whose voice Twilight had heard, bared a curly cerise mane and ivory coat, and stared back at her through arctic blue eyes. A foot behind her stood two others, the one on the left bearing a blue coat with a periwinkle and blue-streaked mane, while the mare on the right had a light yellow coat and blue mane.

And as the three stood facing her, with looks of relief on their faces and looking back at her with their best friendly smiles, all Twilight could think was, Oh no... why now? She didn't know their names, who they were, what they did. All she knew was they had all been in the same class together.

She also hated it whenever they tried to talk with her... and they were currently keeping her from her destination.

Twilight gulped, putting on her best smile and gazing past the trio at the road ahead of her, all the while in her head thinking up a way out of this. A way that hopefully wouldn't involve striking up a conversation. If I can just get the first word in, Twilight thought, parting her lips to speak, I'll politely excuse myself, then make a dash for it—

Or so she had planned.

"So Twilight—"

Oh Celestia...

Twilight's head fell as she heard the ivory mare opposite her speak her name.

"—we hardly ever get to see you!" she continued, sporting a wide grin and poking Twilight's right shoulder with her left hoof. "So, Celestia's favorite protégée, what have you been up to?"

Twilight looked up, wide-eyed, at the sudden touch of her hoof. "Oh, um..." She removed the hoof from her shoulder as her mind thought up an answer. "S-studying!" Twilight exclaimed. "Yeah, uhm... lots and lots of studying," she finished with an uneasy grin, praying they'd believe her.

Instead, all Twilight heard was a suspicious-sounding "uh-huh," followed by the ivory-coated mare raising an eyebrow in response. Behind her, the two mare's accompanying her snickered quietly into their hooves.

"So..." the leading mare began, looking towards Twilight, now with a shrewd grin along her muzzle. "Studying, huh?" Twilight simply nodded, unsure of what she was getting at. "With that new pegasus?"

Twilight's jaw dropped.

"We saw you two together yesterday," the yellow-coated mare explained, taking a step forward. "Aiding that poor dear to the hospital... it was so sweet of you, Twilight!" She clasped both her hooves together with a dreamy expression, looking towards Twilight and adding, "The two of you are really quite cute together."

Twilight's jaw hit the street.

She scrambled backwards, falling back on her flank, and desperate to deny... whatever she just heard. "We weren't—I mean, we aren't, we... I would never—"

"I haven't the slightest clue where you met a mare like that," the remaining blue-coated mare chimed in, looking thoughtfully at Twilight. Another thought occurred to her, and she turned to the others. "Did you see her mane? Why, it was simply stunning!" Her smile soon broke as she remembered something else. Something that made her nose crinkle in disgust, and she frowned. "Although the style could use a bit of work..."

"Yeah, and she didn't sound or seem all that bright either..." the yellow one spoke, sharing a similar look of distaste.

"Yeah," the blue one agreed, letting out a chuckle as she then said, "I bet she can't even read—"

"Uhm, girls..." the ivory mare intervened with a worried expression, turning to her friends, and proceeded to speak in a whisper, "I don't think we should be talking this way about Twilight's girlfriend." She glanced at Twilight from the corner of her eye, pointing a hoof at her. "I mean, she's like, right there."

The pointed hoof, the glances, the whispers—even the world itself all went unnoticed as Twilight sat back on her haunches, staring mindlessly ahead of her. Her eyes were wide, and her body grew hot as she began to sweat, but everything continued on unnoticed; the only thought on the young mare's mind being how things ended up like this...

Or how Rainbow was suddenly thought to be her girlfriend.

Then she remembered what the one mare said about the two of them looking, —Twilight shuddered— cute together, and right then, the pieces in her mind clicked together... and she broke into an uncontrollable blush.

And she hated it. Twilight now knew what she had meant, and it made her sick to her stomach. Her and Rainbow. Together. She once again thought over how that worked... How a relationship between two mares could even begin to work, but thinking about it only caused her to grow light-headed.

Twilight squinted her eyes shut and clasped a hoof over her forehead. I need to get out of here.

Twilight's eyes slowly opened, taking note of the unicorn mares standing before her, whispering amongst themselves. "She isn't... I mean we aren't—" Twilight spoke out to them with deep, steady breaths. Hind legs buckling, Twilight slowly stood up in time for the trio of mares to direct their attention back at her.

"I'm sorry, Twilight. What was that you were saying?" the ivory one asked, with what Twilight could only assume was a fake tone of concernment. "If this is about what they—" She paused, glaring behind her at the other two before turning and casting a kind smile back at Twilight. "—said about your girlfriend—"

"Argh, she is not my girlfriend!" Twilight shouted back at them, and upon doing so, felt her heart pound heavily in her chest. She could feel it hammering away, threatening to leap from her chest, and it only made her feel sicker than she already felt. She gulped nervously and stepped to the left. With a shaky breath, Twilight added, "And by the way... she can too read. Now if you'll excuse me..." Not bothering to look and see their expressions, or hear another word from any of them, Twilight carefully trudged onward. Though another thought soon came over her that made her ears fall flat and head lower to the ground. Just not very well...

And as Twilight walked from the group, and the tension between them lessened, the yellow-coated one couldn't help but ask, "So like... they're not dating?" She looked to the other two with a stumped expression. "They are still living together though... right?"

Twilight shook her head and began to run, doing her best to forget what just happened. The sound of her name being called out could barely be heard as she ran down the street, then another, and soon it couldn't be heard at all. Her steps slowly came to a stop as she paused to catch her breath, and have a look around. Not much further... she told herself in thought, noting the familiar buildings while stepping over to a convenient park bench to her right.

She collapsed upon the bench and rested her aching hooves and more importantly, head against the backing, letting out a tired groan as the street lamp above her flickered.

"I don't think we should be talking this way about Twilight's girlfriend."

The words echoed in Twilight's head, finding that she couldn't shake them from her thoughts as easily as she had hoped. But why? What was so special about what some mare thought? What was so special about her and Rainbow accused of being... girlfriends...

"Hey, Shining?" The young purple-coated filly looked up from her book to the older colt seated beside her on the park bench. The street lamp beside them flickered while ponies of differing shapes and sizes walked on by, paying no mind to the best friends seated on the bench to the side of the road. Brother and sister, sitting beside one another and simply enjoying each other's company, snacking on the ice cream cones the two of them held close to their muzzles with a magical hold.

"Yeah, Twily?" The white colt looked down from his treat and towards his sister, sharing her look of curiosity.

Twilight smiled affectionately at the nickname, though returned her gaze to the book before her as the question lingering in her mind caused her cheeks to redden. "Brother... do you have somepony that you love?" Twilight asked with her muzzle buried in the pages of the book, as innocently as she could. The question had caught Shining off-guard, finding himself staring back at her with a mixed look of shock and embarrassment.

"I-I'm assuming you mean brotherly love... right, Twilight?" Shining asked, following up the question with a nervous chuckle. "You know I—"

"No, brother!" Twilight shook her head and let out a frustrated groan. "I meant... uhm," she continued as her voice grew quieter, "romantic love..."

"Oh... o-oh!" Shining's eyes widened and he looked in the opposite direction, placing a hoof behind his neck. "Uh Twilight, aren't you a little young—?"

"To ask about romance?" Twilight guessed, and sure enough, Shining gave a reluctant nod in response. He turned back to her only to see her looking back at him with a slight pout. "Big brother, might I remind you that I've spent the past few months studying advanced magic. I mean, Mother and Father have even decided to enroll me in Princess Celestia's—"

"—School for Gifted Unicorns. I know." Shining sighed and turned his attention back to the street. "And soon," he added, "I'll be joining the ranks of the Royal Guard." Shining focused his gaze on a family of ponies as they walked on by. "I'll be responsible for the protection of this city and the lives of everyone who live here." Shining took a small bite out of his cone, a saddened smile overcoming his face. "We've both accomplished so much so early on... Looks like we won't be meeting like this as often, huh?"

"Yeah..." Twilight agreed, a momentary hint of sadness in her tone before she shook it away. "We may not see each other as often, but... we'll still see each other, right?"

Shining thought over the question in his head, and then having decided on an answer, told her, "right." It was an uncertain answer, but it was the answer Twilight wanted to hear.

The young filly beamed at her brother's answer.

"So... uhm," Twilight started to say before getting cut off by Shining pointing a hoof at her ice cream cone.

"Twilight, your ice cream's melting," Shining told her. Twilight turned, looking in the direction of his hoof, to the forgotten ice cream she held to the side. And without hesitation, brought it close to her muzzle and made quick work of it, eagerly chomping down on the creamy confection, and right then her face scrunched up and body shivered, her teeth stung from the cold, and she placed a hoof over her head.

"Brain freeze?" Shining asked in a teasing voice, letting a chuckle slip out as he watched his sister. She always had a soft spot for sweets, he knew that much. So he'd always remember to treat her to ice cream when they went out. The two of them would meet up outside of the the local confectionery shop, Twilight carrying a different book with her every time, and the two would take a seat on the bench outside and talk. He was one of the few ponies Twilight could talk to. One of the few Twilight felt comfortable around, and wanted to talk to.

"I-I don't g-get those..." Twilight stuttered out in defense before falling back into silence, simply waiting for the chills to leave her system.

Shining rolled his eyes. He had learned to stop counting the number of times she insisted on that after the tenth.

"Now, as I was saying..." Twilight looked to her brother who did his best to hide the amused smirk across his muzzle. Her eyes narrowed. "About my question..."

Shining's smile fell as he backed away and beckoned the little filly to calm down. "That's right, your question... "Do I have somepony who I love"...?" He put on a sheepish smile and rubbed the back of his mane. "I guess you could say it's sort of one-sided at the moment." His attention turned from the curious filly whose expression asked that he continue, and his gaze fell to the street. "She'd never be interested in a colt like me anyway..."

The silence between the two siblings became unnerving as Twilight sat still, unsure of what to say or even do. She had taken in every word her brother had said. Shining had somepony whom he loved, and that alone sent her mind into a frenzy. She pondered who it could be, and how long he's kept this from her... and what he meant when he said she'd never be 'interested' in him.

She looked towards him, taking note of his saddened gaze, and it made her feel uneasy. Why wouldn't somepony love him? He's my big brother best friend forever, she thought. The best brother, and friend anypony could ever ask for! How could she, whoever this pony was, not love him...?

Twilight sighed. She supposed she really didn't know the first thing about love...

Twilight shook these thoughts from her head and decided to speak, to try and break the silence, but to her surprise, Shining spoke first.

"Now I get to ask you a question, Twilight." He turned to her with a questioning gaze. "Since when did my little sister become so interested in love?" he asked, surprising her as one of his hooves reached over and ruffled her mane.

For a moment, Twilight was stunned by her brother's sudden shift in attitude.

And before she even knew it, he was back to his old self, and for a moment, she smiled before soon fading as Shining's hoof began to test her patience. "Ugh, I'm not 'interested', Shining," Twilight corrected, moving her head out from under Shining's hoof and with a hoof of her own, proceeded to brush it back to its original form. "But I've been spending time with Cadance recently..."

Shining raised an eyebrow. "Your foal-sitter?" he asked, smiling warmly at the image of the cerise alicorn. "I suppose she does have a way of spreading love..."

Twilight nodded softly though didn't say a word, instead choosing to look down on the book before her. "Spending time with her, and seeing what she can do with her magic... it has made me curious. Do you think there's someone out there for everypony?"

Twilight noted her brother's hesitant but eventual nod from the corner of her eye. "Even a bookish filly like myself?"

"Twilight... What is this about?"

Twilight bit her lower lip before reluctantly explaining, "I was thinking that perhaps love could make my magic stronger, and yet... I can't shake the feeling that I'll always be alone, and... my magic will probably never grow any stronger because of that, or maybe it will—argh, I don't know!"

So she thinks finding love will strengthen her magic... Shining shook his head. "Twilight... there's much more to love than magic; I may not know as much about love as Cadance does, but I do know that you're rushing into it for the wrong reasons."

Wrong reasons? Twilight pondered this. What reasons were there...? Love strengthened magic, and it had something to do with finding somepony, but... "Oh what does it matter?" Saddened, Twilight sighed and sunk lower in her spot on the bench. "I'll never understand any of this..." She paused, and looked up with wide eyes once she felt a gentle hoof on her shoulder.

"All of this will become clear to you someday, Twilight," Shining assured her with a comforting smile.

Twilight turned to her brother, uncertainty in her eyes. "But what if it does, and I still can't find it?"

"I'm sure you will." Shining's hoof returned to his side as he turned back to the street, hoping his reassurance had been enough. But it was Twilight he was talking with; things were never quite as simple when it involved his little sister.

Twilight's voice raised. "But—!" she began to say. Then her shoulders slumped and her head fell back to the open pages of the book, her voice quieting. "It's like I said... nopony would ever be interested in a filly like myself..."

Shining's head titled back towards Twilight, his muzzle twisted into a worried frown. "Where did you get an idea like that, Twily?"

"Well...!" Twilight tried to explain, but found herself at a loss of words.

"Look... Twilight," Shining spoke with certainty, his voice comforting. "I'm sure there are a lot of ponies who would love a pony like you."

"Yeah?" Twilight turned and looked her brother in the eyes, and as Twilight stared into them, she could tell he was telling her the truth. Unknowingly, a smile crept along her muzzle.

"Sure," Shining replied. "Why, I even know a nice pegasus colt around your age. Name's Brad—"

Right then, Twilight's face scrunched in detest. "What kind of name is Brad...? I mean, pegasi are okay, but..."

Taking note of his little sister's reaction, Shining let out a soft chuckle. "I was kidding about the name, Twily; his name is Flash, and something tells me he'd love a girl like you—not that I'd let him anywhere near you of course. Sorry Twily, it's just a part of being my duty as your older brother."

Twilight thought over his words for only a moment before shaking her head. It was nice knowing there existed ponies who'd be interested in her for who she was after all, but... "He sounds too flashy," she dejected. "But maybe instead of a flash, a dash; you know, somepony dashing!" Twilight beamed back at Shining, maintaining a grin.

"Dashing?" Shining thought over what Twilight had said as the aforementioned mare snapped from her thoughts at the sound of her brother's voice. "Well," Shining began, "you may have to wait a while if you hope to meet a colt like that in this city..."

Twilight's grin faltered as she pondered why, and as she did, neither talked after that. Until at last, the sun began to set. "Twilight, it's getting late... you should head on home soon."

Twilight groaned, wishing she could stay for a little while longer, but as she directed her gaze towards the setting sun, she knew he was right. "Okay..." She let out a sigh, closing her book shut and hopping down from the bench. She stood still for a moment before spinning around, and as Shining was about to question her, her face lit up. "But only if you see me off on my first day of school."

"I'll be there," Shining replied as the surprise wore off. He shook his head, an amused grin across his muzzle as he walked over and ruffled the unicorn's mane. "And I expect you to be by my side when I'm welcomed into the ranks of the Guard. Deal?"

Twilight nodded, stepping back with a playful smile across her lips. After a few more seconds, her smile fell as another thought entered her mind. "Hey, Shining? Before you leave, I... I have another question."

"Another?"

"Throughout our conversation, you consistently used the word 'colt'." Twilight paused before dubiously asking, "Does this somepony... need to be a colt?"

Shining stood stunned for a moment, unsure of what to say. Another part of him was slightly surprised that she had bothered to keep track of the number of times he used a specific word... But only slightly. It was his sister, after all. With a shake of his head, he placed a hoof the filly's left shoulder and gave his answer. "Well..."

"Anything else would be unnatural," Twilight repeated as she finished what her brother had told her all those years ago. She breathed out an annoyed sigh as the memory came to an end. "Right."

All this time, she had forgotten about her talk with Shining, and in the end, she supposed it didn't really matter if she had remembered or not. I haven't given any thought to the idea of finding love in the longest time... not since I began my tutelage under Princess Celestia... Admittedly, she found the idea to be a funny one. To think she used to long for love, when studying proved to be a much more efficient way of improving one's own magic.

Now, years later, she found herself no less clueless when the subject of love was brought up. Other than the belief it could be used to strengthen magic, she hadn't the slightest clue how to find it or how you were supposed to know you were in love in the first place, what the signs were, how it felt to be in love...

Then, next thing she knew, Rainbow and her were accused of being girlfriends... Being in love... What could they see that she couldn't?

And why Rainbow...? She was a tomcolt, sure, but... she was not a colt, and... This is giving me a headache... Twilight groaned, sitting upright. She really was clueless about love... The only time she remembered the matter being brought up again was when she talked with Cadance, like Shining had suggested.

It was so long ago... Twilight smiled ironically at the thought. Guess my memory isn't that great either... Her smile faltered as thoughts of Rainbow resurfaced in her head. If she did know one thing about love, it was that girlfriends didn't exist. Whatever love was, it was strictly between a mare and a colt.

She sighed, stepping down from the bench. Rainbow was just somepony she knew, and admittedly, she felt closer to her than most other ponies she knew. But that's all Rainbow was, and she foolishly wasted time assuring herself of what she already knew.

She had wasted time when she had someplace she needed to be.

And besides, Twilight thought, Rainbow probably has somepony who loves her, and is waiting for her... waiting for her to return home. Just another reason why the two of them could never be together, she supposed as she made her way home.

A short time later, and Twilight was home at last. She pushed open the doors to the lobby, then once inside, swiftly closed them with a magical glow, and walked to her left, to a nice window seat, and promptly collapsed upon it. Home. At. Last... She sighed contently, slouching further into the sun-soaked, azure cushion and smiled as the sun warmed her coat. She yawned; the heat of the sun was no doubt getting to her and she could already feel her eyelids growing heavy... when the sudden sound of a familiar voice shook her out of it.

"Twilight?"

The mare in question jolted upwards, and turned impulsively towards the source to find Spike, frozen in his tracks with a container of ice cream in one claw and looking surprised to see her home so soon. He threw the container behind his back, attempting to hide it from the unicorn, as he nervously grinned back at her. "I uh, didn't think you'd be back so soon."

Twilight's eyes returned to their normal size at the sight of her assistant, and smiled, seeing he was seemingly unharmed. However her smile soon turned curious as she pondered his words. "You didn't?" she asked, tilting her head. "But... I said I would stop by later, when I had the chance." She turned back to the window, taking note of the setting sun. "Sorry, Spike," she continued, growing sheepish. "I realize it's late... guess I lost track of time—"

"That's not like you," Spike spoke in a bitter tone. His eyes fell to the floor as he continued, his voice lowering. "It's almost like you're starting to enjoy spending time with her..."

Spike's tone, and attitude all went unnoticed by Twilight however as she focused solely on what he had told her. "I'm... enjoying my time with—? Spike, that's not..." Then another thought occurred to her. "Oh, that reminds me!" Twilight exclaimed, springing to her hooves and stepping down from the seat. She ran towards the winding stairwell, leading down into the living corridors of the tower, stopping only for a moment to call out, "Come along, Spike," as she headed out of the lobby with Spike, after tossing away the emptied container into a nearby trash bin, grudgingly followed. Spike aside, she had returned home for a reason. There was something she had meant to grab and bring with her to the hospital later, though, Twilight supposed they could talk as she did precisely that.

"Now," Twilight began as she descended the flight of stairs. "What did you mean when you said I was starting to enjoy spending time with Rainbow?" She paused, turning her head back towards Spike. "You were referring to Rainbow, correct?"

Spike shrugged, avoiding her querying gaze. "Never mind, Twilight... it's nothing."

"Oh, well..." Twilight turned back ahead, her thoughts too focused on other matters. Particularly, on the set of books she'd be bringing Rainbow later, and how surprised she'll be when she sees them. She'll be glad though, Twilight thought, smiling at the thought as she stopped before the door leading into her room... before her thoughts returned to the little dragon following her. She frowned. He's quieter than usual... something's on his mind... Before setting hoof into their room, she turned, once more with the same questioning look. "Are you sure it's nothing, Spike? Seems like something to me."

Spike's eyes widened for only a moment before gazing to his right. He shuffled nervously on the lone stair which he stood upon, a few steps above where Twilight stood.

He was almost surprised she had noticed. With his gaze directed away from Twilight, with one claw clutching his right arm, and after a soft exhale, he told her. "It's just... you're spending more and more time with her lately... and it seems like you're actually enjoying her company."

"That's an assumption, Spike," Twilight replied, turning and trotting forward into the bedroom Spike and her shared. "It only feels like I'm spending more time with her because I'm tasked with looking after her, and I am most certainly not 'enjoying' it." With that said, she went over to the crowded bookshelf beside her bedside and began scanning the rows until she reached the Ds, and after unloading the previous books that filled her saddle bags back upon the shelf, she began loading in a new series of books.

"Twilight... you're not fooling anyone," Spike said, standing in the doorway. Twilight's ears perked as she squeezed in the final novel, and turned to face Spike with a mystified look on her face. "You may not see it, but you're starting to... and I—it feels like—"

"Oh," Twilight drew out the word as the realization hit her. "I see, you're feeling neglected... aren't you?"

When she saw Spike begin to nod his head, Twilight didn't know what to think, or do. So her body acted for her, and before Twilight knew it, she had dropped to the floor and held the baby dragon tightly in her hooves, affectionately rubbing her cheek against Spike's own. "Oh Spike... you know I would never do such a thing," Twilight assured, as her voice broke a little. "I know things have been different around here... but you're my number one assistant. There's no way I'd ever choose some pegasus—that I'm still adjusting to no less—over you."

Spike however, stood shocked, over not only her words, but her actions. For all the time they had known one another, Twilight had never once hugged him.

With Twilight, it always seemed to be a simple smile or a gentle hoof placed over his shoulder, but now it was something else... and he couldn't have been more unsure of what to do next. His eyes slowly returning from their widened state, he gazed down with a somber smile. "I... really hope you mean that," Spike whispered, with his head resting above Twilight's shoulder.

Me too... Twilight bit her lip, pushing all thoughts from her mind and simply focused on the present moment, and the dragon she couldn't quite let go of. So the two remained as they were for a few more moments until as last, it became too much for the young dragon.

Spike shuffled uncomfortably between Twilight's hooves, and after several seconds of struggling, managed to free both his arms and placing his claws against Twilight's chest, pushed away from the mare. "T-that's enough of that... okay, Twilight?"

Twilight sat upright, blinking once. "Y-yeah..." she agreed, but in her mind, pondered why he did such a thing. First she inadvertently hurts Rainbow by hugging her, and now somehow, someway she messed up with Spike too. Unless... I didn't hurt him too... did I? Overcome with a sudden panic, Twilight looked for any signs of injury, and to her relief, she never found a single one. But that left her no less curious, and she couldn't help but think she had made things worse.

Twilight groaned inwardly. Why does hugging somepony have to be so difficult—?

"Twilight?" Spike's voice broke Twilight from her thoughts. "Are you okay?"

"M-me? Am I okay? But what about you? I mean, I-I hurt you! Or, well, I did... something to you, and...!"

"Twilight," he began, beckoning for her to calm down. "You didn't do anything, alright? I feel a lot better even... just knowing you aren't making some pegasus your new assistant," he finished with a soft chuckle. "But maybe you could ease up on the hugs? Like, have them be brief... alright?"

That's all? That's what she had fretted over? Shorter hugs? Twilight couldn't help but smile at the realization, which soon broke into a quiet laughter. "Alright," Twilight replied with a nod, overcome with relief. "Shorter hugs, got it." She wiped a hoof over her right eye, and stood, now looking around the room until she spotted what she needed and trotted over to a shelf on her right to fetch it.

"Now come on, how about you and me go out and grab something to eat? That dessert shop you like should still be open." She smiled back at her assistant who stood motionless, his eyes too focused on the ample bag of bits to notice anything else.

After seconds of staring with his mouth agape, his gaze slowly made its way back to Twilight. "...Pony Joe's?" he asked, to which she nodded.

Twilight smiled, packing the pouch of bits into her saddle. "That's the one."

However, as Twilight and Spike left, and as the two made their way up the spiral stairwell and out the door, Twilight couldn't shake away the feeling that Spike had been right about her and Rainbow. It was true after all; she was beginning to enjoy Rainbow's company more and more it seemed. She couldn't understand, or come up with a logical explanation as to why... other than Rainbow was another mare. Irritating as she was, Rainbow was... almost physically the same as her—minus the whole 'wings and horn' thing, and she supposed it was nice having another mare around. A mare she didn't mind being around.

It wasn't love like those ponies had thought, nor was it friendship like Princess Celestia had spoke of. But... there was something there, and she couldn't fight the fact that perhaps she was starting to like being around Rainbow; she'd be lying if she said she wasn't looking forward to seeing her again.

...But she couldn't tell Spike that. Not after she told Spike that she'd never forsake him for Rainbow. Perhaps what she needed, she thought, was to spend some much needed time with Spike, to help her feel the same way about him that she now felt around Rainbow.

Though, it was hard when all she could think about was seeing Rainbow again.

It felt like she was forcing herself, for Spike's sake... but why? To her, Spike was a part of her family; he was one of the few whom she had always thought fondly of, and she had always given him her full attention... But the second some stranger came into her life, she threw it all out the window.

She was the worst.

...But perhaps she didn't have to be. She'd be sure to spend more time with Spike, as often as she could... Anything to make things go back to the way that they were. Then, when it came time for Rainbow to leave and they all said their goodbyes, things would return to normal for her and Spike... and once again he would have her undivided attention.

Yes, Twilight thought. Somehow, I'll make this all work.

Rainbow's nose twitched. Something smelled good... really good. She blinked a couple times as her eyes adjusted to the bright lights illuminating from above, and remained still, her head on its side and facing the window. She let out a tired yawn, carefully rolling onto her back. Whatever that scent was, it was really making her hungry.

Then it occurred to her that she had dozed off. For how long, she had no idea. But she had, with Twilight in the room—well, it wasn't the first time she had fallen asleep on her—though this time she couldn't help but feel bad about falling asleep on her, while reading some book she apparently really liked no less.

Was Twilight even still with her? The room was quiet, and it seemed unlikely Twilight would have hung around while she slept. Maybe she had left? Or perhaps she had decided to get some sleep as well. Well, there was one way to find out—that was to her liking, anyway. Not willing to turn over and see for herself whether the unicorn was sitting—or sleeping, beside her, she groaned out the mare's name, hoping somepony would reply.

"Over here, sleepyhead," Twilight's all-too familiar voice replied, this time with a hint of laughter.

That was Twilight all right. Well, even if Twilight had left, or fallen asleep, at least she was still around when she woke up. Rainbow grinned as she replied, "Hey, there you are," turning around to face her. Then, after a few quick moments, scolded herself over what she should have said instead. "Look, I uh... I'm sorry for fallin' asleep on you like that," Rainbow apologized, though figured Twilight wouldn't mind... too much. Hay, she didn't even sound mad! Still, keeping her temperament in mind, she figured she'd rather play it safe this time around.

What Twilight told her however, surprised her. "Oh no need to apologize, Rainbow," Twilight told her with a warm smile. "It's alright."

Hearing those words, Rainbow could've sworn she was still dreaming— Rainbow shook her head and looked to Twilight with a nervous blush. "So uh, how long was I out?"

Twilight's smile faltered at the question, and she turned to the only clock in the room, hung above the door. Her eyes squinted as she focused on the object of her interest. "Hm, well from what I can tell... around an hour, maybe two at the most," Twilight informed the pegasus who seemingly appeared half-asleep. She turned back to face Rainbow, only to notice she was now looking for something.

"And I fell asleep because, uhm... Because of that book, right?"

"I believe so, yes," Twilight answered, though after a quick pause, decided she'd elaborate a bit further. "Or rather, you kept struggling and gave up... then you fell asleep."

Rainbow let out a tired yawn as it all started coming back to her. "Oh, right..." That little detail had slipped her mind. "I remember now."

"Yeah... I figured then would be a good enough time as any to go check up on Spike," Twilight proceeded to say, confirming Rainbow's earlier thoughts about her leaving. "Sorry I left without letting you know first."

"Nah, it's cool," Rainbow assured her, finding it funny how Twilight was now the one giving some unnecessary apology. "So, how was the little guy?"

Twilight's eyes went wide. How was he? Great. What was she supposed to tell her? That he had been feeling neglected over her presence? Twilight scrambled to think up an answer. "F-fine," she stammered out. "Everything was exactly how we left it."

"Uh-huh..." Rainbow nodded, though her attention was now focused elsewhere. Twilight let out a sigh of relief as Rainbow's eyes were now fixed on the contents of the nightstand before her. Aside from the few photo frames and lamp that littered the counter top, there was now a stack of books and a packed brown paper bag as well. "Yeah, uh... where'd this stuff come from?"

"Oh, that stuff's for you!" Twilight explained, almost forgetting about the stuff she had brought with her, or that it was now laid out upon the nightstand. "After checking up on Spike, I thought I'd bring along the remaining Daring Do books."

Okay, so that explained the stack of books. "And the bag—?"

"Doughnuts!" Twilight exclaimed suddenly, and not a second later, placed a hoof over her lips. "Uhm... for you," she added, in a quieter tone. "You said I should go out and buy something, so I did."

"Oh... well um, thanks, Twi." Rainbow looked thoughtfully towards her for a couple moments before breaking into a disbelieving smile. "But I meant you should buy something for yourself, not me."

"Oh I know," Twilight assured her. "I guess I filled up on... whatever it was I ate earlier. But I figured you may have gotten a little hungry."

"Maybe a little," Rainbow admitted, though a bit sheepishly. All the various scents coming from the bag were beginning to drive her taste buds wild, and it didn't help that she hadn't eaten since breakfast.

She reached over and scooped up the bag in her hooves, leaning up and setting the bag in her lap. She leaned closer, taking a quick sniff and peaked inside the bag. With a smirk, she nearly dove right in, stuffing her muzzle into the opening of the bag, only stopping when a sudden thought hit her.

It didn't feel right.

Time and time again, Twilight got stuck eating her leftovers, or whatever the rainbow-maned pegasus didn't want. Or nothing at all... She sighed in defeat, removing her muzzle from the bag and turning to Twilight. "I... can't eat all these. Come on, help me out here."

...Couldn't eat them all? Twilight stared back at the mare in question. There weren't that many, and the only thing Rainbow had eaten today, to her knowledge, was their breakfast earlier. So surely she would be starved by this point, having gone practically the entire day without a thing to eat. Besides, Twilight had purchased them specifically for her... "No no no, they're yours," she insisted, waving off Rainbow's offer.

However Rainbow was a bit more persistent than Twilight would have thought. "Yeah, and I want to share them with you," she said, though noticing Twilight's hesitation, asked, "What? Hasn't anypony ever offered you anything before?"

Well, she supposed she had never been asked that before, but it hadn't taken long at all for the mare in question to think up an answer. Her family aside, ponies had hardly ever offered to share anything with her. Hay, even if they did, she'd rarely accept it.

Twilight sunk back in her chair, biting the corner of her lip, and weakly admitting, "Not really..." If there was a reason, it was due to her almost never going out in public, or socializing with others. Though Twilight herself saw nothing wrong with this, Rainbow on the other hoof...

It wouldn't have surprised her if Rainbow suddenly burst out laughing at the fact. If, for whatever reason, Rainbow found the idea of ponies never sharing with her a humorous one. Well, it wouldn't have been the first time the pegasus laughed at something she said or did.

Twilight sighed, squinting her eyes shut and bracing for the worst. Alright, cue obnoxious laughter in three, two...

But what she had been expecting, never came. Curious, her eyes opened slowly, and right away she was meant with those same cerise eyes she had come to know, staring inquisitively back at her. "Uh, you okay?" Rainbow asked, puzzled by her companion's sudden actions.

"Uh..." Twilight scratched a nonexistent itch in the back of her mane as her face flushed bright red and looked to the floor, hoping to advert Rainbow's gaze. "Uh-huh."

"Well, I meant it when I said I'd like to share some of these with ya," Rainbow continued to say. "I dunno if you're feeling hungry at the moment, but... well, I think it's time somepony treated you to something." Noticing Twilight had the same flustered look and remained staring down at the floor, Rainbow added, "Look, I uh, didn't mean to embarrass you—"

"You didn't embarrass me!" Twilight defensively shot back, suddenly raising her voice, and redirecting her gaze back at Rainbow. A blush had remained on her face however, and from that, it had been made clear she wasn't fooling anyone. Though Twilight had been willing to prove otherwise. "Argh but fine! If you're going to be so adamant about this... I'll accept."

"Well come on over then and have a seat!" Rainbow exclaimed. Twilight nodded, and leaped down from the chair, proceeding to push it closer to the bedside when Rainbow cut in. "Whoa, what are you doing?"

"What do you mean, Rainbow? I was only doing what you said."

"I meant come sit on the bed, smart one."

On the...? Her heart skipped a beat and Twilight scurried backwards as far as she could, until she clumsily backed into the wall. "On the... what now?"

"Look, I'm not asking you to sleep with me, alright? Just," —Rainbow leaned and tapped an open spot further down the bed— "take a seat at the end of the bed, okay? Has to be more comfortable than sitting in some old chair, right?"

Perhaps, Twilight thought. It probably would have been more comfortable, if not for Rainbow taking up the other half. She backed away from the wall, taking a few steps forward and insisting, "The chair's fine, thanks."

She walked back over to where she had been seated, becoming particularly interested in the floor tiles as she walked. She had no intention of meeting Rainbow's gaze after that. Though as she was about to take a seat, she heard small sniffles coming from the pegasus, and—what she decided was sheer curiosity and nothing more—turned to face the pegasus... and in an instant, regretted doing so.

Though she sat with her head tilted down, Rainbow's glistening eyes were clearly visible. She bit her inner lip as her sniffling continued and in a weak voice, muttered out, "Twi doesn't wanna sit with me..." With that, she closed both her eyes and wiped an absent tear from her right eye.

Oh please. Twilight rolled her eyes. She denied her offer and what? She was supposed to feel bad about doing so? Who did Rainbow think she was fooling? She knew Rainbow was faking this. It was so obviously a ploy to win her over. She closed her eyes, turning back around. "I'm not falling for it, Rainbow."

As she turned, she prayed to Celestia that would be the end of it. And it would have been, had it been anypony else. This was Rainbow she was dealing with. Knowing her, she wouldn't quit until she got her way. So perhaps I should just— She sighed and looked over her shoulder, back at Rainbow. "Fine, fine... I'll sit with you, alright?"

And not a moment later, Rainbow's face broke into a wide grin.

Twilight merely shook her head and climbed up, doing as Rainbow had suggested, taking a seat at the furthest possible spot from the pegasus; and after an awkward exchange of glances, Rainbow nudged the bag towards Twilight. "So..." Rainbow held a hoof behind her head as she spoke with a nervous grin across her muzzle. "Here you go."

"Uh-huh... uhm, thanks," Twilight said, taking the bag into her hooves and picked out a powdered doughnut in a magical glow before passing it back over to Rainbow, who simply smiled and began pawing through the bag.

For a little while after, the two sat in silence, simply enjoying the treats and the now peaceful, relaxing ambiance that filled the room. The feeling of an occasional warm, summer air against their coats as it drifted in through the open window; the magnificent array of reds, oranges, yellows, and a multitude of other shades and hues spread across the sky, illuminating the cloud cover overhead and cascading the entire hospital room in a golden, celestial glow.

And yet, the only thing Twilight found herself paying any mind to at that moment was Rainbow.

Twilight chuckled inwardly, watching as Rainbow licked at a spot of jelly that had somehow wound up on her muzzle. "You could always use a napkin, you know," she chimed in. "It'd probably be more efficient than lapping away at some place you can barely reach—"

"Nah, I'm good," came Rainbow's simple response, and not giving the idea a second thought, kept at it... until it started to get to her. "Agh, come on already!" she grumbled, straining her tongue to reach that bothersome dab, when at last she drew her tongue back and let out a sigh in defeat. "Fine," Rainbow spoke, shoulders slumped as she looked to Twilight with a sheepish grin. "Give me a napkin."

Or she could sit back and allow Twilight to get it for her. That was always an option too, she supposed.

"Seriously, I could've gotten it on my own, you know," Rainbow insisted as Twilight backed away from her, an accomplished smile on her muzzle as she returned to her spot on the bed.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I think the words you're looking for are 'thank you'."

"Yeah yeah..." Rainbow smirked and leaned back against the headboard, and after another moment passed, Twilight couldn't help but smile herself. She should've expected as much.

"So... are you planning on reading more of those books later?" Twilight asked, pointing to the stack of Daring Do books. She licked away some powdered frosting from her lips and swallowed another bit before adding, "It's just, I know how much you liked the first and well, I'm sure you're eager to get a start on the next one."

"Oh uh, those... right." Rainbow turned her attention to the stack of books, placing a hoof behind her head. She had forgotten about those... But as tempting as that sounded, there was one she had yet to finish. "Uh actually, Twi, I was actually thinking of finishing that other one first."

"Oh you were, huh?" Twilight inquired, raising an eyebrow. "Even if you can barely understand a word?"

"Hey, I can too!" Rainbow shot back, then paused as an uncomfortable silence came between them. "But... um, y'know, just 'cause I struggled a teensy bit doesn't mean I'm not interested in what happens next... though perhaps you could read for a while—since you like it so much!" Rainbow offered, a wide grin across her lips. "And hay," she added with a small chuckle, "you're a way faster reader compared to me, anyway."

Twilight blushed at the comment as she stared at the begging grin Rainbow beamed back at her, before closing her eyes and letting out a sigh. A moment later, her eyes reopened, a defeated smile on her lips as she said, "You win."

So Twilight continued to read, for a couple hours longer. Twilight took up a more comfortable position on the bed, her body finding itself sprawled out at the edge of the bed, while Rainbow simply collapsed back into the warm embrace of the bed.

And the two stayed like that, until at last the moon hung over Canterlot. Moonlight streamed in through the window, shining over the shared bed and cascading the two mares in a shimmering light.

But Twilight kept reading, until her eyes could no longer manage to stay awake.

"Alright." She shut the book and with her magic, levitated it over to the stack of books, revealing her tired eyes in the process. "That's all for tonight..." Twilight said, placing a hoof over her mouth as she let out a drawn-out yawn.

Rainbow rolled over onto her back, looking towards Twilight with a sly smile. "Story bored you too, huh?"

Twilight shook her head. "No it did not 'bore' me," came her irritated response. "It's just late, and I've been reading nonstop for hours and haven't had the chance to sleep, and—wait," Twilight paused as Rainbow's words sunk in. "What do you mean, 'bored you too'? You were bored?"

"A little, yeah," Rainbow admitted with a chuckle.

"Well not all books are thrilling fast-paced action adventures, Rainbow—" Another yawn overtook the sleepy unicorn. "Sorry Rainbow, we'll finish the book some other time; I'm too tired to stay awake any longer, and I'm already up well past my curfew..." Her voice drifted as she glanced over her shoulder to take a look at the clock behind her. "Uhm, I don't think they'd appreciate me sleeping here," she joked, turning around and pointing a hoof out at the bed. "Looks like I'll be sleeping in the chair then."

"Aw, sure ya don't want to—?"

"Yes, Rainbow, I'm sure." Twilight hopped down and walked over to take a seat in the chair, and as she climbed up and attempted to get into a more comfortable sleeping position, she noticed Rainbow now holding one of her pillows between her hooves.

"Uh, Rainbow...what are you—?"

"Catch," Rainbow told her, tossing the pillow at Twilight. Twilight barely had time to react to the object now flying at her before it collided with her face, and fell to the ground as a result. She stared back at Rainbow, bewildered, and almost uncertain of what just happened. Rainbow had thrown something at her? What had she done to—? No, she had told her to catch it, and she had simply failed to do so.

Though as she leaned to pick it up off the floor, she couldn't help but wonder why. Had Rainbow planned to share one with her—?

"So are you actually going to put that to use, or just stare at it some more?" Twilight's gaze shifted away from the pillow still firmly planted between her hooves, and back towards Rainbow. So she had been right, then...

"I suppose... but, are you sure though? I mean... you don't need the support?"

"Nah, I'm good," Rainbow assured. "Besides, I think you'll need it more than me if you're planning on sleeping there."

"I guess I can't argue with you there... Thanks, Rainbow."

Rainbow nodded, and soon Twilight went to setting the pillow against the armrest and began adjusting her body, curling up and nestling deeper into the seat, with her tail lazily hanging off the side. She turned away from Rainbow and sighed contently. Her eyelids couldn't stay open any longer, even if she had wanted them to... and remembering her unusual string of dreams from the day before, she wouldn't have minded keeping them open another hour or two. If only she could've found the strength...

Though before drifting off, Twilight muttered a quick, "Goodnight, Rainbow," into her pillow.

Rainbow's ears perked. Goodnight? "Oh uh, actually I was planning on staying up for a little while. I mean, I did just get some sleep some hours ago, and—"

"Just say goodnight, Rainbow," Twilight grumbled into her pillow.

Rainbow's ears fell flat, and she turned away, scratching the back of her mane with a hoof. "Right... Goodnight, Twi."

Twilight's horn flickered briefly, the same orchid glow enveloping the lamp switch, the sudden spark of magic startling Rainbow as the room grew darker; nothing but the natural, pale glow of the moonlight remained.

And before long, the room fell into silence.

Rainbow looked over the mare curled up on the chair beside her, and already she knew Twilight was fast asleep. Must've been tired, Rainbow thought. It's been a long day though... She turned straight ahead and after an exhausted sigh, fell back upon the bed as her mind recollected the events of their day together. Everything from their raucous morning to becoming acquainted with the so-called 'Princess of Equestria' and being allowed to stay with Twilight, to making the decision to live with Twilight.

Rainbow sighed as a smile crossed her lips; she was making the right decision—

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the quietest whimper, and turning in the direction of the sudden cry, Rainbow saw that the sound had come from Twilight. Another cry came, then another, Twilight struggling in her sleep as she did so.

Rainbow could only watch, her expression a mix of fear and concern as Twilight tossed and turned, faintly muttering in her sleep. It was like the evening before, when she awoke to the sight of Twilight murmuring in her sleep, though at the time, she hadn't thought much of it.

Now, seeing Twilight in such a state made her feel differently. She looked to Twilight, hoping it'd all stop, and that the unicorn would fall back into a peaceful slumber... but no such luck.

Rainbow nervously chewed on her inner lip. "Come on, Twi," she whispered in a plea as she lay, helplessly watching Twilight. "Just... snap out of it already."

She watched in worry, until at last she could stand it no longer, and reached out with a hoof in an attempt to wake her. "Twi...?" Her hoof gently touched the sleeping unicorn's shoulder, and gave it a light nudge. "H-hey... Twilight...?" No response was given right away, and with that, it became clear to Rainbow that it would take more than a nudge.

So, as Rainbow continued to whisper Twilight's name in the stillness of the night, she gave the unicorn's shoulder a light shake, then another, each with more force than the last; until at last, Twilight began to stir, having been seemingly shaken awake from her nightmare.

But what happened next, Rainbow never saw coming.

Twilight's horn shimmered and before Rainbow knew it, her hoof was caught in a magical hold, clasped and twisted by Twilight's magic.

And she found herself unable to pull away.

Tears of pain welled up within her eyes as Rainbow screamed through clenched teeth, her throat already aching from the pain of having her hoof practically crushed by Twilight's magic. Until one last cry of her name rung out, and right then, Twilight turned to her, eyes wide and fearful. The faintest white glow left her eyes as her magic ceased, allowing Rainbow's foreleg to fall limp.

Immediately, Rainbow drew back her foreleg, cringing as she brought it back to the bed, and again when she attempted to lay the throbbing hoof down on the sheets. Letting out a sniffle and blinking her eyes shut, Rainbow chose not to move, but instead only wondered... Why did Twilight do that to her? Her mind was a jumbled mess of conflicting thoughts and emotions. Had... had she been wrong about this? About Twilight? Had she made the wrong decision—?

Then Rainbow felt something push up against her. Something warm, something soft, something... tearful. Rainbow reopened her eyes in bewilderment, and gazed down at the object made visible by the moonlight, only for her eyes to widen in surprise when she saw Twilight with her forelegs wrapped around her.

Her body instinctively tried to move away, only for Twilight to move with her, unwilling to let go. When she scooted further away, Twilight followed, climbing up onto the bed. And when Rainbow lied down, turning her gaze away to look out the window, Twilight lied down beside her, tucking her head beneath Rainbow's left wing...

...And then she began crying, right into Rainbow's coat.

"Erm..." Rainbow shifted slightly as Twilight let out a few sniffles into her coat, and began looking around uncomfortably. A hug she didn't mind so much, and one from Twilight, she had no problem with. But when it was from Twilight, and came out of nowhere, when she was unsure what to think...

Rainbow lifted her uninjured hoof up off the bed slightly, yearning to wrap it around Twilight and return the hug, when she paused. Remembering what happened, she gazed down and frowned upon her injured hoof. Something told her that Twilight hadn't done what she did on purpose, it wasn't like her. That she had simply been frightened, or half-asleep when it happened...

And if Twilight holding her while dampening her coat wasn't proof of that, what she said next was.

"S-sorry," Twilight sputtered out, her eyes squeezed shut. "I-I was dreaming when I heard somepony's voice, t-then I turned and saw you were in pain, and realized it was my magic that was hurting you, and—oh Rainbow, I'm so, so sorry!" Twilight buried her face deeper, her sobs growing louder.

The surprise slowly faded away as Twilight's words sunk in, and without really thinking, Rainbow placed a reassuring foreleg around the unicorn. On second thought, maybe she had been right about Twilight after all.

Though what Twilight said, and the way she was acting made Rainbow wonder. Furrowing her brow, Rainbow asked in a whisper, "You don't remember using your magic...?"

Twilight sniffled, shaking her head. "Honestly... I don't. My magic rarely ever acts on its own." Not since that day she deemed the most important of her entire life, all those years ago... "I never lose control of it so easily, I—!"

"It's okay, Twilight," Rainbow assured her in a soft tone. "There's no need to apologize..." Twilight's eyes blinked open. She turned to gaze up at the pegasus, and for the first time since the incident, Rainbow got a clear look into Twilight's eyes. They were hazy, dull and darkened by a spellbinding smog... and it took every fiber of her being to look away.

"A-and hay, my hoof doesn't even hurt that much! No less than any other part of me anyway..." Rainbow muttered, keeping her gaze averted as she looked down at both her hooves. "Though, I think I might be a little cautious about other ponies touching my hooves from now on," she added with a brief chuckle.

Twilight chuckled inwardly as she shut her eyes and nestled her head once again by Rainbow's side, her mane lightly brushing against the pegasus's soft secondaries. "Your coat is so soft..." she cooed, subconsciously draping a foreleg over the pegasus.

Rainbow's heartbeat quickened and a blush formed along her muzzle at the gesture. "Somepony's flustered." Twilight let out a girlish giggle as she felt Rainbow's heartbeat speed up a little under her touch.

Rainbow's blush deepened. She's just exhausted, she has no idea what she's saying... "Y-you're just tired, Twi; you should get back to sleep—"

Twilight's grin fell and her eyes blinked open as she gazed up in fear. "But... what if I have another nightmare?" Twilight asked, and for a few moments, Rainbow looked towards the open window, her gaze focusing on the moon as she sat in thought.

Then, in the most soothing tone she could muster, she spoke. "Don't worry, Twilight... I'll keep you safe."

Twilight's head tilted slightly. "From a dream?" she asked, bearing a look of uncertainty.

"Er, well when you say it like that..." Rainbow scratched the side of her mane sheepishly. "Um, I could... comfort you, I guess." She shrugged. "I'm sorry, I don't think I was ever very good at this..."

You're better at it than me... Twilight mused. "Thanks, but... are you sure? It won't be too uncomfortable for you?"

"Nah," Rainbow simply replied. "Honestly? It's the least I can do."

Twilight smiled, too tired to think anything of what Rainbow had meant at that moment, and instead nodded, laying her head once again by Rainbow's side.

And as Rainbow turned her gaze back in Twilight's direction, right before the unicorn chose to lie down, Rainbow could've sworn she saw Twilight's eyes begin to return to their familiar, violet color.

And the sight made her smile.

"It's going to be okay, Twilight..." Rainbow whispered with a few gentle strokes of the mare's mane.

Twilight nodded, her lips curling into a childish smile as she curled her body up beside, what her tired mind deemed at that moment, her guardian angel.

Regardless of how absurd it sounded.

The two lay there for a while longer, neither saying a word... neither wanting the moment to end. But soon the time came when Twilight couldn't stay awake any longer, and slowly her eyes drifted shut... only to be rudely awoken moments later by the sound of the door opening and Rainbow suddenly frantically shouting... something.

"We weren't doing anything, I swear!"

"Mm... Rainbow, what...?" Twilight reluctantly blinked her eyes open to the sight of blue fur and tilted her head up to see Rainbow staring nervously at the doorway.

And once Twilight saw what had grabbed Rainbow's attention, her eyes shot open, her head bolting upwards at the sight of another nurse standing in the doorway. Whether she had heard the shouts from earlier, or was simply checking in on them, Twilight didn't know. All she knew was they had been caught, and that nothing good was going to come from this.

Cheeks burning red, and with a fear of what was to come, Twilight's horn lit up, and she disappeared in a sudden flash of light.

And soon rematerialized in the lobby of the hospital.

Twilight fell back on her haunches, letting out a long, drawn-out sigh, her heart beating faster than she ever thought possible. They had been caught like that. Together. How could I have been so thoughtless? Of course somepony was bound to walk in... And to make matters worse, after everything, she had left Rainbow in there, by herself... to deal with the consequences.

No, she couldn't do that. Not after what Rainbow did for her. With her heartbeat steadily returning to normal, Twilight shakily stood, her mind made up. She would return and explain... that Princess Celestia asked that she comfort Rainbow while she slept.

However, as she made her way back to their hospital room, something caught her eye as she passed by a hallway window. Staring back at her reflection, Twilight noticed a light cerulean feather caught in her bedraggled mane. She stared at it for a few seconds longer before removing it from the matted mess, and began examining it as it floated in her magical grip.

She frowned in thought. The feather was a tad ruffled, but otherwise seemed fine. But what to do with it...? She couldn't exactly give it back to Rainbow... She looked back at her reflection, raising the feather and placing it between her ear and mane, then hesitantly removed it. She repeated the act a few times, until at last she made her decision.

She liked the new look. And so, with a content sigh, Twilight turned and happily trotted on back to the room.

Day 5 - The "F" Word

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The moon hung heavy in the dark, misty Canterlot night sky, bathing the streets and buildings below in a magnificent light, and had any pony been awake, it would have been quite the sight.

For all but one.

For one pony remained awake to appreciate what others rarely appreciated. If only it didn't unnerve her to do so...

Her regal, sun-kissed coat slowly losing its tint as she looked pleadingly up at the moon for moments on end, sometime after its raising.

The sudden sound of flames sounded briefly before dispersing into thin air, and slowly, the pony lowered her tired gaze and walked from the balcony to her chamber that had recently been littered with worn tomes and open books, where a newly-materialized scroll sat upon her bed. The last bits of green flame floating listlessly in the air flickered away as she picked the letter off the bed and held it within her magic. She could only assume it was an update on her student's current pegasus situation, and surely, as she opened and read the letter, she could see that it... detailed her student's entire day.

Same as the previous two letters she sent me... she mused, remembering the letters her student compiled during her past couple days at the hospital. She recalled what Twilight had written about Spike and Rainbow, and how they, in different ways, were feeling the same, and how her student would do what she could to make sure the two felt they had a place where they belonged.

She remembered what Twilight had written about her dreams, what had happened as a result... and how Rainbow, in Twilight's words, had... helped her through the night, and the ones that followed. Though the methods of how she did so left her scratching her head, it also left her smiling.

Their friendship was only growing stronger, and knowing that... it gave her hope. Rainbow, she supposed, could be key in restoring the harmony that was lost... so many years ago.

And now, as she lay upon her bed, she took a breath and with tired eyes, began to read her student's latest letter from the beginning, starting with the three familiar words, Dear Princess Celestia...

After an... eventful few days together, Rainbow and I were at long last free to leave the hospital, and not a moment too soon. I could tell Rainbow was growing more anxious by the minute, and after leaving the bed one too many times and escaping to roam the halls, I knew she was. Well, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't grown the least bit anxious myself, every time I found myself dragging her back.

We left later that morning, on hoof anyway. Rainbow's wings weren't completely healed; it would be a few more days until she could fly again. Surprisingly, Rainbow didn't seem too dismayed. Either she had gotten used to the ground, or was too frightened to fly after a certain... incident earlier this morning...

Honestly? It was probably a little of both.

Well, whatever the reason, her wings were bandaged to her sides, and she was grounded. That much was certain.

But a part of me wanted to do something nice for her. Even when the issue of flight didn't seem to faze her, I had a feeling she needed something to take her mind off everything that happened these past couple of days. I'll admit even I felt a little on edge after all that happened.

Not to mention the fact there's been... little news regarding Rainbow's whereabouts. I assume some guardsmen will be setting out soon?

So, in order to relax and ease both our nerves, I settled on spending the day together, going along with whatever Rainbow felt up to doing... Within reason.

"Sit still, Rainbow!" Twilight's voice rang out, and soon after, a loud plop was heard as a reluctant Rainbow was dragged out from the hall, Twilight sternly sitting the pegasus back upon the bed in a magical glow.

A moment later and Rainbow sat upright from where she lay on the bed, and pursed her lips while crossing her forelegs. "No way, Twi! I've laid about in bed for like, forever! I can't "sit still" any longer; I need to get up, stretch my legs..." Rainbow paused once she noticed Twilight shake her head once, standing her guard before the doorway. "Twi, I feel fine, and the docs said I'm free to leave—"

"Yes, Rainbow, they did." Twilight let out a sigh before continuing. "Just... not at the moment. We'll leave when we're told, but until then, please—"

"Stay put?" Rainbow surmised. "Yeah yeah, you've said that a dozen times already..." Rainbow hopped down, nonchalantly glancing towards Twilight with a smirk. "And before you try to correct me or whatever... it's just a saying."

Twilight took a step back as her mouth snapped shut, taken aback slightly by Rainbow's words. She didn't even notice Rainbow already standing before her until the pegasus prodded her chest with her right hoof. "Besides, I'm allowing you to wear one of my feathers. That's a pretty big deal, you know." Twilight's gaze returned to the pegasus. Her left ear twitched as the memory of the feather-made-earring came back to her.

With her spare time at the hospital, Twilight had found herself fiddling with the appendage more often than not, and eventually—with the help of some extra bits of wire and thread, worked the cerulean feather into a makeshift earring.

She almost couldn't believe she had forgotten about it, and, had it not been for a certain pegasus's escape attempts distracting her, she never would have.

"And to make matters worse, you practically stole it from me!" Rainbow's voice raised, snapping Twilight from her thoughts. "But hey, it's cool; it suits you. I just ask that in return, you give me—" Rainbow pointed a hoof at her chest as she turned and walked away. "—a little freedom."

Twilight bit her lip, looking down at the floor from the corner of her eyes. "Just don't leave the room, okay?" she softly replied in defeat.

"Way ahead of you," came Rainbow's disinterested response.

"Wha...? Rainbow!" Twilight's eyes widened at the sight of Rainbow leaning up against the bedroom window, her forelegs resting on the windowsill. "What on earth are you doing?"

"Leaving the hospital," Rainbow explained, staring aimlessly out at the sky. Her wings began to unfurl at her sides, causing her to wince as they steadily unfolded.

"B-but you're wings aren't fully healed yet!"

Rainbow leaned further out the window and took in a deep breath. "That never stopped me before," she said, leaning away with a smirk. Then, in one swift motion and a few flaps of her wings, Rainbow threw herself out the window, aiming towards the sky and leaving one very stunned unicorn behind.

"Oh Celestia," the unicorn mare cursed under her breath, snapping herself from her momentary shocked state, and quickly she ran over to the window, muttering a slung together string of "nos" even as she reached the sill, leaned upon it, and peered outside.

And there she saw the pegasus—a cerulean speck—flying about, high above the building where she stood, watching with wide eyes and shrunken pupils, nervously chewing her lower lip.

Her magic could only reach so far, and at that moment, Rainbow was beyond her reach. So Twilight did all she could do at that moment. She waited impatiently, worried sick for Rainbow's safety.

For the second time since the incident, she flew.

Only this time, it felt as though she had the strength to. It didn't hurt as much, and her wings felt stronger, more capable...

Rainbow inhaled sharply, the rushing winds whipping through her mane, and ruffling at her feathers as she steered upwards, through a cluster of clouds and out again before soon slowing to a hover, feeling the warming rays of sunlight on her coat.

Unable to suppress the grin forming along her muzzle, she gazed down upon the city, with a single word at the tip of her tongue.

"Awesome." That one word was all that was needed to be said, the only word she could use to describe the spectacle that surrounded her. The buildings, towers, shops—all a part of the traditional Canterlot ivory architecture, glowed in the early morning sunlight.

It was the one word that was needed to describe her new home.

Gazing up from the city, her attention was soon drawn to what lay beyond the city, beyond the hills and grassy landscapes, to what almost appeared as a small town in the distance.

And for a moment, Rainbow was mesmerized—almost drawn to it. She inched closer through the air, curiosity written all over her face, and oblivious to all else until a sudden stabbing pain shot through her wings, snapping her back to reality.

They recoiled suddenly, and without a warning, she fell from the sky—unnoticed by all except for the purple-coated mare leaning out the very window Rainbow had flown out of.

She could only watch as the rainbow-maned pegasus fell, feeling her body tense up and a mix of desperation and fear swell up inside her. Moments ago, she knew this would happen; now, she could barely think. All she could do was manage a desperate cry of her name.

As quickly as Twilight called the pegasus's makeshift name, Rainbow fell past Twilight's widening eyes, letting loose a short, frantic cry and flailing her forelegs about. It was enough to snap Twilight out of it and spring to the rescue, putting her horn to work and enveloping Rainbow's prismatic tail in a flicker of magic.

Rainbow's descent came to an abrupt stop as she found herself suddenly yanked backwards, then a moment later, dangling loosely amidst the warm, summer air, wide-eyed and breathing heavily, her heart hammering away in her chest.

The same could have been said about Twilight, who stood overlooking the pegasus from above. She swallowed a nervous gulp and waited for her heartbeat to return to a normal pace, all while continuing to hold Rainbow's tail in her telekinetic grip.

I caught her, Twilight assured herself. She's safe, she's... Thoughts of Rainbow's earlier actions entered her mind and right then Twilight's eyes grew angry, her compassion and concern quickly replaced with anger and annoyance. A thoughtless, careless, hot-headed, reckless, senseless...fool of a mare! And—! And...

And she was surprised when she had no reason to be. This wasn't the first time in the short while they've known one another that Rainbow had done something foolish. But even so... I told her she was in no shape to fly, yet she went and did so anyway... Her gaze returned to the pegasus who lay limp in the air. If she had to guess, Rainbow was too shocked to move...

Or had been rather. Instead, Rainbow simply lay waiting in the air, steadily catching her breath.

It hadn't taken long for her to realize it was Twilight's magic preventing her from falling. Despite hanging upside down, Rainbow managed to tilt her head, casting a sheepish grin while focusing her gaze on the... surprisingly ticked looking unicorn... "Heh, uh... thanks, Twi—"

"Give me a reason why I shouldn't drop you," Twilight's cold voice called down to the dangling pegasus, just threatening enough to scare the mare into being a little less reckless next time.

Rainbow's eyes widened, for only a moment at Twilight's words, but soon they returned to normal at the realization that Twilight was simply bluffing. Rainbow broke out into a small grin. "Oh come on, like you'd ever drop me—"

Rainbow's grin disappeared and once again she found herself fearful the moment some of Twilight's magic slipped from her tail, causing her to inch closer to the ground. "U-uh, well... I'm pretty sure the princess would be disappointed in you if you let me fall—!" More of the magic slipped from Rainbow's tail, dropping her further. "Okay!" Rainbow cried out. "I-I'm sorry! It was reckless of me and—" She closed her eyes, letting out a shaken sigh. "—you were right... Hay, I'm in no shape to fly... I couldn't even make it back to your place without crashing once... or twice, maybe... several times... I-I'm sorry, Twilight, really, just... don't let go—"

The next thing Rainbow knew, she was no longer in the air, but sitting back on something solid, with a... tingling sensation encompassing her body. Her eyes remaining closed, Rainbow figured that Twilight really had dropped her... But then she felt something soft squeezing her. Something she recognized immediately as Twilight, more than likely strangling her out of sheer anger.

But a more hopeful part of her hesitantly opened an eye, and to her dismay, Twilight sat before her with her forelegs wrapped tightly around her own shoulders and no doubt moving in for her neck... but no such attempt came.

Curious, Rainbow sat still in silence for moments, unsure whether she should say something, maybe try to move... It seemed Twilight was no longer angry enough to kill her, though after her behavior, she wouldn't blame Twilight if she really wanted to.

A sniffle sound from Twilight made Rainbow all the more curious. She turned her head to the left a smidgen, feeling Twilight's own face and fur against her own, resting on her shoulder.

At that moment, though she couldn't see her face, Rainbow smiled warmly at the realization of how much she meant to the unicorn.

Though as more moments passed, the embrace began to grow uncomfortable. She could understand why Twilight refused to let go... but she could only stay still for so long. "Uh, Twi...?" Rainbow cautiously spoke. "I-I know I said "Don't let go," but... can you please let go?"

And that was enough to snap Twilight out of it and quickly push away from Rainbow.

"You featherbrain! What were you thinking?" Twilight scolded, stomping a hoof on the floor. "Diving head-first out the window like that? You could've gotten killed!"

Rainbow grimaced at Twilight's words, looking down at the floor, and unwilling to meet the unicorn's annoyed gaze. "Well, I—" she tried to say, though Twilight never gave her the chance. Didn't...

But could have, she supposed. Thinking back on her thoughtless actions, and how worried she had made Twilight... It made her heart ache.

"I mean really, what pony can't wait like, one hour until they're discharged?"

Moments passed and Twilight calmed a bit, though Rainbow could sense the mare was still fuming, listening as she sharply breathed in and out, and although she refused to look Twilight in the eyes, could feel the unicorn's eyes glaring at her.

Until Twilight could no longer stay upset. Her eyes closed for a moment, letting out a sigh before then glancing at Rainbow's wings. The bandages had become detached from her wings, some hanging loosely around her wingtips and base of her wings. "And now your bandages have come unraveled... Great."

Feeling Twilight had calmed down enough to get a word in, Rainbow hesitantly muttered while keeping her eyes averted, "Y-you could always call for somepony—"

"No... no, it's nothing I can't handle," Twilight replied, her thoughts focused on the bandages she worked with within her magic. Tightly wrapping a strap around Rainbow's right wing, she turned to look the pegasus in the eyes and gave a coy smile. "Besides... you don't want to extend your stay here, do you?"

For a moment after Twilight asked, Rainbow remained stunned, her eyes wide in disbelief. The next moment, a smile of her own formed, and she shook her head.

So Twilight continued to fix up the pegasus's wings, knowing which spots to avoid and which were sensitive to the touch, and sat back on her haunches, examining her work before looking to the pegasus herself, who sat absentmindedly staring out the window.

"Doing some sightseeing?" Twilight presumed, bringing Rainbow out of her thoughts, and right as she asked the question, Rainbow turned to her, a look of embarrassment on her face.

"Huh? Oh uh... no," Rainbow replied reassuringly, returning her gaze to the world outside, pointing a hoof out the window. "I was, uhm... looking at that."

"That?" Twilight moved closer to the pegasus mare and turned her head in the direction Rainbow was pointing, though remained unsure of what the mare was trying to show her.

"That... er, well, it's kinda hard to see from here," Rainbow explained. "But it kinda looked like another town."

Another town? Twilight wondered. Does she mean...? "Oh uhm, yes!" she exclaimed as the realization struck her. That's... Ponyville, I think." Twilight squinted at the spot in the distance Rainbow's hoof pointed at. She leaned back, letting out a sigh and turned to face the pegasus. "Sorry Rainbow, I can't tell you much about it other than the fact that it was founded by earth ponies decades ago, and that it's rather diverse."

"Huh..." Rainbow thought over Twilight's words. "Wait, diverse...?"

"Yes. You see, take Canterlot for example. Mostly unicorns live here in this city—it's actually quite rare to see a pegasus outside of the weather team or Royal Guard around here, opposed to Cloudsdale where it's nothing but pegasi... or so I hear."

Twilight averted her gaze for a moment before switching back to Rainbow, this time with eyes full of amazement, and taking notice, Rainbow didn't say a word, allowing Twilight to continue. "In Ponyville however, earth, pegasus, and unicorn ponies live together in one large community. It's quite an interesting thing, really..." As she finished, the unicorn grew silent, staring thoughtfully at the town for a few seconds and unaware of the words she began to speak. "I wonder... maybe you—"

"S-so uh, Twi! Some view, huh?" Rainbow asked suddenly, surprising Twilight. She turned to see Rainbow doing her best to pretend she meant what she asked, and kept her gaze fixed on the sights outside, all while baring an overly large grin.

For seconds Rainbow wore it, and it never once fooled her. Instead, all Twilight saw was a desperate attempt to change the subject the very second the possibility of her home was brought up. I suppose I can't really blame her for not wanting to think about it... Not after the thoughts she had the other day.

Twilight sighed. The last thing either of them needed to be reminded of was that Rainbow might not have a home after all.

They could use a distraction... Something to take their minds off the matter, for the time being.

"Hey, uhm... Rainbow," Twilight began. "I... I was thinking... This whole experience has basically been one headache after the other... Why not spend today taking it easy?"

Rainbow turned to the unicorn with an eyebrow raised. "Doing... what exactly?" she asked.

Twilight's gaze fell shyly to the windowsill. "Oh, I don't know... whatever you want to do, I guess," she replied, then not a second later, corrected herself. "W-within reason!" Celestia only knew what crazed things Rainbow would try and do. Though Twilight had a few ideas...

"No flying—"

Rainbow smirked. "Obviously," she replied, rolling her eyes.

"No salt blocks or alcoholic... anything, really. No bars—"

"You must be a ton of fun at parties," Rainbow teased.

"I wouldn't know, actually, I've never been—" Twilight paused, recalling Rainbow's tone, and for a moment, glared back at her with a stern, unamused look.

"Look, Rainbow..." Twilight sighed and hung her head, her voice growing softer. "I'm... I'm only looking out for you—"

"Because Celestia's making you," Rainbow muttered, not thinking much of what she had just said. Though she never meant to sound hurtful, Twilight didn't know.

Twilight's head shot up right after Rainbow spoke, eyes surprisingly not filled with anger, but rather of surprise, and more importantly... she wore an expression that Rainbow hated to see more than anything else. She looked hurt... and it immediately filled Rainbow with guilt, wishing she had never said a word.

Rainbow bit her lip, gazing down at the floor and rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. "Sorry, I know that's..."

"Not true," Twilight finished. Her gaze softened as she noticed Rainbow's body language. It was enough to tell she hadn't meant it. Still... she wanted to show Rainbow that the princess wasn't the only reason she was doing all this. "I... I'm not sure how I feel about you—I mean, I do care about you obviously, and... I mean, it's not like I hate you or anything! I can tolerate you, forgive you time and time again, and it's nice... having you around, I think—I-I don't know..."

She could've just said it was because we're friends... "Alright, relax Twi... Thanks, I get it." The two shared a smile before Rainbow then asked, "So, what is there to do in this city?"

"I'm not quite sure myself," Twilight replied, sheepishly rubbing a hoof behind her head as her cheeks flushed a light shade of pink. Seeing Rainbow's sudden disbelieving expression, Twilight quickly averted her gaze out the window. "B-but it is a rather large city! I'm sure we could find something..."

For several moments, the two sat simply gazing out the window. While Twilight assumed Rainbow was taking in the sights, or looking around for something to do once they left, Twilight's thoughts were elsewhere. Particularly, on her little dragon assistant, and how she had managed to spend more time with him during the past few days.

But it was nothing compared to the time she dedicated to Rainbow.

And now she was about to spend an entire day with the pegasus. Twilight sighed. Tomorrow, she decided. Definitely tomorrow...

All that was left now was to tell Spike when she got the chance. She looked over at Rainbow from the corner of her eye. "I'll... need to stop on by the tower for a bit, if that's okay..." Of course, Spike wasn't the only reason; there was something Twilight had planned for Rainbow too, but having a quick talk with her assistant was a bit more important to her at that moment.

And then another thought popped into her head right as Rainbow shrugged in response. "Hey, Rainbow..." Twilight began, hesitantly turning to face the pegasus. "Could you—I mean, if we do spend today together, just you and me... could you spend the next with me and Spike?" Spending more time with Spike was one thing, but if she could get the two to spend time with one another, to enjoy each other's company... "Perhaps the two of you could get to know each other a little better," she suggested.

"Sure, why not?" Rainbow replied, letting out a single titter of laughter. Since I'll be living with him and Twi anyway... "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to get to know the little guy." At that, Rainbow cast a reassuring smile in Twilight's direction.

"Thank you, Rainbow," Twilight said, returning the smile. At least then he won't have to worry about Rainbow stealing me away... Smiling at the thought, she looked behind her for a moment, taking in the time before turning back to Rainbow. "You know, we've still got some time..."

Rainbow smirked, knowing all too well what Twilight had in mind. "Reading?" she asked.

Twilight nodded in response, a playful smile on her lips. "Reading."

"Alright, well... bye!" exclaimed Rainbow, walking backwards out of the lobby, waving a hoof at the ponies she passed. "Bye, everypony! It's been fun, really!" Her façade quickly dropped as she and Twilight stepped out the doors of the hospital and onto the sunny Canterlot streets, Rainbow sporting nothing but the bandages around her forehead and wings, and Twilight with her saddle over her back, packed with any belongings she had held onto during their stay.

Rainbow turned from the entrance, letting loose an audible groan. "So... stay off the wings for a week, no strenuous activity... and apply new bandages every morning?"

"Sorry, Rainbow. Doctor's orders," Twilight replied, lifting a hoof over her lips, and stifling a sudden giggle.

"It's not funny..." Rainbow grumbled, hanging her head.

"It totally is!" Twilight replied in her best Rainbow impression, to which Rainbow responded with a glare.

"Er, sorry..." Twilight apologized, her own smile fading. "I'll help with the bandages, if you want."

Rainbow sighed. "That's not it, Twilight," she said, and at the mention of her full name, Twilight immediately looked to the pegasus who looked to the sky as she continued. "When I was up there, it felt great. The feel of the wind beneath your wings, and the rush of air through your mane... the warm sunlight against your coat..."

"It's something else, isn't it?" Twilight asked. She had to admit, it sounded... almost kind of nice. It almost made her wish she had wings; wings she could use to take to the sky... to truly feel how Rainbow felt.

Rainbow simply nodded in response. "You have no idea."

Gee, thanks for reminding me... Twilight thought, internally groaning before shaking the thought away. Regardless of how it felt, Rainbow couldn't fly in her current condition... not for long, anyway...

"Well be that as it may," Twilight continued, "you could have died up there."

"But you were there to catch me!" Rainbow rebutted, skidding to a halt before Twilight, and stopping the unicorn in her tracks. Twilight quickly noticed the look of desperation in her pleading eyes, and as they focused on her, it made her want to give in right then.

It's for the best, Twilight told herself, letting out a sigh.

"Rainbow... please, it's only for a week," Twilight reasoned as she extended her foreleg, placing her hoof on Rainbow's shoulder. Twilight managed a warm smile as she continued. "It'll be over before you even know it."

In her head, Twilight figured that Rainbow would only attempt to argue with her some more. Argue how it would, for whatever reason, take longer than a week, and how she so desperately needed to fly.

So, to say she was surprised when the pegasus let out a quiet laugh in response would be an understatement.

Rainbow looked towards the unicorn with a small, yet amused grin across her muzzle. "You sound just like those doctors, Twi."

Twilight rolled her eyes, a smirk of her own forming. "But they were right, weren't they?" she asked, already knowing the answer as she trotted on ahead.

"Well—!" Rainbow caught herself. What could she possibly retort with...? Twilight was right. It did go by fast, she supposed. Though, only because Twilight had been with her... Even so... "Yeah..." she replied in defeat, eyelids lowering as she gazed down at the street. "Yeah, they were."

And now Twilight would be by her side once again, and no doubt the time it would take for her wings to heal would go by like nothing at all as well. As long as Twilight was with her... She smiled at the thought, and how—though it made little sense—it seemed she didn't care all that much about flying when she was with the mare. She looked straight ahead to see Twilight already several feet ahead of her and galloped up to her, rejoining the unicorn by her side.

Her smile purposely faded as she walked beside Twilight, her head forcefully dropping as she let out an annoyed groan. "Ugh... stuck on the ground for an entire week with Twi..." Curious, and just a tad concerned, Twilight turned her head towards Rainbow just as the pegasus's smile quickly returned. "Alright, but I'm taking you flying the second my wings are good to go!" she exclaimed, catching Twilight off guard and noticing her reaction, Rainbow quickly backtrack. "I mean, it's only fair," she added.

Twilight looked at Rainbow for a few seconds more as her brow furrowed in confusion. "Flying?" she sneered, her expression lightening while a small grin formed. "With you? The pegasus who can't even stay aloft for a minute?"

A blush crept upon Rainbow's cheeks. "O-once my wings are healed, I said!" she shot back, then a moment later, looked away muttering a quick "Jeez, Twi," under her breath.

Twilight smiled, resting her eyes on the now flustered pegasus for a moment longer before looking longingly to the sky. "You know, I've never given much thought to the idea of flying, but..." Ever since I met her, I've given the idea more and more thought, and... I think I want to.

"Just don't drop me," she said, triggering a sudden grin from the pegasus.

"Deal—"

"And no crazy stunts or maneuvers," Twilight added.

"But that's a part of what makes flying so fun!" Rainbow argued, though when she saw the serious expression Twilight wore, dropped her head in defeat. "Ugh, fine, Twi... nice and slow it is."

Twilight's attention returned to the path ahead of her, a small, yet triumphant smile tugging at her lips, only for it to soon disappear completely. Walking alongside Rainbow in an uncomfortable silence, Twilight took note of something she hated: the unnerving looks from ponies they passed, some snickering and whispering among themselves, others looking at Rainbow with looks of disdain and disgust.

Time slowed and her heart seemingly stopped as all the sounds and sights of the city faded away, and right then all Twilight longed for was to blend in with the crowd and continue unnoticed. But when she tried, she clumsily bumped into Rainbow's right side after a few miscalculated hoofsteps, and Twilight's now-flustered gaze immediately met Rainbow's concerned one.

"Uh..." Rainbow nervously uttered out as she continuously stared into Twilight's eyes. "You okay?" she asked as an amused grin formed.

Twilight shook her head and scrambled backwards, a little ways away from where Rainbow stood. "Y-yeah," Twilight replied. "Yeah, I am." She straightened up, and after a quick look around, turned to Rainbow and whispered, "Look, Rainbow... Can we... can we move somewhere a little more private?"

Private—? Rainbow blushed and her eyes widened for a moment, her mind racing to figure out what Twilight was getting at when, before she knew it, she was quickly being dragged along the street in a familiar and... irritating aura. Twilight was already ahead of her, presumably headed someplace a little less crowded and from the looks of things, didn't have the patience to stick around for her to follow.

And surely enough, the ponies on the streets became fewer and further between. Still, Rainbow could only wonder where Twilight was taking her. Another part of her told her she was over thinking this. This is Twi, Rainbow told herself. If anything, she's probably overreacting because of... because of... Rainbow's gaze lowered at the realization that it all started the second those ponies began whisperings things about them... Her gaze slowly made its way back to the unicorn whose pace had slowed, and glancing around, Rainbow saw they were now alone.

"Uh... Twilight," Rainbow cautiously called out to the unicorn standing a few feet ahead, "if... if this is about what those ponies were whispering about back there—"

Twilight stopped and spun around towards Rainbow, though looking more surprised than anything. "Rainbow, you...?" Her voice drifted, her surprised demeanor fading and slowly being replaced with a sorrowful one. "You heard them too?"

Rainbow grinned, pointing a hoof at her ears. "Sharp hearing, remember?" she reminded the unicorn, to which Twilight replied with a short nod of her head, vaguely recalling Rainbow mentioning something along those lines. "It's okay though," Rainbow continued, her ears drooping and smile saddening as she gazed down at the ground. "I mean, it's not like it bothers me or anything..."

"Yeah, but—!" Twilight paused, and unable to find the right words to retort with at that moment, let out an aggravated groan. "Ugh, it's just...! Everypony in this city is a complete jerk!" Twilight suddenly blurted out, triggering a slight jump from the pegasus. "I mean, making comments about the way you look, a-and about us? Who does that?"

For a moment, Rainbow was speechless. Another moment later and Rainbow shook her head as she trotted up to where Twilight stood, a sympathetic smile on her lips. "Aw come on, not everypony. I mean, you're not," Rainbow reasoned, poking Twilight in the chest. "And neither is Spike, nor Celestia... and I'm sure your folks are nice," she added before walking on ahead.

Twilight watched as Rainbow trotted down the road, snapping her from her earlier thoughts as she ran to catch up with her. "My... what?" Twilight questioned as she walked beside the cerulean-coated pegasus once more, a quizzical expression written all over her face. "But you already mentioned Spike and Princess Celestia!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "I meant your family, smart one. Your mom, and dad, siblings... that sorta thing."

Twilight slowly turned her attention back to the path ahead, letting out a quiet "Oh," in understanding, and for several moments neither mare said anything, until at last, Rainbow spoke up.

"They... are still alive... right?" the pegasus solemnly asked. Twilight blinked, finding herself completely caught off guard by the comment and even did a double take when unsure if she had heard Rainbow correctly.

"O-of course they are!" Twilight replied matter-of-factly, wondering only where Rainbow got an idea like that. "We all live pretty safe lives and—" Twilight paused, her now piercing gaze fixating itself on the mare. "Rainbow, just how old do you think I am?"

Now it was Rainbow's turn to be caught off guard as she found herself pinned down, Twilight glaring daggers at her. "N-not very." Rainbow averted her gaze. "Just wondering..."

Twilight sighed, easing up on the mare and turning back ahead. "They're alive and well—" she began to explain.

"And together?" Rainbow asked suddenly, cutting in.

Twilight once again looked towards the chatty mare, tilting her head in confusion. "I think so?" she answered, rather unsure. "I mean, they're both rather busy ponies, but I'm sure they're together often."

An awkward silence followed as the two looked away from each other. "S-so..." Rainbow began in a poor attempt to change the subject, inattentively looking at the passing buildings and decorations that hung from them. Banners, flags, posters... All with images of some pegasus stunt ponies, wearing what Rainbow could only deem as pretty funny looking, yet... strangely awesome at the same time. "Any brothers? Sisters?" she asked, her eyes looking over the many pieces of alluring art as the grin she bore only grew wider and wider.

"Brothers? Yes—er, only one. He's... a part of the Royal Guard." Twilight turned towards Rainbow with an inquisitive expression the moment she heard Rainbow let out a laugh. Before Twilight could question why, Rainbow turned to her, an amused smile present on her lips.

"And here I thought your whole family was a bunch'a bookish eggheads," Rainbow teased her unicorn companion, playfully elbowing Twilight in the side, though quickly triggering an unamused reaction from the mare.

"Firstly," Twilight stated, stepping before Rainbow and prodding her upper chest with a hoof, "you've become quite the egghead yourself. Secondly...!" Twilight's expression and tone grew quiet, almost hesitant. "It's just me and my mom..."

"So... your family's half-egghead then?"

Twilight shrugged. "I guess..." Why Rainbow thought that reading was the only thing that made somepony an egghead was beyond her; or whether she should be honored that only half of her family was made up of brainy nerds, or insulted that Rainbow unintentionally called her other half dumb also preoccupied her mind.

Taking another look at the pegasus, and the sense of innocence she had come to know, she let out a sigh, ultimately letting it go.

The two moved on, the silence between them once again growing, though one pony could no longer bear it. She needed to say something. "Uh, you know, Twi... your mane looks way cooler like that," Rainbow said as a compliment, concentrating on what resulted from the unicorn running down the street minutes ago.

Twilight however, didn't take Rainbow's words too kindly. Her eyes widened in panic. "W-what?" She fretted, throwing both forelegs over her head in an attempt to cover what she could of her mane. Something must've happened to it, she would never—! Twilight paused in realization, gazing upwards. Was it the wind...? Her eyes lingered on the sky for a moment longer before turning to Rainbow. "H-how bad is it?"

"It's honestly not that bad," Rainbow assured her. "I mean, it kind of looks like mine... Kind of."

Twilight gulped. That wasn't what she wanted to hear. "Well I wouldn't get too used to it, Rainbow. I'll be fixing it the moment we get home," Twilight stated, already hard at work brushing her ruffled mane back into shape with her hoof as the two walked. She took another look at Rainbow. "Though, maybe we could do something with yours?"

Rainbow thought for a moment before giving the answer that deep down, Twilight had expected to hear. "Yeah... no," Rainbow replied, grinning at her. "Sorry Twi, you're not touching my mane. I mean, I don't know if I always kept it like this, but hay, I like it this way."

Twilight smirked. "Shaggy, messy, and uncombed?" she teased.

"Hey, it suits me!"

"Can't argue with you there..." she mused, smiling as she looked thoughtfully at Rainbow's mane.

The walk lasted for several minutes in an awkward silence, both ponies struggling but failing to find a worthy topic of conversation to pass the time, until at last, they ended up reaching the place both Twilight and Rainbow had, in their own ways, come to know as their home.

"And here we are!" Twilight announced, coming into view of the Ivory Tower. A place meant for pursuers of knowledge and what safety served as a current residence for the mares.

The two began the long walk up the outer spiral staircase. "Great!" Rainbow exclaimed, following closely behind. "So, let's get what you need and—"

Twilight stopped suddenly, then hesitantly turned around to face Rainbow. "Actually, Rainbow... there was, uhm... something I wanted to show you..."

"This is all... for me...?" Rainbow slowly asked, staring dumfounded in her guest room, which Twilight had taken the liberty of decorating with a few hand-me-downs and spare furniture, and more surprisingly than anything else: gifts.

Besides the star-coated comforter and stack of Daring Do novels stacked vertically on the bedside table—even the nerdy-looking violet drapes hung over the locked window with a conspicuous star pattern on them, there were some things that Rainbow had a feeling Twilight went out of her way to get for her. Most of it was 'Wonderbolt' memorabilia; Rainbow quickly recalled them from those posters and banners she and Twilight passed earlier. A couple posters, magazines, flight books—apparently authorized by them no less, which Rainbow realized upon closer inspection, and some gifts that surprisingly weren't Wonderbolt-related. A couple boxes of chocolates and assorted candies lay by the pillows of her bed, and on her table, a bouquet of flowers colored red, orange, yellow—Rainbow smiled as she looked at them, but soon her attention was torn away from them the moment Twilight began speaking.

"Uhm... Princess Celestia wrote to me in response to one of my letters that I should, you know... get you something from the gift shop while we were at the hospital... Only, well, I guess I got a little carried away." The unicorn blushed and looked down at her hooves while she continued. "I don't know a lot about the uh, 'Wonderbolts' other than they're some stunt team of pegasi who tour all over Equestria, and they're doing a show here in Canterlot soon, hence all the banners and flags in the streets, and, well... all this. I assume you noticed?" Twilight asked suddenly, perking up. Internally, she scolded herself for foolishly forgetting to ask something so important.

Rainbow simply nodded in response, and seeing that, Twilight breathed out a sigh and picked up where she left off.

"I know you probably aren't familiar with them—" No thanks to her memory loss. "—but they seem like an inspirational group of pegasi, and I don't know," Twilight shrugged, sighing briefly, "guess I just thought it'd be something you might like—"

Twilight was cut off by a surprise hug from an overjoyed, and rather thankful pegasus. "This is awesome Twi, thank you!" Rainbow exclaimed, beaming. She had meant every word it too, however, she couldn't help but feel a bit... undeserving. Her smile faded and she backed away from Twilight, her hooves firmly planted on the unicorn's shoulders. "But... please tell me you didn't spend your own bits."

Twilight shook her head, triggering a much-needed sigh of relief from the pegasus. "Princess Celestia helped out a little," she explained, then backtracked. "...A lot, actually," she sheepishly added.

"Its gotta be nice," Rainbow remarked. "Having connections like that."

"I wouldn't call it a connection, Rainbow," Twilight said. "I have a stipend account." Rainbow's expression in return, expectantly became confused. "Since I've been studying under Princess Celestia, I've received a sort of... payment," she explained, though to no avail.

Twilight sighed. "Think of it as an apprenticeship. It's like I'm getting a place to stay, food and water, tutelage, and payment—all for being a student of the princess. And now," she added, "she's been giving me a little extra recently to help with you, and well... with this."

Twilight cautiously removed Rainbow's hooves from her shoulder with a small surge of magic and trotted over to the bed, never noting Rainbow's eye roll. "You could've just said that," Rainbow added in a quiet mutter as Twilight picked up an article of clothing off the bed Rainbow must had skimmed over. However, it was something Twilight had meant to address.

Twilight turned around to face Rainbow, the object held by her side in an aura of magic. "It's up to you whether you'd like to wear this, but I picked you up one of these as well!" She brought it closer for Rainbow to see. "It's just a hooded sweatshirt, but it's modeled after the official Wonderbolt's uniform! Or so I was told..." The sweatshirt itself was deep blue, darker than Rainbow's own cerulean coat, with a light gold lightning bolt covering the chest area and coming to an end near the end of her belly. A single, golden lightning bolt wrapped around the ends of each sleeve, which came down just around the hooves, unlike the apparent uniform. "I was thinking maybe you could use it to hide your bandages," Twilight suggested.

Translation: "I really want you to wear this, specifically for that purpose, Rainbow."

Rainbow sighed. She didn't have a problem with the bandages around her wings, or the ones around her forehead, though her mane seemed to cover those up anyway. Hay, she didn't even mind when ponies stared at her for them... But then she thought about how Twilight reacted earlier, how uncomfortable it made the mare... and it was for that reason, Rainbow supposed, that she agreed to wear it.

Well, that, and it did look pretty awesome.

"Yeah, why not?" Rainbow replied, accepting the sweatshirt from Twilight, taking it into her own hooves.

"Oh, and this one's specifically designed for pegasi," Twilight continued to explain as she pointed out the wing holes on both sides of the sweatshirt. "So, uhm, if you wanted to wear it while flying, you could... O-once your wings are better, that is!" she quickly added, followed by a nervous chuckle.

"Well anyway, I'll leave you to get accustomed to uhm... all this; I've got to go get ready myself, and track down a certain dragon... I know he's around here somewhere..." With her mind already focused on having a talk with her number one assistant, and a need to excuse herself before the situation possibly became more uncomfortable than it already was, she politely excused herself, leaving Rainbow alone with her thoughts.

The mare sighed, taking in everything about the small room. Her new room. A soft, saddened smile graced her lips, taking a step further, feeling her heart grow heavier. A few hoofsteps further and she was at the edge of her bed, running a hoof along the sweatshirt.

She couldn't shake the feeling Twilight wanted her here as much as she wanted to stay. Rainbow knew it. Twilight must've realized... this was her new home.

She held the article until it was eye level with her, before throwing it over her head and trying it on. Falling back on her haunches, sliding her forelegs into the sleeves, she shook her mane back into shape and took a look at herself. Sure enough, it hid her injuries, and who she was, she supposed. She almost looked... normal. Not a mare Twilight had to look after, not a mare that caused her embarrassment, or stress. Just... her friend.

Moments passed as she walked back and forth for a bit, fell back on her back and lazily flipped through some of the books on her cloud bed, and... regretfully tasted one of the flowers on her nightstand while painstakingly waiting for Twilight to return.

Rainbow's bored gaze soon fell upon the boxes of candies, and immediately felt her stomach rumble.

It wasn't breakfast food, but what the hay?

Twilight huffed, climbing the stairs until once again reaching Rainbow's makeshift room. "Alright, Rainbow, I'm all s—" Twilight stopped, catching the pegasus with a few completely emptied boxes and papers scattered on the bed, wearing the sweatshirt she had gotten for her, which—aside from being slightly baggy—complimented her nicely.

Rainbow quickly sensed Twilight's lingering presence by the doorway, and spun around, hastily swallowing down the last chunk of chocolate in her mouth. "So," Rainbow began, facing Twilight while bearing a sheepish smile. "How do I look?"

Twilight thought for a moment before giggling into a stifling hoof. It wasn't that Rainbow looked bad; no, it was quite the opposite. It was however, the cheesiness of what she was choosing to say that made her laugh. Lips trembling, she lowered her hoof to the ground and replied, "Like a Wonderbolt."

Not surprisingly, Rainbow laughed a little as well. "So, basically... goofy, but at the same time, cool?"

"Seriously though," Twilight continued, "you look nice."

Rainbow's expression softened at the compliment. "Thanks again for all this, Twi. Really." She nervously smiled meeting Twilight's surprised gaze, feeling her cheeks grow warmer the longer she looked into her violet eyes.

Twilight gulped. "Y-you're welcome, Rainbow..." Twilight's cheeks began to match Rainbow's. She fought back the strange and sudden feeling in her chest, squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head to free her thoughts from the fog surrounding them. "I... I-I know you probably won't be staying here for long." Rainbow's heart sunk at the unicorn's words, her ears falling flat and going unnoticed as Twilight continued, "Still, it'll be nice to have your very own place to rest, if you ever choose to stop on by." Rainbow only nodded apathetically as Twilight smiled and turned for the exit. "Now, come on—I mean, if you're ready. Spike's content here by himself for the day, and it's already pretty late in the morning, so..."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Rainbow's excited tone startled the young unicorn, and before she could blink, Rainbow joined up by her side. She playfully nudged her with a foreleg while wearing a wide grin. "Race you to the exit, Twi!" Rainbow exclaimed, running out the door, up the stairs, and leaving a stunned Twilight Sparkle in her wake.

Okay, so she still wants to find the place I belong, but... I think I could hear it... in her voice. She wants me to stay, Rainbow told herself as she thought over Twilight's words, and about her decision to stay. I'll tell her eventually, but for now, I may as well enjoy today. I mean, no need to risk ruining today with a little drama...

Twilight watched as Rainbow disappeared from sight, before shaking her head with a slight smirk, and teleporting away in a flash of orchid light.

"Jeez, Twi... warn me next time... alright?" Rainbow held a hoof over her heart from the slight scare she received, all while Twilight stood giggling mere inches before her.

"You never said I had to run, Rainbow," remarked Twilight, her giggling dying down.

"Well no, but...!" But... No words came, Rainbow finding herself without a rebuttal. She looked away a bit, letting out a small huff under her breath.

Twilight rolled her eyes, grinning softly. "Come on, Rainbow." She turned, motioning her to follow as she pushed open the door and stepped outside. After another short walk down the tower's spiral stairs, the mares found themselves once again on the road leading in and out of the city.

"So..." Rainbow began as the pegasus glanced around the area for something to do, "Where to first?"

"Well, there's this one place that comes to mind, and..." She turned to Rainbow, hopeful that Rainbow would appreciate and love this place as much as she did. "I think you might just like it."

"A sculpture garden...?" Rainbow questioned in a deadpan tone, matching her current expression perfectly as her and Twilight stood side by side at the entrance of the sculpture garden. She turned towards Twilight. "Seriously?"

"Isn't it wonderful?" Twilight's eyes sparkled, remaining oblivious to the disappointment in Rainbow's voice. "I used to come down here all the time during my stay here at the palace."

Palace? The word stood out in Rainbow's mind, and she could only vaguely recall what one was. It sounded regal, that much she could tell, and it just so happened there was a regal looking building to her far right, standing tall before the garden. So this is where Twi used to live, she mused. From the looks of it, the princess probably lives there too... Living with the princess herself... Rainbow cracked a small grin; this mare never ceased to impressed her.

"Yeah, it's... something all right," Rainbow replied, following a pause, and shaking the thoughts of the palace from her head, trotted down a path leading left into the garden.

The two walked past a few different statues, none of which catching their attention, until, at the end of the dirt path, they came across a rather peculiar statue. "Hey, Twi! Get a load of this statue!" Rainbow pointed a hoof up at it while craning her neck and glancing back at Twilight whose attention was focused on another nearby statue. "It's some kind of dragon—"

"Draconequus, actually," Twilight corrected, joining up with Rainbow. She smirked, turning to Rainbow. "But you were close."

"So... what is it?"

"A creature from Equestrian myth, made up of all sorts of animals. A pony's head, the arm of a lion and claw of an eagle, the legs of a lizard and goat, the wings of—" She looked to her right, finding that Rainbow was no longer in sight. "Rainbow...?" she called out worried and glancing in every direction for any glimpse of the mare's rainbow colors. Nothing behind her, nothing where they entered... Then she caught a glimpse of what looked like Rainbow's tail disappearing behind a hedge to her left, and without hesitating, quickly ran after it.

And to no surprise, she once again came into view of the prismatic pegasus, nearing the entrance of the castle labyrinth. "H-hey!" Twilight called out to her, stopping the mare in her tracks and causing her to turn around in curiosity.

Twilight slowed to a halt before her, panting slightly. "Don't go wandering off like that, Rainbow," she advised, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

"What?" Rainbow shrugged, holding back a laugh of her own at the sight of an already-exhausted Twilight. "You were boring me." She turned back ahead, but found she couldn't move on ahead; the look of worry on Twilight's face kept wearing on her, and Rainbow found she had to say something. "You know you don't have to treat me like some foal, Twi," she added, her gaze grazing the dirt path beneath her hooves. "I can handle myself just fine."

Twilight's gaze lowered, her own anger fading. "It's just... easy to get lost around here, that's all," she clarified, softly shrugging.

Rainbow glanced into the labyrinth briefly, then back at Twilight as a small, sympathetic smile formed. "You got lost in there, didn't you?"

"Once..." Twilight replied, unaware of what she had just admitted. "I-it was a long time ago!" she quickly added in her explanation to an already-snickering Rainbow. "And I'd rather not think about it..." she muttered, though utterly failing to do so.

Twilight sighed, gazing up from the ground and towards the spot Rainbow once stood—once? Twilight's eyes widened and she once again began looking around as it occurred to her that Rainbow had, once again, walked off without alerting her. Alright, now where did she—? Relief flooded Twilight as she spotted the mare trotting back the way they came and ran after her, calling out to her. "H-hey, wait up!"

"So... you really came here often, huh?" Rainbow asked, sitting back on her haunches beside Twilight. After a brief lecture by a slightly sore Twilight, the two mares had chosen to take a seat on a park bench by the entrance with a nice view of the garden and more importantly, the statues that Twilight had come to know.

"Still do sometimes..." Twilight replied, much to Rainbow's surprise. It was hard to imagine Twilight leaving her personal sanctuary for someplace like this.

"It's nice, serene... peaceful..." Twilight continued, seemingly staring off into space. "Ponies hardly ever come here so I usually have the place to myself."

Guess that explains it, Rainbow mused, smiling softly at the unicorn, and it never once faded, even as she asked, "So in other words... I'm ruining it by being here, huh?" Only her tone saddened.

"No," Twilight said. She shook her head, looking towards Rainbow with a delicate smile as the pegasus's own expression became one of surprise. "I wouldn't have brought you here if I thought that way about you." The comment itself caused Rainbow's cheeks to redden and look away with a sheepish smile.

"You know, it's weird having somepony to talk to," Twilight said, changing the subject. She motioned with a wave of her hoof towards some nearby statues. "Usually the only ones I have to keep me company here are these statues."

Rainbow looked off in the direction Twilight had motioned, to the row of statues. "I'm guessing they're good listeners?"

Twilight nodded. "That one there's Laurus, the pony of victory," she said, pointing a statue of a caped pony bearing an orange flag with three horizontal yellow diamonds embedded on the surface. "Then there's Amor, the pony of lo—er, oh!" She quickly pointed to a different one. "T-that one over there," she began, "is...!" Twilight paused, realizing just which statue she had pointed towards. Three young fillies leaping over one another in a playful manner. "The ponies of—" She swallowed hard. "—friendship..." Her voice lowered to that of a whisper. "I never did think up suitable names for them."

"I wonder what we represent..." Rainbow spoke softly while staring thoughtfully at the very same statue. Then, as if she had come to a sudden realization, turned to Twilight with a widening grin plastered across her face. "Oh what am I saying? With you it's obvious!" Rainbow exclaimed. Twilight, in turn, could only stare back at her with a puzzled expression as if she were asking, "It is?"

And to that, Rainbow responded with a playful nudge. "Magic! It's your talent, and it's what you study, like, all the time!"

Twilight stared at the mare, while in her head, she thought over Rainbow's words. Yes, she supposed, magic was what she studied, if only for specific reasons. It wasn't her 'talent' as Rainbow proposed; she was adequate at best. "Even if we did represent something, like these statues do," she said. "I doubt it would be magic..." Twilight sighed, dismissing the idea. She glanced down at Rainbow's front hooves. "Hay, I can't even control mine..."

"Oh come on, you can too!" Rainbow exclaimed suddenly, hoping to sway Twilight's disheartening mood. She rolled her eyes, softly smirking at the unicorn. "You're wicked good at the whole magic thing—" Rainbow was cut off before she say another word.

"Princess Celestia—hay, even her late sister were both good at the whole "magic thing"." At least, Twilight assumed so from what she read about her in the history books, though what she read also told her that 'Luna'—that was her name, if she recalled correctly—had passed away at such an early age after a terrible incident befell Equestria. Twilight shuddered at the thought, and almost missed it when Rainbow asked in disbelief, "Celestia had a sister?"

A little too unnerved to reply, Twilight merely nodded. She wasn't about to say anything else on the matter. Oddly enough, Rainbow didn't press the topic any further.

A few moments passed as Twilight inhaled deeply and let out a slightly shaken sigh before continuing from where she left off. "Star Swirl the Bearded was good at the whole "magic thing"."

Rainbow cocked her head at the unfamiliar name. "Who?" she asked.

"The creator of over two hundred spells?" Rainbow shook her head, her expression remaining unchanged. Twilight tried again. "Father of the amniomorphic spell?"

Rainbow's brow scrunched up in thought. "Are you even saying that right?" she asked in confusion, looking Twilight directly in the eyes. Twilight's head dropped as she let out yet another sigh. At least that got a response out of her.

"Ugh, forget it... Sorry, Rainbow," Twilight apologized. "This is boring for you, I know—"

"No no, not really," Rainbow insisted. She sheepishly scratched at the back of her mane. "I mean, well—how about painting me a picture. What was he like?"

"Personality wise? Hay if I know. I mean, he was smart obviously—a magical prodigy in every sense." She shrugged. "There was nothing really special about the way he looked. Gray coat and scraggly white mane, with, as you may have guessed, a rather... distinguishable white beard."

Twilight exhaled another sigh while leaning back into the bench. "If you were hoping to note some sort of similarities between us, I'm sorry to say there's nothing. I'm just a student—"

"Yeah, to Celestia herself!" Rainbow exclaimed, interrupting the unicorn before she said another pessimistic word. "C'mon, Twi, cheer up."

Twilight remained unfazed however, leaving Rainbow to try something else.

"You know you might not be some prodigy spell-maker or whatever, but you're still pretty talented if you ask me," Rainbow said. "His name may be Star Swirl, but you've got an actual swirl of stars of your own, right on that flank of yours!" she exclaimed, pointing to Twilight's star mottled flank, then seconds later pulled her hoof back, noting Twilight's peeved expression and nervously shrunk back. "I-I just think that's, y'know... kinda... cool," she explained, each word becoming more sheepishly spoken than the last.

A pregnant silence filled the space between the two mares, Rainbow finding it increasingly hard to make eye contact, and instead, found she was content simply staring down at her fidgeting hooves until somepony found the courage to say something.

And then, after several long moments, Twilight sighed and began to speak.

"Rainbow, that was the most unfunny a-and awkward, and... stupidest thing you've ever said," Twilight said, holding back the sudden creeping urge to start laughing at the ridiculousness of Rainbow's comment. A quiet giggle managed to escape her lips which she quickly covered with her hoof and turned away. "So why am I trying so hard not to laugh?"

"Seriously though, Twi, the stars could be a sign!"

"That I have about as much potential as Star Swirl?" Twilight looked at her with an eyebrow raised, a grin remaining on her lips. "I doubt it."

With Rainbow's theory shot down, the two once again fell into silence, sitting contentedly and eying the different statues around them. "So... what about me?" Rainbow asked. "What do you think I represent?"

Barely a moment passed before Twilight gave her response. "Brashness, stubbornness—"

"I was thinking something a little more positive," Rainbow deadpanned, then let out a sigh. "I wonder though," she said, drawing her attention to her left flank. "I mean, I know cutie marks don't have to match a pony's personality or anything, but... any idea as to what a red, yellow, and blue-striped lightning bolt shooting down from a cloud even means? Wait..." Rainbow's expression turned panicked. "You don't think this thing's gonna vanish from my flank if I can't remember what it means, do you?"

"I don't think cutie marks work that way," Twilight replied, already lifting up a bit of the sweatshirt that covered Rainbow's flank.

"See? It's still there, in all its mystic glory," she assured with a brief chuckle. "The cloud and lightning bolt most likely suggest weather, which of course pegasi have a natural ability to manipulate and control so it's entirely possible that that's what it stands for," she suggested, shrugging her shoulders. "Though the rainbow coloring is what puzzles me. Though it's the same color as your mane, I don't see what your mane has to do with—" Twilight backed away, frowning at the enigmatic mark. Already she could feel her head begin to hurt trying to figure out the meaning behind it. "I've said it before and I'll say it again: you are one strange pegasus."

"Says the unicorn checking out another mare's flank in public."

"Analyzing it, actually—" Twilight corrected before quickly becoming aware of what she was replying to. She backtracked, immediately becoming flustered. "Rainbow!"

"Couldn't help it!" Rainbow grinned widely, holding back her laughter. "You kinda set yourself up that time."

Twilight huffed in response. She hated to admit it but Rainbow was right; she had set herself up, and she berated herself for doing so. She shook her head as another thought came to mind. "You know, we haven't had any breakfast yet." Already she could feel her stomach grumbling, and figured Rainbow was equally, if not more so in dire need of getting a bite to eat. She turned to Rainbow. "Wanna go?"

"Go where?" Rainbow asked.

"You know the place I got those doughnuts? It was the same place you pointed out the day we met."

"So... desserts for breakfast?" Rainbow inquired, her blank stare contorting into one of happiness. "I'm cool with that."

Twilight narrowed her eyes however, looking back at the pegasus in a disbelieving stare. "You know they do have a breakfast menu, Rainbow," she said, eliciting a simple, yet quiet "Oh," from the mare.

"Yeah," Twilight continued, "Spike and I usually eat there often, so... at the moment, it's a good enough place as any to have breakfast."

"So what are we waiting for then?" Rainbow hoped down from the bench and turned, looking expectantly up at Twilight with a smile on her lips. "Lead the way!"

"You know, you have good taste, Twi," Rainbow said, through a mouthful of apple danish. "This stuff's great!" The mare had taken the liberty of ordering what, to Twilight, felt like everything on the entire menu. To Twilight, it also felt as if the mare was trying to wring every last bit from her.

But in the end, it seemed she just couldn't say no.

"I had a feeling you would like it," Twilight replied, a humored smile on her lips as she watched Rainbow, before her gaze found itself wandering. The restaurant itself wasn't very crowded as usual. A part of the reason Twilight liked it so much, she supposed.

Twilight glanced down at her order of milk and banana bread, and the slice she now held in her magic. She sighed quietly, taking a small bite out of it, unable to keep herself from stealing glances at Rainbow. The pegasus in question seemed to be looking at posters and advertisements for the Wonderbolts hung around various spots within the restaurant, and Twilight had a feeling she knew what the mare was thinking... surprisingly. Rainbow wanted to see these ponies in action. The latter revelation wasn't nearly as surprising. She knew it was only a matter of time, and after the gifts she had gotten her...

Twilight's ears perked at the thought. That's right, I still haven't... Her ears flattened, remembering how she was supposed to wait. But, at the same time... "Oh Celestia, I'm bad at this..." As Twilight finished, Rainbow looked over at her, confused. Twilight met her gaze. She loved seeing Rainbow smile... and she was sure this would make Rainbow's day. "I'm really supposed to wait to do this, but... check your pocket sleeve."

"My... pocket?" Rainbow questioned, swallowing the last bit of a buttermilk biscuit and lowered her head beneath her underbelly, digging into the pocket with her muzzle. Twilight herself looked away from what she deemed an... uncomfortable sight, and looked again in curiosity once she heard a muffled voice ask, "Tickets?"

"Wonderbolt tickets to be exact," Twilight explained, noting Rainbow's look of curiosity as she held two golden tickets between her teeth.. "But eh... yes, tickets. It was Princess Celestia's idea, and... hay, I figured it would only be a matter of time before you wanted to go anyway." Her excitement grew suddenly, just as Rainbow set the tickets on the table. "Plus this would give me the opportunity to examine different sorts of pegasi up close!" Her excitement faded as quickly as it came, and she sheepishly turned, looking down at her own food. "If you wanted to invite me, that is."

"And why wouldn't I?" Rainbow asked.

To that, Twilight shrugged. "I dunno, it's just... they're your tickets. You can go with anypony you choose—"

"Yeah, a couple things," Rainbow interrupted, silencing the unicorn with her hoof. "One: I hardly know anypony anymore. Two... of course I'll invite you. You were the one that got me them, and you did say you wanted to see some pegasi—" She paused and backtracked, placing her hoof over her chest, sporting a small grin. "Besides me, of course."

"I did," Twilight said, sharing a grin. "Thank you, Rainbow."

The two grins soon faded as Twilight and Rainbow slipped back into silence, simply focusing on their meals. However taking another glance at the ticket made Rainbow a little curious. Her brow scrunched together. "So," Rainbow began, never taking her eyes off the ticket, "when is it?"

"The date's on the ticket, Rainbow."

Rainbow scratched the back of her mane. "I haven't exactly been keeping track of the days..." She looked away sheepishly while Twilight rolled her eyes.

"It's this weekend, Rainbow," Twilight informed her. "This show is sort of meant to welcome in summer." She leaned back into her seat as she mused on the realization. "To think that five days have already gone by..."

"I... couldn't agree with you," Rainbow said. She sighed, staring down at the table, and her mostly polished off plates of food. Twilight turned to look at her with a curious expression. "I mean, I don't exactly remember any of it, e-except for the short time I've spent here with you."

Twilight's heart grew heavier within her chest, and before she realized it, her expression had become saddened after hearing Rainbow's words. She bit her lip as she searched for something to say. "Rainbow, I... I'm sorry you couldn't spend these last few days in your hometown, but rather, in a hospital of all places."

Rainbow however, merely smiled reassuringly, unfazed. "It's okay, Twi, really," she insisted, meaning every word, but to no avail. Her words instead fell on deaf ears as Twilight continued.

"It's just... I hope today makes up for all that." Twilight returned the smile Rainbow had given her before returning to finish what was left of her meal. "So..." Twilight asked, after a few moments, "did you have anything in mind for what you would like to do next?"

"Mm... it's still so early..." Rainbow thought for a moment before asking, "By any chance, does Canterlot have an arcade?"

"I don't believe it..." Twilight's eyes narrowed as she watched the pegasus sit with her face glued to a nearby arcade screen, the mashing of the controls on the panel ringing loudly throughout the arcade. "Out of all the things I suggested, you would rather spend the day rotting your brain, ripping ponies' spines out."

"Aw, come on... it's fun," Rainbow rebutted, but Twilight wasn't about to agree.

"Reading is fun, Rainbow."

"Yeah... but this is fun, too!" Twilight remained indifferent just as Rainbow successfully beat her opponent. Rainbow turned away from the console and faced Twilight with a knowing grin. "You've never gamed before, have you?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "And you have?"

"I...!" Rainbow paused, then sighed in defeat. "Okay, you got me there... but this really is fun!"

"I'll take your word for it." Twilight watched Rainbow trot over to a contraption with pads large enough for a single pony to stand on, attached to the bottom. A screen hung from the wall above them, centered between the two pads. Twilight also noted, as Rainbow took out a bit and inserted it into the machine's coin slot, that there were colorful arrows on each pad, pointed out in every direction.

And then it occurred to her. This was one of those games where you had to dance. Twilight's eyes widened and she shook her head, just as Rainbow beckoned her over.

"Oh come on, Twi, just try," Rainbow persisted, but Twilight only shook her head a second time, taking a nervous step back.

"It's just..." She gazed down, and nervously shuffled her hooves. "I'm a terrible dancer..."

"So? I doubt I'm any good either," Rainbow said, much to Twilight's own surprise. What she had expected was for Rainbow to chide her, or start laughing on the spot, but the pegasus simply smiled and shrugged her confession off. "I'm willing to though," Rainbow continued, "and besides, we're all alone; no one will see us." Twilight didn't budge however, bearing a hesitant look. "Come on, Twi... please? For me?"

Twilight had already made her decision "Fine..." Her head fell as she let out a sigh. "But no laughing!" She looked up again, this time with a determined grin meeting Rainbow's.

Twilight trotted over, taking a spot to the right of Rainbow... and thus began, in her mind, one of the clumsiest dances in the history of Equestria.

"Well that was a disaster," Twilight grumbled, falling back on her haunches, and giving her hind legs a rest. She breathed deeply as her heartbeat steadily calmed.

"Oh come on, Twilight; it wasn't a total disaster," Rainbow said, as she stepped down beside Twilight. "Honestly? I was way worse."

"You?" Twilight gave an ironic laugh, looking disbelievingly at the pegasus. "Don't be modest, Rainbow, your reflexes are much better than mine. Not to mention you seem to be in better shape."

"I am...?" Rainbow paused, moving the foreleg out from behind her head and looking it over. It didn't look very muscular... If she was in better shape, she didn't see or feel it. "Look, who cares which one of us is in better shape. Point is, you tried, and with a little practice, you could easily become a great dancer! I suppose if you wanted... I could always practice with you, since... y'know..."

"We both need it?" Twilight surmised, and to that, both mares shared a brief chuckle. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to learn..." she mused. If only it weren't so time-consuming... "But I couldn't ask you to take time out of your day for that—"

"It's no problem at all!" Rainbow quickly assured, then paused. Her excited grin faded from her face, and she shrunk back, looking away sheepishly. "I mean, it's not like I have anything else to do."

Before Twilight could react, Rainbow stood and trotted over to another game, this time set up against the wall behind them. Twilight recognized it instantly as hoofball toss. A single area, with netted walls to the left and right and a backboard in the center with two hoops attached. A pile of orange hoofballs gathered at the bottom. Rainbow smirked, laying a hoof on one before craning her neck back to glance at the unicorn. "Now, let's see how you are at shooting hoops."

"Don't feel too bad, Rainbow. That game was designed for unicorns," Twilight said, as the two left the arcade. Rainbow snorted in response as she hung her head dejectedly.

"You could've told me..." Rainbow muttered out.

"Yeah, I could've..." Twilight nudged her playfully, looking at her with a smirk on her lips. "But I thought you'd like a challenge." Rainbow huffed, rolling her eyes as Twilight looked back ahead with a triumphant smile.

Though it was soon replaced with a look of disgust. "Ugh... I've never gotten so sweaty before..."

"Probably since you're always using magic," Rainbow chided, looking up suddenly. Then, a moment later, shrugged her shoulders. "Not that there's anything wrong with that—" She glanced over to Twilight, grinning as she spoke. "—but you aren't exactly doing your body any favors."

That time, it was Twilight who rolled her eyes before letting out a quiet nicker. The notion however, hadn't gone unnoticed. "You know, we can stop and rest if you'd like," Rainbow suggested, stopping and motioning to a bench seat, located just outside of an outdoor frozen treat shop.

Twilight nodded, bearing a sheepish smile. "That would be nice," she said before following Rainbow on over. The two took their seats just as a small group of ponies gathered behind them, drawing Rainbow's attention. A group of fillies, young enough to still be in school, gathered around the stand.

"That's right," Twilight spoke as she turned to where Rainbow was looking. "I forgot school will be starting again soon... once summer ends. Those girls are probably making the best out of their last few days of summer vacation."

"So... are you on summer vacation as well?" Rainbow asked. "You're a student too, right? I just thought—" Rainbow paused once she noticed Twilight shake her head.

"My school is different," Twilight explained. "I don't go to school in the morning until the afternoon like most ponies. At least... not anymore. I'm given an assignment, or a task, and I complete it to the best of my ability, while other times I'm given something to study, and the princess tests me on what I've learned. That's the extent of it, really—" Twilight paused, noticing Rainbow's attention seemingly lingering on the stand behind them. "Rainbow?"

Rainbow's ears perked, and she quickly turned back around to face Twilight. "Oh! Uhm... sorry, Twi," she apologized. "Want anything? I was thinking of getting a slushy myself—"

Twilight sighed, taking another glance at the stand, and the sweets on display. The sight alone made her thirsty. With her magic, she dug out a pouch of bits from her saddle. "Orange flavor, please," Twilight said, removing a couple of bits from the pouch. "Here's some bits."

"Awesome!" Rainbow grabbed the bits between her teeth. "I'll be back in a flash," she muffled out before turning and leaving for the stand. Twilight watched Rainbow for a few moments longer, then turned straight ahead, bored, with nothing but her thoughts to keep her company.

At some point, as she sat there, she found herself once again with Rainbow's feather out from beneath her ear and in her hooves, straightening it, and checking for any damage. And... there, Twilight thought, running her hoof over the right side of the feather. That should do it. She smiled victoriously, placing the magic-coated feather behind her left ear... just as it twitched. The sound of ponies... bickering? It wasn't Rainbow, that she could tell, but that didn't stop her from becoming a little curious as she searched around for the source.

And there she noticed, what she guessed were a couple, seemingly arguing over... something.

"Ugh, I can't believe it..." a certain cerise-coated alicorn grumbled, joining up by Twilight's side. "Another couple arguing." She sighed before donning a determined look, her horn sparking to life with a blue aura. "Observe, Twilight," she told the filly beside her as her horn produced a couple of hearts into the air, and over to the seated ponies, immediately working their magic and easing the tension, returning both to a state of serenity.

The alicorn smiled triumphantly, clasping her hooves together before soon turning to continue their walk. All the while the filly beside her remained awestruck. "Wow..." she sighed, genuinely impressed by the magic of her foal-sitter, Cadance. At the same time, it only made her more curious about love itself.

Twilight looked up at Cadance as they walked, and recalling the talk with her brother the day before, grew a little hopeful. If anypony could explain love, it was Cadance herself.

"I, uhm, spoke to my brother yesterday," Twilight started, deciding it was a good enough place to begin.

"Your brother..." Cadance tapped her chin with her hoof, recalling images of Twilight's family. "Isn't he that one blue-haired colt that's... kind of nerdy and shy, but at the same time, really sweet and cute?"

Twilight cocked her head. "I guess?"

Taking note of the filly's confused expression and voice, Cadance blushed, realizing her slip up. "S-sorry, Twilight. Please... forget what I just said." She glanced away from the filly, leaving her no less confused. "So, uhm... what were you talking about?"

"Oh, um..." Twilight shook her foal-sitter's mysterious behavior from her head. "All sorts of things, really," she replied. She hesitated, then added, "Regarding love."

Cadance raised an eyebrow. "And why were you...?"

"Your magic, Cadance." Twilight pointed at the alicorn's horn. "It's powered by love, and... well..." She shrugged, quietly sighing. "I've seen the things you can do with it." Twilight brandished a hoof against the ground in hesitation before admitting, "I don't understand love, Cadance."

Cadance's expression contorted at the confession, her piqued interest quickly becoming one of sympathy and understanding. "Is that all?" she asked. "You don't understand it?" Twilight softly nodded, her gaze remained fixed on the ground. "Twilight," Cadance continued, kneeling down before the filly, "love is... complicated."

"Shining sort of said the same thing," Twilight grumbled, disappointed.

"When I say love is complicated, it's because there's so many ways of defining it... Love is being there for those you care for, whether it be a friend or somepony who's... more than a friend. When your heart races, your body grows warm, and you're overcome with a multitude of emotions—!" She paused, sighing before continuing. "It's... when you can't live without that special pony... when you want to be with them every waking moment... It's those strong feelings you carry for that pony, and wanting to be with that pony that produces such a... such a strong magic—like my own."

"Those are a lot of 'it's'..." Twilight mused aloud for a moment, before quickly shaking the thought from her head. "So... that's it then?" she scoffed. "That's love?" Just... caring for somepony? Wanting to be with that pony? Wanting to be... friends with other ponies. She couldn't believe it, but if that's what love took... "No thanks then; I don't think I want a thing like that."

"Maybe someday you will," Cadance said.

"If... if love is what you say it is... as nice it is, it's not for somepony like me. Learning magic from the princess is... easier for me."

"Twilight... please don't go avoiding other ponies," Cadance asked. "Love really is a wonderful thing."

"Maybe, but... ugh, it's just— If I'm ever going to be as good with magic as Princess Celestia—!"

"You need to dedicate time to your studies," Cadance finished, letting out a small sigh. "I know—"

"Sorry, Twi, the line was longer than I thought it'd be." Twilight jumped slightly at the sound of Rainbow's voice. She turned with a faint blush present on her cheeks, taking note of Rainbow as she balanced two frozen slushies on her left hoof before once again letting her thoughts take over. How Rainbow even balanced the drinks on her hoof didn't derail Twilight from the thoughts on her mind.

"Can't really blame anypony though, what with the summer heat..." Rainbow mused, then smiled, holding her hoof out. "Well anyways, here you are. Orange, just like you asked for."

But the gesture went unnoticed by the mare, who remained lost in her own thoughts. She thought back to how much she looked after Rainbow... how she reacted whenever she saw the pegasus over the past few days, and what Cadance had described to her. Seeing Rainbow made her feel... relieved, happy even. Her body grew warm, her heart beat raced, at times she stuttered, and often grew flustered around the mare.

It was all as Cadance described.

Twilight's eyes widened as the pieces in her mind clicked together. Am I... really falling in love with Rainbow—?

Rainbow's voice raised as it entered Twilight's mind, once again startling the young unicorn. "Earth to egghead... You there?"

"Oh, uh... y-yeah," Twilight assured, with a slight shake of her head. "Thank you." With the help of her magic, she accepted the drink from Rainbow—who wasted no time in taking a seat herself, and began searching for something to take her mind off her most recent thought.

After all, to Twilight... they weren't even friends yet, and she knew next to nothing about Rainbow's life... but strangely, a part of her mind—as wrong as it was... was beginning not to mind.

Her eyes soon rested on Rainbow's hooves, and the frozen beverage between them. Curious, she raised an eyebrow. "Cola-flavored... really?"

"What?" Rainbow asked. "What's wrong with...?"

"N-nothing," Twilight quickly reassured her. "It just... Thinking back, it... reminds me of my brother, that's all."

Brother? A sudden thought popped into the mare's head. "Hey, uh... speaking of your brother..." Rainbow shuffled the cup between her hooves. "You said he lives here too, right?"

"I said he was a part of the Royal Guard—"

"So, in other words... he does?" Rainbow's face lit up. "Awesome!" With an excited, widening grin, she asked, "And your folks?"

It didn't take long for Twilight's expression to contort into one of confusion. She cocked her head slightly, wondering only where Rainbow was going with this. "Well... yeah—"

"Cool!" Rainbow exclaimed suddenly, then backtracked. "Now, uhm... don't freak out or anything; you said I could do whatever I wanted today—"

"Within reason," Twilight corrected.

"Right! Well, I, uh..." Rainbow bit her bottom lip, her voice growing more hesitant with each word. "Kinda wanted to—"

"Twilight?"

Both mares' ears twitched at the sound of Twilight's name being called, and looked over to an approaching mare. Twilight's eyes widened for a moment, her face flushed with embarrassment and annoyance as she muttered, "Why now...?" below her breath, though audible enough for Rainbow to pick up on.

Rainbow took a sip of her drink as she got a good look at this mare, and couldn't see what was causing Twilight to worry. All she saw was another Twilight, bearing a saddle of her own. An... older-looking, and white-coated Twilight, with fewer stars on her flank, but a Twilight nevertheless, and it made her wonder... What could be so bad about another Twilight?

"Uh..." Twilight donned a sheepish smile, as she held a hoof behind her head. "Hello, Mother..."

Rainbow nearly choked. Mother? She looked as though she could pass for an older sister of Twilight's!

Rainbow leaned to her right, leaning closer to Twilight. "That's really your mom?" she murmured, still in disbelief. Before Twilight could whisper a response, her mother's voice once again cut in before she could.

"Honey, it's been ages!" Twilight found her mother's hooves around her, squeezing her in a tight, meaningful embrace. Twilight's face flushed a deeper shade of red in embarrassment, and she quickly glared at Rainbow, silently warning the pegasus to keep her mouth shut. Though that didn't keep her from chuckling silently at the scene.

Twilight sighed, looking away from both ponies. She couldn't blame her mom... It had been a couple of years since she last visited. Studying under the princess herself did that to her... leaving her with little time to visit ponies she knew, or at least, that's what she kept telling herself...

Twilight squirmed a little in her mother's embrace. "Sorry, it's just... I would have, but... my responsibilities to the princess, and my studies—" she tried to explain as Twilight Velvet loosened up, pulling away from her daughter and berating her with a series of questions.

"How have you been?" Her expression contorted into worry. "And Spike, how is he doing? Are the two of you eating well?" She frowned, taking note of the frosted drink in her daughter's hooves. "You're not, are you? Twilight, I've told you a dozen times, not to fill up on sugar and junk food."

"It fuels the brain..." Twilight murmured, then shrugged halfheartedly. "I uhm, w-we always eat a healthy breakfast..."

Though as Twilight worked to reassure her, Twilight Velvet's attention slowly drifted to the pegasus mare seated beside her daughter, and right away her mind kicked into gear, working to figure out who this mare was hanging around her daughter.

Her brow furrowed as her eyes bored in on the prismatic pegasus. She was unfamiliar—certainly not somepony Shining knew, or hung out with; and the fact that she was a pegasus told her she couldn't have been from Twilight's school, much less from somewhere in the city. She looked innocent enough though, not that her daughter would be with her if she wasn't. But if she's not a threat... could it be...?

"Twilight..." Twilight Velvet turned back to her daughter with a knowing grin. "You've made a friend?"

"I uh—wait... what?" Twilight's eyes widened, brandishing a surprised gaze as she glanced at Rainbow, then back at her mom. "M-mother, this is Rainbow; she's my... uhm—" She briefly thought over her words. "—assignment."

A moment passed after her explanation, and no response came from either pony. Twilight Velvet appeared more confused by her choice of words, and Rainbow looked... hurt? No doubt because she just referred to another living pony as her assignment. Great...

She backtracked, quickly searching her mind for something to say.

"No, see... it's, uhm... complicated!" Twilight blurted out, an anxious tone clear in her voice. Rainbow's ears perked up, and from what Twilight could tell, there seemed to be a sudden flicker of hope in her eyes. For a moment, Twilight watched from the corner of her eye, confused, before returning to the explanation at hoof. "She fell from the sky and crashed into my study—"

Twilight Velvet's voice broke through, interrupting Twilight. "Oh you poor dear!"

Twilight could only stare, bewildered, as her mom's attention was now focused on Rainbow, as if suddenly she had another daughter; and that daughter had just been involved in some sort of tragic incident.

"T-that was days ago; I'm better now..." Rainbow insisted, a little taken aback by the sudden concern. "Thanks to your daughter, anyway." She held a hoof behind her head, shying away from both unicorns. "Although I am having a little trouble remembering who I am exactly, but she's uh, helping me," she added, motioning her hoof in Twilight's direction, and smiling briefly in her direction. Forget about all that.

Twilight Velvet nodded slowly, taking in what the mare had told her. The problem was however, it left a multitude of questions for her. She turned back to Twilight, giving her an inquiring expression.

Twilight averted her gaze, sheepishly looking down at her hooves. "A lot's happened, Mother."

Twilight Velvet thought for a moment, then nodded again. "Hm, well maybe you can tell me all about it, if you and Rainbow aren't busy, that is. I was just heading home myself." She looked at the two with a smile, a smile neither Rainbow nor Twilight could refuse. "How about it?"

Twilight briefly thought it over, as if she had a choice. If she went with Rainbow, there was no doubt in her mind her parents would embarrass her to no end. She knew Rainbow would say something she would regret... but she knew she couldn't say no. Unless she wanted to be known as the mare who refused to see, or talk to her own parents. Twilight sighed. A few minutes, she thought. We'll stay for a few minutes.

Rainbow shrugged, turning to Twilight. "We're not busy, are we, Twilight?"

Twilight's eyes met Rainbow's. "Uh, w-well, no... I suppose not—" She nodded, turning to look back at her mom. "We have some time." The two mares stepped down from the bench, disposing of their empty drinks in the nearby trashcan before joining up with Twilight Velvet.

Velvet watched her daughter as the she joined up by her side. She smiled as she said, "You know, I'm sure your father will be thrilled to see you after all this time."

Twilight froze, meeting her mom's gaze as she was temporarily taken aback. Her ears flattened, her gaze then fell upon the pavement. "Yeah..." she agreed, nodding halfheartedly.

Twilight sighed, turning her attention to the rainbow-maned mare to her right. "Hey," she called out under her breath, "you sure you're okay coming along? I promise we won't be long—"

Rainbow shook her head. "I don't mind," she replied, meeting Twilight's piqued expression. "I... kind of wanted to meet them anyways." As Twilight was about to question her, Rainbow's expression grew sheepish. "Sorry if that sounds weird... I just— I don't exactly remember my own, you know?"

"You want to remember how it feels?"

"Maybe." Twilight cocked her head, yearning to know what the reason was, but to her dismay, Rainbow never said another word. Whatever the reason was, Rainbow wasn't about to say... or Rainbow was messing with her again. Either one was equally frustrating to Twilight.

A few moments passed before either pony spoke up again, and naturally, Rainbow was the one to speak first. "You know, Twi," she began, "your mom was way nicer to me." She grinned playfully as she spoke. "I should've crashed into her home instead."

Twilight's heart suddenly grew heavy at those words. She glanced down at her own hooves, avoiding Rainbow's smile. It confused her. Why was she smiling? Was it just Rainbow being her usual self? Or did she really mean that? Somehow hearing Rainbow say that, no matter how jokingly, hurt more than Rainbow realized.

If they never had met, she would be pent up in her tower, studying an advanced spell, or mathematics... maybe a little astrophysics; and while she wasn't against such things, she could no longer imagine such a life without Rainbow.

Twilight supposed that's why it hurt to hear.

"But then again," Rainbow thought aloud, "if I did... we never would have met, so..." She shrugged, casting a reassuring smile back at Twilight. "You know."

"Hey, Cadance..." the small filly once again spoke as they continued their walk, the sun beginning to fade as they neared her home. "My brother also said... er, homogeneous relationships aren't natural."

"Homogeneous relationships aren't...?" Cadance repeated aloud, in question. "Wait..." The meaning pieced together in her mind. "T-that blockhead!" Cadance suddenly shouted out loud, before covering her lips with a hoof, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment.

Twilight innocently cocked her head, confused.

Cadance sighed. "Twilight," she began, turning, then lowering herself to meet the filly eye to eye. "Listen... if you ever do change your mind about all this: about love, and about friendships... I want you to know that you can love anypony you chose, it... it doesn't matter who."

Twilight's gaze met Rainbow's, her cheeks red as a rose... and she returned the smile.

A short walk later through the residential district of Canterlot, and the trio of mares arrived at a house of modest size: Twilight's old home. A narrow pathway led up to the front door; a single light hung to the left, illuminating the entrance. "It's almost like I never left..." Twilight quietly noted. Everything was as she remembered it...

Twilight Velvet took a moment to take out a key from her bag, and using her magic, unlocked the door for the ponies. Immediately, the warm, familiar feeling struck Twilight, along with the scents and sounds. The crackle of the living room fireplace, the smell of something sweet... Cookies? Twilight wondered, sniffing at the air. Yeah, definitely cookies.

Stopping briefly to wipe their hooves before entering, and after a brief explanation to Rainbow from Twilight about why she should do so, the trio entered into the living room. Twilight Velvet quickly noted her husband, Night Light, seated in one of the recliners by the fireplace as he read the paper, and called out to him. "Honey," she said, hanging her saddle over the back of the couch, "look who I found."

Night Light looked up in curiosity, noting a familiar purple mare, and an unfamiliar rainbow-maned one standing before the door. "Twilight?" Twilight nodded sheepishly, shrinking back slightly at her dad's surprised tone. Night Light cast a worried glance back at his wife, before turning back to his daughter. "Don't tell me you were expelled!"

"What...?" Twilight's eyes widened, curious where an idea like that came from. "N-no!" she quickly denied, just as Twilight Velvet stepped in.

"She's here for a visit, Honey," she assured him. "Not to move back in with us."

Oh what a relief... Night Light sighed, then smiled, folding the paper and placed it aside. "It's good to see you, Twilight," he said, walking over to her. "After all this time too."

Twilight's hesitant gaze met her dad's as he placed a welcoming foreleg around her. "I-it's good to see you too, Father," she replied, brushing her left hoof against the floor as her own gaze fell upon it.

Night Light nodded softly as he pulled away, the prismatic colors of another pony's mane having caught his attention. His smile faded, his attention solely focused on the intruding mare. "And you are...?" he asked. Immediately, Rainbow, along with a suddenly fretful Twilight, scrambled to explain.

"Uh h-hello, Twilight's dad. I'm..."

"Father, this is Rainbow. She's my..."

"She is our daughter's 'assignment', Dear," Twilight Velvet explained, giving an answer that neither mare could find, then chuckled briefly. Night Light again looked to his wife in confusion before looking down at his daughter for an explanation.

Twilight sighed, glancing briefly back at Rainbow, gaining a warm smile at the sight of the mare, and the recollections of their... eventful time spent together. "It's a long story, Father," she said, turning to her dad, her warm smile turning a little sheepish.

A small ring sounded from the nearby kitchen, reminding her of the desserts she had prepared before leaving. "Oh, cookies are done!" exclaimed Twilight Velvet, breaking the silence. "I suppose you can have one if you'd like, Twilight. Now why don't I go get them, and then maybe you can tell us all about it," she suggested with a reassuring smile, before then leaving and turning for the kitchen.

And so they did.

Twilight and Rainbow sat beside one another on the couch while Twilight's parents sat in chairs opposite, and listened as Twilight told them of her time with Rainbow. All the while Rainbow made quick work of Twilight Velvet's homemade chocolate chip cookies, barely allowing Twilight one herself.

"And that's what happened," Twilight finished, eating the last of her cookie. She leaned back into the couch, and dismissively motioned a hoof towards Rainbow. "I've been with her ever since."

"Finally sounds happy about it too," Rainbow remarked teasingly, taking a rather large bite from the cookie in her hoof.

"So... you really don't remember a thing?" Night Light asked, genuinely intrigued.

"About myself?" Rainbow pondered the question for a moment, then answered with a simple, "No."

"You're not worried?" Twilight Velvet asked, a hint of suspicion behind her voice.

Twilight's kind words resurfaced in the back of her mind. Loud and clear, as if the mare had repeated them while sitting beside her just then.

"You can always live with me."

The memory itself was enough to trigger a slight smile. "No," Rainbow replied after a few silent moments, shrugging halfheartedly as she met Velvet's gaze. "Guess I'm not."

Silence followed, nopony knowing how to respond. Twilight shifted a quick glance between the two before rolling her eyes. "She thinks they'll just... come back eventually, Mom," she explained.

"They might," Rainbow muttered, glancing at Twilight with a deadpan stare.

"So, I take it Twilight's been doing a good job looking after you?"

Rainbow shrugged. "More or less."

"The princess said I was," noted Twilight in a low grumble.

Twilight Velvet and Night Light stared at their daughter for a moment before exchanging glances with each other. "Well how about that..." Night Light murmured in thought.

"Whoa, hold on..." Rainbow's voice brought their attention back to the younger mares. "You're into that Daring series too?" Rainbow's attention had turned to a small display of posters and plaques hung on the wall behind her and Twilight. "Huh..." She shrugged, turning away from the display, and looked over at Twilight, bearing a small grin. "Now I know where Twilight got it from."

"Actually... I'm an editor for the series," Velvet explained. "It's one of the many I work on down at the publishing house."

"Ah." Rainbow nodded a little in understanding while Twilight again rolled her eyes.

Twilight Velvet smiled softly as the reminder of the series brought about a sudden thought. "You know, Rainbow... you really do remind me of the book's author."

"Huh?" Rainbow perked up, looking at Velvet in surprise. "Really?"

Twilight Velvet nodded. It was almost uncanny... the resemblance between Twilight and Rainbow, and herself and... her old friend. She looked at the two again and for a moment was surprised when she imagined two young ponies in place of Rainbow and her daughter: herself, and a young pegasus pony with a grayscale mane, tail, and a golden coat.

"Uhm... could I—I mean," Twilight hesitantly spoke. "I'd like to show Rainbow my old room, if that's alright."

"Seriously?" Rainbow quipped below her breath, holding back a laugh. "Why?" Twilight glared back at her.

"Oh, uh..." Twilight Velvet blinked a few times, slowly coming out of her thoughts. "Sure."

Night Light glanced briefly over at Twilight Velvet, then nodded in reassurance. "You two go on ahead," he said, and soon the two did, leaving and walking down a hallway with the only sound being the questions Rainbow continuously asked Twilight.

Until the voice faded into distant muffles and the sound of a door closing shut signified the two older ponies were once again alone.

Night Light sighed. "I didn't want to say anything back there, but..." Twilight Velvet looked over at her husband, curious. "My daughter is wearing one of her feathers..."

Twilight Velvet looked up, surprised. She hadn't even noticed... Her surprise soon faded however, and she looked over at her husband with a reassuring smile. "Well I'm sure it's nothing, Dear," Twilight Velvet replied, thinking back to the way both ponies acted around the other, and their own personalities. "If Twilight knew the meaning behind wearing one, she wouldn't be wearing one... and Rainbow surely doesn't remember. They both seem to think of it as an accessory."

Night Light took in the information, feeling a small sense of relief wash over him at the reassurance. A moment passed as he searched for the right words to say next. "You seemed distracted back there... Something on your mind?"

Twilight Velvet shrugged. "I guess seeing another pegasus... reminded me of A.K."

"A.K. Yearling?" Night Light questioned. "Its been a while since you last heard from her, hasn't it?"

Twilight Velvet nodded softly. "Yeah..." Her eyes grew a little sad, looking in the direction her daughter and Rainbow had left. I hope the same doesn't happen to our daughter...

"Well this hasn't changed much..." Twilight noted, taking in everything about her old room. A bed to their left, with a pattern of waves—like gusts of wind blowing across the comforter, and pink bed-hangings above. A dresser beside the bed, emptied book shelves to their right, some posters of Celestia, the Summer Sun Celebration, and... surprisingly some pop-music posters. She smiled to herself. "Why am I not surprised?"

"So... why'd you want me in here?" Rainbow asked, curiously looking around. "Something tells me it wasn't to show me around."

"Look, Rainbow, sometimes I... I just need to get away, you know?" She smiled sheepishly, brushing a meek hoof against the floor. "So, uh... since you're here... this isn't exactly the "egghead" vibe you were expecting, is it?"

Rainbow shook her head. "No," she honestly replied. "This looks like it all belongs to a completely different pony." She stopped, as if in realization and turned to question Twilight. "Are you sure you don't have a sister?"

"Funny."

"So... no books?" Rainbow questioned, taking note of the empty shelves.

"I took them with me once I became a student of Celestia's," Twilight replied, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess I just couldn't live without them."

As Rainbow's eyes scanned the room, something caught her attention, At the front of Twilight's bed, between the pillows sat a gray, black-maned pony doll... and it piqued her curiosity. "Hey, Twi," Rainbow called out, looking over her old bed, "what's this raggedy old doll-thing—?"

"Don't touch that!" The doll in question was cut off from Rainbow by a protective aura and whisked over to Twilight before she could react. With it safely in her hooves, Twilight breathed a sigh of relief, looking down at the doll in her hooves. She smiled softly. "It's just... it—she means a lot to me." Rainbow's surprise slowly faded away as she took in what Twilight told her.

"Which is why you left it at your parents' house," she remarked with a mildly confused expression, meeting Twilight's sudden, flustered expression.

"W-well I'm not about to make that mistake twice," Twilight said. She turned to look over her shoulder, and carefully tucked it into her right saddle pouch. "She's coming with me."

Moments passed between the two in an uncomfortable silence. "So..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof. "Does it have a name?"

"Smartypants," Twilight replied matter-of-factly. A couple of moments passed with neither pony saying a word, with the two meeting the other's unreadable gaze.

Then Rainbow's lips started to tremble, and she burst out laughing. "That's... that's so dumb!" she managed to say between laughs.

Twilight glared at the pegasus, cheeks burning. "I-it's not dumb!" she shot back. "It's... it's a nice name."

Rainbow stepped forward, her laughter slowly fading as she wiped a tear from her eye. "Whatever you say, Twi." She smiled, laying a hoof on the unicorn's shoulder as she stood beside her. "Wanna get going?"

"I guess we could," Thinking back, she hadn't planned on staying long, anyway. "I'll tell my parents we were thinking about heading out, and then we can go, alright?"

Rainbow nodded, following Twilight out as she reopened the door to her room, and out into the living room where her parents still sat, talking.

"Oh... hello again, Twilight," Twilight Velvet greeted with a smile. "Back already?"

"I guess so." Twilight bit her bottom lip, nervously placing a hoof behind her neck. "We, uh... were thinking about leaving, if that's alright."

"Leaving?" Twilight Velvet inquired, her expression for a moment becoming downcast before again brightening up. "A-alright... Well, have you thought about where you'll be going next?"

Twilight and Rainbow exchanged quick glances with each other. "We haven't really thought about that..." admitted Twilight, giving her mom an idea.

"Well, if you're interested," Velvet said, "I know the new Daring Do movie opened recently."

"There's a movie?" Twilight and Rainbow asked, practically at the same time, once again sharing a quick glance.

Even if she wasn't the biggest movie watcher, Twilight figured she would've seen, or at the very least, heard something about it. Realizing this though only made her more curious... and annoyed. Was it animated? Live-ponies? Who was acting in it? What was it about? Was it good...? Twilight sighed, giving in to her curiosity. She needed to see this thing. "I guess we could," she said, looking over at Rainbow, who simply nodded in agreement.

Twilight Velvet nodded. "Hang on girls, I'll be right back," she said as she stepped down from the chair and went over to her saddle bag. With her magic, she pulled tickets from the right sleeve, and floated them beside her as she walked on back. "I got these today... Ponies who work on the series were given free tickets to the movie, but, well... why don't you two take these instead?"

"If it's really alright..." Her mom nodded as Twilight took the tickets in her own magic and safely tucked them away. "Thanks, Mother." Twilight smiled gratefully, then after a quick check to see she had everything, opened the door to their home. "Alright, well... Bye Mother, bye Father!" Twilight called out, waving a hoof as she and Rainbow stepped out into the quiet street.

"Bye girls... Have fun!"

The evening colors flooded the streets as Twilight left her parents' home with Rainbow by her side.

"She looks like me..." Rainbow spoke the thought in a whisper, before turning to Twilight. "Hey, Twi... what do you think the author looks like? Think she has a rainbow mane like me?" She turned back ahead, her voice growing softer as she thought, "Maybe we're related..."

"Related?" Twilight raised an eyebrow, smirking a bit. "I doubt it, Rainbow."

"So... your mom's the editor?" Rainbow asked, breaking the silence. "How'd she land a job like that?"

"She... used to know the author, co-wrote the first book even," Twilight explained. "Afterwards... the author, A.K. Yearling moved... somewhere far from Canterlot, and took control of the series."

"So... what happened? I mean between your mom and this... A.K. pony?"

"I guess... it didn't last."

Rainbow slowed, finding herself thinking over her words, confused over Twilight's response. Her eyes remained fixed on the unicorn as she walked, only stopping when she sensed Rainbow wasn't following. "Rainbow," she called out, her tone suddenly more cheerful, "are we going to this thing or not?"

"Oh uh, y-yeah," Rainbow assured, shaking her head and galloping up to where Twilight waited, rejoining her by her side. What was up with that?

The theater soon came into view, a wide, red carpet extending out beneath the arch overhead. Framed movie posters were lined on both sides of the hall, and as Twilight passed by the Daring Do poster, she noticed it was indeed live-ponies. It was also a new experience for the young unicorn, who rarely got to see movies, save for the times with her family, or with Spike.

"I've climbed out of my ivory tower, and get to see a movie with the common mare." Twilight sighed dreamily, stepping hoof into the moderately crowded building. "What an experience..."

Rainbow grinned a bit, looking over at Twilight, amused. "It's just a trip to the theater, Twi," she remarked. Twilight snapped out of her elation and rolled her eyes. She got their tickets, paid for their drinks and popcorn, which they settled on sharing together, and headed down the hall to their left until coming across their theater.

Twilight looked around. The theater wasn't packed from what she could tell, maybe fifteen or so other ponies spaced around the room—not too crowded and suiting her tastes just fine.

They arrived a little before the movie began—roughly ten minutes according to Twilight who had counted the minutes until it began. During the time, Rainbow fought desperately against her own boredom—and hunger—to not dig into their popcorn during the wait. The bucket would have been half empty, had Twilight not chided her to wait.

The movie soon began, and for the next hour and a half, the two sat there silent—at times intrigued, but for the majority, bored. Twilight sighed, inaudible enough to go unnoticed by Rainbow as a long exposition-rattling scene drawled on involving Daring and some professor pony—introduced in the second book, if she recalled correctly, and lazily reached for some popcorn. Only instead of popcorn, her hoof brushed against Rainbow's slightly buttery hoof, and at the sudden touch, Twilight tore her hoof away, startled and blushing a bit. Their gazes met, Twilight's flustered gaze meeting Rainbow's surprised one, which soon turned sheepish.

Rainbow whispered a quick "Sorry," before turning back to the screen, and for the rest of the movie, both remained a little more mindful of each other's hooves.

By the time the movie ended, the sun had already began its descent from the sky, and a cooler breeze was beginning to pick up as Rainbow and Twilight exited the theater alongside several other ponies.

A few seconds of awkward silence between the two as they stood just outside the theater, neither knowing where to start, what to say... Twilight was the first to act, brushing a hoof against the pavement. "Well that was..." Her voice faltered, hoping Rainbow would finish for her, and hopefully learn her thoughts.

"Disappointing?" Rainbow surmised.

Twilight looked up, surprised. Rainbow felt the same way?

"I mean, don't get me wrong, Twi; I still enjoyed it... even if it was a bit boring, and kinda..."

Twilight grinned. "Disjointed?"

Rainbow chuckled a bit. "I think..." She shrugged, smiling back at Twilight. "But if you didn't like it—"

"N-no," Twilight swiftly denied. "I-I mean, it was... certainly imaginative, and the uh, visuals were nice."

"You know, you don't have to agree with me, Twi," Rainbow assured, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess we both just have different tastes." Twilight was a little surprised at first before allowing her expression to soften. She shared a small smile with Rainbow and softly nodded.

Rainbow sighed, taking a look around. "So... what now?"

Twilight opened her mouth about to give an answer, but found herself not knowing herself. She looked around, taking in the setting sun, and the few lit streetlights. She could tell it was getting pretty late and knew they only had so much time left, but where to go...? Neither were feeling hungry, so a late night stop by Donut Joe's was out of the question. Twilight held a hoof over her chin in thought. Then again, she supposed, who said they needed to go anywhere? The two of them already had an enjoyable day together, and if they wanted, could head home, maybe read a bit... so long as Rainbow obliged.

Then another thought popped into her head. Home, she thought. A little spot near home... Rainbow might like it... "Hey, Rainbow. Follow me." She began to trot ahead, motioning for Rainbow to join her. "I just thought of something."

"So this is...?" Rainbow looked around. Twilight had taken her to a small spot by the river, not too far from her home. A narrow tree with hanging foliage stood in the field, though it was the only sight that stood out to her.

"Just a place I like to visit," Twilight replied. "It's close to home, it's peaceful, shady... it's right by the river, and it's the perfect place to partake in some reading or stargazing." She turned back to face Rainbow, smiling sheepishly. "Of course it's a little early to do the latter, but still..."

"Kind of like the statue garden?"

"Kind of, yes," Twilight said. "But this spot is a little different. For one, there's no statues to keep me company."

Rainbow chuckled a bit. "Just me."

Twilight shared the brief chuckle before turning to what she had meant to address. "And... well, you see these amaryllis flowers? This is the only place in Canterlot where I've seen these flowers bloom." Twilight looked at each flower carefully with a critical eye, examining each one before at last coming to a decision. She beamed, capturing the highest flower in her magic and bringing it down to her. "I'm sure you're not one for sentimental gestures, but... I want you to have one."

A moment of silence passed as Rainbow eyed the flower in Twilight's hold. "A flower...?" she questioned, looking at Twilight with an amused grin. "Seriously?"

Twilight looked away a bit. "I-I already took one of your feathers so... I think it's only fair I give you something of mine in return, you know?" She paused, then backtracked as her sheepish expression turned thoughtful. "Only, well, it's not really something of mine, but it'll remind you of me, I think, and—"

"Twilight..." Rainbow's voice cut her off before she could say another word. "Relax, I get it."

Twilight blushed, meeting Rainbow's gaze and simply staring back at her. "R-right..." She brushed a hoof against the grass, sporting an embarrassed smile. "Sorry."

Rainbow returned the smile, turning her attention to the suspended flower. "Well you're right about one thing, Twi. I mean, who knows? Maybe I was a sappy pony once, but right now... I sure as hay don't feel like one."

"So...?" What? She didn't want it? Twilight looked yearningly at her, beckoning Rainbow to continue.

"So... I guess what I'm getting at is I may not be one for... most flowers, or cutesy, sappy stuff, but this is the exception. It's a pretty sweet-looking flower, and it's from you! Of course I'll accept it."

Twilight's smile returned, mirroring Rainbow's as she floated it over into Rainbow's hooves. "So... will you be wearing it in your mane?" she asked, not a moment after passing it over. Her gaze drifted to Rainbow's mane, noting the absence of a certain hue. She supposed a little pink would somehow compliment her already captivating mane. "I... I think it would look nice."

"Hm..." Rainbow thought over Twilight's words. "Nah," she replied simply without a second thought, shaking her head. She grinned softly at Twilight as she added, "I think I'd look a little too girly if I did that."

Twilight's smile fell, and she shrugged, replying only with a dejected, "Oh..."

Twilight's response was harrowing to the young pegasus. Even if it was just a look of rejection, she hated seeing it. Darn it, Twi... Rainbow huffed out a sigh in defeat. "Alright... alright, Twi, you win," she said, turning Twilight's attention back to her. Her expression lit up as Rainbow worked the flower into her mane. Several unsuccessful attempts however, prompted Twilight to help out, lighting up her horn and placing the flower neatly near her right ear.

"Thanks for the help, Twi."

"Mm-hmm." Twilight nodded before stepping back to admire her efforts.

"So," Rainbow began to ask, "does it look okay?"

"It's pretty."

"Pretty?" Rainbow's eyes narrowed, staring back at Twilight in a dry, deadpan stare.

Twilight stifled a few short giggles with her right hoof at Rainbow's reaction. "Pretty," she repeated.

"Twi..." Rainbow looked off to her right. "I don't know how I feel about looking pretty." The confession however, only caused Twilight to giggle harder.

"I-I'm only wearing it for tonight, though!" Rainbow added as her expression softened into a smile. "Anything for a friend."

Twilight froze at the mention of the word 'friend'.

Her expression contorted into one of fear, and panic, her body suddenly growing weak. "W-wha... wh-what...?" She swallowed hard, her breaths growing heavier. "You-you're kidding, right?"

"About being friends?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow while maintaining the same soft smile. "No way, Twilight," she assured, unknowingly worsening Twilight's current state of mind. "I mean, sure, I kid about a lot of stuff, but our friendship's not one of 'em."

Twilight instinctively stepped back towards the tree, falling back on her haunches, her eyes wide as she sputtered, "B-but... we-we're not... w-we're not friends..."

Twilight's words were surprisingly met with laughter. "Good one, Twi!" the pegasus remarked. "Yeah, we're not friends... That's exactly why we already act like the closest of friends."

Twilight shrugged in response, looking away a bit. "I-I just like being around you, that's all."

"That's all?" Rainbow smirked, taking a tentative step forward. "You know... that is sort of a telltale sign of a friendship right there."

Twilight let out groan. Rainbow was right, that she couldn't deny... but at the same time, she still couldn't accept it. "But...!" she tried to argue, finding the words getting caught in her throat. "I can't—I mean...! F-friendships don't last!" Twilight finally blurted, stomping her hoof and turning around, walking away from where Rainbow sat, stupefied. "It's... it's, I don't know... just, really—" She bit her lip as she now found herself standing before the tree, staring down at the bark. She sighed before continuing. "It's a waste of time, and I'm not about to waste time on something that won't last."

"Uhm, Twi..." Rainbow reluctantly spoke up after a few moments of dreary silence. "I don't know what books you've read about friendships—I mean, I'm sure you've read lots, but... well, those probably aren't real friendships."

"And our friendship is?"

"Ours is... well, ours is different, I'll admit." Rainbow smiled, remaining ever so optimistic, and trotted softly on over to Twilight, taking a stand by her side. "But... yeah, I think it is. I mean, it feels real, and that's good enough for me."

Twilight looked into the cerise eyes of the pegasus beside her with saddened eyes, wanting to accept Rainbow's plea for friendship right then, but she remained adamant, desperate to argue this. She looked away. "S-sorry, Rainbow, I just... I don't see this lasting..."

Unfortunately, and to Twilight's bafflement, Rainbow remained equally as adamant. "Ours will, Twilight..."

"Not if you leave," muttered Twilight, knowing long-distance wouldn't help things any. Rainbow would probably forget about her one day. "I know that when you leave, you'll... you'll start to forget about me—about... all this, and all your old relationships would eventually overshadow ours." She was being jealous, selfish even, but... she couldn't help it. Maybe, deep down, she knew becoming friends would make it all the harder once their time inevitably came to a close. "Even if you did stop for a visit, it... it wouldn't be the same, would it?"

"About that, Twi... I... well, I..." Rainbow's voice drifted. Now, she supposed, wasn't the best time to make plans to stay, but at the very least she could offer the assurance Twilight needed. "Look, Twilight... I—I won't leave you, alright?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes at Rainbow accusingly, her brow scrunching together. "How do I know what you're saying isn't some... spur of the moment nonsense?"

Rainbow stepped back, holding her hooves out before her. "It-it's not, Twilight, I swear."

Twilight bit her lip, fighting back a groan. She needed another reason, and fast. "Well... w-what if I accidentally did or said something stupid that ruined everything, a-and drove you away?" she proposed, an anxious laugh following suit. "Some friendship, huh?"

"Twilight... I'm pretty sure you've already said everything imaginable, and hay, I'm still here!" Rainbow exclaimed, grinning proudly. "Yup, you can't drive me away that easily." Rainbow's smile fell, looking at the unicorn mare with a sheepish expression while rubbing the back of her neck with a hoof. "Not that I have anywhere else to go, but... you get the idea."

Twilight frantically searched her mind for the things she remembered about friendship, so she would have something, anything she could use to prove she was right. Then she remembered how friends had to know one another, and lucky for her, they didn't. "You barely know me—hay, I barely know you!" she argued. "I don't even know your name!"

"It's Rainbow..."

"Your real name."

"Well..." Rainbow looked away, heaving out a heavy sigh. "So what, you know? We've gotten to know each other tons, and... well, not knowing my "real" name shouldn't matter."

Right... In hindsight, she supposed, they had gotten to know each other... and now she was finding herself fighting a losing battle, but she wasn't about to give up. "Friendships always get in the way of what's important, Rainbow... like becoming good at magic. Friends would keep me from learning new spells, and distract me whenever I tried to study—hay, you're already doing that."

"You could always make time," Rainbow suggested, as if it were obvious. "You know... balance your friendships and studies—"

"T-the princess!" Twilight blurted out, at this point saying anything to put this idea of friendship behind them. "She would never want me to have any friends!"

"Seriously?" Rainbow leaned back a bit, surprised. "Twilight, have you ever talked to her about this?"

Twilight's tone softened. She found herself looking down at the grass. "That—that's not the sort of thing to discuss with your teacher—"

"Because," Rainbow continued, placing a hoof on the unicorn's shoulder, "she told me she'd love it if you went out more often, tried to make friends even!"

Twilight's eyes widened, already a bit misty as she stared back at the pegasus, surprised. "She said that...?" Twilight shook her head suddenly, shifting her shoulder out from beneath Rainbow's hoof. "No, I mean... no!" she shouted. "How can I even trust you?"

"Because I'm your friend, Twilight."

That remark shut her up.

She had no rebuttal; she could no longer fight it. Rainbow was right. There was no denying it... she had found a friend in the pegasus, and there wasn't a single thing she could say or do that would change the mare's mind.

Her lips tightened and her eyes quivered, sniffling once before shutting her eyes tight and letting her emotions loose. She threw her forelegs around Rainbow's neck, and started crying right into Rainbow's shoulder.

At first, Rainbow stood still, completely stunned. Then, without thinking, she placed a foreleg around Twilight's shoulders as many questions ran through her head... but one thing was for sure: she knew Twilight needed comfort, and a friend... more than ever.

Minutes went by, and eventually, with stained cheeks and dry eyes, Twilight moved to sit a little ways away from where Rainbow stood. She sat there in thought and disbelief, telling herself what just happened had been real.

"A friend..." Twilight muttered to herself, her tone seemingly still in disbelief. "I have a friend..."

Rainbow looked around, a hoof held behind her neck. "Uh... this seems like a big deal for you... I'll just—" She turned with one hoof raised, when the sudden, soft sound of a voice, barely audible enough to be heard, caused her to stop and turn in Twilight's direction.

"You said you wouldn't leave..."

"Alright," Rainbow assured, smiling softly and simply sitting down beside the unicorn. "I won't."

"I don't get it though," Twilight said. She looked at Rainbow with a puzzled expression. "Why would a pony like you want to be... er, friends... with somepony like me?"

"Well... there's a lot of reasons!" Rainbow exclaimed in response, meeting Twilight's gaze. "You took me in, looked after me—"

Twilight looked away, allowing her gaze to fall upon her hooves. "Anypony would have," she argued.

"Do you really believe that?"

Twilight hesitated, then shook her head.

"We still butt heads, but for the most part we get along fine." She smiled, looking over at Twilight. "You're kind, smart, thoughtful, fun to hang with, and you've just done so much for me already... Hay, why wouldn't I want to be friends with you?"

Twilight tittered under her breath. "You know, just hearing you call me your friend makes me feel... well, happy." She shrugged her shoulders. "I guess I wanted to be friends too, but I didn't want to... to accept it..." A small, sheepish smile appeared on her face, again finding herself eye to eye with the rainbow-maned pegasus. "I suppose my views on the concept were a little askew."

Rainbow chuckled softly, choosing to plop down on the grass behind her. "Whatever that means..."

Twilight smiled, lying down on her side, facing the pegasus mare. "Sorry, I don't mean to drawl on about all this, but it's just..." She sighed, rolling onto her back, looking up at the stars. "This is all so new to me..."

"Don't sweat it, Twi," Rainbow whispered back to her. "You don't need to learn a thing. Just act like your usual self." She paused, then backtracked. "Your usual, non-crazy self, I mean."

"So... what now, friend?" Twilight asked in all sincerity, though not without an eye roll and sigh from the pegasus sitting beside her.

May as well get used to that, Rainbow figured. She rolled onto her left side, overlooking Twilight, and grinned as a sudden idea came to her.

"Wanna dance?"

Twilight stared at her as if the mare had lost her mind. Dance? she thought. Sure, we talked earlier about helping each other, but... It was late as is, they were in public, in an open field, and most important, there was no music. "Even though there's no music?"

"Well, who says you need any?" Rainbow argued, rolling onto her stomach and standing up. She sighed, looking down at the unicorn before her. "Jeez, Twi... can't you just imagine there's music?"

Twilight thought about it. "I... I guess it wouldn't be the first new thing I tried today," she agreed, with a nervous smile.

"Awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed, grinning excitedly. Her excitement was quickly replaced by a sheepish smile once she saw Twilight giggling a bit at her reaction. "Now, uhm... may I have this dance?" she asked, holding out her right hoof for Twilight who obliged, placing her hoof in Rainbow's and was gently lifted off the ground... only to stumble forward and fall against Rainbow's chest.

"I gotcha," Rainbow softly said, in a reassuring voice as she held onto the mare slumped against her.

Twilight blushed a bit and quickly straightened up. "Sorry... Guess I'm still a little shaken from earlier."

"Good thing this is a slow dance then!" Rainbow chimed, grinning while she held Twilight close.

Twilight herself smiled, shifting her gaze up to meet Rainbow's. "By the way, that flower really does suit you."

Rainbow blushed at the comment, tearing her gaze away from the unicorn. "Quit being so mushy, Twi."

Twilight giggled softly, looking ahead of her as she leaned softly over Rainbow's right shoulder. "What?" she whispered. "It's true." Smiling warmly, she gingerly wrapped her forelegs around Rainbow's neck, and in turn, Rainbow placed hers over Twilight's back, bringing forth a small shiver from the mare.

And with Twilight taking the first step, the two began their rhythmic dance of hoofsteps... side to side, forward and back... Twilight soon began humming a verse from the classical music that played in her mind as they danced. She further wrapped her hooves around Rainbow, feeling the touch of plush fabric beneath her hooves and the ticklish bristles of Rainbow's mane all reminding her that this was really happening, and how good it felt to be sharing it with Rainbow.

Twilight could safely say she enjoyed dancing at a slower pace. Rainbow didn't seem to mind, patiently following Twilight's every step. In the one week they had known one another, this was undoubtedly the best either one of them had felt, but for Twilight... she felt something more. She was beginning to see Rainbow in a different light, hearing her voice made her heart soar, and seeing her always seemed to make her smile. At that moment, she had only one thought on her mind:

Is this how it feels to love somepony...?

"And that one?" Twilight pointed up at the sky as her and Rainbow lied together in the grassy field, Twilight using the pegasus's belly as a pillow. "That's the Ursa Major, reminiscent of the ursas we have here in Equestria." Her hoof lowered, resting it against her chest as her voice grew quiet. "To think those things actually exist..."

"Aw come on, Twi." Rainbow rolled her eyes, smirking at the serious tone of Twilight's voice. "I mean, they're just bears."

"Just bears?" Twilight rolled over onto her stomach, looking Rainbow directly in the eyes, and doing her best to sound scary. "Imagine a celestial, all-powerful creature. Fifty feet tall, and ravenous, with enormous fangs and eyes that bare right into your soul—!"

"Yeah, I uh, can imagine..." Twilight paused, then merely nodded, smiling sheepishly with uttering a quick "Sorry," before back over to resume her stargazing. "These things don't live around here, do they?" Rainbow asked.

Twilight shook her head. "Most Ursas live in the Everfree forest," she explained, recalling what she could from the book she read about them. "It's a really, really, really, big forest south of here, and..."

"And?"

"That's all I know..." Twilight's admitted, timidly. "Sorry, I haven't exactly done much research on that particular forest."

"It's cool, Twi," Rainbow assured her. "From the sounds of it, neither of us will be paying this forest a visit anyway."

Twilight's eyelids dropped halfway. "I'd still like to learn more about it, Rainbow," she muttered.

"Whatever you say, Twi. How about pointing out more of those star-pattern things?"

"Constellations," Twilight corrected. Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"There's Aquila to the South, and to your right, Capricornus, the sea-pony." Her hoof chartered the sky like a map, pointing out and addressing each constellation she spotted, until coming to the last remaining pattern that was visible in the night sky... and was coincidentally, one of her favorites.

"And of course, the pegasus," she finished, then paused, recalling a certain myth she remembered reading about. "You know, Rainbow... in Equestrian myth, it's said that pegasi were born from the sea after small droplets of unicorn blood mixed with the sea foam."

"You're saying I came from the sea?" Rainbow asked, her voice skeptical.

"It's possible," Twilight replied. "For one, it would explain your connection to nature, your ability to control weather and so forth. Then there's the internal magic pegasi seem to have which help them stay aloft, and, as I mentioned, control the weather." She smiled, rolling back over to face Rainbow, and prodded the pegasus's chest with her hoof. "It would also mean I created you," she teased.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

Twilight chuckled, turning again to face the midnight sky. "A little."

"But like I said," she continued, "it's just a myth."

The two silently continued to lie in the grassy field for moments longer, only the faraway sounds of the city and chirping crickets filling the night air and reminding them of just how late it was getting. "We really should head home," Twilight suggested. "I can only imagine how late it is."

"Alright." Rainbow sat up, stretching her back, then exclaiming, "Cloud bed, here I come!" Twilight lifted an eyebrow, giving her a humored look. "What? Twi... I've been lying in the cold, itchy grass, for like, half an hour."

"I hear they're supposed to feel like a real cloud..." Twilight remarked. She hesitated for a moment before asking, "Could I—? I mean, if you don't mind..."

"You'd like to see for yourself... wouldn't you?"

Twilight only nodded in response, a faint blush on her cheeks.

Rainbow grinned. "Is this going to become a regular thing between us?" she asked. "Sleeping together like this?"

"Until I can sleep a little more peacefully, yes," Twilight replied, turning with Rainbow by her side, for the path leading home.

"So..." Rainbow looked over at her, a look of concern on her face. "Have you figured out the reason you've, uhm... been having these nightmares?"

Twilight shook her head. "Not yet..." She assumed they had to do with Rainbow, as much as it hurt to accept, it had to... "But on the up side," Twilight continued, "you have been doing an awesome job keeping them at bay."

Rainbow shook her head. "Sounds better when I say it, Twi."

After a few minutes of walking, the two mares at last reached their home, and without hesitation, stepped inside. "You go on ahead, Rainbow," Twilight said as she walked past. "I—" Twilight fought back a sudden yawn. "—have to write my letter."

Rainbow glanced over at her, with a small, sympathetic smile. "Good luck," she replied before heading down the stairwell.

Twilight walked over to her desk, pulling out some parchment, ink and a quill, and began to pen her letter, beginning with the start of their day, to when her and Rainbow formally became friends. She supposed the princess would be happy to hear about that, at least. Other than that, she thought as she skimmed over what she wrote, nothing new to report...

She signed her name, rolled up the parchment, sealed it, and trotted down to her bedroom for a late-night delivery.

"Spike?"

Spike's nose crinkled, feeling the touch of somepony's hoof poking at it, and swatted a claw at it.

"Spike... wake up, Spike."

"Ugh... wha...?" His eyes cracked open, only to be greeted by a purple blur before his eyes. He jumped back a little, startled, as the vision quickly came back to his eyes and saw it was just one of Twilight's hooves, belonging to a rather apologetic-looking Twilight.

"Oh... Twilight? You're back."

"I... I have another letter." Twilight brought the aforementioned letter—surrounded by a purple light—out of the darkness into view, at first causing the young dragon to squint his eyes at the sudden brightness. "Think you could send it for me real quick?"

Anything to stop that glow... Spike sighed. "Sure," he said, accepting the letter and sending it away in a breath of magical flames, to its destination: Princess Celestia's castle chamber.

"Thank you, Spike."

Spike nodded, nestling back under the covers as his eyes already began to drift shut. "Twilight..." Spike paused, letting out a yawn. "When are we gonna get that time together you promised?"

"Tomorrow, Spike," Twilight whispered, reassuringly.

"That's..." Spike's eyes fell shut, eagerly wanting nothing more than to fall back asleep. "Good to know..." Several seconds later and a soft snoring sound could be heard coming from the covered up dragon, sleeping soundly in the basket.

Twilight smiled at the sight. She whispered a quick "Goodnight, Spike," before turning and stepping out of the room, softly closing the door behind her.

A short walk up the stairwell later, and Twilight found herself in the doorway of Rainbow's room. Her face instantly lit up at the sight of the pegasus, lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling with a foreleg bent behind her head, her sweatshirt draped lazily over the edge of her bed.

"Hm?" Rainbow turned, sensing Twilight's presence, and smiled. "Hey," she greeted. "I take it you finished the letter?"

"Y-yeah," Twilight replied, dumping her saddle on the floor before trotting on over. "I had Spike send it." She smiled nervously before climbing in beside her... only for all her nerves to melt away and be replaced by a silent gasp. "Oh Celestia, this feels amazing."

Rainbow grinned. "Pretty comfy, huh?"

Twilight sighed in content. "I'm never going back to regular mattresses ever again..."

Rainbow chuckled a bit. "Sweet dreams, Twi," she whispered before rolling over, facing away from Twilight.

Noticing this, Twilight frowned slightly, and inched closer, placing her right foreleg around the pegasus and pressing up a little against her back.

Needless to say, the act surprised Rainbow.

Perhaps it gave Twilight a sense of knowing she was there beside her... Rainbow didn't know. Yet, she didn't complain. A giddy smile formed as thoughts began to race through her head. I wonder if she... oh, who am I kidding? She'd never—I mean, she never even thought of us as friends 'till today...

Then a more hopeful thought entered her mind. But... just thinking about the way we danced... I mean, sure it was awkward, but it just felt so... so real, like... there was something there. Like... Rainbow sighed, closing her eyes and slowly drifting to sleep. She loved me back...

Sleep soon took the mares, each with a mindful of cluttered thoughts, and dreams of what tomorrow would bring.

Day 6 - Don't Rain On Our Parade

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The night went by quickly for the two mares, already one of them finding herself stirring as the morning sun rose over the horizon. The first rays of light creeped through the curtains, and on cue, Rainbow's eyes fluttered open. Her eyes blinked several times, adjusting to the light while she worked to gain a sense of where she was.

Then she remembered the day before.

Right, she remembered, this is my room... She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and blinked a few times, just as she began to feel something warm and furry wrapped around her waist, and pressed up a little against her back. Twilight... that's right... She smiled, gazing down at her waist. And that's Twilight's hoof, she concluded, Twilight's hoof is around me. No matter the number of times she told herself, she couldn't help but grin a little. Rolling over onto her back, and doing her best not to disturb Twilight, adjusted herself so she was lying a bit more comfortably on her back. She sighed, cozying up beside Twilight, and holding a hoof over Twilight's as it now remained draped over her stomach, waited for the young unicorn to wake.

She couldn't leave Twilight hanging while she needed her there as she slept, and, it was nice she supposed, spending some time alone in the hooves of the mare she loved.

A short while later and Twilight began to stir. She groaned as her eyes slowly opened, coming into view of blue fur, and the sound of somepony's soft breaths. Just like the pegasus lying beside her, she too remembered the night before: the cloud bed, accepting Rainbow's friendship, the emergence of... certain feelings, and— Is she holding my hoof? Twilight glanced over, and sure enough her hoof was lying beneath Rainbow's. Her heart skipped a beat, and she froze, now fully alert and aware of her surroundings... yet she didn't pull away.

All the while Rainbow sensed Twilight had awoken. "Hey," she greeted with a small chuckle.

Twilight shook the realization away and swallowed the nervous lump in her throat. "H-hey," she replied, a bit shaken. Rainbow smiled, letting go of her hoof, and for the briefest moment, Twilight felt her hoof grow cold and fretfully grabbed a hold of Rainbow's hoof, holding it back over hers, and slightly startling the pegasus with the sudden, brash move.

Twilight noted Rainbow's startled reaction, and smiled sheepishly. "Uhm... m-my hoof's cold," she reasoned in all honesty, though the added sensation was one Twilight found herself liking.

Rainbow nodded. "R-right... right, of course." She took a deep breath, looking around the room for a distraction. "S-so, uh... y-you're up," she said to Twilight, then a second later mentally berated herself. Of course she's up, stupid, her mind chided her.

"Yeah..." Twilight giggled at the remark, choosing to chalk it up as another dumb thing the pegasus had said in their time together. She began to find it all a little cute—did she really just think that? Twilight thought for a moment. Yes, she did. She was beginning to find the stupid, non-perverse things Rainbow said a little cute, and it only fueled the feelings she already held for her.

And now here she was lying in bed with the pegasus she supposedly loved, resisting the urge to act on whatever feelings she had, with whatever shred of rational thought remained inside her head.

Although it became less of a concern to her, she still didn't know if Rainbow was taken, or if... Rainbow even liked her back. Sure, Rainbow joked about liking her, but... that's all it was: a joke, right? Twilight didn't know for sure.

She sighed under her breath as she searched for something to take her off her previous thoughts. Rainbow had awoken before her, hadn't she? "So..." Twilight began to ask. "How long have you been awake?"

Rainbow sighed quietly, averting her gaze out the window. "Since sunrise," she replied. "Been waiting for you, just in case..." Her eyes drifted to the joined hooves on her chest. "You know..."

Twilight smiled at Rainbow's thoughtfulness. "Thanks," she said, giving the pegasus a quick nuzzle on the cheek—not out of love, but out of thankfulness.

Not that Rainbow knew. Her eyes widened a bit at the contact, and for a brief moment, considered returning the affectionate notion. Before she could however, Twilight pulled away.

"I guess we should probably start getting ready for the day," Twilight said after a moment of lying there in bed, gazing aimlessly back up at the ceiling. Not that either of them particularly wanted to... She looked over at Rainbow. "Why don't you go first?" she suggested. "I could... I dunno, make some sandwiches in the meantime. For breakfast, you know?"

Rainbow sighed. "Alright." Reluctantly, Twilight retracted her own hoof, allowing Rainbow to freely step out of bed. She shook her mane back into shape and let out a deep breath, allowing her shoulders to drop before stepping to the front of the bed. She stopped at the draped sweatshirt, lifting the article up a little with her hoof. "Hey, Twi?" she asked. "Think you could wash this for me?"

Twilight's own gaze immediately turned deadpan, looking back at Rainbow.

Rainbow dropped the article, and grinned sheepishly, returning the gaze. "Please?"

Twilight's stare eventually broke and she sighed quietly, putting a hoof to her chin in pretend thought. "I do have a quick wash spell..."

"Thanks—"

Twilight's lips curved up into a slight smile, holding back a giggle. "But no dry warming spell."

"A lot..." Rainbow huffed, turning for the door. "Oh well..." She shrugged her shoulders. "I do have a fur coat, after all. No biggie." With her back turned away from Twilight as she stood in the doorway, she drifted back into thought.

Alright, today's a big day! Better get ready, she thought, brandishing a confident smile and trotting off for the bathroom.

For moments after Rainbow left, Twilight lied in bed with a hoof draped beneath her head, simply enjoying the comfort the bed provided for a few moments longer before eventually, and grudgingly, leaving its warm embrace to start her own day.

First things first, Rainbow had asked her if she could wash her sweatshirt, and as Twilight inspected the article, sure enough there were small grass stains here and there. Not entirely Rainbow's fault, she supposed. She lit up her horn and with it, out poured a magical cleanser upon the article, removing any trace of dirt, but not without leaving the article soaked as she had predicted.

But it was like Rainbow told her: she had a fur coat. No biggie, Twilight recalled. Right...

She sighed, figuring she may as well make Rainbow's bed before heading down. While taking the sheets off and dumping them in a pile, she caught a glimpse of their Wonderbolt tickets beneath the flower she had picked for Rainbow on the table beside the bed. The flower itself appeared untouched, as if handled with the utmost care, and seeing just how careful Rainbow had been with it... she couldn't help but smile.

Twilight grabbed her feathery earring off the table, looping it around her ear, and some bits from her saddlebags she had dropped against the bedroom wall the night before leaving the room, becoming lost in her own thoughts as she trotted downstairs. "Okay, let's see..." she thought aloud while going through a mental checklist of her plans for the morning. "Put together a couple—or maybe several sandwiches, eat one, apply new bandages to Rainbow's wings, get cleaned up, wake up Spike, and pray to Princess Celestia everything goes well."

Twilight stopped, clasping her hooves together, and smiling triumphantly. "Perfect!"

Rainbow smiled, stepping out from the shower and shaking her coat clean after a quick rinse. Taking a quick look around, she congratulated herself.

At least she managed not to drench the floor this time.

She grabbed a towel and threw it nonchalantly over her head, then turned to the sink, and the mirror above it, where her attention was focused for the next several moments. She grinned nervously back at her reflection. "I'm nothing compared to Twilight, but..." Rainbow sighed, hanging her head a bit. Wonder if she'd find somepony like me attractive... Rainbow shook her head and looked up again, this time at the counter top. She breathed onto her hoof and gave it a sniff. "Yeesh..." She frowned, taking the first toothbrush in sight, laying a glob of toothpaste along the bristles, quickly running it under some water, and gave her teeth a much-needed brushing.

She soon finished up, grabbing the handle of a medical kit she remembered Twilight using between her teeth before leaving for the kitchen. When she finally trotted down into the dining area, she noticed Twilight seated at the dining table, content and nonchalantly eating a simple daisy sandwich.

Twilight's ears perked at the sound of Rainbow's approaching hoofsteps, and she looked up at the pegasus mare with a smile. "Done already?" Rainbow nodded, setting the kit down on the tabletop before taking a seat herself. A moment of silence soon followed.

"Well, breakfast is all ready," she said, motioning to a small stack of sandwiches on the table. "Nothing special, just daisies this time." Twilight smiled sheepishly, holding a hoof against the back of her head. "They're a little bland—I usually pour some dressing over them first... Hope they suffice."

"But I just brushed..." Her shoulders slumped, and she let out a low groan. Ugh, now they're gonna taste all minty.

"It's alright, Rainbow, just..." Twilight paused, her expression becoming more and more peeved by the second as her mind immediately put together the pieces. "Wait, what do you mean brushed?" Rainbow's smile widened a little into a small, yet embarrassed grin. "You used my...?" Twilight paused as she rolled her eyes, letting out a small groan. "Rainbow... you could've just asked for your own; we do have extras."

"You do?" Rainbow looked at Twilight with a look of surprise. "I mean, uh... But i-it was an emergency, Twi, really!" Surprisingly, she already found the unicorn quietly giggling into her hoof. Already her annoyed expression had faded.

"It's alright, Rainbow," Twilight simply replied, lighting up one of the sandwiches in her magic. "Just... let me know next time. For now, let's eat."

"Um," Rainbow cocked her head slightly, "a-alright..." She grabbed one in her hoof and took a hesitant bite. Blech.

All the while Twilight watched from the corner of her eye with a slight, humored smile, her head leaning against her left foreleg. Even with the fact that we're friends, I find myself smiling... even when I should be annoyed with her, mad even! Either I'm the most foolish pony alive, or our relationship really has grown to the point where all I want is... is to be with her... Bits of Twilight's mane fell over her shoulder as the unicorn slumped forward a bit, twirling some of the hair with the tip of her hoof. I know I'll have to let her go eventually, as much as it hurts, but... I wonder what ours would be like if she stayed—?

"So, uh..." Twilight jumped a little, her mind snapping back to reality as she heard Rainbow begin to speak. The pegasus motioned to her left wing, giving it a little flap. "Think you could help bandage up these badboys?" She paused, then brushed her mane up with the back of her right hoof, revealing a small bruise on her forehead. "I... think I could use a bandage on my forehead too," she added with a sheepish grin.

Twilight rolled her eyes, and smiled, wiping her mouth free of any sandwich crumbs before stepping down and walking over to Rainbow, taking a seat beside her and digging out some bandages from the kit. As Rainbow had asked, Twilight started by placing a square bandage over the bruise on her forehead before leaning back, allowing Rainbow to shake her mane back into shape and disguise the bruise. "Now, hold still..." Rainbow snorted in response, averting her gaze while Twilight went to work.

A few moments passed that Twilight spent wrapping up Rainbow's wings as delicately as her magic allowed. Perhaps it was the numbing sensation of Twilight's magic caressing her wings, or their friendship changing things, but for the first time, she felt no pain. "You're getting better at that," Rainbow remarked with a small grin.

Twilight froze for a moment, and looked away, her cheeks a light pink. "It's nothing, I just... want them to heal as quickly as possible, and that of course involves being as gentle as possible," she hastily explained, wrapping up the final wingtip. "Well, there you are. All patched up. Now, if you'll excuse me... I have to get cleaned up myself, and I still have to wake Spike..." She gazed up in the direction of their room where Spike was presumably still asleep, then back at Rainbow. "Hey, Rainbow? Do you... do you think he and I are friends?"

"I don't see why not," Rainbow replied nonchalantly. To her the answer was obvious. "The two of you sure seem like friends."

At that, Twilight's face flushed with embarrassment and her gaze quickly darted down towards her hooves. "It's just... I don't know." She shrugged her shoulders. "You're the first pony I've ever really considered my friend, but the more I think about it, the more I realize just how much the two of us get along, and I know it seems like we're friends, but... I'm not sure if he sees me as one."

"Uh, well... maybe he was just worried you wouldn't return his friendship, knowing how you were before and everything," she proposed, then smiled, nudging Twilight in the arm. "But I'd say the two of you already are friends... somepony has just yet to accept it."

Twilight glanced up, turning to look at Rainbow while her mind thought over what Rainbow said. I haven't accepted it... The realization hit Twilight hard, already finding it weighing particularly heavily on her heart. She's right... Spike... all this time he was my friend without me ever knowing, or acknowledging it... I wonder who else has considered me a friend all this time... Shining? Cadance? I wonder if Princess Celestia—?

"Didn't you say something about needing to get ready?" Twilight's thoughts and worries vanished for the time being, finding Rainbow's sudden reminder ringing a little more important than her prior thoughts.

"Oh Celestia, thanks for reminding me!" Twilight rose from her seat, stepping down and running off to do just that. "I'll see you in a bit, Rainbow!" she called out without ever once looking behind her as she continued towards the stairs. As a thought occurred to her, however, she looked back once to say, "Oh, also your sweatshirt's drying, Rainbow; it's up in your room when you're ready!"

She smiled and turned once more, leaving Rainbow to her breakfast, and a problem that had been unbeknownst to Twilight.

Rainbow waited until the unicorn's own hoofsteps began to fade before she breathed out a sigh of relief. "They're starting to relax," she observed as she spoke softly to herself, running a hoof along the base of her right wing. Luckily for her, Twilight didn't seem to know everything about pegasus anatomy after all, or that their wings became rather... stiff in the presence of a pony as beautiful as her.

Knowing Twilight, she probably assumed her wings were outstretched for the sole purpose of helping her bandage them.

She smiled a little as her wings finally retracted to her sides, and with them, the pain she felt quickly began to die down. "So much better..." She allowed her shoulders to relax, and a happy sigh to escape her lips, then resumed her breakfast, taking another bite out of her sandwich, only to frown. Still minty...

For Twilight, cleaning up didn't take nearly as long as she had planned for it to take. She brushed her teeth, remembering to use a new toothbrush, and brushed her mane a few times to give it that rounded, in-shape look she loved. Not a hair out of place; everything was neat and even, and to her liking.

She still couldn't fathom why Rainbow chose to wear her mane in a completely opposite fashion, or why she was somehow the only pony she ever met who made such an unruly style work. She also supposed that Rainbow's mane was the only mane with such a style where she didn't mind the look, or how messy it was. To her... it was truly alluring—

Twilight paused, looking back at her annoyed self in the bathroom mirror. No doubt her feelings at work again.

She sighed and shook her head. Concentrate, Twilight! As she left the room and stepped upon the staircase, she began to collect her thoughts. Alright, every part of me that needed to be brushed is brushed, and I'm still pretty clean considering I showered just the other day— After all, she was still an equine. Showering wasn't exactly the highest priority for a pony like herself. "So that just leaves..."

"Twilight?"

Twilight jumped back a little in surprise. "S-spike!" she exclaimed, then soon visibly relaxed, seeing it was only Spike, seemingly having stepped foot out from their room. "H-hey."

"Hey to you too," he replied. "I just woke up actually, but, well... Where were you?"

"Oh, just making breakfast..." She brought a hoof up to scratch the back of her head while averting her gaze. "Among other things," she added in a whisper.

"Really, Twilight?" Spike raised an eyebrow while a small smile made its way onto his face. "I've told you before to just let me handle it. I mean, no offense, but you're terrible at cooking."

Gee, way to boost my esteem... Twilight lowered her hoof as she shook the thought from her head. "S-so, are you all ready for today?"

"Huh?" Spike's arm unfolded, and a look of curiosity replaced his smile from mere moments ago. "Oh, right!" he recalled, already growing excited. "Yeah!" His excitement however started to lessen as another thought creeped into his head. "But, what about Rainbow? Where's...?"

"Oh, well... she's coming with us, Spike," she confessed, unsure of any other way to say it.

"Oh..." Both the young dragon's eyes and shoulders faltered. He let out a sigh. "And here I was hoping it could just be the two of us, like before."

Twilight walked forward a bit, placing a hoof on Spike's shoulder. She smiled warmly at the dragon. "Spike, I... I know she was tremendously annoying, and rude, and unpleasant when we first met her, but I've gotten to know her a lot recently, and I've sort of... uhm, grown to... like... her, sorta of... in a way." She looked away as she spoke those last words, her smile already gone and her voice growing quieter.

Spike's annoyance piqued. "Seriously, Twilight? You're telling me you're friends with her now?"

"Well... er, yes, uh, technically we are."

"What happened to her being just some mare?"

For a moment, Twilight's stare returned to Spike, dumbfounded, before the thought then occurred to her. "Right... I said that..." Spike could only roll his eyes at her forgetfulness. "But I... I couldn't prevent the two of us from growing close," she continued. "I mean, in hindsight it was bound to happen, what with our shared similarities, and the time we've spent together, reading together, sl—" Twilight stopped suddenly, placing a hoof over her lips.

A bit skeptical, Spike turned and looked up at Twilight, his arms crossed. "The two of you read together?"

"Oh, uh..." Twilight nodded her head, half-consciously. "Uh-huh."

"So... what? You swear off friendship, but the second some stranger comes through the door—"

"Window," Twilight spoke up, interrupting the dragon. Noticing Spike's exasperated expression, Twilight grinned sheepishly. "Sorry."

Spike sighed. "You're more than willing to befriend them, but... despite all the times we've had together, you've never once considered me your friend..."

Twilight shook her head, her expression softening. "That's not true, Spike," she said, softly smiling down the young dragon. "I do consider you my friend, I always have... I guess I just never acknowledged what I felt was friendship, until Rainbow showed me otherwise... But I promise you, Spike, I am your friend, and always will be."

"A-alright," Spike said after a moment spent in thought, thinking over the mare's words, before eventually letting out a sigh. "I believe you."

Twilight let out a small breath of relief. "I'm glad." The two shared a happy smile for a moment. It wasn't too long however before the growing silence began to get to them.

"Uh, so I was thinking..." Twilight began, looking for a means of breaking the silence. "I mean, there's no reason why we can't all be friends!"

Spike looked at her for a moment as if considering, before waving a claw dismissively. "I don't think she and I would get along..."

"Please?" Twilight tried again suddenly, a bit of a pleading tone in her voice, and right then, Spike realized she wasn't about to give up on this idea of hers.

"Okay, okay," he gave in, "but only because we're friends..." He gave her a reassuring nod. "If she really means so much to you, I guess I could try getting to know her—" Before he could finish, Spike found himself cut off by a suddenly grateful unicorn.

"Oh, thank you, Spike. Just think... my two friends, all friends with one another!" Twilight clapped her two hooves together, smiling at the thought. "How wonderful!"

Spike scratched the back of his head while simply watching Twilight with a slight, humored smile. He was no Rainbow; he wasn't a pony that Twilight could relate to, nor was he a mare that Twilight could enjoy time with... but he was finally her friend, and it was all thanks to Rainbow... Perhaps having her around wasn't such a bad thing after all... Come to think of it... Spike thought. How long is she even staying with us?

"Hey, uh, Twilight? How long will she be staying here anyway? I know you said until she's better, but she's been "better" for a while now."

Twilight froze, her happiness, for a moment, replaced with worry. "I... don't know myself," she admitted. "Her memories are still an issue—I-I don't know how I feel about letting Rainbow go without her knowing who she is first... and, well... we still have no idea where she's even from, if anywhere. Cloudsdale and Ponyville seem most likely—hay, even Manehatten's a likely possibility... but until we know for sure..."

"And if she's not from anywhere?" Spike asked.

Twilight swiftly turned away, hiding the uncertainty in her eyes from the young dragon as she searched for an answer. "Then... then I-I'll think of something."

"But what if she decides to stay and live here, regardless of whether or not she ever had a life to begin with?"

Spike's question caused her to blush. "S-she would had to have hit her head pretty hard to want something like that, Spike," Twilight stated, her voice shaking a bit. Even with the fact that we're friends... She took a deep breath, allowing her body to relax a little before looking back at the yearning dragon with a soft, reassuring smile. "Now, come on, Spike; I have a whole day planned for us. Let's try and enjoy it, alright?"

"Alright... Oh, but first!" The dragon headed back into their room for a moment, before returning with a sealed letter in his claw. "Here," he said, handing her the letter. "I burped it sometime last night, but was a little too tired to bother you with it, and sorta fell right back asleep. Sorry..."

"It's alright, Spike," she assured him, accepting the letter and unrolling it with her magic. She held it up before her eyes. "Now let's see..." She read through it quickly, and when she was finished, she looked back at Spike, a bit misty-eyed.

"Is it bad news?"

Twilight shook her eyes, and smiled softly, but warmly at the small dragon. "Princess Celestia is happy that I've made friends, Spike."

Spike let loose an internal sigh of relief, returning the smile. "I'm happy too, Twilight."

"So, Twi..." Rainbow began, standing dressed in her casual attire, "what's the plan for today?" The mid-morning sun shown through the windows as both mares and dragon stood gathered at the exit of the tower.

"A day together in Canterlot park," Twilight replied, a subtle tone of excitement in her voice. Spike and Rainbow lowered their eyelids in annoyance, their hopes of any sort of excitement already dashed, however Twilight continued without paying any mind. "Since today," she proceeded to say, "a carnival is being held there, in celebration of Summer!" At the mention of a carnival, both Spike and Rainbow's eyes lit up with excitement, while widening grins spread across their faces. "There's all sorts of activities being held down there, as well as various games, attractions, plenty of food stalls—" Twilight never got the chance to finish, finding herself interrupted by a certain pegasus bolting past her on her way to the door, ever so eager to leave. She grinned and turned back to the spot where Twilight and Spike stood.

"Then stop rambling and come on already, Twi; we're missing out!"

"Yeah, Twilight," Spike agreed, turning Twilight's attention to the young dragon. He ran on ahead, over to the open door. "We'll see it all when we get there!"

Without waiting another moment, the two proceeded out the door, already finding a common interest in discussing the things that may await them. Twilight smiled, hearing little bits of their conversation. And he was worried about not getting along with her... Twilight thought as she herself walked to the door. Guess all they needed was a little time to just... talk.

Not too long after leaving had the trio arrived at the park, which, once peaceful and serene, had been transformed into a bustling playground of rides and attractions. The space the park contained was aplenty, a couple coasters, rides that spun on an axis with carts in the shape of bullets and hang gliders, tilt-a-whirls, fun houses, twirls and carousals... Spike himself had never been so wide-eyed in his life.

In all the time he had known Twilight, she would never have allowed him to spend the day at a place like this.

"Well," Twilight smiled, looking at the two of them, "where to first?"

"Something fast!" Rainbow exclaimed, then backtracked as she noticed the deadpan expressions on Twilight and Spike's faces. "What?" She shrugged. "I'm feeling energetic today." A moment passed before Twilight sighed and shook her head.

"I don't know, Rainbow; I don't like "fast." If we try something, I want it to be a bit more reserved."

"Killjoy," Rainbow muttered, albeit a bit teasingly.

"Uh, I'm up for anything, really," Spike said, with a shrug of his shoulders. "Why don't we go on something fast first, and something more relaxing afterwards?"

"Works for me," Rainbow agreed, then playfully grabbed Twilight by the foreleg, dragging the reluctant unicorn along with her. Rainbow turned and motioned with a nod of her head for Spike to join them. "Come on!"

So the three proceeded to enjoy themselves as they explored the rides and various attractions for a couple hours, until they were forced to take a momentary pause the second Rainbow's stomach growled.

"Really?" Rainbow blushed sheepishly while Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Even though we just had breakfast a few hours ago?"

"I barely ate any of it, Twi!" the pegasus argued. "I couldn't get the taste of mint out of my mouth."

"Ugh, fine, here's a few bits." Rainbow smiled, accepting them just as she heard Spike call Twilight's name. The mare in question looked back at Spike, then back at Rainbow. "Spike and I are going to be competing in this scavenger hunt," she explained, "and according to the clock, it should be starting soon... Sorry but we've got to head over now if we're going to make it... Be sure to meet up with us once you've gotten something to eat. I'll be waiting for you!"

Twilight soon disappeared into the crowd with Spike, leaving Rainbow by herself to decide on a snack. She looked around at the surrounding food stalls.

Alright, time for food! The corn-on-the-cob is lookin' pretty good right about now. She paid for one, then went off to the side where she found a bench to eat, while spending some time thinking up things for the three of them to do next. Come to think of it, she thought, I still haven't told Twilight that I want to stay with her... I still gotta find the right moment to do that...

She finished up her snack, shaking the thought from her head. "Well, no need to worry about that now," she told herself under her breath. Getting up, she walked over to a trashcan and threw away her cob. "Guess I should try and find Twilight—"

"Hey, Rainbow!" Rainbow's body tensed up, her breath caught in her throat as the pegasus stood absolutely still while a sudden, pink blur zoomed past her. "Rainbow layer cake, my favorite!" the voice said, and only after the pony vanished into the crowd did Rainbow's body start to relax.

Still a little shaken, she turned and ran back to find Twilight.

After moments of running through the park, and following various signs, Rainbow at last found Twilight and Spike, the latter holding a jewel half his size, and looking overjoyed. As she approached the two, Twilight looked up and smiled. "Uh, hey guys..." Rainbow greeted. "What's going on?"

"Me and Twilight just won first in this year's scavenger hunt," Spike explained.

"Really?" Rainbow's interest sparked a little. "How'd you pull that off?"

"Twilight can sense all sorts of things with her magic, and not to mention she's sort of a genius—"

"Spike, please," Twilight cut in, urging the young dragon to be a little less boastful. "Genius is a bit of an exaggeration. I just... knew where to look is all, and, well, the prize was this large jewel that Spike was practically drooling over so I just had... had to win it... " Her voice drifted, taking note of Rainbow's downcast gaze and rather sullen appearance. She turned to Spike, placing a hoof on his shoulder. "Hey, Spike... you're old enough, why not go and try out some of the attractions on your own."

"Aw, but I was hoping we could have some more fun together..."

"I just need a little time alone, Spike..." Twilight assured him. "Here, I'll watch your jewel." She picked it out of his claws with her magic, placing it in her saddlebag. "I promise we can have more fun together later."

"Alright," Spike sighed. "I understand... See you guys later!" he added before running off.

Twilight waved goodbye as he ran off, before turning her attention back to Rainbow. "What's on your mind?"

"Thought I heard somepony call my name—the name you gave me, I mean," Rainbow confessed. "It sounded so familiar... It honestly freaked me out a little, thinking I was about to run into somepony I used to know... somepony I can't even remember."

"But if it really was somepony you knew then that means...!" Twilight's excitement died down almost immediately once the realization struck her. "Ponies have come looking for you..."

A moment of silence passed between the two. "Twilight..." Rainbow began, her cheeks growing a bit warm. Now was as good a time as any, she supposed. "Um, remember when you said I could live with you?"

Twilight's ears perked as the memory came back to her. I do, but... I was only joking, Twilight thought, puzzled. Don't... don't tell me... Thinking back, she never did make it clear to the pegasus. "Yes?"

Rainbow looked at her, scratching the back of her head. "Could I?"

Twilight was taken aback, finding herself without an answer. Did she seriously say that? There's no way she's really serious... Another look into Rainbow's eyes however, told Twilight just how serious she really was. Okay, just relax... she wants to stay with you, this is great news. Deep down, it's what you've wanted. It'd be a chance for your friendship to prosper, and you would never have to risk her leaving! Just imagine all the fun times you could have with her. The thought alone brought a happy smile to the unicorn's face.

But as much as it pained her, Twilight told herself it was wrong, that she had no idea what she was missing out on. "You need to go back though, Rainbow," Twilight said. "If you do have a home, then you would be leaving behind so much."

"Well, what if I wanted to live here anyway?" the pegasus asked with a shrug. "Even after... you know."

Twilight found herself utterly baffled. Why would she...? Are we really that good of friends? No, i-it must be something else... She heard a voice, and it obviously just spooked her. "Rainbow... you-you're obviously a little shaken up—"

"No, Twilight!" Rainbow interrupted, shaking her head. "I know what I want."

Rainbow's tone and gaze told Twilight she was serious, that there was no changing her mind; and in all honesty, Twilight wasn't too distraught. How the princess would react worried her. Sure, she's happy about us being friends, but her living with me could affect my tutelage... Still, there was nothing more she could say to persuade the pegasus otherwise, she herself did want Rainbow to stay, and although it made no sense to her, if it was what she wanted... "Alright you stubborn pegasus, fine." She sighed in defeat, looking away a bit. She'd deal with whatever consequence her decision may hold later. For now, what was important was her happiness. She looked back at Rainbow with a humored smile. "You can stay with me... as long as you like—" Rainbow leaned towards her suddenly, interrupting her and catching her in a soft embrace.

"Thanks, Twi," the pegasus sighed happily. "I'm so relieved to hear you say that."

Momentarily stunned by the move, Twilight's surprised gaze returned to its usual size, and she returned the hug. "You know, I... I didn't think you'd actually want to live with a mare like me, but then again, I never imagined you would want to be friends with me either..." Twilight let out a soft, tittered laugh. "Guess I was wrong on both counts."

Rainbow pulled away, her forehooves on Twilight's shoulders. "You're more likable than you think, Twilight," she said.

Twilight smiled bashfully at the compliment, shying away a little. Is that all though? she thought. She wants to stay... because I'm likable? No, that can't be... Although the question of why Rainbow wanted to live with her still lingered in her mind—and no doubt would continue to bug her for days on end, she found herself feeling relieved as well. Their friendship would undoubtedly be given a larger opportunity to blossom, as would... the feelings she held towards her. A silly thought then came into her head. Maybe Rainbow is staying because she actually loves me back, and... and... Twilight's thought was put on hold as her ear twitched, picking up a nearby sound. Is that... sniffling?

Curious, she and Rainbow turned to see a mare with a curly, cotton candy-like mane and tail—pink in color—and a lighter pink coat, sitting on her haunches with exaggerated tears flowing from her eyes. "That... that was so beautiful!" She blew her nose into a suddenly materialized tissue, then wiped the tears clear from her eyes with a hoof. "Sorry, I always get so emotional about these sorts of things."

Twilight exchanged a confused glance with Rainbow before asking, "Uh... I-I'm sorry, do we... do we know you?"

The pink earth pony shot up immediately, a big grin on her face, and rushed over to shake Twilight's hoof. "Pleased to meet ya! I'm Pinkie Pie."

Twilight's brow furrowed. "That can't be your real name," she remarked as the mare let go of her hoof.

The pony in question rolled her eyes, maintaining her friendly smile. "Okay, lokie, you got me. It's really..." She leaned forward, and whispered something into Twilight's ear.

"Pinkammmphl—?" Twilight tried to clarify, but her words cut short by Pinkie's hoof covering her mouth.

"Let's keep that a secret between you and me," she said.

Twilight cocked her head, a little weirded out. "Uh... s-sure?"

"Pinkie promise?"

"Pinkie... what-now?"

"Cross my heart and hope to fly—" Rainbow turned her gaze to the street, downcast. "—stick a cupcake in my eye." Twilight visibly flinched at those words and image before her of Pinkie lightly prodding her own eye with a hoof.

Imagining an actual cupcake in place of the mare's hoof only made her feel worse. Not literally, I hope... she thought, grimacing slightly at the imagery.

Twilight shook the thoughts from her head, getting back to the matter at hoof. She still didn't know who this "Pinkie Pie" even was, but taking a serious stance, she was determined to find out.

"Who are you?"

"I already told you, silly; my name's Pinkie Pie, and I've come all the way from Ponyville for my good friend, Rainbow Dash!" She pointed both her forelegs out at the surprised pegasus. Pinkie's smile became weak, and she scratched the back of her mane. "Though I guess she's content with... with... uhm, you. She's content with you," she said, looking at Twilight before allowing her gaze to fall towards the ground, her voice becoming softer. "Didn't count on that..." As Pinkie continued, Twilight found herself rapidly losing focus, consumed by her thoughts.

Ponyville... Rainbow Dash... good friend... So many thoughts ran through Twilight's mind at once she could barely keep herself steady. She had been right first off: Rainbow really did have a home, and it was in Ponyville. She had other friends, and ponies who were concerned for her, but yet had taken so long just to find her. Not knowing she was here with her in Canterlot was a possibility, but even so... Rainbow no doubt felt a little hurt. Looking over at the pegasus, all she saw was how stunned Rainbow looked, and could only assume what she was feeling. Hay, she found herself having a hard enough time taking this all in as well. She put a hoof to her temple while beckoning Pinkie with her other hoof to give her a chance to think. "Wait, wait, wait."

"Okay," Pinkie said simply, smiling politely.

"Rainbow Dash..." Twilight thought aloud, looking at her rainbow-maned friend for a moment. "Wait."

"I'm waiting," Pinkie replied.

Twilight's eyes widened, looking back at Rainbow in disbelief. "Your name is actually Rainbow?"

"I-I don't know..." Rainbow uttered, meeting her gaze. Her own expression had a look of panic, and in her eyes, Twilight could see a twinge of fear.

Twilight had never seen the mare more frightened.

Was this pony... Twilight wondered, the voice that Rainbow had heard?

"Wait a minute," the pink earth pony spoke up. "Now I'm all confuseled. Why didn't she know your name... a-and why, why didn't you, Dashie—?"

"Who... w-who the hay is Dashie?" Rainbow asked a bit hesitantly, yet sincerely, surprising the mares that stood beside her. Her nerves weren't hidden well, the tiny quivers in her voice were evident, and it was clear she was lying in what seemed to be to Twilight, panicked denial. She really didn't want to return home...

Pinkie was the first to respond. "W-well, you are, Rainbow Dash! Don't you remember?"

Before Rainbow could say another word, Twilight quickly intervened, explaining, "She lost her memory, Pinkie." However Pinkie didn't say a word, and her expression didn't change; if anything, her smile grew a little, like it was all a joke between the two of them.

"Alright, you girls got me! I mean, there's no way this is seriously true..."

When she looked back at Twilight though, the unicorn simply nodded solemnly, assuring her it was true. At that, Pinkie's own smile fell, and her ears fell flat. "It hasn't been returning either—"

"It doesn't matter anyway," Rainbow said, turning her back to them. "I... I'm not going back... It's not like anypony will miss me."

Before Twilight or Pinkie could say a word, Rainbow ran off, deep into the crowd. Twilight stepped forward, her first instinct being to chase after the fleeting pegasus, then stopped mid-step when she heard a quiet sniffle. She looked behind her at the earth pony who looked almost completely different. Her mane was noticeably flatter, and her coat, a slightly darker shade of pink.

"I... I would..." she quietly cried.

Rainbow ran. Had her wings been usable, she'd easily have flown away, but with her current state, she had no choice but to stick to her hooves. She had no desire to leave however, or abandon Twilight, it was that other pony she needed to get away from... Something about her caused not only her head to ache, but her heart. She would happily have stayed—Twilight would have tried to help, but she needed to be alone, needed time to think.

By the time she stopped however, Rainbow found herself on the other side of the park, and according to the position of the sun, it was around mid-afternoon.

Plenty of time to sit and think, she supposed, taking a seat on a shaded park bench.

She had a home, and Twilight knew. Thinking back, if she had a home, she planned on keeping it from her, leading Twilight to believe she didn't really have one.

All so that they could stay together...

Of course, that was before Twilight gave her permission to stay. Guess there's no keeping it from her anymore, Rainbow thought. But, she couldn't help but wonder, would Twilight still send her back with that pink pony? She wanted to stay—Twilight knew she wanted to, and she was certain that Twilight wanted her to as well, but knowing her, she would think of it as the right thing to do...

Why couldn't she see that this was her home now?

But so was Ponyville. In her heart, she knew it was her one, true home, and the longer her thoughts lingered on it, the more she felt a desire to return there. If what... Pinkie said was any indication, she did have friends, and was supposedly missed, so perhaps Twilight was right: she didn't mess up after all.

It almost felt like... there were memories trying to come through, but it was no use... Rainbow sighed, thinking back to the moment when Pinkie dashed past her. Pinkie Pie... I recognized her voice, and then when I saw her, I knew it was somepony from my past... and then there's my supposed friends. I can't even remember their faces... Argh, why am I even trying, she thought. I gave up wanting to know since I met Twi, and even now she's my best friend, not... whoever they are!

Rainbow huffed, feeling more frustrated than angry as feelings of sorrow, and betrayal swelled up inside her. But it's not fair to them either... I... I'm betraying my own friends, but yet... I can't— Ugh, why does this have to be so hard?

"Rainbow?" Spike's voice snapped Rainbow from her own berating thoughts, and looked up to a somewhat startled dragon before her. He looked around before then asking, "Where's Twilight?"

Right, I forgot about... Rainbow took a deep breath, calming her own nerves. "A-around, Spike," she answered, a bit shakily.

Spike took a seat beside her. "Are you alright?" he asked, looking up at her.

"Fine," she replied hastily. "I... I'm fine."

A moment of silence passed between the two of them before Spike sighed and shrugged it off. "Hm... If you say so..."

Rainbow fidgeted a little as another moment passed, her mind telling her to tell him, if only to talk about it with someone. She swallowed down a nervous gulp, before glancing nervously over at him. "Hey, um, Spike... You've heard of... um, Ponyville, right?"

"Of course," the dragon answered simply. He looked back at her, his eyes telling her he knew what this was about. "I'm gonna guess something happened involving Ponyville... right?"

Rainbow nodded, letting out a small, shaken breath. "I'm that obvious, huh?"

Spike chuckled a bit. "An amnesiac pegasus starts asking about other towns, while spacing out and stuttering every sentence... Call me crazy, but I'm gonna guess something happened."

For a moment, before her expression again became sullen, Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle herself. "I'm from Ponyville, Spike," she confessed, looking down at the ground below. "And... apparently my name's Rainbow Dash."

"No way..." Spike thought over what he had just heard, then looked back at the mare in disbelief. "Your name's really Rainbow?" Rainbow rolled her eyes, breathing out an exasperated sigh. Seeing this, Spike backtracked. "So, uh... w-what's the problem?"

Rainbow's gaze shot back to the young dragon. "Huh?"

"Knowing where you come from is a good thing, right? So... now you can make a decision: will you stay here with us, or... you know." Grinning softly, Spike said, "Knowing you, it'll probably be to st—"

"I don't know anymore, Spike," Rainbow interrupted suddenly, turning her gaze downcast once more.

"But... you and Twilight—I mean, I don't think I've ever seen Twilight so happy—outside of her usual studies and reading sessions, that is—and you're the only pony she's ever warmed up to, you... can't just leave her like this." What Spike said held true, and although a bit selfish, Rainbow knew she couldn't just leave Twilight, at least not for long; they needed one another. Already she had changed how the unicorn viewed friendships, and she wasn't about to change that.

"I know, Spike," Rainbow said. "And I want to stay here with her, more than anything. But... I know that there's ponies back home I don't even remember, and yet I know they miss me, and want nothing more than to see me again... I-I can't just abandon them like this, but... I really—"

"Princess Mi Amore Cadenza?" Rainbow heard Spike say, almost disbelievingly. Rainbow looked back at him skeptically.

"Princess what-now?" she asked, before then spotting the mare—somewhat older than herself—standing before Spike, having walked up without either noticing. Rainbow took a long look at the mare, and could at least say she had never seen one so vibrant, other than herself of course. Her coat was a light cerise, and her violet mane, long with a bit of a curl and decorated with pink and golden streaks. What's more, she not only had a horn, but wings as well. Just like Celestia... Rainbow recalled. But wait... how does she know Spike? I wonder... is this somepony Twilight knows?

"Hello, Spike, long time no see," the mystery mare greeted. She smiled warmly down at him. "How's my favorite little dragon doing?"

"Uh... f-fine, fine," Spike replied. He shot a nervous glance at Rainbow before returning his gaze to the mare. Why did she have to show up while Rainbow's like this? Spike fretted. "I'm uh, h-here with Twilight and my other friend, Rainbow," he explained, motioning to the pegasus beside him.

Cadenza nodded understandingly. "Spike... I'd like to talk with her, if that's okay." Both dragon and pegasus looked up at her, surprised.

"I, uh... Well, I-I don't know," Spike stammered. "She isn't... I mean, I don't know if she—" Before he could say another word, Cadenza motioned for him to quiet down by simply raising her hoof, assuring him it was alright.

"I understand, Spike... but," She looked knowingly at the rainbow-maned pegasus, "I think I can help."

Spike opened his mouth, about to argue when it hit him that she was a princess, and she was about as close to Twilight as Rainbow was right about now... If one princess already managed to help, maybe another one—one with a more personal connection to Twilight, could help as well. "Alright," he said, stepping down. "I'll go see if I can find Twilight." Looking back at Rainbow with uncertainty in his eyes, he added, "Guess I'll see you around," before turning and taking off into the park.

The mare, whose name was Cadenza according to Spike, waved goodbye to the small dragon before taking a seat herself. Rainbow hesitated for a moment before asking, "So... Cadenza is it? No offense, but how exactly are you going to help me?"

"Oh, I was thinking we could just talk."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Talk?"

Cadenza blushed. "Sorry, I'm not a very good therapist..." she admitted sheepishly as she scratched the back of her head. Rainbow could only deadpan in response. "But I sensed a pony with a broken heart and I was lead to you; and it's my job to mend it!"

Broken heart...? Rainbow began to wonder. "So, uh... you're a friend of Twilight's?" she asked, hoping to find out a little more about this mystery mare.

"Friend?" Cadenza looked off in thought, then shook her head. "I... I'm not sure if she considers me one, but I'd like to be..." she added, looking back at the pegasus beside her with a hopeful smile. "Oh, and by the way... You can call me Cadance."

While on that end, Cadance worked to help Rainbow with her own worries and doubts, on the other side of the park however, another pair of mares were holding their own conversation, albeit different and a bit more lighthearted...

Twilight, having been so close to chasing after Rainbow, wasn't however about to run from her only key to Rainbow's past, and who Rainbow really was. So she stayed with the earth pony in an attempt to find out all she could about the pegasus, and hopefully smooth out any issues between her and Rainbow. She began by intruding herself to the mare.

"My name's Twilight Sparkle. I've been looking after... er, Rainbow Dash for the past week or so, and I've tended to her injuries, kept her... company—uhm..."

To Twilight's surprise, a small smile crept upon the disheartened earth pony's lips, and she began to chuckle a little, her mane already regaining some of its puffiness. The chuckles then expanded into full-blown laughter as the mare fell backwards, and for the smallest moment, Twilight was given a slight sense of déjà vu.

"Ah," the earth pony sighed, "a good laugh will do a pony wonders." Pinkie giggled, wiping a tear from her eye as she sat up, immediately coming eye to eye with Twilight's bewildered stare. "Your name... it-it's just... really funny-sounding!" she explained, a few rogue giggles slipping out as she spoke. Twilight's eyes narrowed in annoyance.

"It's not funny," Twilight shot back. What was with these Ponyville ponies and laughing at names? "If anything," she added, "Pinkie Pie's the funny name."

"Well of course it's a funny name," Pinkie replied as if it were obvious, rolling her eyes. "That's what makes it so fun!" she exclaimed, happily bouncing upwards in a single stot.

Twilight let out an irritated groan. What was with this mare? Sure Rainbow was a little strange when the two first met, but she was also suffering from amnesia and several injuries. So what's this mare's excuse? Twilight wondered. Is everypony from Ponyville like this—?

"So are the two of you together?" Pinkie asked out of the blue, staring intently at the feather behind Twilight's ear.

The question itself caused Twilight to cease all brain activity and stare shocked, mouth agape, back at Pinkie. Then she began stuttering like crazy.

"Wha...?!" Twilight exclaimed, utterly baffled. "W-wha, why—what-what makes... what makes you think—?"

Pinkie pointed a hoof at the cerulean feather she wore. "The feather, silly! You're wearing it behind your ear!"

Twilight backed up, no less confused. "S-so?"

"Duh, everypony knows that when a pegasus pony falls in love when somepony else, regardless of race, they give their first molted feather to them as a sign of affection."

Twilight stared at Pinkie for a few seconds, then glanced up in the direction of where her feather hung, then back at Pinkie. Then she began fumbling to remove the accessory. "I didn't know that!" she fretted, so many thoughts running through her head. She was wearing her crush's feather around... everywhere. Her parents saw it, Spike saw it— Doughnut Joe saw it! Oh, what would they all think? What would Rainbow think once she found out? Was this even her first feather? Did Rainbow give it to her, or... It just came loose, didn't it? "I-it's not her first feather, Pinkie; it just came loose. S-she didn't give it to me!"

Too shaken up to use magic, she finally clasped the feather in her hoof. When she was about to remove it from her ear however, Pinkie's hoof stopped her.

"No no no, don't! You'll ruin it!"

Sure enough, Pinkie was right; she could feel the feather in her hoof, and already she knew when she hastily grabbed it, she had grabbed it a bit too roughly. As much as she wanted to keep her crush a secret, she wasn't about to damage the one thing she had of Rainbow.

Removing it gently, she lowered it before her eyes and began fixing it.

"Pinkie, you're right, but... I don't want ponies thinking—! I mean, we aren't..." Twilight hesitated, biting her lip. "We... we're not like that."

Pinkie's shoulders slumped. "Aw, but why not? I mean, the two of you look super-duper cute together!"

Twilight's cheeks became a little warm, yet another sense of déjà vu washing over her; and, if only for a moment before she disguised it with a laugh, she smiled. They did look pretty cute together, in a weird sort of way.

"I'm pretty sure me and her are anything but cute together, Pinkie," Twilight said. "Besides, we've only just become friends—" She paused. "I-I'm sorry, can... can we talk about something else?" Changing the subject was one reason, but it also just hit her that she had gotten terribly off track. She was supposed to be questioning Pinkie, not the other way around.

"How did you and Rainbow come to know one another?" she asked.

At the mention of Rainbow, Pinkie's smile visibly weakened, but she kept it up as the two proceeded to walk. "Hm..." She tapped her chin. "I think it's more a case of me knowing her, actually. I mean, she always flew off whenever I tried to talk to her, muttering something about me being annoying—"

Can't imagine why... Twilight mused.

"—But I'm sure she was in a bad place at the time or something... I mean, I'm not annoying, I'm party-rific! Everypony in Ponyville absolutely loves my parties, even Dashie said they weren't half-bad." She paused, then backtracked. "Accompanied by Fluttershy, of course."

Twilight however, partially listened. She had all but zoned out, her mind trying to comprehend the word, party-rific... "Party-rific..." she whispered out loud. "T-that... that's not a word..."

"It is in my dictionary."

"Your dictionary?" Twilight asked, a tad skeptical.

"Uh-huh," the earth pony nodded.

"So... you're saying you have an interest in literature?"

"Nope," she denied simply. Looking over at Twilight, she grinned. "You're one of those big brainy types, aren't you?"

Twilight was taken aback; she made it sound like a bad thing.

"S-so what if I am?"

"Whoa, hey, no need to get defensive! I think it's nice Rainbow Dash has somepony as smart as you looking out for her." She looked ahead of her in thought. "Though I always imagined she'd go for a more athletic pony like herself... I suppose a pony like you could balance out her hot-headed competitive... ness."

I could? Twilight quickly shook the thought from her head. "I am not in love with her, Pinkie," she insisted.

Pinkie stopped in her tracks, and turned to face her, looking the most serious Twilight had seen her. "The twitchy tail never lies, Twilight."

"The..." Again, Twilight found herself stuttering in utter confusion. "Wh—uh, wha...? Huh?"

"Well," Pinkie started to explain, "when the two of you were talking, my tail began a-twitchin', and I mean seriously twitcha-twitchin'. Then my ears flopped, my legs buckled, and my body shivered all over... and it was all followed up with a sudden feeling of warmth."

"Uh... I-I I'm not a doctor, Pinkie; I can't help with that—"

"No, silly! It's my pinkie sense, it allows me to predict things by triggering a buncha different feelings throughout my body, and I knew such a super spectacular feeling could only mean one thing!"

Pinkie... sense...? The concept baffled her to no end. It had to have been a nickname for something—a gut feeling perhaps, or it was just her being random again. Wouldn't be the first time in our short time together, Twilight thought.

"She's not with anypony, or at least, I'm pretty sure she isn't," Pinkie continued. "She was always competing with others, and talking about some kind of sport, or trick... She never seemed like much of a friend maker though, or a romantic pony for that matter."

"Reminds me a little of myself, in a way..." Twilight mused, though her worries lessened a little as well, knowing Rainbow wasn't in any sort of relationship. It gave her slight hope for a potential relationship as long as nothing in the present went awry.

"With you though, it's different!" Pinkie exclaimed, snapping Twilight from her thoughts. "Rainbow was practically batter in your hooves!"

Er... batter? Twilight pondered the expression for a quick moment before shaking the thought from her head. "Do you usually play matchmaker like this?"

"Nope!" she denied with a wide grin on her face. "But it's a potential relationship between my best-est friend, and my newest friend, and I just know it'll make them both super happy!" Twilight blinked. Was she really Pinkie's friend? No, that would be ridiculous; they barely knew one another...

Noting Twilight's blank stare, Pinkie went on to explain, "That's my talent after all: making other ponies happy! Even if it makes us Ponyville ponies sad..."

Pinkie... Twilight placed a hoof on the mare's shoulder, feeling a twinge of sympathy for her. "They say that if you love somepony, you should let them go." Twilight hesitated, biting her inner lip. "Pinkie, I'm sorry..." she said, her expression becoming melancholy. "If I could make Rainbow return home, I would, but she made up her mind to stay, and, on a more personal note... so much has happened between us that I... I'm not so sure I could bear to see her go... Celestia only knows how it would affect our friendship..."

"Or ours... Hey!" Pinkie chirped up suddenly as a thought then occurred to her. "You should all come and live in Ponyville!"

Twilight withdrew her hoof, looking back at the earth pony with a look of surprise. "Ponyville?"

"Just think," Pinkie said. "We would all be together, and we'd get to see one another every day! It'd be super fun-tacular!"

"Pinkie... that sounds nice, but... I can't." She shook her head. "Not while... not while I'm still a student."

"Couldn't you just study in Ponyville?" Pinkie asked.

"Couldn't I just...?" Twilight smiled at the idea. "Don't be ridiculous, Pinkie; the princess would never allow that." At least, I don't think she would...

After a couple moments spent in silence, Twilight then asked, "Why did she leave?" Pinkie looked at her curiously. "Rainbow, I mean."

"Hm... I don't know... but I bet Fluttershy knows!"

"You mentioned her before... Who is she?"

"Only the kindest and most gentlest mare in all of Ponyville, and maybe all of Equestria!" Pinkie exclaimed. Her excited tone died down a little as she added, "She was also Rainbow Dash's first friend."

First friend...? Twilight tapped her chin with her hoof, looking downwards in thought. I wonder... did something happen between th—

"Twily?" a voice familiar, yet so nostalgic spoke up from where Twilight stood. When she looked in the direction the voice had come from, she was surprised to see her brother there. At first she couldn't believe it.

"Big brother?" she asked, not believing her own eyes. It had been so long; she had so much to say, so much to catch up on. Where was she even to begin?

"Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie exclaimed suddenly, drawing the attention of both siblings. "Uh... sorry, I thought we were all doing the name... thing... I'll give you guys some alone time."

Twilight rolled her eyes as Shining turned back to his sister, smiling softly. "You made a friend?"

"A-a couple... actually." It was safe to say Rainbow and Spike were her friends, but who her brother had referred to, she still wasn't sure. The thought also sparked a new one inside her head. Was her brother a friend? Sure they acted friendly, and liked one another well enough, but... Was it the same case with Spike? Had they been friends this whole time?

Twilight looked away, a bit uncertain and embarrassed, then asked, "Hey, uhm... we're friends too, aren't we, brother?" She turned her gaze back up at her brother, awaiting an answer.

Shining however had been taken aback slightly. Twilight had never referred to him as a friend before. He knew time had passed since they last saw one another—years even—but he hadn't expected his sister to change like this...

It honestly made him happy to see his sister finally call others her friend.

Shining looked down at his sister, and nodded softly. "Best friends," he said.

Twilight smiled, relieved, and for a moment, neither pony found themselves saying anything. For her, it was sudden, and unbearable awkward silence. She needed to say something. "I uh, originally came here with somepony else," Twilight said. "She's around here somewhere..." She glanced around for her before asking, "So, uhm, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here with somepony myself," Shining replied. "Figured since I had the day off, I'd spend it with her. She's been looking for a reason to leave the castle anyways."

That piqued Twilight's interest. Was he escorting somepony? A relative of Celestia perhaps? She looked at her brother with interest. "Who?" she asked.

"Cadance," her brother answered simply.

"Cadance?" Twilight repeated, the excitement in her voice rising. An elated grin appeared on her face. "Really, Cadance is here?"

Cadance, Twilight thought. Her old foalsitter. Maybe even the first pony other than her brother she would've considered her friend, had she only been a little more open to it at the time. Already the memories of the time spent together came rushing back to her, if only then to fill her with a sense of sadness for the years gone by.

Not since she was a filly had she seen her.

But perhaps that would change. Perhaps she could see her again—at this very moment even!

It would be just like old times for her.

"She's around..." Shining said, taking a quick glance around himself. "Said she sensed a love emergency, and teleported off." Hearing that, Twilight's head fell, her smile already gone. Of course wishing to see somepony from her fillyhood was too much to ask...

Twilight sighed, shaking off the disappointment. Maybe she wouldn't get to see her, but at the very least, she could give her a message. "Could you say "Hi" for me, when you see her?"

Shining smiled warmly. "Sure thing, Twilight," he assured her.

Grateful, Twilight returned the smile before asking, "So, were you looking for her?"

Shining nodded. "I wonder where she went off to...?"

I wonder if she's with...? Twilight quickly denied the possibility. If Cadance was still in the park somewhere, she couldn't be with her. That would mean...

"She sensed a love emergency, and teleported off."

Twilight's cheeks grew a deep shade of red. Could that be why Rainbow ran... why she wanted to stay with me? The possibility made some sense, yet Twilight found she couldn't believe it. Hay, she had a hard enough time believing she herself had fallen in love with the mare in such a short time, considering their rocky start. Now it was possible the pegasus liked her back, and Cadance was helping her through it all. But that's silly, Twilight reasoned. There's no way that's all really happening...

She sighed, putting the thought aside for the time being. "I-I know the two of you knew one another, but I never imagined the two of you were friends..."

At that, Shining's own cheeks reddened a little, and his smile grew sheepish. "Yeah, we... we're something like that."

Twilight nodded, though her brother's own signs went unnoticed. Instead, she found herself in thought once more as she couldn't help but wonder. I wonder if Cadance thinks of me as a friend—

Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of her name being called and, as she looked toward the source, she saw Spike walking over to her.

"Really?" Rainbow asked. "You used to foalsit for Twi?"

Cadance nodded. "I did, yes," she replied, then giggled. "Twi... that's a cute nickname... Here I thought Twily was her only nickname."

"Twily?" Rainbow perked up slightly as a small smile grew. "Now there's a funny nickname. Wait... I had thought of that one! Why didn't I go with that?"

"Don't embarrass her with it, Rainbow," Cadance warned.

"I won't, I won't!" Rainbow assured, quickly holding her hooves out before her as Cadance's own sternness melted away, and she chuckled softly, holding a hoof over her lips. Rainbow rolled her eyes and glanced away. "Though maybe I will just once, but... I mean, I could never, I..."

"Love her?" Cadance surmised. Rainbow's eyes widened, and she panicked, stumbling over her own words.

"Wh-what, no! W-why-why would I—? That-that's crazy! Where'd you get an idea like that—?"

"I'm the princess of love, Rainbow," she cut in. "I can sense love from a mile away." Hearing this, Rainbow's composure slowly began to regain itself. Her mind still panicked however, knowing full well there was no getting out of this. Cadance seemed to notice this. "I didn't mean to intrude," she explained softly, "but I could sense you had feelings for somepony... and you seemed conflicted, so I decided to help."

How many princesses are there, anyway? Rainbow wondered for a brief moment before nodding her head in understanding. "I... I appreciate it princess, but what makes you so sure it's Twilight?"

"Well, considering your recent memory loss, and your young age, I can't imagine it being anyone but Twilight... Unless..." Cadance tapped her chin, looking at Rainbow with suspicion. "You're in love with Spike?"

"Spike?" Rainbow repeated, dumbfounded, before shaking her head. "N-no, I...! Argh, alright..." Rainbow sighed in defeat, allowing her shoulders to drop and her gaze to fall to the ground. "Maybe I do... kind of like Twilight." she admitted. "She was the first pony I met since I lost my memory, and she's just... been there for me ever since, you know? I mean, sure we found each other a little annoying at first, and we didn't quite get along, but it's not like I disliked her or anything; hay, I thought she was kinda funny... kind, hardworking... and, well, beautiful." Rainbow paused, looking over at Cadance. "But don't tell anypony I said that." Cadance, already a big smile on her face, simply nodded her head reassuringly.

"She's a humongous egghead in every way, and she stresses out way too often, but... I dunno, I really enjoy being around her. It makes me happy whenever I see the color of her coat, or that dorky manecut of hers that she brushes way too many times. Plus her coat's got like this... really silky feeling whenever we hug, and not to mention her totally adorable laugh she always tries to covers up, and the way she gets all flustered whenever I make some stupid joke..." Rainbow's voice drifted, memories of the night before returning to her. Then there's everything that happened last night... Cadance's excited voice broke through the thought.

"That's adorable!" the alicorn squealed. Rainbow rolled her eyes, a humored smile on her lips.

"I wasn't sure if she liked me like that," she continued, "or at all for that matter... until yesterday, that is. It was then I began thinking that maybe she too liked me as more than a friend. I mean, I think she likes me, but..."

"Twilight never did take much of an interest in love," Cadance spoke. "She always looked at it as just another way to power her magic."

"I suppose that sounds like her... But why would she think—?"

"My magic is powered by love, Rainbow," Cadance said. "Most unicorn magic is affected by emotion in some way..."

As she recalled things about Twilight, a sudden voice, that of a young filly entered her mind. A voice from a memory long forgotten... at a playground, on the swings...

"You're a princess. I'm just a regular old unicorn."

"I... I think she may have wanted to be like me."

"You?" Rainbow remarked. "Why? I mean, Twi's great the way she is."

"It's sweet you think so, Rainbow... but Twilight's dream has always been to achieve magical prowess similar to Princess Celestia's. Guess she figured if she could pull off magic like mine, it would help her be like the princess she always wanted to be."

Rainbow's expression saddened a little. "I... I had no idea."

"I eventually did explain to her what love was, and... I think she may have lost interest after I told her." Cadance smiled sheepishly as Rainbow's own expression turned slightly peeved. "B-but I don't think she ever lost complete interest!" Cadance continued. "I think she simply needed somepony to rekindle that interest." Rainbow's annoyance faded as she looked back at Cadance and took in what the princess told her. However, her brow scrunched up in confusion, cluing Cadance to help her out.

"I'm saying she might like you too, if she's already warmed up to you this much." Cadance winked at her. "It's worth a shot." Hearing her words of encouragement, Rainbow's face lit up for a moment, but the reminder of what led her astray in the first place entered her thoughts.

"But...!" Rainbow groaned out in frustration. "It's just... what about my other home? My friends in Ponyville?" Rainbow glanced down defeated, her voice growing weaker. "I can't just... I can't just leave them..."

"Even though you don't remember them?" Cadance asked.

"They remember me..." Rainbow replied. "It... it's not fair to them."

"Seeing the way you are now may hurt them."

"Then what should I do?"

"I wish I knew..." Cadance sighed, taking a moment to think. "Something tells me though that the answer may lie in Ponyville. Why not travel down there, for one day?" Cadance suggested. "Doing so may help you remember... and you could maybe track down the ponies you once knew—though I wouldn't mention your memory loss around them," she quickly added. "If your heart really is content on staying here with Twilight, then... you've got to convince your friends, and yourself that you aren't abandoning anypony! You've just found a new home, and... you'll see each other again someday."

We'll see each other again... The words lingered in Rainbow's head, moments after Cadance finished speaking, causing an eventual, small grin to spread across her face. It was enough to convince herself that she wasn't really leaving behind anypony.

But traveling to Ponyville also meant no Twilight. Rainbow doubted the unicorn would join her on such short notice, but perhaps it was better if she did this on her own. "I'd hate to leave Twi, even if only for a day," Rainbow said. "But... that's not a bad plan." She smiled at Cadance. And... it's not like I'll be alone. Something tells me I'll have some company... I still have to set things right with her...

"Then it seems my work is done. You came here with Twilight, right?"

Rainbow's eyes widened at the reminder. "Oh crud, you're right!" She hit her forehead with a hoof. "I ran off and completely left her behind! What kinda friend am I...?" Rainbow hopped down from the bench, turning her head back towards Cadance.

"Thanks, Cadance... I think, I mean I appreciate the talk, but I gotta find Twilight, and talk to her... about all that." She turned once more, then paused, glancing back at Cadance. She hesitated, her gaze faltering for a moment before it returned to the alicorn. "Hey, um... we are friends... right?"

"I would hope so," Cadance replied simply with a smile.

Guess Twi rubbed off on me a little... Rainbow smiled at the thought, then nodded at Cadance. "Cool! Alright, well... later!" she added before running off to reunite with a certain unicorn, just as another, with a white coat and striped-blue mane, walked over to the seated alicorn.

"Cadance, there you are!"

Cadance's ears perked up at the call, and she turned, curious. "Shining?" she wondered as her somewhat... tired-looking coltfriend walked up to her. Was he looking for me this whole time?

"I know you sensed a broken heart Cady, but... Next time, warn me before you teleport away like that."

Cadance frowned, and stepped down, stepping over to where Shining stood before giving him a loving nuzzle. "Sorry, Shiny," she said soothingly, and in a voice so innocent any annoyance melted away on the spot.

"W-well it wasn't so bad, I suppose," Shining said softly. "On the upside, I got to see Twily." Cadance pulled away, her interest piqued. "She was here with actual friends... Though she ran off when Spike showed up and told her... something, I... I couldn't quite tell what it was."

Cadance chuckled softly. "You make it sound like Twilight's incapable of making friends."

"Not incapable, just..." Shining scratched the back of his head. "I was unsure if she'd ever warm up to the idea of friendship... She says "Hi" by the way."

Both ponies shared a quick, yet soft chuckle. "That's sweet of her," Cadance remarked. She's grown so much; she's no longer the filly I once knew, she thought, with a slight, proud smile on her lips. If she were standing here right now, I honestly don't know what I would say—

"So," Shining said, removing Cadance from her thoughts. "Who were the ponies this time? Or was it just one?"

Ponies? Cadance wondered. Oh, right... She smiled, walking past Shining, her tail brushing against his side playfully. "Just a friend with a troubled heart."

Shining turned, looking at his girlfriend with a confused expression. "Friend?"

Rainbow ran, eager to reunite with a certain unicorn. The direction she was running in also happened to be the one Spike was leading Twilight and Pinkie down, and mares with a rainbow mane, or a lavender coat stood out rather easily in a crowd of ponies.

Both their faces lit up in joy as they spotted one another, and ran over, reuniting in a happy embrace. The hug lasted several seconds, with an occasional nuzzle in the mix as both ponies simply relished the feeling of being in the others' hooves.

Pinkie merely stood back a bit and watched, not wishing to interrupt, while Spike stood watching in curiosity, confused by their sudden, loving actions.

The two pulled apart, their hooves gently remaining on one another's shoulders.

"Twilight—"

"Rainbow—"

Both mares paused, looking at the other for a moment before breaking out in a small bout of laughter. Twilight was the first to speak. "You first," she said.

Rainbow let out a sigh, the smile from her face fading. "Sorry for leaving you like that, Twi," she said, shrugging her shoulders. "I guess I just needed to figure some things out..."

Twilight shook her head, looking at Rainbow with a soft smile. "Neither of us need to apologize Rainbow, but... Sorry for letting you leave. I should've tried to stop you, or have gone with you... Though, it's like you said... you needed some time alone." At least before Spike and Cadance found her, and Cadance talked to her about what, Spike couldn't tell her.

But knowing Cadance had indeed found Rainbow, made the pegasus's own feelings towards her a little clearer. She remembered her chest tightening and her face breaking out in a sudden blush when Spike had first told her.

She looked as the pegasus before her hesitated, looking away a bit, and it caused the lovestruck part of her to wonder: if Rainbow did like her, was she about to confess?

"Twi, this isn't easy for me to say..."

Yes? Twilight thought eagerly, feeling her heart skip a beat.

"I'm going back to Ponyville."

And just like that, Twilight's heart broke in two.

"N-no..." She backed up a bit, shaking her head. "You-you can't—"

"Don't be so dramatic, Twi," Rainbow cut in, smiling. "It'll only be for a little bit."

A... a little bit...? Everypony looked at her, curious. "What do you mean, for a little bit?" Twilight asked.

"What I mean is, there are ponies out there who consider me their friend, and... even if I can't remember them, what kinda friend would I be if I just... left them hanging?" Rainbow walked ahead, over to where Pinkie stood. Pinkie smiled softly at her old friend. "Pinkie, right? I'm willing to travel back with you, and hopefully set everything straight, but just... don't mention my amnesia; it... it's painful for everypony else as is."

Knowing there was nothing she could say, Pinkie merely nodded.

"So I want to visit my old hometown and let you all know I'm alright," Rainbow continued, turning back around. "But also that my new home, for the time being, is with her." Rainbow motioned to Twilight. Twilight herself blushed as Rainbow gazed at her. "With Twilight."

The evening sun slowly dipped into the horizon as the group reached the Canterlot train station. Having allowed Spike to stay awhile longer on his own before sending him home once he began feeling tired, Twilight now waited to the side of the train station, rather impatient as Rainbow stood talking with Pinkie near the train.

"I really wish you'd reconsider, Dashie, but... if you really are happy here, then... well, who am I to stop you? It's enough just knowing that you're safe with..." Pinkie began to trail off. "With, uh..."

"Twilight?" Rainbow assumed. "Pinkie, how did you already forget?"

"It's hard enough remembering the faces of everypony in Ponyville, Dashie," she said, then grinned sheepishly. "Remembering ponies from other cities isn't exactly my forte."

Rainbow smiled a bit before rolling her eyes. She looked off near the direction where Twilight stood. "I still need to say goodbye to her... Excuse me." Rainbow turned to leave, when her thoughts reminded her of something she had been needing to ask. "Hey, uh... just wondering..." Rainbow began, turning back around to face the pink earth pony. "Why it'd take so long for you to find me?"

"Oh, about that! You see, when you first disappeared, ponies said you flew off in the direction of Canterlot, and at first, I had misheard and thought they said Candylot... There actually is a Candylot by the way! They make the best rock candies in all of Equestria! I found that out when I... uh," Pinkie scratched the back of her head, "traveled there by mistake—"

A cerulean hoof was shoved suddenly before her lips, silencing her. "Got it," Rainbow said. "Thanks..." She sighed, shaking her head as she turned and headed over to Twilight.

Twilight smiled, although a little nervously as she saw Rainbow begin to approach her. Seeing Twilight's smile, Rainbow couldn't help but smile herself.

"H-hey again," Twilight greeted. "Are you sure about this? I mean, I'm not going to stop you; I think it's good you're doing this, but..."

"Thanks Twi, but... I'm sure. Try not to miss me too much while I'm gone, okay?"

"I'll try... As long as you promise you'll be back soon."

"I promise I'll be back before you know it," Rainbow said with a reassuring grin. "Try not to have any nightmares while I'm gone, alright?"

Nightmares? Twilight blinked. She had forgotten all about that... If Rainbow left, would they worsen? Or maybe they would disappear right along with her. Maybe I could stay up all night, and the night after; I'm sure I could find something to keep me occupied, or a spell of some sort... I still have to write a letter to Princess Celestia, and tell her about all this anyway. No doubt that's going to keep me up for a while...

She looked into Rainbow's eyes and nodded slowly. "I-I'll try." A sudden, playful smile crept upon her lips, and raising her voice a bit, she added in a faux-irritated tone, "Just be back in time for the Wonderbolts show. I spent a lot of money on those, and I don't want to go alone."

"I will Twi, I will! It won't be long, I swear!" Rainbow insisted, holding a hoof up in defense, but to her surprise, Twilight began chuckling lightly.

"I was only kidding, Rainbow. Or... trying to, anyway. Trying to lighten the mood, you know? Take all the time you need." She looked away a bit, blushing a bit. "I meant it though, about not wanting to go alone, so... if you do make it back in time, I'd be more than happy to accompany you, if you were up to it."

Rainbow grinned. "Totally!"

"So, um..." Twilight trailed off as the silence between them grew, knowing full well Rainbow had to leave any moment, and for the time in what felt like forever to the young mare, would be without her rainbow-maned friend. The thought alone was hard to accept, and already she found herself struggling to keep Rainbow here beside her, but she was out of words, and anything her mind wanted to say, was caught beneath a net of nerves.

She averted her gaze away from the cerulean face and rainbow mane before her in favor of the ground, simply waiting for the mare to leave so she could once again look up. Seeing the first pony she ever considered her friend now about to leave was hard, but when that very same pony was also her very first crush... it was near unbearable.

Unbeknownst to her, Rainbow was having an equally hard time-not just bearing their departure, but the saddened look on the unicorn's face.

Darn it, Twi, cheer up! Rainbow thought. Now you're making me all sad...

Then, as she thought up ways to make her feel a little better, she remembered something Cadance had told her that, at the time, had made herself feel a little better.

"I'm saying she might like you too. It's worth a shot."

Her heart began beating faster, a knot already forming in her stomach.

Here goes nothing, she thought, swallowing down a nervous gulp before leaning a little to Twilight's side, the hairs of her mane brushing against the side of Twilight's face. At first Twilight simply passed the feeling off as a buzzing insect, or some weird itch, but then she felt a different sensation: one that wasn't irritating, or itchy. It was warm, and... a little bit dry, but moist as the same time.

It was then that it occurred to her: Rainbow had kissed her right cheek.

Twilight's sudden, surprised gaze snapped back up from the ground just as Rainbow pulled away. Her cheeks were an obvious shade of red, and she wore a small, shy grin. "Bye," she whispered, a different, more hopeful tone in her voice before running off in the direction of the train headed to Ponyville.

Rainbow's goodbye, and her running off barely registered in the young unicorn's mind; she could only stand, stunned, with a hoof now covering the patch of fur Rainbow had ever so lightly kissed, a thousand questions crowding her mind at once.

Then, all of those thoughts and questions were replaced by a single, lopsided and goofy grin as everything, even Rainbow's own feelings became clear to her.

"She likes me too... She likes me too!" Twilight exclaimed, jumping up a little, and attracting some unwanted attention.

But it all went unnoticed by the elated unicorn.

The eventual question of why Rainbow liked her didn't go as unnoticed, and her smile fell the more she thought about it. As happy as she was that Rainbow actually liked her, it puzzled her as to why. She looked around the area hastily about to question the pegasus, when she remembered said pegasus already left. Her ears drooped at the realization. "She couldn't even stick around..."

However it didn't bother her for very long.

She knew their time wouldn't be ending anytime soon. They had a whole year ahead of them, and Celestia only knew how many more would follow. "Oh well, I'll just have to ask when she gets home."

She smiled confidently at her resolution, then turned, with a happy step in her walk, finding herself with the same feeling she felt the day she was accepted into Celestia's school.

Only this time, she was even happier.

(Twilight's) Day 7 - Tomorrow Is a Long Time

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Twilight's sudden, surprised gaze snapped back up from the ground just as Rainbow pulled away. Her cheeks were an obvious shade of red, and she wore a small, shy grin. "Bye," Rainbow whispered, a different, more hopeful tone in her voice before running off in the direction of the train headed to Ponyville.

Then, all of those thoughts and questions were replaced by a single, lopsided and goofy grin as everything, even Rainbow's own feelings became clear to her.

Without wasting a moment, she lit up her horn.

An orchid light enveloped the pegasus, catching the running mare in her tracks, and spinning her around, floated her back to where Twilight stood. Rainbow's blush remained on her cheeks while she struggled for a bit in a vain attempt to free herself before ultimately giving up. She sighed, looking back at Twilight with a sheepish smile.

She imagined Twilight would, at the very least, be ticked that she kissed then ran, but to her own surprise, Twilight was also smiling, although hers was softer, and loving.

The pegasus blinked in confusion. "Twilight...?"

"You turned and ran before..." She hesitated, leaning in towards Rainbow until their muzzles almost touched. Rainbow could feel the unicorn's own, quickened breaths on her lips. "Before I got the chance to say... I like you too."

At first, Rainbow had a look of disbelief, triggering a slight giggle in the unicorn. Seconds later and the look of disbelief turned into a small, yet happy grin, giving Twilight all the confidence she needed.

She closed the gap between their muzzles, and reached for the other mare's lips with her own... only to fail. Rainbow's muzzle was in the way.

Twilight backed away a little, her cheeks burning, and a sheepish smile on her lips. "I've... never kissed before," she said, to which Rainbow replied with a roll of her eyes, smiling softly. "I'm guessing I have to tilt my muzzle a little?"

"Twilight—" The pegasus was cut off by Twilight pushing her muzzle forward, through the magic barrier that held her afloat, and kissing her awkwardly on the lips. Rainbow's eyes widened a bit at the bold move, and the added... unfamiliar sensation of the kiss, but only for a moment. Her eyelids soon fell until they covered her eyes completely, mirroring Twilight.

It was their first, and while neither knew what to make of it, both mares couldn't deny they loved it. It was soft, despite the bit of dryness on Rainbow's lips. There was hardly a taste to be found; Twilight found herself slightly annoyed by the fact. At the very least, she had expected a hint of spice, like a liquified rainbow, but strangely, she found herself enjoying it nonetheless. Rainbow's lips also had the tingling feel of her own magic on them, adding to the overall feel.

A few moments later and Twilight reluctantly broke away, but remained ever so close to Rainbow, their muzzles inches apart. Both mares, with their eyes now open and half-lidded, stared lovingly into the others' eyes.

Twilight was the first to speak.

"Wow..." Twilight sighed out, smiling. "That was..." She paused, finding herself at a loss of words. "Wow..."

Rainbow could only grin a little, humored.

Seeing Rainbow's grin broke Twilight's own smitten gaze. It was also then that a sudden question entered her mind.

"So... uhm..." Twilight hesitated, looking hopefully into the eyes of her likely new girlfriend. "What is it you like about me?" A moment passed before Rainbow's lips parted, about to give an answer, when Twilight cut her off. "It's my personality isn't it? Or maybe my bookish smarts? My looks?" She smiled bashfully, brushing a hoof against the ground. "I mean, I don't try too hard, but—"

She found herself interrupted suddenly by a voice, one that in no way resembled the feminine, raspy voice she had come to know, but rather it was deeper, and remained ever so familiar to the unicorn. "Twilight!"

"Wha—?" Twilight shot up from her desk, her previous surroundings of the sunset and train station—even the pegasus she loved having already vanished into the air. Her sights were replaced by the bland, and rather unexciting interior of her tower study.

Looking around frantically, Twilight soon relaxed once she saw it was only Spike who had called her name. Allowing the realization to set in, she breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, it's just you, Spike. Don't startle me like that."

Spike rolled his eyes. "Yeah, just me," he said, walking over to her. "Sorry, but you zoned out again, Twilight."

"I..." Twilight's ears flattened, and her gaze fell. I was daydreaming again... she thought as she put the pieces together. The third time since... since she left.

Hours had passed since Rainbow left Canterlot, and had left her... But she had been sure to leave her with an unsuspecting going away present. A present Twilight could not stop herself from fantasizing about, albeit said fantasies were a tad romanticized.

Spike had stepped in time and time again to snap her out of it, and every time he did, it made it all a little easier to accept; but it made it no less painful to know that for the time being, Rainbow was gone. She hid the feelings the best she could, looking down on the work sprawled out on her desk and away from Spike. "Y-yeah, g-guess I did," she replied, her voice shaking a bit.

I need to get my mind off of... off of what happened. Spike raised an eyebrow, suspicious as he watched his friend. "I've um, been... thinking about writing to Princess Celestia about our living arrangements, and debating whether I should find her a job, or have Rainbow registered as a Canterlot citizen now that she's decided on staying, but she left so abruptly, I... I can't stop thinking about it..." Twilight finished. About what could have been... Her voice regained a hint of sadness while her sudden attempt to get her mind off Rainbow leaving ultimately failed.

Spike sighed, putting a comforting claw over Twilight's own slumped shoulder. "Twilight... I, I know you wanted to go with her, but... You can't just leave for another town on such short notice, and, well... think about how the princess would react to you leaving without her permission. Plus," he recalled. "Didn't she say this was something she ought to do on her own?"

Twilight shrugged, not a single, visible change in her demeanor.

A part of Spike figured maybe she was just tired, and getting a good night's sleep may just help. If anything, enough time would pass that she'd be seeing Rainbow again in no time. "Maybe you should try getting some sleep—"

Twilight's eyes widened in panic. "No!" she exclaimed suddenly, startling the young dragon. "I mean..." Her voice softened. "N-no. I-I can't." She motioned to the top of her desk, specifically to a stack of spell books beside the sprawled out parchment, and one that already lay open. "I... I was actually flipping through these books here, looking for a spell that may help keep me awake!"

"Help keep you...? Twilight... that can't be healthy. Why would you want to stay awake anyway?"

"Oh... just a little trouble sleeping is all," she replied, passing the question off with a wave of her hoof.

"I'm pretty sure there's a cure for that," Spike replied with a slight smile.

"Well, no worries, Spike; I found a few easy-to-master spells, and... well, hay, I only need to stay awake for a little bit," she assured him, turning back to the pages of her book. "It won't be forever."

"Alright..." Spike nodded, deciding Twilight hopefully knew what she was doing. He turned, stretching his arms out while his back arched slightly. "Well, maybe you don't want to sleep, but this dragon's gonna hit the hay. See you tomorrow."

"Yeah, see you..." Twilight whispered out in response as he left to go downstairs. "Alright Twi, focus..." Casting a simple, easy-to-learn spell from the book that currently lay open, her horn sparked to life and encased her figure in a brief, orchid light. A moment later, and already she felt her eyelids become lighter, and her mind clearer.

Her eyes blinked open. "It... worked?" She looked herself over as she muttered to herself, astonished. "I-I feel wide awake..." Twilight's face broke out into a small grin. "Awesome!" she exclaimed, then remembering the time, put a hoof over her lips, blushing lightly.

Some moments passed after Twilight had cast the spell, and was in need for something to do. Grabbing some unread books from her room, she trotted down into Rainbow's room for a comfy place to lie.

But as she started to read, she quickly discovered that she couldn't focus, despite her best efforts. Going from book to book, her growing thoughts were what captivated her attention, and the emotional spikes in the stories she read from undeniably affected them.

Rainbow's probably in Ponyville right about now... Hope she's alright... Twilight thought, turning a page. Oh what am I doing? I'm sure she's fine, Twilight assured herself as she flipped another page.

But what if she isn't? Oh she's probably scared, and alone... I shouldn't have let her go alone with that Ponyville pony...

Another hour passed before she eventually closed the book she had opened, and got up, leaving for the balcony in favor of some stargazing; but even as she lay on her back, lazily gazing up at the sky, the thoughts oscillating in her head refused to stop. Her brow scrunched up in thought, and for a moment, she didn't blame herself.

But I couldn't go, Twilight argued with herself, and I shouldn't be blaming myself! She rolled her eyes, a smile on her lips. Besides, she's a strong mare; I'm sure she's fine.

A few moments later and the smile from her face faded, and her gaze deviated from the stars above. She chewed anxiously on her lower lip as her thoughts slunk back into worry.

Is it so wrong to worry about a friend though? Especially when that friend is your potential girlfriend?

These thoughts continued well into the morning. As the sun slowly began to rise, she was, for a moment, torn from her thoughts the second she heard her stomach rumble.

She wouldn't want me to worry, Twilight concluded, pouring out some batter onto a pan. She was running on empty and wasn't about to selfishly awake Spike for the sake of a nice meal. She could do it herself, and... it was just pancakes.

But I can't stop worrying! Or having these stupid thoughts! She mentally screamed, and without thinking, yanked the pan handle downwards with her magic, causing said breakfast to fly up into the air. The pancake fell from the air, and unknowing to Twilight, impaled itself upon her horn just as a tired Spike came walking in. His eyes were scrunched together, a claw over his mouth as he yawned. When he opened them, the first thing he saw was Twilight in the dining room, cooking... something. Whatever it was, it didn't smell half-bad.

"Twilight?"

"O-oh, Spike!" Twilight quickly turned with a sheepish grin on her face. "You're awake?"

"Yeah, it's sort of morning already," he replied with a slight chuckle.

Twilight smiled softly as she turned off the stove. "I figured you would've slept in."

Spike dismissed the idea with a wave of his claw. "Nah. Besides, I smelled something cooking," he proceeded to explain as he attempted to look over the mare's shoulders. His gaze shifted to the top of her head as he found himself smiling softly. "I take it you were attempting to make pancakes?"

"How'd you guess?"

She really hasn't noticed... Spike pointed a claw at her horn. "There's a pancake on your horn."

"Hm?" Twilight glanced up to see one hanging right above her line of sight. "Well what do you know? There is," Twilight noted nonchalantly as she began walking, leaving the dining area favorably for the den. With Spike following, she soon found a small couch and plopped down upon it, slouching against the armrest. She tore off a small chunk of the pancake with her magic and popped into her mouth.

The sight alone was hard for Spike to watch as he walked over to her. First she stays up all night, and now this... He figured that it must've been Rainbow who was responsible for her sudden, dispirited behavior. He hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "Twilight... I know you miss Rainbow—"

"I honestly can't stop thinking about her, Spike."

"She'll be back before you know it, Twilight. Come on, Rainbow wouldn't want you waiting up for her like this."

"Maybe she would." Twilight shrugged, "I can't think of anything else to do, or anything that'll get my mind off her for that matter."

"We could always do something together," Spike suggested, only for Twilight to shake her head.

"There's hardly a thing we could do, Spike." She looked him in the eyes. "Sorry, but..."

"Guess we don't have that many shared interests," Spike agreed with a weak smile. Shaking his head, he walked closer to her. "Well, sorry, but I don't want to see my friend sit around, brooding all day."

"I'm not brooding..."

"Alright, come on." Twilight felt his claw on her upper back, pushing her upwards and off the couch where she lay slouched.

"No, Spike, stop, I'm fine, really—!" Her pleas fell on deaf ears as she already found herself on all four of her hooves and heading up the stairs, lead by an unrelenting dragon.

"Why not go outside for a bit," Spike suggested. "Clear your head, maybe visit the princess or something. Perhaps tell her all about what happened between you and Rainbow. Maybe you could even see her about a new assignment... now that Rainbow is no longer yours."

The two entered the main lobby area, Spike continuing to walk Twilight to the exit. Twilight herself pondered the idea for a moment. "Perhaps she has a new lesson for me... I... I suppose I could." Spike nodded and went to open the door just as Twilight's thoughts again turned fretful. She turned to him. "But I couldn't just show up unannounced—!"

Her voice was interrupted, and their attention both turned to a vaguely familiar mare on the other side of the door, around the same age as Twilight. Her coat was a light yellow, her long mane red with magenta streaks. A pair of glasses sat upon her muzzle, three stars encircling a crescent moon making up her cutie mark.

Her hoof was raised, as if ready to knock, but the second she saw the two, her hoof went behind her head and she smiled a soft, sheepish smile. "Oh, uh... e-excuse me," she said. "Uhm... Twilight Sparkle?"

Twilight cocked her head a bit, replying, "Yes?"

"Uh, well... I um, don't know if you remember me, but... my name's Moon Dancer."

Twilight blinked. The name didn't sound... all that familiar... "Okay?"

"I was one of Celestia's students, and... wow this is awkward, um..." Moon Dancer hesitated, brushing a hoof against the pavement where she stood. "Some of the other girls have been talking about you recently, and, well..." With a glimmer of hope in her eyes, she looked at Twilight. "Would you like to hang out?"

Twilight's face remained unchanged, and she looked back at Moon Dancer with the very same look of confusion as before. "Why?" she asked.

The hope faded from Moon Dancer's eyes and she looked down at her hooves. "No, I mean... it's just..." She shrugged. "I remember you; in particular, I remember how well you excelled over the rest of us. Hearing Lemon Hearts and the others mention you after all this time, well, it reminded me that I never got to know you and figured if you just... wanted somepony to talk to, or hang out with..." Her voice drifted off, but she hoped Twilight at least understood what she was asking.

And she did, but Twilight quickly found herself split. Exchanging a quick look with Spike, Twilight debated her two choices. Student or teacher, student or teacher, student or...

While silently debating, Spike spoke up, choosing to answer for her. If she didn't want to see the princess, maybe she'd be willing to spend time with a fellow former student. "I'm sure she would love—" Before Spike could finish, Twilight cut in, having made her decision.

"I-I'm sorry," she said. "I... I have to talk with Princess Celestia about a new assignment." She looked to her left where Spike stood beside her, hinting him to agree with her. "Isn't that right, Spike?"

Spike scratched the back of his head. "Uh, well..." Sure, he had wanted her to go see the princess, but after seeing the sad look on Moon Dancer's face... He quickly found himself torn.

"I see." Moon Dancer sighed, once again allowing her gaze to drop. What more was to be expected from Princess Celestia's star pupil? "Well... that figures, but maybe tomorrow—!" Her voice lit up for all but a moment before Twilight silenced her.

"N-no," she said. "Not tomorrow." Twilight brushed her one foreleg over the over while averting her eyes. "I... it's just, I-I'm waiting for somepony..."

Spike's expression softened as he looked up at his friend. "Twilight..."

"It's that pegasus friend of yours, isn't it?" Moon Dancer surmised, surprising the pair. "A couple of the girls were intrigued by her, and kept referring to her as Twilight's newest, eh... uh..." She sighed, leaning in close to Twilight's ear, and whispered, "Look, the two of you aren't dating or anything... right?"

"Wha—?" Twilight jerked backwards, falling back on her haunches. "No!"

Moon Dancer put both her hooves up in defense. "Just making sure!" Spike could only watch, puzzled as the scene unfolded before him.

Steadily, Twilight got up, and let out a huff as the eyed the other unicorn. "Look, if you want somepony to "hang" with, I'm sure Spike would be more than willing to keep you company."

Spike looked between the two before holding out a single claw. "Excuse us for a moment." Grabbing Twilight's foreleg, he urged her to turn. She craned her neck, lowering herself to Spike's level as he whispered to her, "Twilight, what are you doing?"

"That's for pushing me to go see Princess Celestia on such short notice," she whispered back.

"I was only doing it for your own good."

"Well I'm doing this for you," she argued back.

"No you're not!" he exclaimed, keeping his voice hushed.

"Well, when was the last time you had any sort of interaction with a pony besides me or Rainbow?"

"Yesterday," Spike answered easily. "With Cadance."

"Ugh, that doesn't count." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Come on, the two of you might have some things in common."

"Somehow, I doubt it," Spike muttered as Twilight turned to face the other unicorn.

"So... uh, classmate." She looked at Moon Dancer with an overly friendly smile. "What do you say?"

Unsure, Moon Dancer shifted a glance at Spike, then at the ground. "I guess..."

"Great!" Twilight exclaimed, stepping past the two before looking back at the pair. "Well then, I'll just... be on my way!" she said with a friendly salute, then turned and trotted down the spiral of stairs.

As Twilight trotted out of sight, Moon Dancer sighed and turned to Spike. "I didn't want to say anything, but..." Her ears flattened against her head, her expression becoming worried. "She... does realize she has a pancake through her horn, right?"

Spike shrugged and met her gaze with an unsure grin. "It's, uh... breakfast on the go?" The idea caused her to smile slightly.

A moment passed in silence, with both dragon and pony searching for something to say to the other. Finally, Spike asked, "So... by any chance, are you into comics?"

The question posed caused Moon Dancer's face to light up and for the first time since her arrival, she looked genuinely excited. "Am I!"

Canterlot's towers and spires were caught beneath a thin layer of light gray clouds as Twilight began her mid-morning walk through the city.

Despite the rather bleak feeling she got from the city, Twilight noticed various ponies out and about, carrying on with their day, though her interest didn't linger. She had other things on her mind, and as she tore off bit after bit of the pancake still on her horn with her magical prowess, eating them without much thought, she couldn't help but fret over what she would say or do when she got to the palace.

Okay, Twi... just relax, she told herself. It's simple. You approach the doors, ask the guards for entry, walk to Princess Celestia's corridors... while no doubt being escorted, say "Hi," then ask for an assignment or something. Simple. Twilight smiled, confident in her plan. As she continued walking however, another thought occurred to her that caused her to lose her smile. I should really talk to her about Rainbow too... she thought, the last of her breakfast eaten just as she neared the palace. I only hope she doesn't react too negatively—

"Halt!" came the sudden sound of two voices, and before Twilight knew it, two white pegasus wings crossed in an X formation before her, and startled her enough to send her backwards a couple hoofsteps with a stifled shriek. She had walked right up to the doors without even noticing...

"Who goes there?" one of the guards asked. She looked up and saw two taller pegasus guards, and behind them, a large pair of goldenrod doors, bordered in yellow.

"T-twi... Twilight S-sparkle," she answered as she collected herself. "I... I'm here to see Princess Celestia as her protégé."

The two guards exchanged looks with one another. "You... do realize it's summer vacation," said the other guard.

"I'm not... that kind of student."

The two again looked at the other, before ultimately deciding to let her pass. "Very well..." the very same guard said. "The princess is currently in her royal chambers; I'll escort you there."

Figures... She smiled politely at the guard. "Thank you."

The doors opened and in walked the guard into the grand entrance hall, Twilight following suit across the crimson carpet. Two halls were present on their left and right, a set of stairs before them with great glass stain windows: one of the sun, and one of the moon. Tapestries in shades of purple and blue decorated the lavender, yellow-bordered walls.

The older pegasus guard led Twilight up the main stairs, and up another set, into a long hall. Unbeknownst to Twilight as she walked, she captured the attention of another young guard pony—a pegasus with an orange coat and sapphire mane, who, until then, had been talking with another young mare.

The mare in question flushed, leaning up close to him. "I wouldn't mind bumping into you more often, Flash—" She stopped, noting the stallion of her interest staring off at an unfamiliar unicorn mare. "Er... Flash?"

"She is the single most beautiful mare I've ever laid eyes on—"

The mare stomped her hoof. "Flash!"

The door to Celestia's chambers opened as the guard pony entered, lowering his head in a respecting bow at the sight of the princess. "Pardon me, your majesty," he said, causing Celestia's right ear to flicker as she stood with her attention focused on a stocked bookshelf. Twilight peered into the room from behind the guard. From what she could see, Celestia seemed be looking for... something. What that something was, she couldn't tell. "You have a visitor."

"Oh, and who might that be?"

"She says she's a student," the guard informed her. He looked back on Twilight for a moment before continuing. "Some... Twilight Sparkle."

Celestia turned to face the guard, her interest piqued. "Twilight Sparkle?" Sure enough, she saw the familiar colorings of her student's coat and mane behind her loyal guard.

Twilight smiled shyly. "Hi..."

Celestia returned the smile before looking to the guard. "You're free to go," she said, to which the guard nodded, thanked her, and left, allowing Twilight to walk in. Her steps were hesitant, her eyes focused more so on the ground than on Celestia, even after she reached her.

"I must say it's a surprise to see you come all the way here," Celestia said, looking down at Twilight. While considering the reasons she was here, Celestia's smile faded from her face, and she couldn't help but notice the distinct lack of a familiar pegasus. "Is there a problem?" she asked Twilight. "I see Rainbow's not here with you."

"Yeah, she's... uh, i-in Ponyville..."

"Ponyville?"

"Yeah, she sort of lives there..." Twilight explained, her gaze unchanging. "But she has... uh, well... i-if it's okay!" The unicorn chewed on the inner part of her lip as her brushed her hoof against the tile floor, searching for the right words to use. "She... may have chosen to stay in Canterlot with me, and will be back any day." Twilight looked up at her teacher with traces of worry in her eyes. "Is that okay?"

Twilight had expected Celestia to react in a number of ways, but in all honesty, she would never have expected a warm smile and comforting hoof on her shoulder to be one of them. "If you're okay with it," Celestia said, "then I suppose I have no choice but to allow it."

"Even though it doesn't follow student protocol?" Twilight questioned.

"I'll make an exception."

Twilight let out a soft sigh of relief, averting her gaze from the princess as she allowed it all to sink in. A small smile crept upon her lips, and for a moment she found it a little funny. And I was worried, she thought, her gaze returning to meet Celestia's as she maintained her gratuitous smile. "Thanks."

Celestia nodded. "Now was that the only reason for your visit today, or was there something more?"

Twilight's ears perked up. "Oh, r-right! I... uh, i-is there a new assignment for me by any chance, or perhaps something new you'd like for me to study? I mean, now that Rainbow no longer needs to be looked after, I... I figured my regular studies should resume."

"It depends," Celestia said. "Did the two of you learn from this ordeal?"

Twilight shook her head, smiling softly. "Where do I begin...?" She searched her mind, taking a moment to collect her thoughts. "I... I don't know if it was exactly what you wanted us to learn, but... I think we both learned a little humility, and... while I think we still have a lot to learn... we learned about friendship too."

Celestia smiled. "That's precisely what I wanted the two of you to learn," she said before turning to her left, Twilight immediately following.

"But why?" Twilight asked, walking by her teacher's side. "I mean... friendship has nothing to do with magic, right?"

"You'd be surprised to learn just how powerful a magic friendship is," Celestia responded, but her response only confused the young mare even further.

Twilight's brow furrowed in thought. "So... you're saying friendship is magic?" she asked.

"It is a type of magic, yes."

The two stopped—Celestia stopping in particular at the same shelf she had been at before, this time looking for a new set of books. The pause gave Twilight a little time to think inside her own head. So she thought more about friendship, how it could possibly be a form of magic, and of the ponies she had made friends with, and the friendships she had reclaimed.

The thoughts also reminded her that she still didn't know if Celestia was a friend.

Twilight berated herself for what she was about to ask... but a part of her needed to know. "I'm going to sound like such a foolish pony," Twilight began, "but... are we friends?"

"Of course," Celestia replied simply. She turned, and smiled down on her student. "You thought we were not?"

Twilight rubbed a hoof against her other foreleg. "I thought you were my teacher."

"Can I not be both?"

Twilight shrugged, softly nodding her head. "I suppose..." She smiled, and knowing they were friends gave her the courage she needed to ask the next question she had in mind. "Um, Princess... this is just a random question, but... have you ever been in love before?"

Celestia raised an eyebrow. "Love?" she questioned. "Why do you ask?"

Twilight scratched the back of her head. "Oh... you know, just wondering, what with all this talk about friendship and what not," she said while nonchalantly looking off to the side.

Celestia's surprise faded, and was replaced with a soft smile. "In another world, yes."

"You mean like, in literature?" Twilight grinned, her eyes sparkling as they returned to her mentor. "I can already think of a few likable characters myself."

Celestia softly chuckled as she held a hoof over her lips. "Is there somepony that has caught your eye?"

Twilight felt her whole body tense up at the question asked, and promptly panicked as her grin fell from her face. "N-no, no, o-of course not," she stammered, her gaze faltering to her shuffling hooves. She swallowed hard, desperate to change the subject. "S-so, um... m-my assignment..."

Celestia's expression turned serious. "Yes, I feel as though you may at long last be ready to take the next step in your studies."

Twilight sighed a breath of relief as Celestia turned back to the shelf, already feeling her body relax. "The next step?" she asked.

"You were always meant to accomplish great feats, my student, and hopefully someday play a part in changing Equestria for the better."

A part? Twilight shook her head. "I can't imagine myself playing any sort of part," she admitted. To her, the thought was ridiculous. Sure she always imagined having great magical skill, but changing Equestria with it?

"Someday you will," Celestia continued, spotting the large history books she needed; "but you must first learn our history. What really happened nine-hundred and ninety-nine years ago..."

"What—" The sight of the tattered books and the words she spoke caused a sudden, intense pain to ravage her skull. She placed a hoof over her head. "Ngh... R-really happened?" Another surge of pain pulsated inside her head, causing her eyes to squint shut as her hoof clasped even tighter with every pulse, the pain inducing a sudden sense of nausea inside her.

"With the Mare in the Moon..." Celestia carried on, "and the Elements of Harmony."

"Huh?" Twilight's eyes opened a bit as her breaths only quickened. "El-elements...? Of...?" Her voice drifted as the dizziness was getting to her. She shivered, her head growing lighter with every passing moment; seeming as if the source of the pain was growing inside her horn, cutting into the organ form the inside. Like cold air working its way into the seams; she stifled the urge to scream.

She swallowed, breathing in and out a few times more before another sudden echo of pain wracked her head, causing her to turn to her right, spitting up on the floor.

"Hm? Twilight?" Trembling—her body burning—and letting out a few, final weak coughs, the young mare's eyes slowly fell shut, and faltering to her right, promptly passed out. "Twilight!" she exclaimed, stepping over to her fallen student.

Twilight's body trembled while her horn began to sizzle, and slowly, a darkened, purple smog seeped out from her horn, crawling over her body and Celestia's hooves.

Startled, Celestia withdrew her left hoof from its place on the floor. No! This can't be...! The smog left no markings, and did no damage; it only continued to spread throughout the room.

However it bared a familiar feel to the alicorn princess.

It reminded her of a time long since forgotten by many ponies, and yet... she could sense magical properties deep within. Her gaze scrutinized. It's... magic, but... Like a mix of her student's magic, and... something else, not of this world. Acting fast, she conjured up a spell and placed her own horn against the tip of Twilight's as it remained barely visible through the smog. A bright, light yellow glow shown outwards, dispelling the fowl fog, while the remnants slithered back into the creases of Twilight's horn.

Celestia knelt closer to Twilight as the unicorn shivered, lost in her own personal nightmare.

Concentrating on a new spell, Celestia's horn began glowing, and placing it near Twilight's body, began to examine the flow of magic within her body. As she surmised, her magic had become disrupted. She grimaced at the reaction she got from it.

Somepony is attempting to link their magical signature with yours... With the use of another spell, Celestia corrected the flow of magic as she continued to think. Whoever... or whatever has been attempting to enter our world must have a magic similar to hers... So it couldn't be... Celestia felt her chest lighten and she momentarily felt relieved, knowing it was unlikely the mare in the moon causing her student such unrest; but if it was not her, then... who was it?

And why Twilight...? While her mind scrambled for an answer, her thoughts eventually flashed back to a moment between her and her beloved. She remembered looking on in curiosity as her stallion—grey-coated with a black, blue-striped mane, and wearing a king's cape—stepped over to an open book on a pedestal. A light blue crown stood upon his head, matching the collar around his neck and regal hoofwear around his hooves.

The two of them stood in a room of the castle, stocked with books on all sides and a blazing fireplace in the center of the northern most wall. After a night spent together in the gardens, the two returned when she was told he had something more to give her.

"I want to give you a spell," the stallion informed her as he flipped a page. "One I've been developing... in case either of our worlds ever undergo an attack from an outside threat."

Celestia stepped closer, her gaze shifting to the curious book of spells before him, staring at it intently. "Sombra...?"

"I do specialize in magic meant to protect and defend ponies after all," Sombra said. "Every world out there has its own magical signature: its own feel, weaknesses... It was thanks to you I learned that." He turned to her briefly with a thankful smile. "This is a spell that will hopefully be able to protect ponies from both our worlds."

"A spell that...? Sombra, how did you—?"

"Our world has certain magic, and technological advancements that yours does not yet have," Sombra replied with a bit of a teasing smile. Celestia blushed a bit, narrowing her eyes in faux anger, but never once losing her smile.

Sombra continued, turning his attention back to the book. "With new worlds being discovered every day... who only knows what sort of danger we may one day end up facing, suppose one of them makes their way into... one of our worlds." His voice grew more somber as he finished.

"Sombra..." Celestia leaned in closer and nuzzled against him. "Thank you."

"Think nothing of it, my love," said Sombra, returning the gesture. "Memorize it well. I'll walk you home once you're ready." Celestia nodded, her eyes returning to the page the spell was listed on. It looked more advanced than many of the spells she had seen and learned before. A protective spell granting ponies immunity towards another world's magic, and rendering the enemies' magic powerless... Celestia didn't quite grasp the science behind it, but knew she could at least learn it.

It did not contain the same power the elements did, but if such a scenario ever occurred, to defend her own ponies from such a threat... It was something.

Celestia's thoughts returned to the present, her gaze resting on Twilight's unconscious form. The spell she had learned that day had been the very same spell she used on Twilight out of panic, and of the possibility that what they were dealing with really was from another world. If it really is a being from another world, then the spell I used will no doubt protect her for the time being, preventing her magic from ever again becoming corrupted...

With her own powers out of commission... what else could she do in the meantime but to rely on this magic, and work on restoring her own protective magic: The Elements of Harmony.

She picked up Twilight's unconscious form within her magic, and carried the unicorn over to her own bed. The unicorn softly breathed in and out, her own body's trembling ceased ever since the use of the spell. Draping the covers over Twilight, she couldn't help but wonder what led to her vulnerability in the first place? She had detected a spell within her student's body, one to help her stay awake... Was it sleep deprivation? Stress?

Whatever the case, she couldn't let Twilight know about what just happened, when she wasn't even completely sure herself. She needed Twilight to remain level-headed and worry free, to focus on a task far more important...

Hours passed since the incident involving the nightmarish smog, and Celestia could do nothing more than she already had... but to wait. Thankfully, she didn't have to wait very long.

Twilight stirred a bit in her sleep, letting out a soft, tired moan as she opened her eyes. She found herself in a setting she at first found unfamiliar, before soon recognizing it as Princess Celestia's chambers. Putting two and two together, she could only assume one thing.

Unmoving, looking up at the bed-hangings above, Twilight asked, "I lost control of my magic again, didn't I?"

Celestia hesitated before taking a step forward. "Twilight—"

"Argh, I knew it!" Twilight threw both her hooves against her eyes. "I'm so stupid!"

Celestia stopped, simply watching her student. Her brow furrowed slightly. "You don't remember what happened?" she asked.

"I remember you talking... You were saying something about the... Elements of Harmony..." Twilight shrugged. "I was confused, and then... nothing." She sighed, exasperated, allowing her forelegs to fall to her sides. "I'm expelled, aren't I?"

"No, Twilight, you're not," Celestia assured her, sitting down at the edge of the bed. "All you needed was a bit of help." Twilight sat up, looking up at Celestia with interest. "I used a spell, one that would balance the magic within you, and prevent it from ever becoming disrupted." Celestia reached out and gently touched Twilight's cheek with her hoof. "So long as you remain strong and calm, the spell should remain in effect."

Twilight thought over the princess's words before ultimately allowing her gaze to fall to the bedsheets. "Those aren't exactly my best qualities..."

A moment of silence passed between the two. "You've been under a lot of stress lately, haven't you?" Celestia surmised, a look of sympathy on her face, and a sense of knowing in her eyes as Twilight met them.

"W-what? Pfft, me? Come on." She rolled her eyes while wearing a slight smirk. "I mean... sure I've been having some trouble sleeping, a-and my whole life has undergone a massive change, and my best friend is in some far off town doing... who knows what!" Twilight stressed. Her gaze lowered, and her voice quieted, any sudden attempt of hers to convince the princess given up on. "I'm not even sure if she's okay... or if she'll... if she'll even come back to me."

Celestia shook her head. "I'm sure she'll return, Twilight," she said; "and I guarantee you that you'll be able to rest easy from this point onwards, but... perhaps you're right. Perhaps I should have tried to help a little more. Perhaps I... I shouldn't have placed all this responsibility on you at once."

Twilight chewed on her inner lip. "Princess... I," Twilight paused as she could feel herself getting a little misty-eyed. "I know it's improper to ask this, but... I could really use a hug right now."

To her surprise, Celestia complied, nodding in understanding before wrapping her forelegs around the unicorn. "We are friends, Twilight," Celestia explained. "There is nothing improper of this."

Twilight's eyes widened a little in remembrance before eventually falling shut and relishing in the comforting embrace, returning the gesture as a single tear trickled down her face.

"Thank you, Princess," Twilight said as she stood just outside the castle doors. Celestia stood opposite her, within the doorway as the evening sun now shined visibly in the sky. "For everything. Allowing me to rest, the books..."

Celestia raised her hoof, silently hushing her. "Think nothing of it, Twilight," she reassured the unicorn with a gentle smile.

"So, uh..." She brushed a hoof against the pavement. "When do you want me to get these back to you?"

"There's no hurry," Celestia said. "You have until the date of the next Summer Sun Celebration."

"Until the next...?" Twilight went silent for a moment. I have almost an entire year... she thought, pondering the reasons in her head before letting out a confused, "Okay?"

"Why not focus on strengthening your current friendships, and try making some new ones in the meantime."

Twilight thought about it. Was that it? She had all that time to focus on life, and her friendships... like an extended vacation... The realization caused her to smile softly. "A-alright, I, I guess I could..." she agreed, though not that... she could've said no anyway.

"Take it easy now, my student."

"I-I will!" Twilight replied reassuringly, a small, flustered grin on her face as Celestia turned and the doors slowly closed behind her. Twilight's smile fell a little. "Thanks..."

Twilight sighed and turned, setting out for her next destination. If only she knew where it was...

She walked around aimlessly for awhile, thinking about what Celestia had said before her... mishap. I'm destined for great things... Sure that's what I've been working towards, but... Twilight bit her lip, then shook her head. She also told me that I needed to be strong, and calm... Twilight looked ahead of her with an air of confidence. Oh, I'm sure everything will make sense eventually... I just have to relax... Spend time with my friends... like Princess Celestia suggested I do... She sighed, imagining for a moment, Rainbow right beside her, her voice so vivid she could practically hear it in her ear... If only she were still here...

Several more steps and she realized holding onto her books with the aid of her magic was beginning to wear on her. Although her body felt rejuvenated from... whatever spell Celestia had used on her and the hours of sleep she got back at the palace, no doubt it was still recovering from the moment she lost control.

Whatever the reason however, she let out a small groan. "Really wish I had taken my saddle..."

Her ear twitched suddenly as the sound of a subtle swoop was heard, followed by the rustling sound of feathers and something landing on the street—like a large bird landing right beside her. She was startled by it only briefly, before hearing the creature's voice casually greet her, and she smiled almost instantly.

"Heya, Twi."

"Rainbow!" Twilight masked her happiness with a playful scold. "Don't startle me like that."

The pegasus chuckled softly. "You are startled way too easily."

"I do not startle easily."

"Yeah, you kinda do... but, hey, relax; it's one of the things I love about you. It's cute." Twilight blushed and looked away, her smile slowly faltering as it occurred to her she was no doubt hearing only what her mind wanted to hear. She felt a chill run down her spine due to Rainbow placing a wing over her back. Just a breeze, she convinced herself.

After all, she thought, there was no possible way Rainbow would show up out of the blue when she needed her most, with a pair of wings good as new.

As nice as that wing felt inside her mind... she couldn't allow her mind to play tricks on her.

Rainbow's expression became wry, watching Twilight remain silent. "Twi?"

Twilight was quick to cut her off. "I'm just imagining you," she claimed, her expression becoming downcast. "I... I know you're not really there."

"Goes to show the state of your mind right now, huh?"

"My mind's perfectly fine, Rainbow."

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she looked away. "If you say so..." she murmured. "So, where are we headed?"

Twilight glanced over at the image of her friend that her mind had imagined. She wasn't disappearing... and ignoring her, regardless of whether she was real or not, would've been too painful for the young unicorn... even if it meant muttering to herself while alone, wandering the streets. So she sighed, before replying, "My parents' house maybe, I... don't really know."

Of course, she was already on route there.

"You should tell them about us," she heard Rainbow say.

Twilight visibly grew nervous at the prospect.

"Come on, Twi," Rainbow pressed. "I can tell it's killing you, not being able to tell a single pony—about any of this; and if you can't even tell your parents, who can you tell? Spike? I mean, you don't exactly have a lot of friends..."

"And you do?" Twilight asked as she stopped at the door of her parents' home, hesitantly bringing her hoof up to knock a couple times.

Rainbow chuckled. "Apparently," she said, just as the door opened up.

"Twilight?"

Twilight looked to see her mother in the doorway. "How nice to see you again! Your father's at work, but please come in." Twilight Velvet stepped back and motioned for her daughter to enter before noting something.

She was standing alone.

"Where's your friend?" Twilight Velvet asked, with a slight look of worry on her face, before quickly backtracking. "Sorry, that was probably the wrong word to use."

"She's..." Twilight instinctively looked to where the Rainbow she had imagined once stood. Her ears drooped a little when she saw nothing. "Not around..." she finished, turning back to her mother. "B-but she'll be back," Twilight said, "a-and, it's okay, Mother. We actually are friends."

Friend? Twilight Velvet was, for a moment, taken aback. She really did make one... She couldn't help but smile a little as her daughter stepped into the living room, setting the books she was carrying down on the nearby coffee table. "I see, well... I-is there anything you needed, or are you just stopping by?"

"I honestly don't know..." Twilight muttered absentmindedly and under her breath, before coming to her senses. "Stopping by, I guess," she replied with a sheepish smile, turning to face her mother. "Uhm... Is... is it alright if I just... stay here for a little while?"

"Well of course," her mother replied. "You're my daughter. You're welcome here anytime."

Twilight smiled softly before soon allowing her nervous gaze to fall to the ground. She scratched the back of her head with her hoof. "I, uh... could use some time alone first."

"Oh, well... alright; take as long as you need."

"Thank you," said Twilight graciously, before turning and walking towards her room. She closed the door gently with her magic, then ran to her bed before collapsing upon it, throwing a pillow over her face in frustration.

"Agh! What am I even doing?" she groaned into her pillow. "My mind's telling me that I need to talk to somepony, that I should tell my mom... and yet, I...!"

Another loud groan accompanied her worriment.

Twilight sighed, eventually removing the pillow from her face and holding it over her belly instead, her mane a bit disheveled. She breathed out a small sigh, and looking to her left where there, on her bedside table, lay a tape player. Inside it was a lone tape.

"This is for you, Twilight," Cadance told a much younger Twilight as the two sat together in the park one afternoon. Twilight only stared with curiosity at the rectangular object held within her foalsitter's magic.

"It's a mixtape of mine," Cadance explained. "It's just a bunch of songs I like to listen to when I'm reading or studying for school. I'd thought maybe you'd appreciate it, if you ever, you know... needed something to listen to..." Cadance smiled sheepishly as her voice drifted off, choosing to softly shrug her shoulders.

Twilight chuckled a bit, then returned the smile, accepting the gift. "Thanks."

Fresh tears rolled down Twilight's cheeks as she stared blankly at the bed-hangings above her, the music beginning to play.

"I used to be so like her..." she spoke in a soft voice, as so many forgotten memories were brought to the surface, of her own fillyhood... of a young filly moving her hooves to the music, singing to the plush on the seat of her bed... spending time with Cadance, and her brother...

Memories of how her life used to be...

Twilight shut her eyes tightly as she sobbed softly, trying her hardest to stifle them.

Despite how silly it may have been... she enjoyed it, as much as she enjoyed her time spent with Rainbow.

The sniffling quieted, and her eyes slowly opened in realization about her rainbow-maned crush... All the opportunities, and relationships missed out on... Rainbow had given her a second chance on.

It was then that made her realize Rainbow was much more then a simple crush, and how much she truly loved this other mare... with all her heart.

Twilight sat up slowly, wiping her cheeks dry with the back of her hoof.

I should tell her... Twilight thought, gazing up at the bedroom door as she silently composed herself. Tell her about the mare who changed her life.

She looked to the empty spot beside her on the bed, and frowned. How desperately, Twilight realized, that she needed that stupid pegasus with her—beside her right now, more than ever...

She mentally cursed her mind before sighing and getting up on all fours, leaving for the main room.

"So, after the movie, we... well, talked and... sort of ended up becoming friends." Twilight shrugged as she sat across from her mother on the living room couch. "We watched the stars for a bit afterwards."

Twilight's gaze lowered and she smiled softly at the fond memory.

"We discovered where she was from yesterday, at the park," Twilight went on to explain. "It was later that evening that she also took a train bound for Ponyville."

"And you're sure she's coming back?" her mother asked.

Twilight looked up, a bit bewildered by the question.

"Well, yeah," Twilight replied, like it were obvious. "Mother, Rainbow wouldn't just abandon me like that," she stressed. "She's already chosen to live here with me anyway—"

"I'm sorry... I know, I—" Twilight Velvet paused, then looked questioningly at her daughter. "Live with you?"

Twilight shrunk back, grinning sheepishly.

Velvet sighed, choosing to return to the matter at hoof. Whatever decision the two of them had made was theirs. They were both old enough, and... she supposed it was for the best. The last thing she wanted was to see her daughter's first friendship in ages wither and die because of where her friend lived...

"It's just a bit jarring to think," Velvet said, gazing out the window, "that we've both now befriended pegasi in our lives. You and Rainbow, and me and..."

"A. K.," Twilight finished, her voice softening. "I know..."

A moment passed before Twilight continued to reassure her mother, hastily sputtering out, "B-but Rainbow is different, Mom! She won't leave me, especially not without a single goodbye—!"

Twilight Velvet shook her head. "I can't blame Yearling for leaving as abruptly as she did. She is a best-selling author after all," Velvet said. "But even so—" She smiled at her daughter. "—I hope Rainbow's as loyal a friend as you make her out to be."

Twilight softly nodded as she lowered her gaze while wearing a small, saddened smile. Loyal... she thought, doesn't even begin to describe how... awesome... she really is...

Twilight bit her lip as she thought about what she was about to say, and do. "Mother," she began, keeping her eyes fixated on her hooves—her voice already shaking. "I... I-it might be a bit soon, and I can't help but worry over how you'll react, but... well, I'm sure you already have an idea, and if Rainbow were here, she'd be urging me to tell you..." Twilight's forelegs were trembling as the unicorn took a deep breath.

"You... you're familiar with pegasi traditions, right?"

"Well I was friends with one, so yes, I'm familiar with a few."

It seems like I'm the only one who wasn't... Twilight groaned internally, scratching the side of her head. "How do I say this...?"

"I take it the feather you're wearing isn't an ordinary earring," Velvet remarked.

Twilight's ear flickered in remembrance, and she slowly brought her hoof up to the feather, touching it gently.

She smiled at the feel, and softly shook her head.

"At first I treated it like one," Twilight said. "Now... I look at it as... something else..." Swallowing down a nervous lump in her throat, she readied herself for the worst.

"I love her, Mother," she confessed, and, as she feared, the room quickly went silent; for how long, Twilight didn't know... but... it drove her crazy. She fidgeted a little, swallowing down another nervous lump. If only she would say something...

However Twilight Velvet wasn't upset... or even angry with her. She was only a little too momentarily stunned by her own daughter's confession to say anything. She didn't look down on it like other ponies of her generation—though she hardly ever saw or talked with any gay couples in her life, but even so... it didn't seem wrong. For her, it only took a while to get used to.

The image of her daughter... romantically involved with the same gender as her would no doubt take a while, but... she could tell how much this pegasus meant to her; and seeing her sitting before her now, with trembling hooves and a nervous expression, no doubt praying to Celestia for her mother's approval was proof enough.

If Twilight was happy, then so was she.

May as well count on Shining now if I'm to expect any grankids, she thought with a soft, humored smile before letting out a sigh, at last choosing to speak.

"Well, I... I won't pretend like I'm not surprised, Twilight." Hearing the soft and gentle tone of her mother's voice, Twilight let out a small breath of relief, and slowly looked up for the first time since she began her confession. "But... uh, how long have you...?"

Twilight cocked her head in confusion. "What?"

"How long have you been attracted to... you know... other mares?"

"Oh..." Twilight replied before her eyes suddenly widened in understanding. "O-oh!" Twilight chuckled nervously, and somewhat loudly, scratching the back of her head. "I-it's nothing like that, Mom; I... I just like Rainbow."

Twilight finished her response with an innocent smile.

Velvet lifted an eyebrow. "Just Rainbow?"

Twilight shrugged, smiling warmly as she gazed off a bit in thought. "She's the first I ever felt this way about. I'm sure if she were a stallion I'd feel no different."

"And... you're not worried about the stigma that may come with liking another mare?"

Stigma? Twilight looked up, surprised. That's right, I... guess I hadn't really put much thought into that...

It still wasn't about to stop her from pursuing her heart's desire.

Twilight took a moment to choose her words.

"When... when I first met her," she recalled, "and tried to get her help, I... I was teased about liking her, and that the two of us looked "cute together." At first I was a little grossed out—I mean, I didn't even know if two mares being together was possible! All the romance books I ever bothered to read only talked about fillies and colts, mare and stallions..."

Twilight drifted off, remembering Cadance's words. "Then I remembered what Cadance once told me... about how love is love; it shouldn't matter who I end up falling in love with."

Cadance? Velvet thought. I haven't seen her in years... So that's where Twilight...

Velvet smiled softly in realization. Well who better to learn from than her, I suppose, she thought. She is the princess of love, after all. It was only a matter of time...

Twilight Velvet snapped out of her thoughts, adding to what her daughter had said.

"So long as they aren't malevolent, and have nice personalities," she said, earning a small chuckle and nod from her daughter.

Not that she'd have to worry about that with Rainbow.

"I've met many different ponies over the past few days... who all thought we were dating actually," Twilight continued with a sheepish smile. "I know I'll continue to be teased, and... some ponies may even look down on me, but... as long as I'm with her... and I have ponies, and dragons, who like me... I'll be alright."

Velvet smiled at her daughter's resolve, but her smile soon fell, her expression becoming slightly puzzled. What her daughter had said about ponies thinking that they were dating confused her. "You two... aren't dating?" she asked. "But I thought..."

Twilight shook her head. "We're not dating yet—I'm waiting until she gets back, but... I would like to."

"And you're sure that she loves you?"

"She kissed my cheek," Twilight softly said, to her own mother's surprise. "I'm certain she feels the same."

Twilight bit her lip, and hesitated for a moment before asking, "Are you really okay with this though?"

"You mean my daughter liking another mare?" Velvet pretended to think for a moment, before smiling and giving her answer. "I suppose so," she said.

"I mean, to be fair, Rainbow is a bit of tomcolt—" The unicorn paused, for a moment, looking as if she had misheard before breaking out into an excited grin. "Wait, really?"

"After not only hearing, but seeing how happy she's made you," Velvet explained as her daughter's overjoyed grin only grew wider. "Well... what kind of mother would I be not to allow it?"

Twilight leaped off the couch, and ran over to her mother, catching her in a sudden embrace. "Oh, thank you thank you thank you!" she exclaimed over and over, her forelegs wrapped around the back of her mother's neck.

Twilight Velvet sat there stunned, caught off guard by the sudden embrace that she hadn't felt in so long... Her eyes quickly became misty before eventually closing them and returning the embrace.

"As long as you're happy, then I'm happy too," Velvet told her.

"If you're happy, then I'm happy... huh. " Twilight pondered what her mother said in a soft whisper. "Funny, that's how I feel around Rainbow sometimes..."

"That's because you love her, just as I love you," Velvet replied, and for a second, Twilight's body seemed to go still.

Twilight loosened her hooves only for a moment before smiling softly and resuming the embrace in full force as a few sudden tears formed in her eyes.

Twilight walked along the outer reaches of the city as the sun was setting over the horizon. With a tape player added to the pile of books she held in her magical grip, she approached her home, climbing the tall spire of stairs. Just as she neared the doorway, the door began to open, followed by Spike and the pony from earlier.

"Hello Spike," Twilight greeted, then looked to the mare beside him. "Um..."

"Moon Dancer—"

"Moon Dancer, yes!" Twilight exclaimed with a smile. "I take it the two of you had fun?"

"We sure did," Spike replied, him and Moon Dancer exchanging a quick smile, before turning his attention back to Twilight. "You sure were gone for a while."

Twilight scratched the back of her mane. "Yeah, well uh, you know... princesses have a very busy schedule, and I found myself waiting longer than I anticipated..." she explained with a nervous chuckle. "Got some new books to study though!"

"History books?" Moon Dancer thought aloud, noting the books Twilight was carrying. "You're lucky, Twilight. Your assignments are usually nothing more than reading old tomes and spell books."

"Well I'm not required to read these for a while..." Twilight continued, stepping into the tower. Sporting a small yet excited grin, Twilight turned to them and announced, "Spike and I are on vacation!"

"Vacation?" questioned Spike, excitement already building in his voice. "I can't remember the last time we've had one of those."

Just as summer ends too... mused Moon Dancer, letting out a sigh. "Well... guess I should be going... It was nice seeing you again," she told Twilight before turning to Spike. "Thanks for spending the day with me, Spike. See you soon?"

Spike lightly blushed. "D-definitely," he promised her. Moon Dancer smiled softly at the young dragon and waved goodbye to the two before walking away.

"Well, she was nice..." Spike remarked as Twilight walked up beside him. He looked up at her, noticing her knowing smile. "What?"

"You seemed to have taken a liking to her."

Spike's blush deepened and he held his claws up. "We-we're just friends!" he insisted.

"If you say so," she teased, walking into the study with her still blushing assistant following behind. She stopped at her usual desk, setting her things down upon it. Her eyes rested on the books the princess had given her to read. She figured it wouldn't hurt to at least get a start on them.

It was the least she could do to repay the princess after everything she did for her, granting her this time with her friends... the mare she loved...

Twilight turned to Spike. "It's getting late, Spike," she said. "Why not head down for the night? I've got some reading I may as well get a start on."

"Alright," Spike complied without a complaint. After the eventful day he had, he supposed he could use a good nap. "Wake me if you need anything."

"I will," Twilight replied as Spike headed for the stairs. "Thanks..." she added, opening the first book's cover and shifting through the contents. "Alright, let's see... page one..."

She only managed to get a few pages in before her mind began to wander.

Thoughts of her rainbow-maned love again began to occupy her thoughts.

I wonder what kind of day she's had over there... Twilight wondered, resting her cheek on the surface of her hoof as she stared out the large window.

She smiled as a thought ran through her head. Wonder if it was as eventful as mine...

Her smile soon faded as she sat up, looking back down at her book. Hope everything went okay over there... Twilight thought, closing the cover with her hoof and standing up, knowing she wasn't about to get anymore reading done with her worrying thoughts.

Tomorrow, she decided. I'll read more tomorrow.

She sighed, and walked over to where they first met, placing a hoof against the glass and looking out into the night. "Please, hurry back soon... Rainbow."

(Rainbow's) Day 7 - Her Past Is Not Today

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Only a half hour or so had passed since the train pulled out of Canterlot, and Rainbow already found herself missing Twilight. Her cheek rested against the window of her seat, her gaze lazily watching the darkening sky and stars as they appeared one by one.

The sounding wheels against steel tracks filled her ears, helping her relax a bit, and calming her nerves.

Just a bit.

The pegasus slumped further against the glass, letting out a small huff.

It still didn't take her mind off Twilight any.

She remembered the unicorn looking back at her surprised, and, if she had to guess, too stunned to say or do a single thing. The look of mild shock on her face was better than her looking angry, Rainbow supposed; and it gave her hope that Twilight really did feel the same way she did.

But the fact that she didn't stay continued to eat her up on the inside. As selfish as it seemed to wish that she was still with Twilight, she couldn't stop herself from thinking if she had stayed with the unicorn for just a few moments longer, and hopefully bring some closure to her nagging thoughts.

Rainbow smiled slightly as she imagined lying with her, and maybe even sharing a real kiss with the unicorn... were her feelings returned of course.

At least, she hoped they would be.

Of course they will, Rainbow told herself while in thought. I just gotta think positive. Unmoving, she sighed against the window, staring up at the night sky. Even when it's so hard to—

"Hey, Dashie," Rainbow heard the cheerful voice of her companion, bringing her back to consciousness. "Why the long face?"

Rainbow remained silent for a moment, taking in that it was only Pinkie, then sighed, tearing her gaze away from the stars. "Pinkie... a couple things," she said. "One, please don't call me that, and two, it's..." Rainbow paused, turning away. "I-it's nothing."

She went back to staring out the window. "I'm just... having second thoughts I guess."

"Second thoughts?" Pinkie questioned. "You mean like when you're at the ice cream parlor and you can't chose between vanilla or chocolate, or cookies and cream, or rocky road, or cotton candy, or any of the other bazillion flavors! Then you do chose, say... raspberry, but the whole time you can't help but feel that you should have gotten the cotton candy—!"

"Uh... y-yeah," Rainbow cut in, turning once again to Pinkie with a soft smile. "Something like that..."

Rainbow flopped back into her seat, sitting back as a slight hunger built in her mouth. What Pinkie had said caused her to take note of just how empty her stomach really felt.

"Great," she huffed. "Now I'm hungry."

Pinkie looked at her friend for a long moment before breaking into a sheepish grin. "Sorry..."

Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"I-I think this train has a dining cart with a snack and dessert parlor," Pinkie recalled, springing up from her seat. "Why don't you wait here; I'll go find us something to eat."

"Al—" Rainbow paused, Pinkie already having sped off. "—right..."

She let out a soft breath, averting her gaze once more to the window.

"Here you go."

"Wha—?" Rainbow jumped, and quickly looked to her left, visibly relaxing once she saw that it was only Pinkie sitting beside her with a friendly smile, back after what seemed like a matter of seconds.

Pinkie's hoof was held out to her, and in it, was a wrapped ice cream sandwich.

"Oh... um, t-thanks," Rainbow said, accepting the treat as her heart steadily calmed. She returned the smile for a moment before focusing on unwrapping her ice cream, silently pondering how the mare returned as quickly as she did. "Huh?" Rainbow looked curiously at the now-unwrapped bar of ice cream in her hooves, and at the different colors that made it up.

"It's neighpolitan," Pinkie said. "Remember? You like it 'cause of all the different colors."

Pinkie's ears fell as Rainbow's brow furrowed a bit. "I..."

Rainbow hesitated, then broke out into a soft grin, turning to the earth pony. "Thanks."

Pinkie's ears perked up, and she nodded. "No problemo!" Rainbow chuckled at Pinkie's enthusiasm, before both turning away to finish their snacks.

The pale moonlight disappeared from the cart, darkening the interior as the train passed through a long, stone tunnel on the mountainside. Only a few overhead lights kept the carts somewhat lit. Pinkie glanced over at Rainbow, only to see that she had stopped eating, the same sadness from before once again filling her eyes.

"I take it you're all sad... because of her, right?" Pinkie asked. Rainbow's eyes widened a bit, turning to face her the second she heard her question.

"I'm not sad, Pinkie," Rainbow insisted as she looked away, her cheeks reddening. She gave a defeated sigh. "I just... can't help but miss her—"

Rainbow was cut off by Pinkie pressing herself up against her, hugging her around her shoulders. "Aw, Rainbow, you know you'll see her again!"

"I know, but... it's just..."

"Hm... you know..." Pinkie removed one of her hooves from its spot on Rainbow's shoulder, placing it against her chin in thought. "I'm pretty sure she likes you too, if that's what you're worried about."

Rainbow backed out of Pinkie's embrace, taken aback, and for a moment, without words. "Wha—?" She looked at the earth pony. "What makes you think this has anything to do with me liking her?"

Pinkie met her flustered gaze for couple moments before finally shrugging. "Just a hunch," she replied with a simple smile. "If it helps, the two of you do look nice together."

Rainbow bit her tongue, and held back the urge to groan in annoyance. Pinkie wasn't about to give up, was she? So why not just...

Oh what the hay... Rainbow decided. She's not the first pony I've admitted my feelings to anyway.

Letting out a sigh, she turned to Pinkie. "Okay... yes, I like Twilight. Really like even; but please," —She held up her hoof just as Pinkie opened her mouth— "can you keep this between us? Like can you do that... that uh, um... pinkie promise-thing!"

"Hey, you're starting to remember!" Pinkie broke out into a wide grin.

Rainbow turned ahead, lowering her gaze. "Maybe..."

Pinkie, maintaining her smile, straightened up, placing a hoof over her heart. "Well I, Pinkie Pie, swear to never ever again bother Rainbow Dash about her crush on Twilight—"

"Urgh..." Rainbow threw her face into her hooves. "Pinkie!"

"O-oops." Pinkie slumped a little as her smile turned apologetic and sheepish. "Sorry..."

Rainbow rolled her eyes as her face remained buried behind her hooves.

Using her free hoof, Pinkie scratched a spot on the back of her head. Her other hoof softly, and a little slowly at first, traced an X over her own heart. In the softest, and most assuring voice she could muster right then, she said, "Cross my heart, hope to fly... Stick a cupcake in my eye."

Rainbow's hooves slowly lowered from her embarrassed face, the pegasus herself cracking a soft smile as she turned her head to look at the earth pony. "You know that's really gross."

"Oh, totally!" Pinkie agreed without a second's hesitation. She turned to look ahead in thought, her voice softening. "When I thought it up, I... I thought of something that happened to me once—and should never happen to anypony else—to show how serious I was about the promises I make. That if I did tell somepony, something terrible—like getting a cupcake, or maybe just some frosting stuck in my eye—would happen. Pretty good reason not to tell anypony, huh? Crack and you get one right in your eye."

Rainbow merely nodded, breathing in, and holding her breath in her throat. "I guess."

"I mean, seriously," Pinkie continued, "there'd be like, crumbs... frosting, sprinkles... You'd probably have to get disinfected—"

"Pinkie," Rainbow cut in, letting out a shaky breath. "Thanks, I... I get it."

She fell back into their seat once more, the little nod of understanding Pinkie gave her going unnoticed. The pink earth pony laid back as well, her eyes shut gently as she sighed in content.

"You know," she said, after a moment's passing. "This is... kinda nice. Just like old times."

Rainbow's brow furrowed slightly at the remark.

She glanced over at the mare beside her from the corner of her eye. "I take it we were good friends then?"

"I would like to think so," Pinkie said. "But..." She let out a yawn, resting her head, without really thinking, against Rainbow's shoulder. "This is the first time we've ever really talked..."

Pinkie's mane tickled and scratched her as it occasionally wound up getting in her face. She looked away in annoyance, turning away in favor of looking out the window.

It wasn't long before a soft, comical-sounding snoring filled the air around her. Rainbow paid little mind to it, though, not that she was particularly trying to.

Instead, she looked to the sky and to the stars, her eyes full of wonder and worriment... Pinkie's words lingering in her mind. What kind of pony was I...?

Her mind lingered on the thought until she eventually fell asleep, her head resting gently in Pinkie's mane.

The sun shone through the windows of the train car; particularly, into the closed eyes of a certain, sleeping pegasus mare. Her muzzle crinkled a bit, her eyes squinted, before reluctantly opening, adjusting to the light.

Rainbow yawned and arched her back, stretching her forelegs before dropping them to her sides. Shaking her mane back into a shape that wasn't so sleep-ridden, she collapsed back into the seat with a sigh.

"Hey Rainbow!"

Rainbow jumped a bit, startled, her eyes snapping open. She looked beside her, to see Pinkie wide awake and sitting beside her. "P-pinkie?" she questioned. "What? W-where—?"

"We're in Ponyville, silly," Pinkie explained as Rainbow's heartbeat calmed. "We just arrived." The earth pony paused, then smiled at her sheepishly. "I guess all the commotion must of woken you up."

Rainbow blinked. Ponyville, she thought, turning to look out the window. Immediately she noticed the change of scenery... and the fact they that were no longer moving. Huh. She chided herself for not noticing sooner.

Other ponies around them, and from train carts in the further back filed toward the exit.

The more she watched them—mixed with the realization of her once again being in Ponyville—the more she became aware of how scared, deep down, she really was.

It had seemed such a surefire thing in her head, paying her home a visit and meeting the ponies she once knew.

But now that she was finally here...

Rainbow sunk further back into her seat, wanting nothing more right then but to sit and wait until the train returned to Canterlot. She bit her lip, gripping the edge of her seat with her hooves.

"So I'm ready whenever you are," Pinkie piped up, turning to her.

Just what she needed to hear...

Rainbow snapped out of her thoughts, gulping silently. "S-sure," she replied, smiling weakly. "Let's go."

Pinkie nodded, bouncing up out of her seat in a stot, and into the aisle.

Rainbow glanced away, nervously chewing her inner lip.

"I'm almost certain you're not malicious," Twilight said, giving her a warm, reassuring smile.

Rainbow couldn't help but smile softly. Those words, and the memory of Twilight speaking them to her played so clearly in her head. She never realized it, but those words had really stuck with her, even after all this time.

She breathed in deeply in hopes of calming her nerves, expelling the breath in one trembling sigh.

I really hope you're right, Twi, Rainbow thought, getting to her hooves.

She followed Pinkie to the exit, where once outside, she announced, "Well, here we are!"

Rainbow looked around. "This is Ponyville?" No longer obscured by the walls and windows of the train, Rainbow could take in everything... and she wasn't terribly impressed. The grassy scent and rustic scenery, and the sight of so much hay, it made the young pegasus a little sick to her stomach. Haystacks, and hay bushels... rooftops made of hay. Ponyville was seemingly made of it. It had a sort of charm, she supposed, though it was nothing compared to the ivory spires and architecture she had come to know, and miss.

"So..." Pinkie lingered on the word for a bit, nudging Rainbow in the side with her elbow. The pegasus in question quickly returned to consciousness. "Does any of this feel familiar? Oh I bet it does, doesn't it?"

Rainbow turned towards the town once more. "It... kind of feels familiar, but..." Rainbow sighed in anger, shaking her head. "I can't remember."

"Oh, well... hey, let's not bring ourselves down about that." Pinkie perked up, placing a hoof over Rainbow's shoulder. "We're here to meet ponies, aren't we? And maybe you'll start to remember once you meet some of them."

Rainbow shrugged in agreement. "Maybe."

The two walked outside the train station into town, Rainbow glancing around before asking, "So uh, who do you want to introduce me to first?"

"Hm..." Pinkie put a hoof to her chin. "Maybe Rarity," she suggested. "Her boutique is the closest."

Boutique? Rainbow scratched her head. What is even...?

Well, she supposed prissy and gaudy were a couple good words that came to mind. And Rarity... "I take it she's one of a kind?"

"Uh-huh!" Pinkie happily bounced on ahead. Rainbow felt a little excited as she quickened her step, imagining this uniquely awesome friend of hers in her head. The thought triggered a slight sense of nostalgia in the young mare.

The two stood at the doorstep of a large, extravagant boutique. Pinkie stepped forward, giving the door a series of rhythmic knocks.

"Be right there," came a singsong voice in response, capturing Rainbow's curiosity. After a couple moments, the door eventually opened to reveal a white unicorn with a long, elegant indigo blue mane, the ends of her mane and tail curled. A pair of red-framed glasses rested over her muzzle, and measuring tape around her neck.

Rainbow peered curiously over Pinkie's shoulder, taking in every last detail about this friend of hers, and the boutique itself. Mirrors, and modeling stages, and racks of dresses standing against the pink curtains and ribbons that decorated the walls.

Rainbow's eyelids lowered, her expression quickly turning into a look of disappointment. Fashion, she thought. This pony's a fashion queen. Not exactly the uniquely-awesome, one of a kind friend she had envisioned.

Even if she couldn't remember what she liked, she began feeling a little hot, and itchy, bothered even.

Rainbow swore she was having an allergic reaction to it.

"Welcome to Carousel Boutique," Rarity said, her eyes seemingly occupied. "Where every garment is chic, unique and magnifique—" She paused, catching a glimpse of pink from the corner of her eye.

"Oh hello, Pinkie Pie," she greeted a bit flatly, and without a second glance. She looked on, walking over to the pony mannequin she had been working on, and the unfinished outfit it wore. Scissors and scattered bits of fabric and lace lay around its base. "I'm afraid I am working at the moment, but do feel free to make yourself at home." Holding out her measuring tape within a light blue aura, she carefully began taking measurements, asking as she did, "So to what do I owe this visit?"

Pinkie bounced forward excitedly, Rainbow following behind her hesitantly, her gaze fixated on the floor. "Actually, Rarity," Pinkie happily exclaimed. "It's not me who wanted to see you!"

"Hm?" Rarity turned in the direction of the pink pony, when she more closely took notice of the rainbow colors stood behind her. Her eyes widened a little in surprise. "Rainbow Dash? I do say, I wasn't expecting to see you again." A moment passed and her smile strained a bit. "How nice..."

Rainbow glanced up from the floor, meeting Rarity's stare as a small smile formed on her lips. This mare really did like her!

"I do say, what are you wearing?" Rainbow snapped out of her thought, raising an eyebrow, and glancing down at herself. Her lips parted, about to give an explanation, when Rarity cut her off. "Oh silly me. Do excuse me, I forgot about your... love of those stunt performers."

For a moment before she replied, Rainbow remained silent.

"Y-yeah," she chuckled a bit before shrugging, looking back at her unicorn friend with a sheepish smile. "You know me."

Appearing humored, Rarity returned the smile.

Another moment passed, Rarity brandishing a hoof across the floor, Rainbow rubbing the back of her neck.

"So," Rarity spoke up, searching for something to talk about. "If I may ask... where have you been hiding this entire time?"

Rainbow blinked, her heartbeat rapidly quickening. Sure, she had been prepared for ponies to ask her this question, she knew they would, why wouldn't they? And yet, when the first pony finally asked... her mind panicked. Just play it cool, Rainbow, she thought, swallowing a nervous lump in her throat, and passing off the question with a wave of her hoof. "O-oh, you know... Canterlot. I-it's this big city built into this mountain—!"

"Canterlot?" Rarity was genuinely taken aback. "Why ever would a pony such as yourself ever choose such a luxurious city to reside?"

Rainbow chuckled, scratching the back of her head. "Yeah, I uh... I took a liking to it, and... figured I'd hang there. Maybe live there awhile, you know?"

Rarity simply looked back at her with a look of disbelief.

"Oh that figures." She turned around, rolling her eyes and muttering angrily as she walked, "That ruffian Rainbow Dash gets to live a life of luxury in Canterlot while poor me is still stuck living in Ponyville."

Rainbow blinked in confusion, as she watched the unicorn walk away. What... just happened?

Hopeful, she looked over at Pinkie for an answer. What she found instead was a mare who looked as confused as she was, if not a little embarrassed as well.

Pinkie felt Rainbow's eyes on her, and turned, greeting her with a simple, sheepish smile as she shrugged her shoulders.

Rainbow cocked her head. "Is she always like that?" she whispered.

Pinkie looked at her for a moment longer before turning her attention back to Rarity. "Today's probably just a busy day for her, and she's a little on edge," she guessed.

"Come on—" Pinkie smiled warmly, placing a foreleg around Rainbow's shoulders, leading her back to the entrance. "—let's see who else we can find."

As Pinkie led her out, the earth pony looked over her own shoulder. "We'll just be getting out of your mane," she called out to the unicorn. "Bye, Rarity!"

"Bye, dear," came Rarity's late response, Rainbow sensing a hint of annoyance behind her voice.

She glanced behind her again at the seemingly fuming unicorn, finding herself once again occupied with what she was working on. Rainbow's heart grew heavy as she recalled the word Rarity had muttered. Ruffian...

Rainbow bit her lip, turning her gaze ahead. She's a little on edge, she told herself. She's just a little on edge.

The two ponies continued walking through the streets of Ponyville, the sun shining strongly and brightly in the sky. It warmed their coats, though, for Rainbow, was seemingly trying to make it impossible for her to see where she was walking.

With her eyes glued to the ground ahead of her, she almost didn't notice it when she came dangerously close to running into a wooden signboard, about the size of her. In the middle of it was the engraved image of an open book.

Rainbow looked past it to see a large, lush... treehouse? Tree library? The image of a lit candle decorated the front door. Rainbow's smile curved at the homeliness of it all.

Looking with curiosity towards a small sign obscured in the bushes surrounding the door. She took a few steps forward to get a closer look. "Librarian wanted," she read aloud.

"Oh that sign's old," Pinkie noted, reappearing by Rainbow's side suddenly. Rainbow herself jumped back a bit in startlement with a breathless gasp. Seeing it was only Pinkie however, caused her to noticeably relax, breathing out a sigh of relief.

"So," Rainbow asked her, "I take it you guys already have one?"

"Nope!" seeing the look on Rainbow's face, she backtracked, growing a bit sheepish. "We sort of just gave up on finding one..."

Gave up? Rainbow wondered.

"I usually use it for throwing parties," Pinkie continued to explain; "but if anypony does need a book, they just walk in and grab it for themselves. The books here are usually dropped off whenever. Sometimes not at all."

"Doesn't sound very orderly," Rainbow remarked.

"That's life in Ponyville!" she exclaimed, stotting upwards. "There's not exactly a lot of order, but it sure is fun!"

Rainbow watched as Pinkie bounced into the air, and couldn't help but smile. She sure seems to find fun in everything, she thought when her ears perked up suddenly, picking up the voices of ponies walking by.

"Oh joy... Braggart's back," she heard one of them say to the other.

Rainbow tensed, the smile she wore disappearing from her lips.

Pinkie noticed as well, quickly growing excited. "Hey, more ponies!" she pointed out. "Come on, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow held her breath, looking worriedly at her. "Pinkie, I don't know—" she tried to say, holding her hoof out, but to no avail. Pinkie ran off to greet the passing ponies.

Rainbow watched as the three talked for a bit, waiting anxiously, and several long moments, Pinkie came bouncing back.

"What were you guys talking about?"

"Oh, they were just wondering why I bothered to bring you back, and I told them it was because of all the friends you have here!"

Rainbow's heart dropped, finding herself quickly growing confused.

"Why... why you bothered...?" All of a sudden, she felt a little lightheaded. She looked, the area suddenly seeming so crowded; and to her, it felt like all eyes were now on her. I need to get out of here. She turned and resumed walking—Pinkie happily trotting alongside her—only for the two of them to inadvertently walk right into more ponies.

Keeping her head low, Rainbow walked past, all while hearing the things they whispered about to one another.

"That pegasus is weird..."

Rainbow shut her eyes, squeezing them tighter. N-no, I... I'm not, I...

"Why she'd ever bother coming back?"

"She can't possibly believe she has friends here."

Rainbow couldn't take them anymore, and ran straight ahead, never once looking ahead of her. Pinkie stood startled as she took off.

"Hey!" she shouted after her. "Rainbow Dash?"

What's going on? Rainbow asked herself. Why... why is everypony—?

She kept on running until she felt herself bump into... something abruptly. Whatever it was, it had fur, and she swore she had heard a gasp a split second before colliding with it.

A pony?

Rainbow opened her eyes slowly, and sure enough, a cream-coated mare stood before her, looking back at her fiercely as she backed away.

Rainbow shrunk back flashing an apologetic grin.

"Watch it, Rainbow Dash!" The anger in her voice surprised her, the grin disappearing from her face as quickly as it came. "As if you crashing into ponies and Celestia-knows-what-else while flying wasn't bad enough."

Rainbow swallowed, a mixed look of hurt and confusion on her face. "Whil... while flying...?"

The mare scoffed. "Those wings of yours may just be the worst thing to happen to this town."

Rainbow shrunk back even further just as Pinkie appeared beside her.

"Oh, Bonnie." Pinkie passed off the comment with a giggle, setting a foreleg around the back of Rainbow's neck. "Rainbow may crash now and again, but she's gotten better. She'll be a future Wonderbolt in no time!" she exclaimed with a grin, seemingly oblivious to Rainbow's own distress.

The earth pony raised an eyebrow. "Dressing like one doesn't exactly make you one," she remarked, turning her attention back again to Rainbow. "I take it you've been hiding out in Canterlot this whole time?"

Looking away a bit, Rainbow stuttered, "Well... y-yeah, I—"

"Figures," she said, cutting off Rainbow and leaving her taken aback. The mare turned away, muttering before walking away, "That's where all Ponyville ponies run off to, isn't it?"

Rainbow looked up at the pony as she walked away from her, bewildered—with the same look of hurt in her eyes. The feeling of her heart, displaced and leaping up into her throat made her feel a little sick. She cleared it softly, sniffling quietly just as Pinkie spoke.

"Well that was rude, though..." Pinkie tapped a hoof against her chin, looking off in thought. "I can't say that... I don't know why." She smiled apologetically down at Rainbow, the pegasus feeling Pinkie's gentle hoof on her shoulder. "Sorry, Rainbow. Bon Bon, she... she's just been a little bitter ever since Lyra left to go to Canterlot. Without a word even."

Lyra? Rainbow wondered. Somepony she knew is the reason why... why she snapped at me?

Somehow Rainbow wasn't so convinced.

"Are you alright?" she heard Pinkie ask.

Rainbow wiped her eyes. "Y-yeah," she replied, a bit shakily as she looked up at Pinkie, smiling reassuringly.

Pinkie broke out into a relieved grin, and soon the two walked on—Pinkie stotting up, and up again rather than walking. Though the haunting voices of the earlier ponies continued to play inside Rainbow's mind.

She lightly bit her inner lip, her vision beginning to grow blurry, as she tried her best to stifle the tears building behind them.

Rainbow's head hung low as she slowly trudged down a forested, and winding dirt path. Pinkie happily bounced on ahead, humming to herself. She stopped when she reached the top of the hill, beckoning for Rainbow to come join her.

Rainbow lifted her head, blinking to clear her bleary eyes. Beneath the hill, rested a farm and a forest full of what looked like apple trees.

"Something tells me you're going to really like Applejack," Pinkie said, looking over at Rainbow with a look of excitement. "Come on!" She resumed bouncing. "Applejack should be working in the apple fields right about now, but I'm sure she won't mind a visit from a couple of old friends!"

Rainbow watched as Pinkie bounced down the hill, before again following along, growing a bit hopeful as she walked.

The sound of hooves hitting wood sounded, capturing the two visiting ponies' attention. They turned to the source, which had come from deep inside an area of apple trees to their right. Stepping closer, Rainbow soon came into view of an orange-coated country mare, a stetson hat on her head, her mane and tail in ponytails.

Her hind legs once again collided with the the tree, triggering more apples to coming loose and falling into the basket below, filling it completely.

"Applejaaaack!" Applejack's curiosity piqued, and she turned to see Pinkie came bouncing toward her, coming to a stop inches before her face. "Applejack! Do I have a surprise for you!"

"Pinkie Pie?" she wondered. "What do you mean by...?" Her voice trailed off, as she noticed Rainbow standing behind Pinkie.

Rainbow shied away, uncertain, as Applejack's eyes met hers.

"Rainbow?" she questioned, stepping forward, past Pinkie. "Reckoned I'd never see you again. What brings you back to these neck of the woods?"

"Oh, you know..." She sniffled, brandishing a laid back grin. "I wanted to see my friends again."

Applejack's head tilted in confusion. "Friends?" she quipped. "Didn't realize you had many."

Rainbow's grin faltered a bit, though not without sharing a quick, awkward chuckle.

Those words had hit her like a ton of bricks.

Pinkie looked back at Rainbow, then over at Applejack, puzzled by the whole exchange. "But you are one of them... aren't ya, AJ?" she asked.

Applejack glanced over at Pinkie from over her shoulder, then sighed, turning back towards Rainbow. "Well, ah suppose I can tolerate her shenanigans and put up with her, if that's what you mean, Pinkie."

"Well, t-that's not exactly what I—"

"It's okay, Pinkie," Rainbow assured, looking over at Pinkie briefly, noting her saddened expression. She redirected her gaze back at Applejack. "I... I wanted to see the ones I do have."

And since when is she ever this polite? Applejack thought, taking a curious step towards the pegasus.

Rainbow in turn, gulped silently, taking a nervous step backwards.

"Ah swear I've never seen you on yer hooves," Applejack remarked, pointing a hoof at them. "There's hardly a moment where you ain't using them wings of yours to fly high above the ground, or hoover above it for that matter."

Rainbow shifted her gaze to the side. "Yeah," she laughed nervously. "How about that..."

Applejack's gaze burrowed into her further.

Feeling Applejack's gaze, Rainbow shrugged. "Thought I'd try something new for a change."

Applejack's gaze remained on her for a couple moments before it fell, defeated. She sighed, looking sternly at the pegasus. "Honestly, Rainbow, you were never a very good liar."

"I..." Rainbow searched her mind for an answer.

After a moment, she began laughing softly. "Oh man, you sure got me, AJ."

Applejack's face softened a bit, showing the slightest hint of confusion. "So why are you here then? Without yer wings out for that matter? Wait..." Her expression softened further, her eyes widening in realization before becoming daring. "You're here to test yer mantle again, aren't ya?"

Rainbow looked back at her, puzzled. What did she have to prove?

"Yes?" She replied after a moment, then quickly shook her head, berating herself right then and there. "Y-yes!"

"Figures. You always did come 'round here looking for me, want'n to prove you're the best at ev'rything. Alright, well, come on then." She wiped the sweat from her brow with a rag that lay around her shoulders, before once again throwing it over them. "Ah suppose I can spare a few minutes."

Rainbow gulped, silently trailing behind the earth pony.

Pinkie trotted beside her, looking worriedly at her.

"So what is it you'd like to play?" Applejack's voice captured their attention. "Hoofball, horseshoes... Maybe a good ol' fashioned hoofwrestle?"

Rainbow thought over it, rubbing the back of her head in hesitation.

She didn't feel up to playing any of those.

"Whatever you want is fine," she replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

Applejack stopped, and turned to look at her for a brief couple of moments with an utter look of bafflement. That, Rainbow could see from the corner of her eye as she continued to look ahead nonchalantly.

"Horseshoes it is then..." Applejack slowly turned her attention away from her, however remaining no less suspicious as she walked on ahead.

Rainbow continued to follow, breathing out a soft sigh of relief.

The two ponies journeyed back behind the farmhouse and barn where there stood chicken coups and stables, and tables perched up on wooden legs. A white picket fence surrounded haystacks and small fields of carrots, and beyond them, apple trees for acres and acres.

Applejack walked over to a rectangular patch of sand—a stick protruding from the end of it—and stopped at two pairs of horseshoes lying in the sand. She took one of the blue ones between her teeth and chucked it at the ground, inches before Rainbow's hooves.

Slowly, Rainbow picked it up by the base of her hoof, examining it. A look of uncertainty appeared on her face.

"Well, come on, partner."

Rainbow's eyebrows raised as she looked back up at Applejack. She softly nodded, walking over.

"Ah'll go first," Applejack said, taking the horseshoe in her mouth and giving it a toss. It landed a hoof's distance apart from the pole."Not bad for a cowgirl, huh Rainbow?"

Rainbow stared down the narrow course. She lined up and threw hers... landing a couple feet away from her.

"Uh, Rainbow... Maybe you forgot, but the object of the game is to get the closest to the pole."

The look on Rainbow's face grew annoyed. "I-I know that AJ, jeez."

She breathed out, looking down at the horseshoe hung over her hoof as Applejack took her next turn.

How hard would Rainbow Dash throw it...?

"Your turn, pony girl," Applejack said, patting her once over the shoulder.

Rainbow's attention returned to the trail of sand, chucking the horseshoe with such force that it broke the stick in half.

Both Applejack's and Pinkie's mouths dropped.

Rainbow blinked, feeling her heart drop at the sight.

"Well, Ah..." Applejack made a wry face, scratching the back of her head. "Ah suppose that's it for the game."

Rainbow gazed down at her hooves, feeling her chest start to grow heavy. Applejack smiled over at her. "Try not to throw it so hard Rainbow—Rainbow?"

Her own smile faded, upon seeing the look Rainbow now wore.

Her tone grew softer. "Why, usually Ah'd give anything to see that smug look of yours disappear, but it's as if you've become a whole new pony or somethin'... Can't say I particularly miss yer old self..." Rainbow's eyebrows raised a little as she heard those words.

Applejack carefully placed a gentle hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, looking worried for her for the first time since they met. "What happened to you, Sugarcube?"

Rainbow's eyes slowly raised to meet Applejack's, Applejack herself abashed at seeing her teary gaze.

"Guess I got some sense knocked into me," she said before turning and running, Applejack holding her foreleg out after her.

A blur blew past her as her foreleg reluctantly withdrew to the ground, Pinkie standing a few feet ahead of her.

"Rainbow Dash!" Pinkie called out, watching in concern as she continued to run. She bit her lip, then turned to look back at Applejack. "Sorry, Applejack," she said before running off herself, leaving the befuddled apple pony in the dust.

Rainbow ran as far as her legs would take her. She kept running until her legs began to grow tired, eventually forcing her to slow down in some part of town. A part of Ponyville that looked unfamiliar to the young pegasus, and had her swearing, for a moment that she had yet to see it. Or maybe she had; she couldn't tell, and didn't particularly care.

She had bigger things to worry about.

She stopped to catch her breath, feeling tired and dizzy, her heart beating out of her chest.

She collapsed on a nearby sidewalk bench, leaning back into it as she attempted to relax.

All the while, she silently realized she was now lost... without Pinkie Pie to guide her.

Okay, maybe she did care.

She buried her face in her forelegs, letting out a loud, frustrated groan.

"Why did I ever insist on coming back here...?" A warm tear slid down her cheek. She sniffled, squinting her eyes as tightly as could as she felt more tears building.

A pair of forelegs wrapped themselves around her suddenly, the feeling of a pony's woolly mane against the side of her face. "It's alright, Rainbow," Pinkie's familiar voice spoke.

Rainbow's eyes opened up bit by bit, seeing Pinkie beside her as her forelegs dropped into her lap.

At least Pinkie was back.

Rainbow tore her gaze away as she sat there trembling, tears dripping down her muzzle. "I... actually convinced myself that ponies here cared about me..." Rainbow sobbed openly, continuing with a bit of a brief laugh behind her words. "Some joke, right?"

Pinkie nuzzled her cheek, tightening her embrace. "Ponies do care, Rainbow."

Rainbow clenched her hooves. "I came here wanting to meet my friends... to tell them I was okay... only to find that everypony here hates my guts for one reason or another."

"Nopony hates you Dash," Pinkie said, speaking softly, and soothingly.

Rainbow shook her head. "I tried going along with it, sticking it out, but..."

"Being loyal is difficult."

Neither pony said a word after that, the only sound being that of Rainbow's quieting sobs filling the air.

After a couple more moments, Rainbow turned her head to look pleadingly towards Pinkie.

"Show me one pony that gives a flying feather about me."

Pinkie blinked in surprise, easing up as she pulled away a bit. "We've met a lot of them already—"

"I mean a pony that actually misses me..." Her voice softened to that of a whisper. "That will be happy to see me again."

Pinkie's mouth made a silent "Oh," in understanding... even if she didn't fully understand. There was one pony in particular that came to mind however, that... she just knew would make Rainbow happy.

Pinkie sprang up from her seat and sped off to go find her, leaving Rainbow by herself.

Rainbow's shoulders slumped, her gaze falling right back into her lap. Right...

She sat there for a couple minutes, sullen and silently sulking, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"Rainbow Dash, you're back!"

Rainbow perked up in surprise at the sound of a pony's voice. The voice sounded younger though, more juvenile. Curious, she looked in the direction it had come from to see a kid—a mere pegasus like herself, with orange fur and a shaggy purple mane, running up to her.

Her smiled seemed genuine enough, Rainbow supposed, the small detail lifting her spirits a little.

She wiped her eyes dry, and sat up, now sitting back on her haunches.

"Psst." Rainbow looked to her right to see Pinkie—from out of nowhere—now leaning up over the bench. "Her name is Scootaloo," Pinkie whispered into her ear. "She's a really big fan!"

Rainbow took in what Pinkie told her as she turned her attention back to the filly.

Scootaloo stopped a couple hoofsteps away from the bench, looking up excitedly. "I heard you flew off... and... I was really worried you weren't ever gonna come back." Her wings did a flutter, causing Rainbow to give a humored smile. "But I'm so happy to know I was wrong, I mean... once Pinkie Pie told me you were back, I just knew you wouldn't leave this town hanging!"

Rainbow's smile fell upon hearing those words.

"So where have you been this whole time?"

"O-oh, um..." Rainbow shied away, scratching the back of her head for an answer, until at last saying the first thing that came to her mind. "I've just... been hanging with this really awesome girl."

The filly climbed up on the bench, sitting beside the older pegasus. She tilted her head. "Where?" she asked.

"Canterlot," Rainbow replied.

"Canterlot?" Scootaloo looked puzzled. "What were you doing up on there?"

"Oh, you know... Wonderbolts..."

"That figures," Scootaloo supposed. "But... then what about the other pony you mentioned?"

"She's something special... Kind, caring, forgiving... Kind of an egghead..." Rainbow put on a sheepish smile. "She's been a great friend though..." She smiled down at Scootaloo. "Something tells me she'd like you," she added, ruffling a hoof through the filly's mane. "Maybe I'll introduce you—"

"T-that's okay." Scootaloo maneuvered her head from underneath Rainbow's hoof. "Does that mean though... that you won't be staying?" She looked worryingly at Rainbow, waiting for the older pegasus's answer.

If only Rainbow knew what to say. After all, she was only a kid...

"Scoots..." Rainbow looked away, speaking as softly as she could. "Sometimes... sometimes adults have to go away, and sometimes for a long time."

"W-wait..." Scootaloo shook her head. "You-you're leaving?"

Rainbow looked down at Scootaloo... the look on her face telling her everything she needed to know regarding how she felt.

Rainbow's look turned sympathetic. "It might not make a whole lot of sense as to why I'm leaving you like this, but..." Rainbow's mind scrambled to try and find the words. She was leaving because of love, because of another mare no less.

If she had to guess, Scootaloo was too young to really understand, but... if it meant choosing between a friend or a special somepony... "You'll get why when you're older—"

"No!" the filly shouted unexpectedly, startling the two older mares. Her voice growing strained, she continued, betrayal and confusion behind her words. "I thought you were my friend, Rainbow Dash! How can you just leave?"

"Scoots... Please understand, I... I would stay, but I..."

She soon found herself without words.

"Urgh, forget it!" Scootaloo turned away, hoping down. "Leave then! Who cares!"

Rainbow's heart felt as though it were on the breaking point, watching as the young pegasus left. Everything had happened so fast, she was almost unsure of what had happened. What she knew for certain though, was that one of the only ponies in Ponyville who liked her, now seemingly hated her... The thought left her feeling so stupid...

Her foreleg weakly reached out in Scootaloo's direction before falling limply by her side.

Tears wasted no time building up in her eyes.

And all of it was because of her memory loss... Her eyes shut tight as she wiped both of them with a foreleg. Maybe I should just tell everypony—

"Well..." Pinkie hesitantly spoke after a couple moments, her forelegs crossed over the back of the bench. "That could've gone better."

Rainbow shot her a sour look, as her eyes continued to fill with tears.

Pinkie shrunk back. "S-sorry..."

Rainbow turned back around, gazing away apathetically. "Just take me somewhere else please."

Pinkie's ears flattened, nodding her head, and stepping out from behind the bench, rejoining Rainbow at her side as she herself stepped down.

The two walked some more until arriving in a slightly forested area, just outside of Ponyville. Beyond a creek and overarching bridge, rested a cottage, decorated in brush and birdhouses. Rainbow sniffled, looking up from the ground, and staring at the home before her.

"W-whose home is this?"

"Fluttershy's," Pinkie replied softly. "She's... she's your best friend, and lives out here because she absolutely loves animals. That's who she is after all, an animal caretaker."

"Oh..." Rainbow slowly nodded. "So in other words... I have another chance to mess up a preexisting friendship." She let out a sigh, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Terrific..."

"Rainbow..."

Rainbow shook her head as she walked up the winding path to the front door, giving it a couple light knocks. Her body straightened up as she forced herself to form the nicest, friendliest smile she could muster in her state.

Several moments passed before the door to the cottage creaked open, revealing a seemingly shy, yet beautiful lightly golden-coated mare. Her face obscured at first by her pink mane, it noticeably lightened up the moment she saw who it was at the door.

Rainbow's smile slowly turned genuine, the longer she looked at this mare, taken a little by surprise. "H-hey, Shy—"

Fluttershy stepped forward, capturing her in a sudden hug, and catching her by surprise.

There was something so familiar about this pegasus, and yet... try as she may, she couldn't remember.

A feeling spurred deep inside her as they hugged, and although she didn't quite understand it... she wanted to be there for this pony.

"It... it's alright, Fluttershy." The words left her mouth without warning, Rainbow instinctively running a hoof down her back, closing her eyes as her head rested on her shoulder. "I'm here now."

I'll give them time alone, Pinkie thought, watching from where she still stood at the bridge with a warm smile as the two soon entered the cottage.

She'll be fine now, though... it won't hurt to keep an eye on her, she supposed, taking a spot by one of the windows.

Rainbow's nose crinkled at the slight smell in the cabin. There, in every corner and crevice of the cottage, were furry, woodland creatures, most of which Rainbow found to be rodents. On the floor sat multiple dishes of animal food as well as seeds, and vegetables individually scattered across the woolen carpet and wooden floor boards. Playing her question off as nonchalantly as she could, she asked, "I forget... Are there always so many animals running around?"

"Oh, not usually," Fluttershy replied. "Right about now, it's dinnertime for the little ones." Fluttershy turned to face Rainbow, a smile on her lips... when something caught her attention. Something slithering up Rainbow's back and over her head without the pegasus noticing.

Fluttershy looked back at her with a disapproving look. "Now Cecile, that's not very polite."

Rainbow gave her a funny look, before glancing up to see something slithery above her line of sight. Her eyes immediately went wide.

She gasped, shaking her head frantically, her hooves scrambling to get it out of her mane.

The snake looked wryly at her, before slithering off of her as she continued to rake up her mane, never once stopping until she felt Fluttershy's hoof touch her shoulder.

Rainbow looked directly back at Fluttershy with panicked eyes, feeling herself slowly begin to relax at the touch.

"I'm sorry, Rainbow," Fluttershy said. "Sometimes the snakes like to slither from the rafters once it's time to eat. It seems Cecile slithered onto you by mistake."

Rainbow glanced up at the ceiling petrified, and gulped. Coiled up snakes, and the tails of snakes hung from the wooden beams. Some began to move.

She caught eye contact with one of them for the briefest moment. It yawned, showing its fangs... and that was enough for Rainbow to dart closer to Fluttershy, surprising the timid pegasus.

Fluttershy was about to say something about it when the pegasus cut her off. "Uh, s-so anyway."

Fluttershy smiled in humor at her bravado. "Make yourself comfortable, Rainbow," she said. "I have a meal I need to finish preparing, and... oh, please excuse me. I'll be back before you know it."

"Alright," Rainbow said without thinking. Remembering the snakes, her eyes quickly widened, turning with a foreleg outstretched toward the kitchen. "N-no, wait! Don't leave me inside here with them!"

Fluttershy giggled softly. "It's okay, Rainbow; they won't bite."

Rainbow gulped again, eyeing the very same snake she had briefly spotted earlier. She lifted a hoof, pointing a hoof into her eyes, then back at the snake, making her point clear.

The snake rolled its eyes in response.

Rainbow breathed in deeply, and cautiously turned away, deciding since she had the time, she may as well take a look around the place. A quaint little fireplace sat to her right... birdcages, mouse holes, bookshelves, a lot of cottage-style furniture... She took in everything about her friend's home, only stopping and looking with interest at some framed photographs sitting atop a table.

One in particular caught her attention; for how long, she didn't know.

It was of her—only so much younger, alongside a younger, and frail-looking Fluttershy. The pegasus herself sat smiling happily, surrounded by a circle of woodland creatures—a few birds on her shoulders—while her younger self seemed a little embarrassed, giving only a halfhearted smile. The two of them seemed to be just outside Ponyville, in a grassy field.

All of a sudden, a sharp pain came rushing into her head, Rainbow hearing faint, distorted traces of a voice.

"I'll see if I can go find a photographer," her younger self spoke, flying up off the ground and grinning down at the pegasus filly standing below her. "A moment this awesome deserves to be immortalized!"

Rainbow winced at the voices and images that flashed suddenly throughout her head. What was...? She brought a hoof to the side of her head, rubbing it softly. Was... was that a memory—?

"Do you remember that day?"

Fluttershy's voice startled her. Rainbow looked over her shoulder to see Fluttershy off the side of her.

"O-of course I remember it!" Rainbow replied. "What do I look like? Somepony who doesn't remember her own best friend?" She chuckled nervously through a panicked grin.

Fluttershy shook her head. "You needn't be so defensive Rainbow—unless you'd like to be." She backtracked, walking up to, and standing beside her. "I... I don't mean to tell you what and what not to do. I was only asking; after all, it was such a long time ago."

Rainbow scratched the back of her head. "Right..."

Rainbow turned her attention back to the photograph.

Her brow furrowed.

The longer she stared at these pictures of her supposed life—a life she could no longer remember—the worse she felt. Anger and sadness welled up inside her, so much so that it made her feel a little sick to her stomach.

Then came the pain of trying to remember.

Rainbow grasped the side of her head, her breaths becoming rugged.

The actions hadn't gone unnoticed as Fluttershy turned to look at her, curious.

"Rainbow Dash?"

More memories forced their way into her head, breaking up once inside.

"Isn't this place wonderful, Rainbow?" The image became more and more blurred, the voice scraping at the inside of her head. "Oh, let's live down here together, just the two of us... away from all the mean old bullies."

Rainbow turned from the photographs, walking over to the sofa to sit back and rest, feeling a little sick as she fought aside the pain in her head.

All the while Fluttershy watched her friend worriedly, standing helpless.

"Do you want any help? I-I could—?"

"No!" Rainbow quickly refused, her voice growing softer, more gentle as she continued. "N-no, I... I just need to sit down."

Fluttershy bit her lip. "Are you sure? I could call for somepony—"

Rainbow raised a hoof in protest. "R-really, Shy, it... it's alright. Just give me a moment."

"Oh, well... a-alright. Would you like anything though? Water, tea... perhaps some cocoa?"

Rainbow shook her head. "No... n-no I'm fine, I—" She blinked, looking at Fluttershy in interest. "Cocoa?"

Rainbow sipped from the steaming mug of cocoa Fluttershy had given her as her back lay against the sofa. Fluttershy sat beside her slouched friend, listening carefully to what she had told her.

She had been living in Canterlot this whole time.

"I understand that you needed time to yourself, and, well... I-I suppose Canterlot isn't so surprising," Fluttershy replied. "There's a big Wonderbolts show being held there—j-judging from your clothing, I'm sure you already know that—a-and, well... I just know how much you like them. No wonder you decided to stay for as long as you did."

"Fluttershy..." Rainbow looked at Fluttershy, forcing a smile. "That's... th-that's right, pal."

Fluttershy returned the smile, before falling back into silence.

An awkward pause followed as the two turned their attention away from one another.

"So, um..." Fluttershy fiddled with her mane, twirling a lock of it with her hoof. "If you don't mind me asking, when do you think you'll be coming home for good?"

Rainbow's eyes widened a bit, her heartbeat increasing. For... good? she thought, caught off guard, and finding herself a little confused at first by the question.

It was weird for her, all of a sudden having ponies who really did want her here. First Scootaloo, and now...

She shook off the thought. Canterlot's my home now, she told herself. I go wherever Twi goes, and unless Twi decides to move here, then I...

"I... don't know, Shy," Rainbow gave her somber reply. "I... I'm sorry."

Fluttershy's eyes fell, and upon seeing that, Rainbow quickly held a hoof up before her, reassuring the mare, "B-but I-I'll be back someday, I promise!"

Fluttershy sniffled, catching Rainbow's attention, instantly making her worry, and scrambling to see if she really was hurt. To her dismay, too much of the mare's face found itself obscured by her mane. Anxious, Rainbow bit her lip... waiting for her to say something.

Thankfully, she didn't have to wait long.

"I-it's alright," Fluttershy said softly, after a few moments... much to Rainbow's relief. "I can wait... so long as you're happy." She looked up from under her mane, and smiled at the prismatic pegasus, though... whether or not it was genuine, Rainbow couldn't tell.

At least she chose not to yell at her.

That was something, Rainbow supposed, thinking back.

"You're taking it better than Scootaloo did."

Fluttershy gazed up, surprised by what she said. Scootaloo... Her surprise soon turned into a look of sadness. "The poor dear... She really does look up to you, like an older sister."

Rainbow scoffed at within her own head, a small, saddened smile on her lips. Can't imagine why...

"I suppose she's reacting the same way any other child her age would," Fluttershy continued. She looked again over at Rainbow with a warm, reassuring smile. "I wouldn't worry too much, Rainbow. She still likes you, I'm sure of it."

Rainbow's smile left her face, the pegasus swearing her heart skipped a beat or two upon seeing the kind look Fluttershy gave her.

It made her weak inside. So kind, and so gentle... She couldn't do it anymore.

Fluttershy deserved to know the truth.

"Shy..." Rainbow began, grabbing the mare's attention. "Look, I..." Rainbow's hooves hesitated for a couple moments before tightly clenching the sides of her sweatshirt. "I haven't been completely honest with you here," she said, piquing Fluttershy's curiosity further.

Rainbow slowly started to lift the sides of her sweatshirt, revealing the slightest bit of her bandages, when a lone tapping noise tore Fluttershy's attention away from her. On the floor sat a little white rabbit, impatiently tapping its foot.

He pointed behind himself toward the kitchen. "Oh, the carrot cake! Thank you for reminding me, Angel Bunny." She smiled sweetly at the little rabbit before getting up from the sofa.

Rainbow sighed as she let go of her sweatshirt, her hoof wrapping itself around the mug of cocoa once more.

Before leaving the living room, Fluttershy looked over her shoulder, back at Rainbow. "Um, e-excuse me, Rainbow; I have to go check on the dessert I made for Angel here, and... oh, I'll only be gone a little bit. I hope you don't mind—"

Angel bounced up and grabbed at her mane, tugging at it, moving her step by step. "E-easy, Angel. I'm going, I'm going..."

Rainbow put on a grin. "Y-yeah, no, cool!" she called out to her. "Totally." Her voice softened as she glanced down into her mug. "I'll be here..."

Rainbow sighed, and leaned back into the sofa. A moment passed, and Rainbow's ears stood up, hearing the sound of somepony knocking against the window opposite of her. She looked up and saw Pinkie outside, motioning to her with her eyes before ducking out of sight. Curious, she set her cocoa down on the wooden table beside her, and hopped to her hooves, walking over to the front door. Opening it and stepping hoof outside, she found herself practically and almost immediately pulled to the left of the cottage by Pinkie.

The mare had leaves stuck in her mane, and was partially sticking out of the bushes by the window, her body remaining crouched.

Rainbow found herself crouched as well, lying close to the ground and looking into Pinkie's eyes.

She didn't look very happy.

"Are you crazy?" the earth pony practically yelled, keeping her voice hushed.

"Wh-what?"

"I was watching you in there from the window all stealthily-like!" Pinkie pointed behind her. "You were about to reveal your bandages in front of Fluttershy!"

Rainbow's surprise slowly softened, returning to a normal gaze. She averted it to the side, muttering, "She deserves to know the truth."

The remark caught Pinkie by surprise. Her anger lessened, understanding a little of what she was feeling right then.

Pinkie placed a hoof on her shoulder, speaking softly, and gently. "Telling Fluttershy would hurt her real bad, like... she would be sad for months if you told her!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes in response, letting out a small huff as Pinkie continued.

"If you really care for her, Dash... you wouldn't want to see her upset. Believe me."

Rainbow looked into Pinkie's eyes, her will weakening.

As much as she wanted to, as much as it made her sick... she knew Pinkie had a point.

She stood up, stepping away just enough to give her room to breath. Pinkie herself sat up from her crouched position, cocking her head curiously as her eyes remained on the pegasus.

Rainbow's saddened gaze rested upon the ground as she shrugged her shoulders. "It just... hurts I guess, keeping this all pent up."

Pinkie bit her lip in hesitation, looking to the side for a long moment, then back at Rainbow. "It would also hurt seeing Fluttershy's expression the moment you told her you don't even recognize who she is. That she no longer has her best friend—"

"She does too!" Rainbow retorted suddenly, startling the mare. "It's just, I...!" She let out a frustrated groan. "Whatever! Hay, if I've learned anything from today, it's that nopony ever liked me before any of this!"

Pinkie shrunk back, stunned.

It was the first time she had ever actually seen Rainbow angry.

A smiled formed under the pegasus's muzzle. "Maybe me not remembering who I am gives me a chance to start over with these ponies." She let out a small, bitter laugh. "I'm sure some of them would probably prefer that."

"Fluttershy wouldn't," Pinkie replied, speaking as gingerly as she could. "She's always liked you for that brave, awesome... sometimes hot-headed, and overall stunning personality of yours, so... please, Rainbow."

Rainbow looked back at her directly, then looked away, muttering in response, "She sure has terrible taste in ponies."

Pinkie's eyes narrowed, her voice growing quieter. "If Fluttershy's wrong about you, then I guess so is Twilight."

Rainbow's eyes grew surprised for a short moment before eventually softening. She averted them to the ground, her voice becoming weaker.

"Don't say that about Twilight."

Pinkie sighed, standing up on all fours and walking up to the prismatic mare, Rainbow keeping her gaze fixated on the ground.

Then her gaze widened.

Rainbow stood stunned, shivers running throughout her body as Pinkie reached out, wrapping a foreleg around her shoulders, and bringing her into a sudden embrace.

"You're not a terrible pony, Dash," she whispered.

Rainbow swallowed, feeling her eyes begin to ache, trying her best to prevent the sad feeling that was building.

And the two ponies stayed like that for a few moments, neither one moving until Pinkie had a sniffle, and pulled back.

Rainbow's gaze slowly lifted itself from the ground, Pinkie coming face to face with her teary expression.

"Then... why doesn't anypony else seem to like me?"

Pinkie was taken aback as she found herself at a loss of words... upon seeing Rainbow's expression. Before when she had started crying, she was sad, and a little frustrated... This time however, was different.

This time she looked broken.

Pinkie couldn't bear to look another second, and closed her eyes, bringing Rainbow in for a second embrace.

This time, Rainbow fully returned it, her chin resting over Pinkie's shoulder.

A few rogue tears slipped from her cheeks, freely landing upon the earth pony's back, and not going unnoticed by her either.

Pinkie tightened her forelegs around her. "They do, Dashie," she said in a soft voice. "Please believe me."

How she wanted to, but... she had yet to see— Rainbow's eyes slowly opened as it then occurred to her that she was in the arms of a pony, and outside the home of a pony who really cared for her. She blinked, feeling so featherbrained. She hadn't even considered the fact that she had yet to meet every pony in town.

She cracked a small grin, again sniffling. "I... I thought I told you n-never to call me that."

Pinkie stepped back, and smiled. opened her mouth, about to respond when her ear twitched, a meek voice coming from inside the cottage. "Rainbow Dash?" she swore she heard the voice say.

Pinkie looked over her shoulder, then back at Rainbow. She hesitated on moving, instead looking at the pegasus with a worried look.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, a curved smile on her face as she nodded reassuringly.

Pinkie breathed out a sigh of relief, before smiling, giving her an apologetic look before darting back into her hiding spot.

Rainbow sighed, wiping her eyes real quick with her hoof as she walked over to the cottage door.

Fluttershy heard the sound of hooves clacking softly against the floor, and turned toward the open doorway, lighting up the moment she saw her friend again. "Oh, there you are, Rainbow." She smiled at her, stepping over. "If it's alright of me to ask, what were you doing outside?"

"Oh, you know. Just getting some fresh air," she replied, a hoof behind her head and returning the smile.

Fluttershy nodded. Slowly, her eyes shied away, and as what came to a surprise to Rainbow, her cheeks looked somewhat flushed. "So, um... earlier..." she began to ask, peering up from under her mane. "What were you going to say?"

"Telling Fluttershy would hurt her real bad." Rainbow bit her lip. "She would be sad for months if you told her!"

Seeing Fluttershy's face, Rainbow almost choked on the words, though... what she chose to say instead, she meant from the bottom of her heart.

"I'm just... really happy I got to see you again." Rainbow smiled sincerely at her.

Fluttershy on the other hoof, looked surprised at first, then straightened up. She walked closer to the rainbow-maned pegasus, keeping her gaze to the side of her. Then, in what came as a surprise to Rainbow, she threw her forelegs around her, her head resting upon Rainbow's shoulder; and though Rainbow could not see it, she was also a little misty-eyed.

"I'm happy too, Rainbow," Fluttershy said softly, affectionately nuzzling the crook of her neck.

The whole gesture honestly startled Rainbow, bringing a blush to her own cheeks.

And right then, she supposed, Pinkie had been right.

Maybe lying to Fluttershy had made her feel a little sick—it still did even... but... seeing the smile she gave her, and the feel of her sudden embrace...

Maybe she was lying to her best friend—though not with any ill intent—but... Fluttershy was relieved to have her friend again, and seeing how happy she seemed to be... It brought an actual smile to her own lips.

Rainbow stayed for a few more hours, chatting and playing a few card and board games with her pegasus friend, until the evening sun began to set over the horizon. Saddened, the two looked at one another, exchanging a few last words.

"I'll be back before you know it," said Rainbow, sharing one last hug with her friend.

Fluttershy softly nodded. "I know you will," she replied, and walking with her to the door.

She stepped out and waved goodbye from the winding dirt path, before turning toward the town with a smile, the time spent with Fluttershy providing a breath of fresh air for the young pegasus. She felt light on her hooves, for the first time enjoying the Ponyville scenery and ambiance since she came here with Pinkie— Rainbow blinked, her steps slowing. She glanced behind her wryly, back at the cottage. Wonder where she went?

Then, as if on cue, Pinkie appeared beside her from the corner of her eye.

Rainbow let out a slight, surprised gasp at the sudden appearance of the earth pony. "Where were you?" she asked. "I thought you were hiding out by the bushes back there."

"Oh I was," Pinkie explained, her expression turning sheepish. "'Til I got bored. Besides, I figured you didn't need me watching over you, and... there was something I needed to go take care of."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow, and was about to question what, when Pinkie asked,

"I take it you didn't tell her?"

A moment passed before Rainbow shook her head. "Guess I didn't have it in me," she replied. "Besides, you were right." Her lips formed a smile. "She really is something."

Pinkie nodded excitedly. "I told you, didn't I?" She turned to Rainbow with a wide grin. "So, where to now?"

The question caught her off guard.

"Gee, I, uh..." Rainbow thought about it as she looked away, lightly rubbing the back of her head. "I don't know."

"Hm..." Pinkie tapped a hoof against her chin in thought for a moment, when a light bulb suddenly went off above her head. "Party at my place!" she exclaimed, grabbing Rainbow's foreleg in her hoof, and pulling her along with her.

Rainbow's mind immediately began to panic. "W-what?! P-Pinkie?"

Rainbow struggled to break free from the other mare's grasp, her hooves skidding against the road to no avail. A party was the last place she wanted to be! She could only imagine how awkward it would all be...

Then again, Rainbow thought, why would any of those other ponies show up? A smile slowly started to form on her lips. This could be my chance to meet all the ponies I didn't before! She grew a little excited at the thought. Maybe I'll actually meet some that really like me—

"Ta-da!" Pinkie burst through the door of a decorated dessert parlor, Rainbow in tow. "Thank you for waiting everypony. I know it's a little late, but our guest is finally here!"

Panic froze upon Rainbow's face. All the faces of ponies staring back at her... and the feeling of a million eyes staring icily at her. She swallowed hard as her heartbeat grew louder.

Her ear twitched.

"What's she doing here?" she heard one of them whisper.

"Is this really why we're here?" another one asked.

Pinkie placed her hooves on the pegasus's shoulders. "Let's all give Rainbow a warm Ponyville welcome!" Pinkie exclaimed. "And wish her well on her life in Canterlot." She looked at Rainbow with a soft smile as her voice quieted. "However long it may last."

Several of the ponies in the crowd grudgingly clapped their hooves, seemingly out of politeness, and respect for the party planner rather than the guest herself.

Pinkie beamed at her. "Amazing isn't it?"

Rainbow didn't say a word as she stood there, unflinching. "Oh I just knew this would cheer you up!"

Grinning, and unable to contain her excitement, Pinkie dashed off into the shop to start up the activities, leaving Rainbow scared stiff... her breaths rugged.

Her ears picked up the quiet voices of ponies coming from all around her.

"Well," one mare said, "a party's a party."

"I mean, free cake, right?" the stallion beside her quipped. "May as well enjoy it."

Rainbow's vision blurred as her head grew lighter. She stepped backwards—Her forelegs, at this point, trembling uncontrollably—and accidentally bumped into the door frame. Her shrunken pupils darted back and forth, not knowing what to say, or do.

Two mares sat eyeing her, sitting at a table across from her.

"I suppose one good thing can be said about all of this," Rainbow heard one of them say to the other.

Her friend nodded. "Why's she just standing there?"

"Who knows." The other shrugged, the two turning to look at one another with humored smiles. "She's got issues."

Turning back at the spot where Rainbow stood, the two garnished looks of confusion.

It hadn't even been a minute, and she had left, slipping out the door and exiting her surprise party in the blink of an eye.

Rainbow walked out into the night in a cold sweat, her upper body and face burning and flushed. She kept one eye open slightly as she stumbled through the town, rubbing her other eye with her hoof.

She kept walking until she came across the library she had seen before.

She wasted no time stepping inside, pushing past the front door with her body.

Her teeth clenched, Rainbow let out a series of uncontrollable, shaking sobs.

At the same time, a terrible, stressing itch began to build in her wing joints.

It couldn't have become noticeable to her at a worse time.

She grabbed angrily at the sweatshirt concealing her body, forcefully throwing it over her head and across the room. She bit and tore away at her bandages, ripping them from her wings until they shot out from her sides.

Feeling the air against her feathers, her wings made a couple large flaps, shaking loose any excess feathers before returning to her sides.

She breathed out a shaky breath, wiping the tears from her cheeks before glancing around the lobby. Spotting a wall mirror over by the checkout desk, she swallowed down a tearful sob and trudged over to it.

"What is wrong with me?" she asked aloud in a tearful whisper, thinking harder and harder... mulling over her thoughts of all the ponies she had met for an answer.

She looked into the mirror with swollen, tired eyes and tear-stained cheeks, leaning closer until her forehead rested against it. She sighed, looking shakily back at her reflection. "Wh... why d-does nop-pony—"

Her reflection fell forward, cracking the mirror as she faltered.

Rainbow jumped back, startled.

Her reflection slowly got to her hooves. "Urgh... that hurt." Shaking her head, she chided herself under her breath. "I can't even walk five steps without tripping over myself..."

Her shock wearing off, Rainbow snapped back. "I... I walk just fine!"

Her reflection gave a snort of laughter. "I wish that were true. If it were, I wouldn't be flying everywhere... and even then I still crash!" The voice of her reflection became louder, angrier... looking as though it were on the brink of tears. "Into ponies' homes, into their work, into their lives... making their lives so much worse—!"

"Shut up!" Rainbow shouted, looking away and shutting her eyes in anger. She breathed out heavily and slowly opened them again, grabbing the book nearest to her from the counter... throwing it directly into the face of her reflection.

The uppermost part of the mirror shattered, sending shards of glass outwards, seemingly slowing in her eyes. In each shard, did she see a reflection of herself, each one different.

"You hurt ponies all the time."

Another reflection of hers was quick to defend. "But if I don't, then I'm the one who looks bad!"

The clattering sounds of glass hitting the wood floor sounded, but Rainbow could still hear their voices inside her head... each and every reflection clearly visible.

"Urgh, just shut up!" An image of her slammed the surface of her hooves against her ears. "Celestia, you are all so annoying!"

"But... you are me," Rainbow tried to argue, only for the voice to laugh at her.

"Ha, as if I'd ever be a loser like you." The image of her sneered, leaning forward. "Talk about uncool."

Rainbow fell backwards, her pupils growing smaller, her eyes panicked.

In her mind, another image of herself appeared before her. "Are you seriously gonna take that?" it questioned, punching her hoof into the other. "Man, I'd sock 'em right in the face for saying that."

"N-no," Rainbow squeaked out, shaking her head. "That's... I-I would never—!"

Her exclamation caused the image of herself to cower suddenly. "I... I didn't mean it!"

Rainbow's brow furrowed, and her head suddenly throbbed, placing a hoof over it.

She grimaced and slouched forward, placing her free hoof against the floor to keep balance.

"You're all talk," one said. "As always you quiver in fear whenever somepony confronts you."

Tears began leaking out from her eyes.

"All you do is fly around this town like some noisy—"

"Spoiled—"

"Haughty—"

"Neglected little pony who wants everypony to adore her, when in fact... nopony has any reason to."

Rainbow was close to hyperventilating. So many voices argued within her own head that she could no longer hear herself.

Rainbow's trembling form gave way in weakness, her foreleg falling out from under her.

"And," the same voice began to fade as Rainbow herself collapsed on her side. "Anypony who says they like you... is just being nice."

The voices and images of herself vanished from her head, leaving her in dead silence.

She lied there, staring aimlessly ahead of her with a now-lifeless gaze, tears streaming down them.

The throbbing pain in her head began to lessen, her breath steadily returning.

After a moment, she carefully rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling, her wings flopping out at her sides.

"Anypony who says they like you... is just being nice."

Her brow scrunched up slightly.

"I mean..." She looked away in puzzlement. "Twi likes me, right? And what about Shy, a-and Scoots?" She bit her lip. "It... doesn't seem like they're just being nice... but..."

She looked up again towards the ceiling.

Annoying, hurtful, clumsy... Those were some of the words that played through her mind. Hay, no wonder Twi hated me, she thought. Just thinking about how I was when we first met... I would've hated myself as well. Her lips formed a saddened smile. It makes me a little sick to think... that that's how I always was. That... even after losing my memory, I... never lost who I was.

She rolled back over onto her stomach, pushing up off the ground. "And I keep wondering why ponies don't seem to like me..."

Feeling physically exhausted, Rainbow slowly stood—her forelegs and hind legs a little wobbly at first—and shook her head. "I need to get my mind off of this..."

Going to fetch her sweatshirt first, she threw it on over herself, breathing in a deep breath, before releasing it in a shaken sigh. She walked over to the wall of books on her left, rubbing her temple with a hoof. Nothing in particular caught her attention at first.

Then, after several long moments of scanning the shelves, did she spot something that piqued her interest.

"Rainbow Dash!"

Pinkie wandered the dark streets of Ponyville, looking for her missing friend. Calling her name out into the empty, nighttime streets, she checked everywhere she could think of; and as she was about to give up hope, she spotted a nearby light coming from inside the library.

That meant only one thing to the pony.

"Rainbow!"

Pinkie ran in and immediately began looking around, at last spotting her feathered friend lying against the side of a spiral set of stairs.

"Rainbow Dash! There you are."

Rainbow glanced up from the open book she held in her hooves, casting a small smile in the direction of the pink earth pony. "Hey, did you know this library has the Daring Do series? Now I just know Twi would love it here."

Pinkie tilted her head a little at the response before she began looking around the room. Blue feathers and bandages lay discarded on the floor before her, and she looked again at Rainbow, noticing a little more closely that her wings were sticking out from the holes of her sweatshirt, full and unkempt. "Your... your wings..."

Rainbow perked up. "Huh? Oh yeah." She glanced down at her left wing with a soft smile. "Pretty neat, right?" She flapped them a little in demonstration. Pinkie's eyebrow's furrowed in thought, the pony turning her attention away once more.

Her expression became stunned once she saw the broken mirror on the left wall.

"What happened to the mirror?"

The smile fell from her lips, Rainbow turning her attention back to the page she was on. "Guess I didn't like what I saw."

Pinkie's ears fell against her head.

Dash... She walked over and sat down beside her. "Why'd you leave?"

Rainbow shrugged, not once glancing from the pages of the book. "I... wanted to go someplace that felt safe... and... when I saw the library, it just... reminded me of home... of Twi. I could tell I wasn't wanted there anyway."

Pinkie looked at her funny. "What are you talking about, Rainbow? Ponies like having you around."

Rainbow shut the book between her hooves suddenly, closing her eyes and leaning her head back against the staircase. "Pinkie... you keep saying that, but... I've yet to see anypony besides you, or Shy, or Scoots who seemed to want me around. I mean, Rarity and Applejack sure as hay didn't." She sighed in defeat. "And I'm pretty sure Scoots is still ticked at me," she added in an afterthought.

A moment passed between the two, Pinkie thinking over what she could say. "Sure it might seem that way with some of them," she replied softly; "but, well... You've just yet to show them how awesome you really are. Believe me," —Pinkie smiled— "my sis has the same problem sometimes."

Rainbow ignored the last part, instead letting out a chuckle. "Awesome, yeah, there's a laugh." She shook her head, looking over at Pinkie. "If by "awesome", you mean an obnoxious, rude, self-centered, egotistical slob, then yes." She looked away. "I'm so awesome."

Pinkie shook her head. "I meant the pony you were before you started acting that way," she said, placing a hoof on her shoulder.

Rainbow looked at her confused, though with a look in her eyes that asked her to continue.

"There's another... sweeter, and softer side to you, Dash. It's the side of you that Twilight fell in love with... that Scootaloo, and Fluttershy, and... myself are all familiar with. You don't show it all the time, but..." Pinkie smiled softly at her. "We like it when you do."

Rainbow blinked. "Another... side of me?" she wondered, thinking over the possibility. A possible side of her that she had long since hidden away, and forgotten about... One that she had rarely ever shown anypony...

Her time with Twilight had brought about a different side to her, she supposed. But still... Her eyes weakened, feeling tears building behind them.

"How can I when they won't even give me a chance to show them?"

Pinkie shook her head. "You don't have to show them, Dash... because they'll see just how much of a changed pony you are through your actions. Like you are with Twilight, and how you were with Fluttershy, and Scootaloo; they'll see how helpful... and loyal you can really be." She withdrew her hoof from the pegasus's shoulder, smiling sheepishly at her. "If you do decide to ever come back to Ponyville, that is—"

Rainbow leaned forward, wrapping her forelegs around Pinkie, both cutting her off and leaving her stunned for a moment.

"I will someday," she assured her in a whisper. "And hopefully not by myself either."

Pinkie giggled lightly. "If you do bring Twilight with you, you should show her this library. I'm sure she'd love it!"

Rainbow chuckled. "I know she will."

The hug lasted a couple moments longer until the two mares finally pulled apart. "Thanks," she said, wiping her cheek dry.

Pinkie grinned. "No problemo!" she replied, getting a small laugh out of her pegasus friend.

"You know, Pinkie," Rainbow began as the thought occurred to her. "There's still one place I'd like to visit."

Pinkie's head cocked in curiosity. "And that is?"

"My old home," said Rainbow, genuinely surprising Pinkie, taking her aback. "Think you could point me in the right direction?"

Pinkie snapped out of her momentary surprise. "Oh, well... I-it's this ginormous cloud home, the only one in Ponyville and it's kinda hard to miss actually—like a tower in the sky, with rainbows, and columns... even a rainbow waterfall!" Pinkie exclaimed, for a moment, her voice growing a little excited. "It's a little out there, on the outskirts of town, but no worries; I'll guide you—"

Before Pinkie could say another word, Rainbow held her hoof up, scratching the back of her head with her other hoof. "Actually, Pinkie, I, uh... kinda wanted to do this alone. I'm sorry..." Pinkie's gaze visibly saddened, cuing Rainbow to hold both her hooves out in reassurance. "I mean, you've been a nice help, and a great friend, but... this, I want to do on my own."

Reluctantly, Pinkie nodded in understanding, however she looked no less sad.

"You're going to fly back to her, aren't you?" she asked, looking away a bit. "After tonight... you won't won't be sticking around to say goodbye..."

"Pinkie—"

"I'll miss you!" the earth pony cried, startling Rainbow as she threw her forelegs around her neck, crying softly into the pegasus's shoulder, her mane slightly getting in Rainbow's face.

Rainbow shifted in annoyance, growing uncomfortable, and beginning to feel a little awkward.

"Uh... y-you can come visit me and Twi, Pinkie. I know it's not the same, but..."

Pinkie sniffled, nodding softly. "It won't be easy with me being needed here in Ponyville, but... you guys are my friends, so..." She pulled back a bit, looking at Rainbow with a smile. "I'll definitely try."

Rainbow nodded, returning a halfhearted smile as she backed out of the embrace. "Guess I'll see you soon then."

Her wings made a few flaps before they lifted her body into the air. She did a small salute with her hoof before directing her attention to, and flying out of an open window.

And like that, Rainbow was gone.

Pinkie eventually let out a sigh, walking over to the book Rainbow had been reading, and had seemed so fond of. She held it against her chest. I'll hold onto this, she decided. I'll keep it safe for her, and Twilight.

A moment passed as she rid the floor of Rainbow's bandages, before she glanced once more in the direction of the shattered mirror. I'll tell a repair pony about it in the morning, she thought before heading out, shutting off the light and closing the door behind her.

She wandered around for a bit. I could return to the party, she considered, but all of a sudden... she didn't really feel like partying. Her mane seemingly deflated as she walked around Ponyville, thinking wistfully to herself. I keep following rainbows... looking for a reason to smile.

She looked up at the sky. Why do they keep leaving?

Rainbow flew through the night with renewed confidence and determination, the late summer breeze feeling liberating against her feathers. With a grin so wide, she did a couple of spins before a sharp pain in her left wing caused her to flatten out. She glanced back at her wings with narrowed eyes, and breathed out a huff, understanding what they were telling her. Fine... she thought. I'll take it slow.

She continued flying at the slower pace, never was stopping... until she noticed another pegasus out of the corner of her eye—a grey-coated one with a blonde mane—seemingly sitting alone on a cloud.

The sight made her a little curious, and she glided a little closer, thinking over Pinkie's words.

She rubbed the back of her head in hesitation before speaking up. "Uh, h-hey there," she greeted, capturing the pony's attention. She perked up, looking over her shoulder, and right away, Rainbow noticed that the mare's yellow eyes had a cross-eyed look to them.

The look of her surprised her a bit, but... remembering the way ponies looked at herself, she looked past it.

"Oh, hi Rainbow Dash," the pegasus replied, turning to look back ahead. "I thought you had left."

Rainbow's expression turned sympathetic, and she flew closer, setting a hoof down on the cloud beside the other pegasus before hesitantly sitting down on it.

"I decided to pay a visit," she said, looking over at the mare. "It's been a while... Um..."

"Ditsy," the mare replied.

Rainbow nodded. "Ditsy, right..." She grew a little sheepish as she apologized. "S-sorry, my mind has sorta been all over the place recently."

Ditsy gave a soft nod of understanding as a couple moments passed between them in silence.

"What's going on, Ditsy? Why're you out here all alone?" Rainbow asked.

"No reason I guess. I just don't really fit in."

The answer caught Rainbow off guard, and she glanced away, a little reminded of herself. "Tell me about it." She sighed, returning her gaze to the pegasus. "Still... there's a pony out there for everypony, Ditsy."

Ditsy shook her head. "I would just get in the way." She breathed out a sigh as her eyes fell. "The real me's a klutz."

"Yeah? So am I," Rainbow replied. "Hay, when I first met this really close friend of mine, she called me Rainbow Crash."

Ditsy grimaced. "Ouch."

"And yet—" Rainbow looked off into the distance, smiling fondly at the memories. "—she likes me anyway." Rainbow turned to her with a warm smile. "If the smartest unicorn in the world can tolerate—and even become friends with a pony like me, well..." She nudged Ditsy's foreleg. "I see no reason the same can't be said about you."

For a moment, Rainbow noticed Ditsy's face began to light up a bit before returning to a look of uncertainty. She bit her lip, looking away. "I don't know..."

Rainbow put a hoof on her shoulder. "Believe me, Ditsy, there really is somepony out there for you." She jumped to her hooves, her wings lifting her off the cloud. "Hay, you can consider me a friend if you'd like!"

Ditsy blinked, looking up at Rainbow, stunned. "You'd want to be friends with me?"

"Well, sure!" Rainbow chuckled, a little reminded of Twilight right then. "You seem like an all-around nice pony, and it shouldn't be long before other ponies see that too."

Ditsy's look of disbelief slowly became a look of happiness, Rainbow's words giving her a bit of hope.

She smiled up at her cerulean friend.

"There's someplace I gotta get to," Rainbow continued; "but... just promise me you won't avoid them any longer."

"I won't!"

Rainbow smiled, flying higher up off the cloud, waving goodbye before turning and flying off into the distance.

Ditsy watched until Rainbow disappeared from view, then, with a sigh, turned—her wings unfurling—and looked off nervously in the direction of Ponyville.

It hadn't taken Rainbow long to find—what she presumed to be—her home. Only several or so moments had passed since she left Ditsy that she noticed the large, spiral-like tower that Pinkie had described, floating above a grassy plain.

Sure enough, liquid rainbow poured from the side, becoming raindrops that rained down on the ground below. An arching rainbow curved out the top into a low pool of liquefied rainbow.

Rainbow landed on the winding pathway leading to the front door, stopping only for a moment once she noticed a decorative emblem above the door, resembling her cutie mark.

She smiled, a little humored at the practicality of it.

At least it confirmed it really was her house, she supposed.

Rainbow knocked on the door a few times, then, when not a single response came, she slowly opened the door, sticking her head inside. On a whim, she called out, "Mom?" Her ears fell as she peered around within the dark, her body slouching a bit upon getting no response. "Dad...? Anypony?"

She walked inside worriedly, switching a light on and taking a clearer look around.

Everything seemed so empty... so deserted.

On a wooden corner table, sat a picture frame that caught her eye. She picked it up, taking a closer look. In it was her younger self, her wings fluttering excitedly. Two older ponies sat behind her: one a blue-coated, orange-maned mare, the other a stallion with the same coat and mane colors as her own.

She ran a hoof down the side of the frame as a tear dripped onto the glass.

Wiping the bottom of her eyes dry, Rainbow walked into the kitchen, spotting a handwritten address on her cloud fridge underneath another, smaller picture of her younger self and who she could only assume were her parents.

Cloudsdale... she read the last part aloud, remembering Twilight telling her something about it... that it was where most pegasi lived. So my parents aren't here then...

With that weary thought in mind, Rainbow trudged on, walking up the stairs of her cloudominium. So I moved here... Her steps grew heavier.

She reached the end of the stairs, taking note of a cloud bed on the far side of the room, and wasted no time running over... collapsing on top of her rainbow bolt bedspread. She buried her face in her pillow, squirming desperately underneath the sheets for comfort.

Not being able to remember the other ponies is frustrating... but I can't even remember my own parents, or my childhood... If only I could just see them again...

She could settle on that, she supposed. Just knowing who they were, and knowing they were still there for her.

But hay if I know where in the world Cloudsdale even is...

Her tired, weary eyes—the tears and heartache at last taking their toll on them—softly closed as a hopeful thought then popped into her head. Twi probably does. The realization made her feel a little better, as a small, hopeful smile grew on her lips. Maybe the two of us could go together...

Her mind rested on the happy thought until it could no longer stay awake, falling into a much-needed slumber.

Several hours later, and she awoke, her eyes squinting a bit and her muzzle crinkling slightly at the sun in her eyes. She sat up, letting out a yawn before looking around, the pieces clicking together in her mind of what had happened and where she was.

Her face broke out into a look of panic. "Crud, the sun's up!" She flew up out of her sheets in a hurry, running a hoof up through her mane. "Aw man, I hope it isn't too late!"

Darting over to the window, Rainbow rested her hooves over the window frame, about to leave out of it... when she hesitated. Another thought returned to her, as her gaze now rested on Ponyville in the distance. She tore her gaze away from the town in thought.

I'll return someday, she thought, looking ahead in confidence. Everything... everything will be better in time.

Smiling in determination, she shot out into the brisk morning air, feeling so full of energy, and performing a spin as she flew.

Remembering the night before, she kept it to just one.

Yesterday might not have been everything I had hoped it would be. I didn't have as many friends as I convinced myself I did... Hay... I couldn't even remember a single pony... Her smile fell from her face for only a moment at the memory. And yet... Rainbow flipped over, gazing up at the clouds as she glided through the air. I wouldn't call it a total waste. I'm beginning to remember bits and pieces... and... I... I think they're enough for now.

She recalled them in her head, thinking over what she knew about herself.

I'm Rainbow Dash, Cloudsdale pegasus. I moved here after a while with my friend Fluttershy, but... sort of ended up becoming a huge jerk in the process... That was until Twi helped me. She reminded me of who I really am, and who I want to be... and... I just want to be somepony nice that... that ponies can count on to be there for them—Twi especially.

Rainbow supposed that sounded about right.

I still don't know everything about who I used to be, but... I know who I am right now, and right now there's a unicorn who needs me. She rolled back over, facing straight ahead. And I need her as well—

Rainbow's eyes widened, and she swerved to the side, narrowly avoiding a tall tree growing from the vast forest below. She gulped as she stopped for a moment, hovering beside it and counting herself lucky.

She silently berated herself for not paying more attention to where she was flying.

Thoughts of seeing Twilight again filling her head, she happily took off once more toward the city on the mountain... unaware of a few cerulean blue feather caught in its branches.

Day 8 - Like Fire In the Rain

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Twilight stirred, slowly waking up with a slight groan to the first morning rays of sunlight beaming in through her window. The light warmed her, and... annoyed her slightly as her eyes adjusted; but the sun was no match for a body of blue fur, or a hoof to hold onto, a mane to snuggle into...

Her heart dropped at the realization, and at the memory of retiring to Rainbow's room, not long after she ushered Spike to turn in for the night.

As she herself had turned in for the night, a hopeful thought told her that Rainbow would've returned to her overnight—while she slept—and that she would have woken up to the warmth of her beside her.

Guess I was wrong again, she thought with a slight smile, before sighing and lifelessly stepping out of bed. Her body grew a bit colder once her hooves touched the floor, after another chilling night as summer neared its end. Though, it was nothing compared to the chills she currently felt throughout her body.

Twilight—swallowing down a saddened lump—breathed in and out deeply in an attempt to calm herself.

However the wounded and sick feeling in her chest only grew heavier.

She hasn't abandoned you, Twilight told herself, lifting her foreleg to her ear, and holding Rainbow's feather in her hoof with hopes that it would restore her confidence... but it only caused her hoof to tremble. She... she hasn't aban... abandoned— Twilight's hoof clenched around the feather as it only brought more bad feelings than good memories to the surface... She yanked the accessory from her ear, throwing it as far away from her as she could.

It drifted a couple feet from her, before floating soundlessly to the ground.

She let out a few soft breaths, bringing a hoof to her chest, and gently clutching the spot that hurt most. Her gaze rested on the feather for a few moments before she cleared her thoughts of it—and everything in the room—averting her teary gaze to the doorway.

Twilight stared downcast as she sat on the floor of her shower, water raining over her back and mane.

Celestia had told her to remain strong, and calm... yet she found herself lacking the strength or motivation to do anything other than let the water do its job. Her eyes shut tight, the sound of her soft crying was the only other sound that could be heard, partially echoing beneath the patter of the bathwater. She tried to avoid it, if only it wasn't the one thing she didn't have control over.

At least it did a job of masking the tears that she tried to stifle, as both streams of water and tears ran freely down her face and dripped from her muzzle. I know it's selfish of me, but... I, I just can't...

"As long as you promise you'll be back soon."

Rainbow met her worriment with her usual cocky grin. Only this time it was more reassuring.

"I promise I'll be back before you know it."

The smile Rainbow had given her that day was enough to cause the unicorn to shut her eyes tighter.

Twilight gripped her other foreleg as her body again began to tremble. I... I know she needs time, but... I... Twilight slowly opened her eyes and let out a shaken sigh, then slowly stood, pushing the shower curtain aside with her drenched hoof. I don't know if... if I can wait any longer...

Turning the water off with her magic, she galloped off to Rainbow's room, her body still sopping with water, and with care, gently picked the earring off the ground. "I'm sorry, Rainbow..." Twilight wiped her cheek with her hoof as she magically placed the feather around her ear. "Celestia," she wept, falling back on her haunches. "I'm so sorry..."

Draping a towel over the back of her neck, and with her eyes and cheeks mostly dried, Twilight walked up the stairs leading into her usual place of study. She sniffled once, looking to where her books from the night before still lay.

May as well read more, Twilight thought wistfully.

She sighed, and slowly walked over, sitting down at her desk and resuming where she left off, her face slouched against her left hoof while her other hoof fiddled with the feather she wore.

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together, and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies. But as time went on—

Twilight's attention was torn suddenly from the passage as a knock bellowed from the door below. Her lifeless gaze looked up; already widening a little at the prospects of that being Rainbow—the real Rainbow—standing on the other side, waiting for her. A slight grin already found itself tugging at her lips.

Twilight got up and dashed down the short set of stairs—the towel falling from her shoulders as she ran over to the front doors, practically tearing them from their hinges in anticipation.

"Hey, Rain...!"

Twilight blinked, her voice drifting to a stop as she ended up spotting not a single pegasus, or pony for that matter, in sight.

The eager smile she wore slowly faded from her face. Had it just been her imagination?

Twilight sighed and turned downcast, closing the doors behind her. "Looks like she really won't be making it back in time..."

"In time for what?"

Twilight rolled her eyes, turning back around as she spoke. "You know, that big Wonderbolts per... form... ance—" She paused, her eyes growing wider at the sight before her. "Rainbow?!"

"Surprise!" the pegasus exclaimed with a happy grin, floating a couple feet off the ground.

Twilight stood still, staring disbelievingly, her mouth agape. "Wha... but how...?" She looked over at the shut doors, before turning again to face the pegasus. "Where did you—?" She paused, noticing something peculiar the longer she looked up at her friend. "You-you're flying..."

"I slipped in just as you turned, and yep! Pretty cool huh?" Rainbow glanced back at her wings with a proud grin. "Yesterday, while I was away, my wings started feeling itchy, and at the same time, my body became all restless, like I just had to fly. So I tore the bandages off, and just like I figured, my wings were good as new!" she exclaimed as she flew around in a little circle. Slowing to a halt, her smile faded a little, again choosing to look back at her wings. "Well sort of anyway... But I've been flying ever since! Even decided to fly here, and make it back it here early!"

Rainbow's elated appearance returned and before Twilight even knew it, the pegasus had swept her up into the air, hugging her tightly. Twilight stifled a gasp, but Rainbow didn't seem to notice. She only smiled and even leaned in, giving Twilight a nuzzle before said unicorn surprised Rainbow by teleporting away in a blinding light. She reappeared on the ground, a similar look of bewilderment on her face before tearing her gaze away from the hovering pegasus.

Momentarily stunned, and quickly rubbing the light from her eyes, Rainbow looked down at the startled unicorn and made a slight, wry face.

It was nice while it lasted... Rainbow sighed, lowering herself to the ground, folding her wings by her sides and stepping forward. "Hey... Twi... You alright?" she asked. "Let me guess—" Rainbow smiled, lifting her hooves in a dramatic sense. "—You thought some great disaster would occur while I was away, right?"

Twilight looked up again, this time with uncertainty and curiosity in her eyes. She inched closer to the pegasus until she was a couple hoofsteps apart, then lifted her hoof and, for a moment, began poking and pinching at Rainbow's face before being swatted away by the pegasus's hoof in annoyance. "T-twi, what the heck—?"

"S-sorry," Twilight apologized, then gave a sigh of relief. "It's just... I can't believe it's really you. I mean... you've been gone for so long—!"

Rainbow chuckled a bit. "I've been gone for a day, Twi," she said, and couldn't help but smile at the exaggeration. Twilight broke out into a soft blush.

"Still..." Twilight glanced downwards, softly brandishing a hoof back and forth across the floor while allowing a soft, relieved grin to adorn her face. "I... I'm just really happy you're home."

"I'm happy too, Twi," Rainbow said, leaning forward a little and putting a foreleg around Twilight in a makeshift embrace. Twilight froze for a moment, her eyes widening in startlement before tightly returning the embrace, pulling Rainbow as close as possible to her, and so strongly that it surprised the pegasus at first. Her chin rested on the pegasus's shoulder, her mane and the fur of her cheek lightly touching her own.

"S-so... I, uh..." Rainbow silently gulped, her cheeks burning fiercely. "I—I hope you weren't too bored without me here."

Twilight smiled softly. "Maybe a little..." Images of herself slouched with a pancake through her horn briefly entered her mind. "B-but for the most part I spent my time reading... Oh, and I paid Princess Celestia a visit!" Twilight pulled back just enough from the pegasus to look her in the eyes, her muzzle so closely wound with Rainbow's that she could feel the mare's soft breaths.

"She's okay with you living here by the way," Twilight continued to explain, all in a soft voice. "She gave me a new assignment too, since, you know, you're... no longer my old one." Twilight grinned sheepishly.

"She wants me to study the Elements of Harmony."

Rainbow tilted her head in confusion. "Huh?"

"Huh?" Twilight froze up. "El-elements...? Of...?"

Twilight swallowed a sudden, nervous lump in her throat and shook the memory from her head. "T-that's what I said at first," Twilight replied, drawing in a deep breath to calm herself. "I, uh... I-I was actually reading a little when you knocked."

"Huh." Rainbow nodded slowly before taking a casual look around. "So what about Spike?"

Twilight shrugged. "Oh... same old, same old," she said with a smile.

Rainbow returned the smile, however, her body was beginning to feel a little cramped. On the inside, she yearned to break free of the embrace, if only for a moment.

Rainbow chuckled nervously, and slowly tried to worm out of Twilight's hold, despite being face to face with her, and seeing the sudden, surprised look of hurt in the unicorn's eyes. Twilight frowned, and adjusted her hold around the shoulders of the squirmish pegasus.

Rainbow sighed.

"Hey," she whispered with a gentle grin; "you know we can't stay like this forever."

Twilight bit her inner lip, lowering her gaze before slowly nodding in understanding. She sighed, putting on a coy pout as she hesitantly ended the embrace between them. The two stepped back from one another, Twilight sheepishly rubbing her left foreleg.

Rainbow let out a small sigh of relief, allowing her shoulders to slump as she took a look around, spotting a cozy-looking area behind her.

She turned back to Twilight with a sheepish smile.

"Excuse me, Twi." Rainbow hoped into the air, turning from Twilight in favor of the nearby window seat. She then fell, practically throwing herself into—and promptly sinking into—the cushiony embrace. Letting out a sigh, she closed her eyes as she lay on her stomach, her forelegs falling at her sides.

Twilight watched the whole scene from where she stood.

Can't really blame her for being exhausted, she thought before walking over and sitting beside Rainbow, looking down at the complacent mare. Twilight smiled admiringly at the pegasus she loved, captivated as her body seemingly glistened in the warm morning sun.

Rainbow sensed the unicorn's presence beside her, and turned her head to her left, opening her eyes just enough to look up at her.

She grinned weakly at Twilight. "Feels good to just... lie back after a long flight, you know?"

Twilight shook her head, covering up a soft chuckle that soon followed with her hoof.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, sporting the same smile as she turned over onto her back.

"So how was Ponyville?" Twilight asked.

Rainbow's grin weakened a little.

"Come on, Twi... I just got back..."

Twilight lowered her gaze, disappointed, and seeing that look in the unicorn's eyes, Rainbow sighed, looking away. "Take a guess—"

Twilight perked right back up again. "Unpleasant?" she asked suddenly. "S-sorry—"

"N-no, no, it... it's okay," Rainbow assured her, raising her hoof a bit. She sighed as she lied back down, gazing upwards. "You're not that far off actually."

Oh, Rainbow... Twilight looked worryingly down at the mare, her ears falling against her head. Hearing those words, she could only assume what she had worried about had happened.

"Nopony found out about your... problem, did they?"

Rainbow shook her head. "For all they know, I decided to move here for awhile."

"G-good!" Twilight's voice shook a little, and was followed with a weak sigh of relief, the corner of her mouth curling into a slight smile. "Good..." Not long after her smile had formed, had it disappeared from her face. "So then why—?"

"I dunno," Rainbow replied with a shrug. "Guess it was just... messin' with my head too much, being there... and... being away from you, I—I guess..." Rainbow averted her eyes as Twilight looked at her surprised. "Though... it wasn't so bad," she continued. "I remembered little things about myself, got to meet some nice ponies, and even realized who I want to be."

Twilight's head tilted in confusion. "And who's that?"

"Somepony who'll always be here for you." Rainbow looked back at her with a smile.

Twilight's cheeks grew warm, breaking out in a light blush. "R-rainbow..." She bit her lip, looking worryingly at the mare. "Should... should we talk about what happened... right before you left?"

Rainbow visibly grew a little panicked. "What happened?"

"Rainbow... you... you know what I mean. Remember? You, me, cheek, kissed?"

"Oh yeah... about that." Rainbow's ears flattered as she sat up on her hooves with a sigh. Her gaze remained lowered for a moment before hesitantly meeting Twilight's. "Look, you're not... mad or anything, are you?"

"N-no!" Twilight quickly sputtered out, shaking her head. "No, no, I'm, I'm not, I..." She stopped, taking a deep breath to calm herself. "I guess you could say I'm just a little curious."

Rainbow huffed and looked out the window, already feeling her cheeks heating up by the second.

"Well... maybe I just, sort of have this... stupid crush on you, alright? And I took a stupid gamble and thought maybe I'd try and clue you in, but... never mind—" Rainbow sighed, defeated, as her voice became weaker. "—it was stupid anyway."

"Oh, I didn't think so, Rainbow." Twilight smiled warmly as the feeling of butterflies in her stomach hit her. She leaned forward, and unbeknownst to Rainbow, nervously planted a quick peck on the pegasus's cheek. Rainbow's eyes widened and quickly shot back to the unicorn, just as she pulled away. Their cheeks now matching one another, Rainbow put a gentle hoof to the spot on her cheek Twilight had kissed.

Twilight herself put a hoof over her lips, simply letting out a soft chuckle as she gauged Rainbow's reaction.

"Guess I've been harboring a stupid crush on you too."

O-on... me too? Rainbow's heart thumped against her chest as Twilight's words slowly began to register. She stared back at Twilight, stunned, before a small grin started to form, spreading itself bigger and bigger until she could no longer stand it—exclaiming an elated "Awesome," and throwing her forelegs around the unicorn's neck, already hard at work nuzzling her cheek against Twilight's own. "I mean, it's just... I, I thought that maybe you felt the same way, but it's so awesome to actually hear you say it!"

Twilight chuckled softly, the ticklish feeling of Rainbow's fur, as well as the pegasus's own excitement causing her to stammer. "I—I-I'm happy t-too, Rainbow." She smiled, placing both of her hooves on her shoulders, holding Rainbow back a little. "What I can't help but wonder about though, are the reasons why."

Rainbow's smile fell, momentarily drawing a blank. "Reasons?" she questioned, cocking her head. "Oh, the reasons! Right..." She silently berated herself.

"Twi... Remember when I said you were likable?" Twilight thought for a moment before softly nodding her head. "Well... I meant it, you know? You're totally fun, caring, smart... beautiful..." she added in a whisper; "a-and, I dunno... Seeing you just makes me feel safe, and, well... happy. Like I have a place where I belong." Twilight listened to every word as the blush in her cheeks deepened. She nervously swallowed, furthering her hold on the pegasus and gingerly wrapping her forelegs around Rainbow's neck as she garnished a shy smile.

Rainbow noticed, and grinned softly. "Ponyville doesn't make me feel the same way you do."

Twilight blinked.

The look in her eyes changed suddenly, and her lips steadily tightened, curling into a slight smile. "Pfft... That... that's so sappy!" No longer able to hold back, Twilight burst out into a small fit of laughter. Rainbow grew flustered as her laughter grew so strong that she found herself falling backwards.

"T-twi—!" Rainbow tried to say, feeling her body slipping as Twilight fell back upon the floor. Twilight's hooves still wrapped around the pegasus's neck, the two wound up on the floor together, Rainbow's body lying gently on top of hers.

Rainbow shook her head, letting out a soft groan as she leaned back, pushing up off the ground and off her new girlfriend. Twilight's mane was splayed across the floor somewhat as Rainbow looked down over her, meeting her gaze. Rainbow shined a sheepish grin at her while the last few chuckles left Twilight's lips.

"S-sorry, I... I didn't mean to laugh, or drag you down like this; I just—"

"It's cool, Twi, really," Rainbow assured, with a smile. "You have a good sense of humor about things too."

Her smile softened, her voice growing gentler. "I meant everything though."

Twilight lovingly smiled, lowering her eyelids. "I know," she said, urging the pegasus closer to her. Rainbow's eyes widened for a moment before catching on, and swallowed nervously, mirroring Twilight by slowly closing her eyes as well. Their muzzles inches apart, Twilight found herself hesitating suddenly, her forelegs trembling slightly.

She silently gulped as a few bristles of Rainbow's muzzle came into contact with her own.

The faint, sudden sound of a dragon's yawn sounded from the stairs, causing both unicorn and pegasus to freeze. Their ears twitched—alerting themselves to the sound—and immediately, Rainbow's eyes widened in panic.

She leaned back as she averted her eyes. The second she did, Twilight breathed out a quiet sigh, feeling her nerves start to dwindle.

Internally, she was panicking a little too. Had Spike seen her like that, about to lock lips with another mare...

If he had seen her like that, Twilight supposed, as she and Rainbow scrambled apart. Her gaze saddened. If... if I could even bring myself to...

The two got to their hooves just as Spike reached the top step, Rainbow mouthing a quick "Sorry" over to Twilight, followed by a brief, apologetic smile.

Seeing Rainbow's smile, and humor about the whole situation however, seemingly lifted Twilight's own mood a bit, and she softly returned the smile.

Rubbing the last bits of sleep from his eyes, Spike looked groggily to his left, only to be taken by surprise by the presence of a certain pegasus beside Twilight, and jumped back a little, eyes wide. "Rainbow! You-you're back..."

Rainbow turned to the dragon, letting out a soft chuckle. "Heh... Sure am, Spike."

Spike's startlement quickly wore off and he let out his breath. I wasn't expecting her back so soon, but... "That's good," he replied with a slight smile. He looked over at Twilight, noticing that she was bearing the same familiar smile from whenever she was around Rainbow.

"I see you're in a much better mood today," he remarked.

Twilight looked away a bit flustered, brandishing her hoof on the floor as Rainbow looked over at her, her curiosity piqued.

"Well..." Spike scratched the back of his head. "I take it you two want some time alone to catch up. That's cool." He waved a dismissive claw as he turned back for the stairs. "I'll be around if you need anything."

As he left, Rainbow put aside her look of curiosity in favor of a slight smile. "We're not going to have much privacy, are we?"

Twilight shook her head, looking back at Rainbow, and returning the smile. "Probably not, but... there's still tonight," she whispered sweetly, causing Rainbow's wings to seemingly stiffen; for whatever reason, Twilight couldn't fathom. "And now that your wings are better," she noted, drawing her attention to them, "you still owe me a flight."

"A flight...?" Rainbow thought aloud, snapping out of her previous thought. "Oh, right!" She grinned excitedly back at Twilight as the memory came back to her. "You're still up for that?"

"If it's with you..." Twilight nodded softly. "Then yes—" Rainbow cut her off, greeting her cheek with another nuzzle. However Twilight still remained a little shaken.

"Ah-hem!" She broke away from Rainbow with a slight blush. "S-so! N-now that you've chosen to live in Canterlot with me and Spike, we've got to lay down a few ground rules."

Rainbow's shoulders slumped. "Seriously?"

Twilight put a hoof to her chin as she looked off in thought. "We'll also need to get you a job of some sort... I know Canterlot could use some weather ponies—"

"Whoa whoa, wait..." Rainbow put her hooves out before her, beseeching Twilight to slow down. "Why do I need a job?"

"I'm already looking after Spike, Rainbow, and now I've got you living with me too; I... I'll run out of bits in no time unless you start pulling your share around here."

Rainbow glanced down at the floor saddened, placing one foreleg over the other. "But I don't want to..."

Twilight stepped forward. "Rainbow..."

"I mean, I want to spend time with you," Rainbow continued, "not with ponies I don't even know!"

Her confession caught Twilight off guard.

"W-well," she stammered, "I... I suppose it doesn't have to be immediate."

Twilight smiled at her, and seeing that, Rainbow returned it.

A moment passed in silence as both mares searched for something to say. Twilight glanced around before turning her attention to the window, and the morning sun just outside. "Say... we still have time before our date, and since we have time," Twilight pointed a hoof at Rainbow's wings, giving her a wink. "Why don't we see just how good those wings are."

Twilight walked on ahead, Rainbow looking back at her, curious. "Date?"

After a quick teleportation spell, Twilight grabbed a stopwatch as well as their tickets for later—stuffing them into her saddle before teleporting back to accompany Rainbow outside.

With Twilight's instructions, Rainbow now found herself floating beside one of the many cumulus clouds outside the Ivory Tower.

She huffed a sigh of frustration. "Cloud busting? Seriously?"

"It's just a simple test to prove agility and durability during flight. I'll be timing to see how long it takes you to move from one cloud to the next," Twilight explained from the side of the road below, a stopwatch suspended within her magic. "You can also look at this as a form of wing therapy, since your wings so far have only been strained and not probably exercised."

Rainbow snorted, crossing her forelegs. "You make it sound like my wings are still hurting, Twi. I'm telling you they're fine." She looked away a bit, muttering softly, "Mostly..."

"We'll see..." she whispered, readying the watch. "Alright, and... go!" she yelled, to which Rainbow rolled her eyes before quickly taking off. One by one, the surrounding clouds were kicked and karate chopped—even dispersed when she dove right through some of them—until the skies around them were perfectly crystal clear.

Rainbow landed skillfully before Twilight, just as she stopped the counter.

"Well?" Rainbow asked her in anticipation.

Twilight shook her head, tearing her eyes away from the watch and snapping out of her bafflement. "Fifteen seconds..." she uttered. "T-that's... wow."

Rainbow however, wasn't so impressed. She sighed, glancing down at the ground, disappointed. "I was aiming for ten, honestly."

"You think that's possible?" Twilight asked. "To clear the sky so quickly?"

"Pfft." Rainbow looked up again with a confident smirk. "I could totally do it."

Twilight's eyes narrowed. "Prove it," she playfully challenged.

Rainbow smiled confidently. "Once my wings are up to speed, I just might," she replied, taking a seat next to Twilight and looking over at her with a soft smile. Twilight rolled her eyes before returning the smile.

With her gaze focused on Rainbow, Twilight didn't notice when the pegasus slipped one of her wings over her back, her wingtips folding around her shoulder. The gentle, and somewhat hesitant gesture surprised her—her eyes widening a little before slowly regaining her smile and turning once more towards the sky, melting into her wing.

Her tail flicked up off the ground, and clumsily wrapped itself slightly around Rainbow's haunches. It wasn't a wing, but she needed a way to return the gesture somehow. Luckily for her, it seemed to work, as she noticed the slight blush in Rainbow's cheeks from the corner of her eye.

Rainbow chuckled sheepishly as she and Twilight stared out before them at the now cloud-free sky. "We might need to find some more clouds if I'm gonna take you up on that..."

"That won't be hard," Twilight replied. "Canterlot's one of the cloudiest cities in all of Equestria. It's like... for every sunny day, there's two cloudy ones."

"Good thing you have me then!" Rainbow exclaimed, causing Twilight to giggle into her hoof.

Rainbow noticed her do so, and reached out her hoof, placing it over Twilight's own, gently lowering it from her lips.

Twilight turned to face Rainbow, her curiosity piqued as she raised an eyebrow.

"Your laugh," Rainbow explained; "you shouldn't cover it up." She smiled softly, holding Twilight's hoof in hers in the grass between them. Twilight's expression slowly changed into a look of understanding. She gingerly nodded her head.

Turning back towards the sky, a thought suddenly occurred to the pegasus. "Say, I could sleep on them now if I wanted..."

Twilight looked down, disappointed. "I can't..."

"Right... a unicorn like you would just... fall right on through."

Rainbow smiled sheepishly at Twilight as the unicorn looked back at her with a sour look.

"B-but i-it's because of that, that I... I won't." Rainbow's voice softened, just as Twilight's expression did also.

"I love flying, but if it means being close to you... I'd gladly put my wings away— Well, except for now..." Rainbow shrugged her shoulders, now sporting a sheepish grin. "I mean, with it being around you and whatnot." With her free hoof, she scratched the back of her head.

Twilight's heart thumped loudly against her tightening chest. Already she could feel the figurative butterflies returning.

As cheesy-sounding as it was, it was the sweetest thing Rainbow had ever said to her. Despite her lingering nerves, it made her want to kiss the pegasus right then and there; and, as she leaned in, she very well was about to, had it not been for Rainbow's stomach suddenly rumbling, triggering an awkward moment of silence for the two.

Twilight immediately deadpanned.

"Rainbow... did you eat at all today?"

Rainbow shrunk back, her sheepish grin already returning to her face. "Well, uhm... since I left, I've maybe eaten... a little bit."

Twilight sighed, taking a moment to again untangle herself from the pegasus before getting to her hooves. As she did, Rainbow's wing remained outstretched for a couple of moments, before the pegasus reluctantly folded it back against the barrel of her sweatshirt. In truth, the warm, tender feeling of her wing around Twilight—the feeling Twilight herself got being encompassed by it—and simply being so closely wound together after what felt like ages... were all feelings that neither mare wanted to abandon.

But the two of them—in particular Rainbow—needed to eat, and, they both silently supposed, there would be plenty of time for that later.

Twilight smiled warmly at her girlfriend, which Rainbow eagerly met as she rose to her hooves. "Come on, we're getting you some breakfast." Though the mood had practically been ruined by Rainbow's stomach, that didn't stop it from returning; and the lovestruck unicorn gave Rainbow's cheek a quick, yet affectionate nuzzle.

Rainbow was surprised by the bold move; it was plainly obvious as Twilight pulled away and soon giggled at Rainbow's rose-colored cheeks. No matter the number of times Twilight nuzzled her, it always seemed to leave her without words for a brief moment or two.

Rainbow smiled slyly as she was not about to be outdone, and once again placed her wing around Twilight.

There was time now, too, Rainbow supposed, as her girlfriend's expression came to match her own, for a long moment caught off guard by the act... but soon eased into it.

The two walked through the inner city streets, drawing more attention than either would have preferred. If seeing a rainbow-maned pegasus in the streets of Canterlot wasn't an eye catcher, seeing her with a wing expanded around one of Canterlot's most promising youths was. Whether it was simple disapproval, curiosity, or young colts hoping to steal a possible glance of two mares sharing a kiss, it seemed all eyes were on Twilight and Rainbow as they walked down the street and through crowds of ponies.

In particular, the two ponies had unknowingly caught the attention of a group of mares that Twilight had met not too long ago. The four were seated at an outside cafe when they noticed the two passing by.

"Oh my Celestia, look!" In a hushed tone, Twinkleshine still exclaimed, "They really are together!"

Lemon Hearts gasped breathlessly. "Cute!" the mare remarked. "Though... I always imagined a pony as smart as her would go for a mare that was... I dunno..." She shrugged half-heartedly, looking between the other two. "Less boyish?"

"If even a mare at all," Minuette added, sitting right of Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts.

Moon Dancer watched the two, sitting furthest away and not saying a word as the others around her chatted away at the news... but rather feeling a little hurt. It stung a little to think Twilight had lied to her the day before, though... hearing what the other girls were saying, and seeing the way ponies around the two of them—and even herself—were acting...

She supposed she could understand why Twilight had wanted to keep it to herself.

Looking again, Moon Dancer smiled, seeing Twilight's head nestled somewhat against Rainbow's shoulder, Rainbow humorously craning her head a bit to avoid the unicorn's horn. She almost sort of envied Twilight, and how happy the two still managed to look... at least until Minuette spoke, bringing her out of it.

"I always figured she would end up with a guardspony, if anything," she said. "Ruggedly handsome... strong, brave, big—"

"Not to mention dreamy," Lemon Hearts added in a romantic sigh. "Makes me think of that one pegasus... you know, with the blue mane—"

"Oh what does it matter who she's with?" snapped Moon Dancer suddenly as she stood up. "I mean, she's happy, isn't she? Isn't that enough for you girls?"

Turning, the unicorn trotted away without another word.

Twinkleshine raised an eyebrow. "Jeez, Moon Dancer; what's got you so upset?"

Minuette blinked, then looked back and fourth between the other two. "Do you think it was something we said?"

It wasn't long before Twilight and Rainbow came into view of Joe's place at the corner of the street. It was also at that time that Rainbow let out a small, yet quiet sigh and looked down at the mare who was resting comfortably on her left shoulder. It honestly puzzled her... She had been worried that all of this might have been overwhelming for the unicorn, that it would embarrass her like before... Instead however, Twilight seemed content the whole walk.

Once inside, Twilight happily ordered for herself, along with whatever Rainbow asked for... though the pegasus remained no less puzzled the whole time, even after they were seated in their usual spot, meals and all.

Though Rainbow cut back eventually, drawing her wing back again to her side in favor of enjoying some breakfast, Twilight didn't seem intent on letting up: brushing herself up against Rainbow, placing her hoof over the pegasus's—with an occasional stroke from her own hoof... She seemed more focused on Rainbow than on her own food, staring admiringly at the pegasus.

Finally, Rainbow could stand it no longer. She needed an answer.

"Twi... there's other ponies around..."

Twilight grinned softly. "So?" she asked, humored.

"What if they see us as... you know, a couple."

At that, Twilight's grin slowly started to fall. "We are a couple," she noted sternly.

"Yeah, I know, but... " Rainbow shrugged, looking downcast. "Lots of ponies joke about that sort of thing, and besides... those were just nuzzles and hugs. Now you're giving me those looks while doing that thing with my hoof, I mean..." She looked at Twilight, concern in her eyes. "Doesn't any of this embarrass you?"

Twilight shook her head. "If I were embarrassed by you, Rainbow, I wouldn't have fallen in love with you." She shrugged softly as her smile returned. "Nothing you do seems to bother me anymore, and, well..." The enamored unicorn lowered her eyelids, her voice already becoming sultry.

Twilight, as inexperienced a mare as she was, tried to make her words sound as loving as she could, as she gingerly spoke, "Guess I just can't keep my hooves off of you."

However, Rainbow couldn't help but chuckle. "Since when did you become such a romantic?"

Twilight's look turned deadpan. She sighed, and backed away, drawing in a more serious tone. "I wouldn't call me a 'romantic,' Rainbow," she said. "I suppose I just... still can't believe you're really here." Twilight smiled as she gazed down at her hoof resting over Rainbow's, and gave her hoof a light squeeze. "I guess holding your hoof helps assure me that you're really real, and, well... you're the first pony I've ever loved romantically." From the looks of it, Rainbow now understood.

Twilight shook her head, brandishing a warm smile. "I don't want to let go of that."

This unicorn... Rainbow simply broke out into a soft smile. "And I'm the sappy one."

"You are sappy, Ms. "You remind me of home"."

"Twi... come on—" Rainbow's shoulder's slumped in defeat. "I spent a lot of time coming up with that."

"And I love you all the more for it," Twilight said, her eyes closing contently as she leaned in to nuzzle the mare's cheek.

She pulled away, the two sharing a quick smile before remembering why they both came here in the first place.

Rainbow chuckled briefly as she glanced down at her partially polished off meal. "Uh... maybe we should finish eating," she said, turning to look at Twilight, who seemed to be thinking the same thing.

"Good idea," she replied, a hint of sincere laughter in her voice.

"So I visited my mom while you were gone." Twilight nonchalantly kicked the ground with her hoof, as she and Rainbow walked side by side through the palace gardens. "She supports us being together."

"What about the rest of your family?" Rainbow asked.

"I..." Twilight hesitated. Sure, her father would warm up to the idea eventually, she figured... she hoped. Her brother on the other hoof... "I can only hope," she replied with a sheepish smile.

The two stopped to take a seat on a nearby bench, though thoughts of family never left Rainbow's mind. Particularly, thoughts of her own.

"I wonder what my folks would think about me dating you..." Rainbow wondered aloud, almost going unnoticed by the unicorn beside her.

Twilight looked at her, for a moment her interest piqued. Looking back down at her hooves, she bit her lip, debating what she was about to say, and do.

Rainbow's saddened eyes widened a bit in surprise as she felt a pair of hooves wrap around her shoulders, and the soft touch of another mare's cheek pressed up against her own, all in a soft embrace. "They would be happy to know you've found somepony who loves you," Twilight whispered, turning a smidgen, and kissing her girlfriend's cheek.

A fastly-growing smile graced Rainbow's lips, already her mood could be seen lightening. After that, how could it not?

Shaking off her amazement, she continued. "I, uh... I-I saw that they live in Clouds... dale? I think that's right..." She looked at Twilight as the unicorn gave her a reassuring nod.

Rainbow gave her an inviting smile. "Maybe we could visit them one day, as, y'know... a couple." Not a moment after she finished, did Rainbow realize what she said, and backtracked. "I-I mean, of course we would need to find a way—"

"I-I would need to find a cloud walking spell, but..." The moment between them grew quiet as Twilight's voice softened, growing less panicked as she drew in a calming breath. "I would love to," she said, smiling as well, albeit thankful.

The two each turned, looking ahead of them in thoughtful reprise. Cloud walking spell... Huh... Rainbow thought in amazement, glancing over at the unicorn from the corner of her eye, though... she wasn't the only one stealing glances. Twilight was as well, whenever she felt Rainbow's eyes weren't on her as she silently debated what to say next... until at last, she spoke.

"In the meantime though," Twilight said; "if it's any consolation... You can visit mine whenever you like." She shrugged, and glanced away as her smile slowly vanished, muttering shyly, "Maybe as their daughter-in-law..."

Rainbow's gaze snapped to her, her gaze widening. "What—?"

"N-nothing!"

"No... it was definitely something..." Rainbow teasingly insisted, closing in. "Daughter-in-law? Really, Twi? That would mean that, like... we would be—"

"I-it was just a silly thought," Twilight tried to say in defense, but Rainbow cut in.

"No, no no, I mean... I didn't think it was silly," she assured her gently as Twilight's blush only deepened. She kept her eyes averted as Rainbow continued. "I, well... I mean, I... I wouldn't mind marrying you someday."

Now it was Twilight's turn to have her gaze fall back on the pegasus sitting beside her, with the same look of surprise at what she had just heard, only to find Rainbow staring somewhat confidently ahead of her. "Rain—?" Before she could even finish her name, Rainbow interrupted her with that same, foolish grin she was ever so used to.

"So how about we practice for when that day comes?"

"Rainbow..."

"No no, it'll be awesome!" Rainbow grinned as she leapt to the ground, turned and knelt before Twilight. "See, I kneel down like this, and ask, "Twilight Sparkle, will you do me the totally awesome honor of marrying me?" And then you say..."

Twilight smiled, rolling her eyes before meeting Rainbow's hopeful gaze. "Oh Rainbow, I thought you'd never ask!" Deciding she'd play along, Twilight smiled a sly smile before playfully tackling the other mare. The two fell back in the grass, in a mangle of tails and hooves. "Then the maiden tackles her betrothed in a joyous embrace," Twilight continued in spite of their conjoined laughter; "a-and the two proceed to roll about in the grass for a bit, laughing and smiling."

Rainbow and Twilight stopped on their sides, facing one another—Rainbow deciding to continue. "Months pass and the wedding takes place. We'll have Pinkie Pie handle decorations, and invitations. Our parents will all be there—"

"And Princess Celestia will preside over it all," Twilight added.

"Right, right." Rainbow rolled her eyes, smiling humorously. A moment passed and her smile softened, her eyelids lowering as her head inched closer. "Then, after our vows, we face each other..."

Twilight silently gulped. "A-and then we kiss. The end." She breathed out a shaky sigh before getting up and brushing herself off. "Well wasn't that imaginative?"

Rainbow sat up from the grass, looking worriedly after Twilight as she walked a few steps away. "Twi... what's wrong?"

"N-nothing, just... I-I don't know." Twilight turned and shrugged half-heartedly. "Just nervous, I guess. I mean, I must have imagined our first kiss in my head at least a dozen times!" Rainbow's face grew a little warmer at the fact. "And yet, when the time finally comes—!"

Rainbow shook her head, stepping forward.

"Then let's not worry about it for now." Rainbow placed her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "We'll kiss when you feel up to it," she said, leaning in and giving Twilight's cheek a reassuring nuzzle.

She supposed lips were a whole other territory after all, especially for a fretful mare such as Twilight.

Twilight narrowed her gaze down at the ground. "Stupid nerves," she silently spat, just as Rainbow pulled away.

"Hey," Rainbow said with a soft grin. "Don't feel too bad." Twilight gazed up, saddened, to see Rainbow, a hoof over her lower lip, smiling softly. "My lips are kinda dry anyway."

Seeing Rainbow's smile, and humor again managed to lift her own spirits. She breathed out a sigh, before nodding and returning a halfhearted smile.

The two soon left, aimless—without a destination in mind.

The streets were a good enough place, either supposed, so long as they had one another.

"Did you know pegasus feathers are given by pegasi to the pony they love?" Twilight asked, seemingly out of the blue, while searching her mind for something to talk about as the two walked through the late-afternoon streets.

The sudden question took Rainbow by surprise. "Seriously?" she asked, with a bit of a laugh.

Twilight looked away, down at the road before her. "I thought you may react like that." She shrugged her shoulders. "I... I know you didn't really give this to me, but... the idea's still there."

Rainbow's face lit up, unbeknownst to the unicorn, then turned to her with a grin. "I knew that was a big deal!"

"Right, you did say... Wait." Twilight paused, her brow slightly furrowed as she met Rainbow's grin. "You knew it had romantic meaning?"

Rainbow shook her head. "Nope." To Twilight's surprise, her grin widened. "I just said that because it was one of mine," Rainbow said, placing a hoof over her chest, and looking up heroically. "And I'm awesome!"

Twilight remained taken aback for a few moments after Rainbow's declaration of awesomeness, before her face eventually softened, her smile warming. She let out a soft chuckle, then leaned in to nuzzle her neck, catching the brash pegasus completely off guard. Rainbow herself let out a small, startled breath, feeling the hairs of Twilight's mane ruffle against her chin, and the intimate, warm feeling of having her girlfriend's head nuzzled below her own.

"Yes," Twilight whispered ever so soothingly. "You are."

The two pulled apart, sharing a short, loving smile, yet thoughts of the feather still lingered inside Twilight's mind. Something about it nagged her as they continued walking. Thoughts of her earlier outburst... thoughts of Rainbow abandoning her, never returning to her... The touch that once warmed her hoof, had sent a pang across her heart earlier, and forced an explosive anger to boil up from deep inside her... causing her to practically rip it from her ear.

Of course she had gone back for it after granting herself time to think, and cool down.

Even so, her eyes become a little teary at the memory, as she glanced over at her girlfriend. The painful truth that she had done such a thing to Rainbow; that she let her worries, for a moment, overcome her.

Rainbow may not have known about what she did, but that wasn't about to stop her from apologizing.

She glanced away, and spoke softly, her ears falling flat as she did. "Sorry for throwing it..."

Rainbow looked over at her, confused and unsure if she had heard correctly. "What—?"

"Sorry for throwing it!" Without warning, Twilight threw her forelegs around Rainbow's shoulders, her eyes shut tight and practically crying into the pegasus's neck. Rainbow stiffened—her eyes wide—finding herself caught off guard by the act.

Before she could even question what, Twilight continued, sputtering out her words and begging for forgiveness, though Rainbow hadn't a clue what for. "I... I-I woke up hoping that... a-and and I, I thought you...! I-I thought that... I just... felt so angry, I... I, I don't know, I just... I..."

Twilight quickly found herself without words.

A few soft, shaken breaths and choked sobs were all that were heard coming from Twilight, following her incoherent and tearful apology.

Rainbow shifted uncomfortably, glancing ahead, and around at her surroundings. She didn't know what to think, or even what to make of... whatever it was Twilight just said, or tried to say. To a passing pony who slowed as he caught sight of the two, and met her eyes, Rainbow shrugged her shoulders and looked back with a half smile.

Looking down again at Twilight, Rainbow bit her lip in hesitation, before softly bringing her hoof through Twilight's mane and down the mare's neck several times. Her eyes closed, Rainbow rested her head gently over Twilight's in a strange, and... semi-relaxing embrace—being weary of the mare's horn. "H-hey, hey, it... i-it's alright, Twilight," Rainbow whispered, doing her best, despite her nerves, to sound as soothing as she could. "I mean, whatever you did couldn't have been that bad."

Twilight sniffled, then, in a voice that was a little more clear, explained, "I ripped your feather from my ear, and threw it."

Rainbow expression turned wry. Okay... that stung.

Still, Rainbow supposed, it was clear to her how much Twilight regretted it, that she hadn't meant to... and, it was Twilight. It was almost second nature for the unicorn to overreact, and... if she were to love her, she'd learn to cope.

"Didn't I tell you not to beat yourself up so much?"

"Y-yes... you did... But—"

"But nothing, Twi," Rainbow said. Though she couldn't have seen it, her sudden, stern tone had surprised Twilight a little.

A moment passed between the two before Rainbow continued, and Twilight didn't dare say a word. She only listened as Rainbow let out a sigh—seemingly in her own ear from where her head rested, then softly said, "Look, Twi... I... I know your mind's probably telling you things that aren't true. Believe me, I... I know what that's like. The hurt feelings, feelings of being abandoned... Yeah," Rainbow drew out a shaky breath, "I've been there."

A moment of silence passed. "I remember," Twilight noted softly. "We were at the hospital. You thought everypony forgot about you."

That's not exactly what I was thinking of, but... Rainbow smiled at the remark. "Back then... you still found a way to make me feel better." She closed her eyes, slightly nuzzling her mane and picking up the slightest lavender fragrance as she did. "I love you Twi. Feeling bad and overreacting isn't going to get rid of me that easily. Putting aside the fact you didn't even mean to, I'll forgive anything you say or do, because... you mean way too much to me. So, cheer up, Twi. Please?"

Twilight nodded softly, chuckling as she stepped away. A soft, happy smile formed on her face.

"You're a lot smarter than we first met," she remarked.

Rainbow looked back at her, sharing the smile. "Hanging with you has that effect."

Twilight smiled at Rainbow, all while thinking inside her head, for a moment glancing down, then up at again at her. Her eyelids fell slightly as she leaned close and kissed the corner of Rainbow's lips.

Rainbow blinked a few times, stunned from the maneuver, and when Twilight pulled away, the pegasus looked at her. Her amazement hadn't lasted long, and she formed a bemused smile. A smile of course was to be expected whenever one of them kissed the other, only this time it had been closer, on the corner of her lips and seemingly all she could kiss from her angle without Twilight taking her face in her hooves, and turning it to face her.

Even if it wasn't a real kiss, or barely a kiss at all, it made her a little happy to see Twilight work past her nerves, and even happier when she looked over at her, seeing her expression lighten, and a satisfied smile on her lips.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, then looked at her with a soft grin. "So... I take it you're good now?"

Twilight chuckled, before vigorously nodding her head.

Seeing that, Rainbow let out a sigh of relief. "G-good... So..." she began to ask as Twilight once again joined the pegasus by her side. As per usual, Rainbow's wing softly unfurled over Twilight's back as they resumed walking. "Is there anything else you'd like to get off your chest?"

For a long moment, Twilight thought about Rainbow's question, before muttering shyly, "Sorry for sneezing on you..."

Rainbow nodded in understanding, at first, not giving what she said much thought. "Wait..." Her eyes then flew open upon realizing, and gazed down at Twilight, baffled. Twilight herself turned her head and gazed sheepishly up at her girlfriend.

"What?"

"And now... the Wonderbolts!"

The aforementioned stunt fliers flew into the arena center at the sound of the announcement; the stadium and darkening sky ablaze with so many fireworks and lights so spectacular it wowed the ponies watching. Particularly Rainbow Dash.

Twilight on the other hoof, found it all only mild amusing. Her attention found itself elsewhere, finding Rainbow's amusement all the more rewarding.

She didn't mean any disrespect to the performers, but... this was all done for her, she supposed—

"Do you think I'll ever be able to fly like that?"

Rainbow's sudden question snapped Twilight from her reverie. She blinked, noticing Rainbow staring back at her with a grin.

Twilight's expression softened, and smiled back with a warm smile. "I think you've got a pretty good shot."

Rainbow nodded.

"Then that's what I'll do," she said with an air of determination, looking back up into the sky. "I'll practice flying until I'm as good as they are, maybe even better." With a confident smile, she sat up a bit, placing a hoof over her chest as she added, "Maybe I'll even be asked to join them someday."

Twilight let out a chuckle, softly shaking her head. "It's not that simple, Rainbow. There's auditions, and training—even tests you'll be asked to take—!"

"Yeah," Rainbow replied, taking Twilight aback as she turned to her, her grin softening; "and I'll have you for that."

Twilight stared back at the pegasus for a short moment, as her surprised gaze returned to normal. She then broke out into a smile and soft a giggle before placing her head on the mare's shoulder. "Mm-hm," she agreed, nodding her head.

"It feels like I was waiting forever for this... Now it's actually happening..."

Rainbow swam lazily through the night sky, allowing her wings to do the work as she laid back with a foreleg behind her head and her other around the unicorn currently curled up and... clinging tightly to her body. Twilight's forelegs were draped securely around her neck.

As breathtaking as it was for her, for all the time she had longed for it... deep down, it scared her—even if she wasn't completely aware of it. It might as well have been her unicorn instinct kicking in as she subconsciously held on dearly to Rainbow's body.

Her eyelids closing until her gaze was half-lidded, she gazed out upon the fields beyond Canterlot, a cool wind brushing through her mane, whipping it about slightly. She sighed in content and nestled her head further into Rainbow's shoulder.

It was as she was getting comfortable, that she heard Rainbow whisper to her.

"Watch the horn, Twi."

Twilight's eyes widened a bit, and she lifted her head, turning to face her love. "Oh... s-sorry, I, I didn't mean—"

"It's alright," Rainbow said with a soft grin, "you were just getting relaxed, and... it's not your fault that you were born with a deadly weapon atop your head." Twilight's eyes narrowed in annoyance, cuing Rainbow to raise her hooves in defense. "Kidding, kidding..."

Twilight frowned as she settled back down, settling her head on Rainbow's shoulder. She sighed, then muttered quietly, "It wasn't very funny..."

Rainbow's gaze lowered, hearing those words, already feeling herself already overcome with a sudden feeling of sadness, and guilt that she had said something wrong. Her eyes widened a bit however, and she felt a little relieved, her ear flicking once as she picked up the sound of Twilight softly asking, "Is this real?"

Her voice sounded so content.

Rainbow closed her eyes, letting out a soft chuckle under her breath, then, with a smile on her lips, gazed once again up at the sky. "I would hope it is," she replied.

Her eyes leisurely observed the stars hung above them.

A few moments passed like that until Rainbow got an idea. An admittedly dumb, and... risky idea... but nevertheless, an idea.

"Hey, Twi, hold on."

"What? Rainbow—!"

She let out a quiet shriek and shut her eyes immediately as Rainbow began to fall backwards, Twilight holding onto Rainbow even tighter than before. Softly, the two fell back through the air, the only things Twilight feeling were the currents of wind rapidly blowing past her, and her heart dropping into her stomach.

She yelled out over the sound of the wind. "Slow down this instant, Rainbow! I told you I, I-I don't like going fast!"

"It's not so bad, Twi," Rainbow insisted. "I swear that I won't ever drop you." Twilight felt Rainbow's hoof coax her cheek, and her soft voice in her ear, persuading her. "Here, just open your eyes..."

Rainbow slowed her descent—Twilight quickly noting due to the lack of wind whipping past her, and feeling as though she was no longer falling, and cautiously opened her eyes. "Whoa..."

She looked around for only a moment before freezing up, terrified, as it occurred to her.

She was still upside down.

"Eep!" Twilight shut her eyes tight and frantically tightened her forelegs and hind legs around the pegasus, all while Rainbow softly laughed. "It's not funny, Rainbow!"

Rainbow's laughter died down, looking down at the head trembling on her shoulder, and smiled. "No," she said, as the syllable teasingly lingered, "it kinda is... Especially since I told you that I'd never, ever drop you."

Rainbow's words didn't seem to help as the unicorn's face remained buried in her shoulder.

Twilight only let out a shaken sigh before explaining, "Unicorns were never meant to be so high up, Rainbow; so excuse me if I'm being a little cautious."

Rainbow simply rolled her eyes in response, maintaining her smile and furthering her hold around Twilight's waist before performing a small maneuver midair, the wind whipping around them gently for a moment before soon slowing.

Feeling as if Rainbow had stopped, Twilight opened her eyes again—slightly at first. Once she felt completely safe... like they were no longer descending, her tail no longer dangling before her line of sight and her mane flat upon her head. Opening her eyes a little more, she found that one spin and a flip later, Rainbow was flying upright. A little hesitant, though eager, Twilight looked around yearningly, taking in every moonlit sight, and building and monument caught in the glow of the city streetlights, before turning upwards to take in the stars.

"Wow..."

Rainbow couldn't help but smile at her reaction. "Pretty neat, huh?"

Twilight nodded before turning to face her, grinning softly in amazement. "It all looks so different from up here, like... I was always looking at stars from my balcony, or through the lens of a telescope, but right now... if I weren't clinging to you for dear life," Twilight added, her smile turning sheepish. "Well, I feel like I could just... reach out and grab one, you know? Like I'm up there with them..."

"I know I am," Rainbow remarked, then backtracked, not wasting a moment upon seeing Twilight looking at her puzzled. "I mean, you just... remind me of them is all," she added as her tone, for a moment, grew sheepish and quiet. "A-and that wasn't meant to be a flank joke or anything! It's just..." Rainbow shrugged, averting her eyes a bit. "Whenever I look up at them, I'm reminded of you."

Twilight's expression softened. "Rainbow..."

Rainbow shook her head. "Urgh, this is getting too sappy... Come on," she said, shying away. "Let's fly some more!"

Rainbow flattened out and dove toward the ground before Twilight could get a word in.

Twilight closed her eyes instinctively, the feeling of her her heart dropping again returning. With the speed Rainbow was traveling and how fast the ground must have been coming up, Twilight feared they would no doubt crash, and cried out the pegasus's name. "Rainbow—!" Rainbow grinned confidently as she neared the empty field, slowing for a brief second before shooting forward at an angle, inches from the grass below, parting the grass as she flew.

Rainbow spun around, allowing once again for Twilight to lie on top of her and relax her nerves. Rainbow grinned up at her, Twilight rolling her eyes before eventually smiling back.

Twilight glanced away for a second to look ahead when what she saw startled her. She gasped suddenly. "Rainbow!"

Rainbow looked at her funny, watching as Twilight hid her face in her shoulder before tilting her head back to see what had scared her.

Her eyes widened immediately.

Rainbow swerved her head and body at the last moment, out of the way of a sudden streetlight. Her wings however weren't so lucky, and the tip of one hit the post, knocking her out of control, and sending the two of them spiraling... then barreling into puddles of mud in the fields outside their home before skidding to an eventual stop.

Rainbow lied there for several moments—Twilight trembling in her hooves as both mares steadily caught their breath and processed what had just happened.

Eventually Rainbow sat up, out of the muck and filth.

"Whew, what a rush!" She grinned, shaking her head, and sending specks of mud flying from her mane. With the side of her hoof, she wiped away a glob of mud from her cheek, then, deeming herself clean, turned her attention to the quivering mare still clung to her body. "See?" she said gently, "I never let you go." Rainbow paused, looking away in thought. "Even if I did sorta crash—ow!"

Twilight backed off Rainbow's chest, though not without punching the mare in the foreleg first. It was light—and admittedly weak—but it made her anger evident to the pegasus who recoiled a bit, finding herself quickly stunned by it.

Twilight stood, practically steaming, and in Rainbow's eyes, seemed to be ablaze for a brief moment.

"You featherbrain!" Twilight shouted, forcing Rainbow to recoil further than she already had. "We could very well have died! If you had only just listened to me, we never would have crashed!"

Rainbow's ears fell flat against her head as Twilight continued. Breathing out a sigh of dismay, the unicorn fell back on her haunches, taking another look at herself. "And I'm all covered in mud..." Defeated, Twilight's forelegs fell to her sides, her hooves splashing the mud a bit as they fell. "Great..."

Rainbow looked at her, feeling her chest tighten. "Twi..."

Okay, so there was actually very little chance that they would have died, Twilight figured, allowing herself a moment to calm down and think over her words. Taking into account the durability of ponies, pegasi especially; the most either would have gotten was the wind knocked out of them.

At the most, maybe a few bruises.

Twilight looked again at Rainbow. Seeing her downcast, broken gaze caused any lingering anger she felt towards her to melt away. Her gaze saddened, and... what she could only describe as a knot in her throat caused her eyes to produce a few, sudden tears.

She quickly rubbed them away, sniffling once.

Twilight took a deep breath. No, she told herself, I can salvage this.

Rainbow stiffened, her heartbeat quickening as she felt Twilight's gentle hoof on her cheek. "But getting to see Canterlot from so high up, with the wind in my mane and my heart practically beating out of my chest...! It was the most exhilarating experience I've ever had, so... thanks." She smiled, and leaned in to kiss her girlfriend's cheek... only to be greeted by the faint, grimy taste of mud. Twilight pulled away, and silently spat out the taste, wiping it from her lips.

Twilight's hoof dropped from her lips, turning immediately to greet Rainbow with a sudden, innocent smile just as she looked at her, her own smile slowly returning. Starting from where she left off, she added, "Sometimes I think you know better than I do."

"Nah," Rainbow replied; "I just act on instinct. Whatever my gut tells me."

Twilight raised an eyebrow. "Even if you end up crashing?"

"Especially if I end up crashing—wha—?" A raindrop had splashed down on the pegasus's muzzle, and she looked up at the sky, the dark gray clouds letting loose some rain. "Huh, it's raining."

"So it is..." Twilight noted, for a moment looking up as well. Rainbow met her cheerful gaze, and immediately, her breath got caught in her throat. "Well, that kind of solves the mud problem, although I already had a couple of spells in mind that would easily have cleaned it off of us..."

Rainbow's heart thumped loudly in her chest, finding herself no longer paying any attention to what Twilight was saying. She was too focused on something else. The rain had added a sort of gleam to Twilight's mane and through Rainbow's eyes, a prismatic backdrop now stood behind her, and sudden sparkles glimmered around her.

It made her want to kiss the unicorn for real right then—not on the cheek, nor on the corner of her lips.

So she did, all while smiling softly at the thought prior.

"Got to admit it feels kind of nice though, and... hey, at least it's not freezing or anything—"

Twilight was cut short, finding herself unable to say another word as a soft, and familiar sensation pressed against her lips while Rainbow's hoof now held her right cheek. Twilight's eyes flew open in realization.

Rainbow had captured her lips in a kiss.

Twilight's head was spinning, her thoughts ceased; her heart was hammering out of her chest. She couldn't act... only sit before Rainbow in shock.

Her body softly started to tremble as she slumped forward a bit, unknowingly beginning to melt into the kiss the pegasus was giving her.

Twilight's eyes slowly closed and for a moment, began to kiss back when a sudden fizzling noise startled Rainbow, forcing her to part away. Her eyes opened slowly, breathing out a muffled groan in displeasure.

Opening her eyes fully, Rainbow came face to face with Twilight, the unicorn's own eyes closed and leaning forward slightly, a content expression on her face—the image made brought a small smile to her face—and right above Twilight, Rainbow noticed, were curious sparks of magic emanating from the tip of her horn.

Rainbow could feel a small laugh tugging at her lips. "Uh... Twi?"

Twilight's eyes blinked open, and slowly her face garnished a look of disappointment. Her breaths were a little rugged and her body trembled still, her face completely flushed.

Rainbow lifted her hoof a bit, pointing it directly at Twilight's horn. "I think your magic's on the fritz."

Twilight's brow scrunched up, and curiously, she lifted a hoof to her horn, feeling a sudden numbing sensation as her magic came in contact with it. Her eyes widened a bit in realization. "O-oh! Uh... i-it, it uhm h-happens to unicorns when they've, um... e-experienced an overwhelming sensation of euphoria. The abundance of magic flows out the horn, resulting in those sparks you just saw."

Not knowing what else to say, Twilight simply let out a nervous chuckle.

"And... has this happened to you before?"

Twilight shook her head. "This is the first," she sheepishly assured Rainbow before then falling back into silence.

She looked off to the side, averting her gaze to the ground, and biting her lower lip. "S-so..." she nervously began to ask, her voice shaking a bit, "We... er, I mean... you kissed me."

Rainbow chuckled softly. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that..."

She rubbed a hoof through the back of her mane, looking away a bit. "I just couldn't resist any longer, and I wasn't sure if you were ever going to... you know." Rainbow shrugged her shoulders, then looked at Twilight again with a small, hopeful smile. "You didn't mind that I—?"

"No!" the unicorn hastily denied, swearing her blush deepened at that precise moment. "N-no, I, I-I didn't."

"G-good!" Rainbow beamed, then not long after, shrunk back as the awkwardness set in, and began searching for something to say.

"Um... It was nice."

Twilight blinked before her expression softened into a smile. "Very," she agreed with a giggle. "C-can we, um... y'know... again?"

Now it was Rainbow's turn to look surprised, the smile she bore falling from her face. "You want to?"

Twilight nodded her head without a second's hesitation, and upon seeing that, Rainbow's smile slowly returned to her face.

Twilight shied away almost instantly noting the mare's expression. However Rainbow interpreted her shying away a little differently.

"I suppose neither of us are really used to this..." Rainbow remarked, finding herself growing increasingly nervous, and a little shy even as she continued.

"Still," she said, "I'm happy to have you as my first."

Twilight's eyes widened a little at her words.

She looked at Rainbow, finding it impossible not to smile a little right then as her heart practically leaped from her chest. Still, a part of her was left curious. For a mare who had never kissed before... she did it so well, without any doubt.

Worry swept over Twilight as she gazed away in uncertainty, down at the ground between them. "You made it seem so easy..."

"It is easy, Twilight," Rainbow replied, rolling her eyes. "You're just over thinking it." Twilight remained unsure, leading her to try something else. "What if I meet you halfway?"

Twilight thought it over for a moment, gazing back into Rainbow's eyes.

"A-alright..." Twilight at last stuttered out as she nodded softly. She swallowed hard, before closing her eyes partway and hesitantly leaning forward. Her heartbeat quickened and her breath grew more rapid, feeling Rainbow's own breath on her lips. She swallowed again, her body trembling slightly in anticipation, and fear. What if I mess up? Rainbow wouldn't think badly of me, would she?

Twilight was torn from these thoughts the moment she felt Rainbow's hoof against her fur as it gently stroked the side of her face. "Just relax, Twi," she whispered. "Don't worry about messing up, or how good you'll be. At this moment, none of that matters." Her soft smile broke into a small grin as she let out a quiet chuckle. "I just really want to kiss my beautiful, and awesome girlfriend."

Twilight chuckled softly. Somehow hearing Rainbow's soft, reassuring voice worked as her worries and nerves disappeared. She nodded slightly, bearing a warm smile and placing her right hoof over Rainbow's, holding it as it rested against her cheek. Closing her eyes slowly, she once again leaned forward until her lips met Rainbow's in a gentle, loving touch of the tips. Different from Rainbow's sudden surprise kiss moments ago.

Before, when Rainbow had kissed her, she wasn't sure what to make of it, how to describe it... having never been given the chance. But now, she could freely take in everything: the texture, the taste, the sweetness... Her lips were a bit cold, with the slight taste of rainwater, but Twilight didn't mind in the slightest.

To someponies, the mere thought of sharing a kiss in the pouring rain, hoof deep in a puddle of mud, probably wouldn't be their ideal location for a first kiss. Even Twilight, had she been more interested by the idea of relationships before she met Rainbow, would have been repulsed by the idea.

But here she was, amid the muck and filth, lips locked with the single most beautiful mare she's ever known, in both body and spirit.

The two fell back into the sodden grass as their kiss grew, quickly turning into a series of kisses, Twilight herself smiling into the kiss, as she gingerly held Rainbow's hoof in her own. Rainbow wrapped her free foreleg around Twilight's barrel, eliciting a subtle shiver from the mare and small orchid and violet sparks to go off above their heads.

Twilight inched back—Rainbow playfully tracing her tongue around her lips before pulling back and looking into her girlfriend's eyes with a deep blush and a sheepish smile, the two quietly catching their breaths. She loosened her hold on Rainbow's hoof, allowing it the chance to snake around Twilight and hold her even closer while her own hooves rested over Rainbow's shoulders.

And the two stayed like that, never once leaving the other's embrace, never saying a word until Rainbow broke it, looking back at her girlfriend with an amused grin. "And you were worried."

Twilight smiled warmly, taking up a favorite spot of hers on Rainbow's upper chest, nestling her head right beneath Rainbow's chin. She sighed in content, listening to the gentle fall of rain and the rhythmic rise and fall of Rainbow's chest.

Rainbow nuzzled Twilight affectionately, again catching a momentary whiff of lavender that had almost completely been washed from the unicorn's mane.

A moment or two later and Twilight spoke. "I can't believe we really just kissed..."

"What's so unbelievable about it?"

Twilight shrugged softly. "All of it... I mean... I, I didn't think I'd ever see you again, or that you'd be so forgiving, or that you'd really have feelings for me. It's weird, after being friends for so long... considering our rocky start, that we'd end up like this."

"Oh I dunno, Twi." Rainbow smiled down at her. "I always sorta had this feeling that you had the hots for me since day one." Twilight paused, then glanced up at her with a raised eyebrow, causing Rainbow's smile to drop. "What?"

Twilight rolled her eyes before again snuggling into the partially-soaked warmth of Rainbow's sweatshirt, the soaked feeling reminding her of where they currently lay.

In the soppy, wet grass in the pouring rain.

Twilight chuckled at the realization. "I think we should move someplace a little less filthy."

"Aw," Rainbow sighed, "and I was just getting comfortable."

"So that's a "No" then to sharing a nice, cozy cloud bed together in the warmth of the tower, out of the rain?" Twilight asked with a coy smile.

"Okay, maybe that does sound... a little better," said Rainbow as Twilight giggled, softly standing up on all fours and stepping away so she could get up. Sitting up, the first thing Rainbow noticed was her sweatshirt. She looked sheepishly up at Twilight. "Guess this isn't much good anymore..."

Twilight rolled her eyes before then putting a hoof to her chin, looking it over. "Why not take it off once we're inside; I... should be able to clean it up."

Rainbow smiled thankfully before getting to her hooves, and walking over to Twilight. Side by side, the two walked down the pathway leading to their home, until at last, they arrived at the base of the tower. About halfway up the stairs however, Rainbow let out a sudden, light sneeze.

Twilight stopped, for a moment surprised, before looking worriedly over at her girlfriend.

Rainbow shook her head, sniffling once. "I feel... sort of dizzy all of a sudden. Can... can I lean against you?" she asked, already putting her wing over Twilight to steady herself. "I just need a moment..." Twilight however, wasn't so convinced.

Lifting her hoof, Twilight hesitated, before pressing the back of her hoof to Rainbow's forehead.

Seconds later and she recoiled.

"Rainbow, you're burning up! Oh this isn't good! We've got to get you inside right this instant."

"It's nothing, Twilight," Rainbow insisted. "I mean, weren't you the one that said how sturdy pegasi are? A little cold weather's not going to affect m—" Rainbow was interrupted, finding herself suddenly being whisked up the stairwell, coated in Twilight's magic.

"Even the most stubborn pegasi aren't foolproof, Rainbow," Twilight replied over her shoulder as she continued running ahead.

Twilight wasted no time once she got inside, setting Rainbow down as she dispersed her magic and hurriedly yanked Rainbow's sweatshirt off over her head. Twilight floated the article over, hanging it over a nearby desk chair for the night.

All the while Rainbow huffed, annoyed at how much Twilight seemed to be overreacting.

"Can't you just find a spell or something?" she asked.

Twilight shook her head. "I've told you before, Rainbow; I'm no medical pony..." She looked at Rainbow with a sorry smile. "All I can do is keep you company."

"But wait... Won't you get sick if you do that?"

"I was out there too, Rainbow, and we kissed... No doubt I caught a bit of a cold as well..." With Rainbow's right wing draped along her back, Rainbow herself leaning against her side for support, Twilight began her descent down the tower stairwell. "If there's something we need, Spike will get it for us," she added reassuringly, at last reaching Rainbow's bedroom.

Upon seeing her old room, Rainbow's lips formed a reminiscent smile. "Feels good to be in my old room again, after so long..." Her smile remained, though a sudden, sad feeling started to spur from deep inside her.

Twilight turned to her with a knowing grin. "Bet it feels a little nostalgic, huh—?"

Rainbow leaned over, and nuzzled Twilight's cheek suddenly, catching the unicorn by surprise mid sentence. "I'll never leave again," she whispered softly. "I promise."

She gently pulled away, leaving Twilight momentarily without words, though that didn't stop her from thinking. Rainbow... She gazed over in wonder at the mare she loved so dearly, before her look of wonderment soon became a gentle smile. "I know, Rainbow," she said, blushing lightly while returning the nuzzle. "Now come on, let's get you to bed."

Twilight walked Rainbow over, pulling open the covers for Rainbow to lie down, before getting in herself. Facing one another, Twilight snuggled deeper into the mattress and mass of warm sheets, her hooves resting delicately on Rainbow's chest as both ponies lay on their side, their foreheads inches apart.

Their own soft, shaken breaths were the only sounds heard, outside of the calming sound of raindrops pattering against the outside window.

Twilight smiled, staring into Rainbow's eyes, and giggled. Rainbow had always been beautiful, and intriguing in her eyes, but now... Her look of adoration as she stared back at her girlfriend through eyes full of wonder... her flushed cheeks and parted lips as she softly breathed in and out, the way her mane lay between her eyes, and how it matched them perfectly... Twilight took in every detail until she found she could no longer hold herself back and planted a quick surprise kiss on her lips, tracing a sly hoof down Rainbow's chest as she parted.

"Even when you're sick... you still manage to look undeniably awesome."

Rainbow chuckled at the remark, before replying in a whisper, "That's me," —She sniffled— "awesomeness extraordinaire."

Twilight giggled softly, before closing her eyes and snuggling in closer to the pegasus, a content smile on her lips. "Mm... I love you."

Rainbow smiled warmly, gazing down at her before placing a soft kiss atop her forehead. "I love you too, Twi," she said, closing her eyes as well, and nestling her head beside Twilight's.

It wasn't long until the two fell asleep, nor was it until the days themselves started to pass on by. The days soon turned into months, the rain outside eventually freezing into frost on the bedroom window as a gentle snowfall fell outside, blanketing the city.

Days 123 - 124 - The Reason for the Season

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Three Months Later...

Day 123

The snow outside continued to fall heavily, bells and holly strung up around the lampposts and awnings. Golden lights illuminated the misty morning air, and lit candles gave a warm, welcoming feel... lighting up the frost and fog on the windows.

The same festive feel could be said about the local residence, belonging to a certain unicorn and pegasus, standing tall on the far reaches of the city. While the outside spiral body was draped in holly and lights, on the inside however, stood a pine tree in the lower floor of the study, and the sounds of singing ponies filled the air... not singing the traditional Hearth's Warming music.

Twilight suspended a bundle of tinsel within her magic above her head for Rainbow, the pegasus swooping by and taking them snug against her Wonderbolts holiday sweater.

"Yeah, you're awesome!"

"Yeah, I'm awesome!" Rainbow couldn't help but grin as she circled the large pine tree, throwing strand by strand of the tinsel over its branches.

In the center of all the tinsel was a star for the top of the tree, in the shape of Twilight's own star-shaped cutie mark. "Awesome as you want to be!" Rainbow smiled in humor, glancing briefly down at Twilight as her flaps slowed to a hover, Rainbow slowly losing focus on all but the star as her attention returned to it.

She smiled warmly, placing the star carefully on top, before grinning down at Twilight, who wore a festive, star-patterned sweater of her own.

Twilight smiled, taking a piece of tinsel and wrapping it over the withers of Rainbow's neck like a scarf, playfully pulling her down to her level.

Rainbow's hooves touched down, weakening and losing their footing a little, as Twilight leaned forward a bit, granting the pegasus's lips a tender kiss.

She pulled away a moment later, her eyes mostly lidded, leaving Rainbow's face broken out in a rosy blush.

"Jeez, Twi." Rainbow chuckled, looking over her shoulder briefly, back at the tinsel draped loosely around her shoulders.

She smiled sincerely, turning back to face Twilight. "You know... you've gotten better at singing."

Twilight shied away a bit, softly shaking her head. "I-it was just something we made up on the spot, Rainbow."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah, I know, but still." She grinned softly, letting out a laugh under her breath and putting a foreleg around Twilight. With her free left hoof, she took Twilight's right in her own, Twilight's breath catching in her throat. "It was still pret-ty awesome."

Twilight snapped out of it, a coy smile forming on her lips. "Even though I can barely hold a note?"

Rainbow chuckled. "Actually, I... kinda like the voice cracks. They're cute."

"Well don't get too used to them, Rainbow. I fully intend to lose them. And besides," —Twilight's smile turned sly— "your voice cracks are cuter."

Rainbow blinked in surprise.

"Mine...?"

"The place is really starting to come together, thanks to you." Twilight looked over at Rainbow as she lay beside her in a sea of scattered tinsel and decorations. She nudged Rainbow's foreleg. "If it weren't for you, Spike and I would still be working—if even working at all."

Rainbow turned to her, an eyebrow raised. "I take it you guys have never celebrated Hearth's Warming?"

"I did—when I was younger." Twilight sighed, turning her gaze back to the ceiling. "I... didn't know much about it at the time. I only thought of it as a day where I'd get new books, and then spend it with my family. Then I learned the true meaning of the holiday—that Hearth's Warming was about ponies from different creeds coming together—and when I moved away, isolating myself... I just... I guess I never really had a reason to celebrate it because of that— Until now, that is."

Her gaze returned to the mare beside her, her lips briefly sporting a thankful smile before it fell, seeing Rainbow with closed eyes, her chest softly rising up and down.

Her expression quickly became peeved as she sat up and shouted, "Rainbow!"

The pegasus in question jolted up suddenly, tinsel falling from her mane and shoulders. "Wha—? Huh?" She looked around, coming eye to eye with her ticked-looking girlfriend.

Rainbow immediately put on a sheepish smile. "What's up?"

"Did you seriously fall asleep on me?"

The pegasus scratched the back of her head. "Er, well... Maybe I nodded off for like, a second, Twi," she reassured her. "I mean, after all... I practically did do all the work getting that tree in here, and, well..." She looked away, embarrassed. "It was tiring, but..."

Rainbow turned again to look at Twilight with a slight, knowing smile, giving her foreleg a nudge. "Come on, would I ever purposely fall asleep on you?"

"Yes," Twilight answered flatly, not sparing a moment. "You have before, as a matter of fact."

Rainbow's ears fell, and she looked down at her hooves, a little ashamed. "Oh, right."

Twilight fumed, closing her eyes and exhaling a breath through her muzzle, though... her annoyance didn't last much more than a moment or two.

She glanced at Rainbow from the corner of her eye as her eyes opened back up, and giggled.

Rainbow noticed, rolling her eyes before looking away a bit as her own lips formed a curving smile.

A moment passed before Rainbow asked, "So, what about Spike?" Twilight looked at her quizzically.

"I mean, it's just... before I nodded off, you were saying how you never really celebrated this holiday. I'm guessing he never..."

Twilight shook her head softly. "This will be his first," she replied. With a sigh, she added, "At least he's still young enough to appreciate it."

Looking over at Twilight, Rainbow bit her bottom lip before scooting over and putting a warm wing around her shoulders.

"Hey now... Don't be too hard on yourself, Twi," Rainbow said, nuzzling her softly. "We'll give him one this year."

A light smile adorned Twilight's lips at the touch, though lasted only a moment before disappearing as she bit her bottom lip, her uncertainty returning. She shook her head. "It's not just Spike," she replied, pulling away from Rainbow's muzzle and looking back at her. "It's you."

Rainbow's head cocked in confusion. "Me?"

"Yes you!" Twilight exclaimed, then sighed after a moment of silence. "This is your first Hearth's Warming too! Well, sort of anyway... but, I just..." She took one of Rainbow's forehooves in her own, holding it against her chest, surprising the pegasus at the same time. "I just really want to make it as memorable for you as it'll be for him."

Rainbow blinked as Twilight let go of her hoof. She broke out into a weak grin. "Which is why you made me do all the heavy lifting."

Twilight rolled her eyes, returning the smile.

A flick of her ear brought Rainbow back to reality, picking up the faint sound of somepony's footsteps. She turned to see Spike slowly walking out from behind the tree from the stairwell.

"And speaking of..." She hopped to her hooves, her wings then lifting them off the ground as she turned and glided over to the young dragon.

Twilight sighed, looking back ahead as she got to her hooves, putting on a small smile at the memory of Rainbow's words before walking over herself.

Rainbow stopped just short of the awe-stricken drake, whose attention was focused on the mammoth tree, draped in decoration. She couldn't help but smile at his reaction as she touched down with her hooves, her wings folding by her sides.

"Hiya, Spike."

Spike's attention slowly tore itself away from the tree, turning to greet his friend.

"Um... h-hey, Rainbow." Peering past her, he added, "Hey, Twilight. I uh..." Spike trailed off, cuing Rainbow to crack a small grin, throwing a foreleg around Twilight and pulling her close as she walked up beside her.

"It's okay, Spike," Rainbow said, placing a hoof over her own upper chest. "You don't have to say a word. We're amazing, we know."

Twilight shot her a brief, unamused look.

"Rainbow..." she murmured in annoyance.

Spike turned away, turning curiously back to the festive display. "What is all this?"

Rainbow blinked, looking between him and Twilight. "What do you mean, "What is all this?" It's—"

"It's Hearth's Warming, Spike," Twilight explained, stepping forward, out from under Rainbow's hoof. "Come on, I know you've seen the decorations before whenever we'd walk around the city together—"

"Your head in the pages of a book," Spike quipped. "On the way to the student supply store."

Rainbow snickered slightly, rejoining Twilight at her side, and not without triggering another fuming glare from her girlfriend.

"I realize I never gave much attention to it before, but... now I've got other priorities." She smiled softly down at Spike.

Spike cracked a small smile in return, as he returned to their prior conversation. "Well, sure, I've... I've seen it, but... you know; never... in here," —Spike pointed out to the tree with his claws— "like..." Spike looked back at Twilight and Rainbow as the two stood together, his voice growing softer. "Like this."

"So... you're saying you don't want any presents?" Rainbow teased, earning a light jab in the side from Twilight.

"I-I never said that," Spike replied, then shrugged. "It's just nice though, I guess. I mean, not just being able to celebrate this holiday for the first time... but also having the feeling of a family to spend it with."

Twilight silently gasped, feeling herself overcome right then, hit with a sudden wave of emotion. A hoof of hers covering her mouth, her eyes began glistening a bit at Spike's confession.

She wasted no time leaning down to Spike's level, taking him in her hooves.

Rainbow only found herself able to look away as she scratched the back of her head, overcome with emotion as well.

A weird mix of surprise and embarrassment.

She raised a hoof off the ground, and was about to step away, when a sudden jolt of Twilight's magic yanked her into the group's embrace—Twilight parting a hoof from Spike's back to make room, and wrapping it as far around the pegasus as she could.

Rainbow silently gulped as she was pulled in, her pupils darting back and forth between the two, feeling utterly rigid—unsure of what to do.

Family, she supposed, looking between them as a small, warm smile adorned her lips. Her wings spread open, rustling a little as they folded around each of her friends. I guess we kind of are... in a weird sort of way.

All of a sudden Twilight's eyes snapped open. "Oh, I just remembered!" Excited, Twilight pulled away from the two and ran over to a bookshelf on the far left of the room, grabbing a reference guide off the shelf entitled, Snowed Out: 101 Ways to Turn a Snow Day Into a Fun Day.

Rainbow pretended to gag just as Twilight's eyes fell back upon the cover, Spike silently snickering at Rainbow's reaction.

"It's from the same author of: Slumber 101: All You've Ever Wanted to Know About Slumber Parties But Were Afraid to Ask; and like Slumber 101, I've been dying to try it now that I have some actual friends."

She looked back up from the cover to see, bewilderingly, her two friends averting their eyes hesitantly.

Rainbow was the first to meet her questioning stare. "No offense, Twi," she began to explain. "I mean, I think I speak for both of us when I say that playing around in the snow sounds awesome! Like, having a snowball fight, or shredding through the snow on a sled sounds amazing and all, but..."

Twilight continued to stare at her. "But...?"

"Those books of yours sound totally, and utterly lame. I mean, the titles are the worst part, and, come on... Do you really need a book to tell you what your heart already knows? I mean, I still have amnesia, and even I know what to do when there's snow outside."

"Hmph." Twilight turned away with a huff. "Well excuse me for wanting to make sure our winter activities went off without a hitch."

"Rainbow..." Spike looked up at her. "You know how Twilight is..."

"I know how she is, Spike," Rainbow whispered back; "but that doesn't change the fact—"

"Fine. We'll try it your way then, Rainbow," Twilight said, turning back towards them.

The two looked up at her, Rainbow following up with a befuddled, "Huh?"

"Forget the book. We'll just wing it, and do whatever feels right." Twilight cocked her head a bit, smiling all the while. "You mentioned a snowball fight?"

Rainbow blinked, a small grin steadily parting her lips. "I, uh... Yeah!" she exclaimed, doing a sudden hoof pump. "You are so on, Twi! Me and Spike—"

"Spike and I," Twilight interjected.

"Spike's with me, Twilight, sheesh." Rainbow rolled her eyes, her grin then returning. "Anyway... we are so going to win!"

"Note to self: never challenge a unicorn to a snowball fight ever again."

Rainbow remained crouched beside Spike, both their backs slouched against a makeshift mound of snow that just barely covered them.

A snowball whizzed past overhead, nicking a couple hairs atop her mane.

Rainbow gulped, slouching down even further.

"You were right, Rainbow!" she heard Twilight yell out from beyond their snow mound. The unicorn let out a joyous laugh. "This is fun!"

The unicorn held a cluster of snowballs suspended beside her, leisurely pulling them out one after the other, before preceding to target the two of them.

Rainbow and Spike nearly jumped as they felt the heavy thud of snowballs continue to pelt their snow fort, slowly wearing away at it.

"Aw man," Rainbow berated herself, biting her bottom lip, clenching her hooves. "Think think think..." Her eyes widened as she felt Spike's claw lightly shaking her own foreleg.

"Come on, Rainbow; Twilight may have the magic, but you have the agility."

"I know, Spike, but what's the point if we don't have an... an opening..." Rainbow blinked, staring down at Spike in slow realization. "You're a dragon! Dragons breath fire..."

"Rainbow—?" Rainbow wrapped a foreleg around him, pulling him up against her chest, her other hoof taking a hold of his tail. "What're you—?"

A determined smile adorned Rainbow's lips, leaning up and spinning around, giving Spike's tail a tug. Burning green flames spat out over the snow mound, melting any and all incoming snowballs into puddles of water that fell harmlessly into the snow.

Twilight blinked, her lips parting slightly in brief astonishment, the smile she wore slowly disappearing from her face.

Rainbow smirked at her from behind Spike, who softly caught his breath. "Don't... ever... do that again."

"Heh... sorry, Spike." She smiled, hoisting him onto her back. "I'll just trust you to watch my back then. Now—" She pressed into the snowy ground with all four hooves. "—Hold on tight."

Rainbow rocketed into the clouds above, sparking an outstretching wave of snow. Twilight's eyes widened before quickly squeezing shut, her body tensing up, bracing for the initial impact.

Twilight lost her footing and stumbled back a bit as some of the snow hit her square in the face.

Rainbow zoomed past the ends of the cloud coverage, Spike holding on tightly around her neck as her foreleg cut through some of the clouds. It withdrew, drawing out a bundle of snow that she brought close to her chest.

She slowed, the whipping wind around them decreasing. Spike peered over Rainbow's shoulder to see her shaping the snow.

"We needed snowballs, Spike," Rainbow explained, looking back at him with a soft grin. "What better way to get them than from the source."

With that, she dived suddenly, Spike holding on tightly below her neck as she readied and chucked a few right at Twilight.

Twilight shook the snow from her face, wiping the last of it from her eyes with her foreleg and conjuring up a shield, catching them from the corner of her eye.

They splattered against the shield before Twilight wrapped her own magic around them and launched them back at the two.

Rainbow ducked her head beneath the first, swerved out of the way of the second, then came face to face with the third.

Spike leaned up over her head just as she shouted, "Spike!"

Spike melted the last one is his dragon breath, the leftover water splashing their faces.

The two shook the water from their faces, Rainbow looking above her, bearing a thankful smile. "Nice save, Spike."

"No problem—" Spike replied before being cut off. "Whoa!"

Rainbow took off again, diving as more snowballs began flying. She circled around Twilight, throwing a few of hers in return—Twilight catching them from every angle with a smile, and drawing up a domed shield around her when she couldn't make the catch. The snow plopped against the barrier, making it tougher for her to see.

So she dismissed it, continuing the curtain of fire as Rainbow dodged and weaved through it all, cutting fiercely through the air.

None of the maneuvers being particularly kind on Spike's stomach.

Twilight lost sight of Rainbow as she flew high above the clouds, setting hoof somewhere around the center of them. "Let's see Twi try and counter this," Rainbow mused as she jumped before pouncing back down. She jumped a few more times, shaking loose a flurry of snowballs that began raining down on the battleground below.

Looking directly above her, Twilight gasped loudly at the incoming barrage.

"I... I'm guessing you just made it rain snowballs?" Spike asked as he worked on catching his breath.

"Yuhuh," came Rainbow's response, holding back her laughter.

"How did you...?"

"The touch of a pegasus, Spike," she answered proudly, smiling back at him. She bent forward, peeling open some of the cloud layer with her forehooves. "I bet she's completely buried..." Her eyes widened at the sight of a ginormous conjured-up net, holding every one of the snowballs within it.

Twilight trembled under the weight, breathing in sharply and letting out a shaken breath before flattening out the net, causing the snowballs to fling upwards.

Rainbow gasped, and before Spike could question why, had the wind knocked out of him as Rainbow bolted backwards suddenly into the air.

The snowballs followed suit, shooting through the clouds like bullets through paper.

Rainbow and Spike's heads ducked out of the way of any snowball that came dangerously close to them, Rainbow narrowly steering them through the onslaught.

She slowed to a stop beyond the clouds, the two of them breathing heavily. She looked wearily back at Spike, forcing a small grin.

"At least we made it out without a scratch."

At that, Spike rolled his eyes.

"Now..." Rainbow's eyes fell to the ground far beneath them, spotting the one particular purple speck she had been hoping to find. The snowballs once again began to fall back through the clouds, Twilight expertly catching each and every one, suspending them all around her.

Well over a hundred of them.

Rainbow swallowed hard, feeling her limbs become a little weak at the sight, but she remained firm, glaring down at Twilight.

If she could have read Twilight's mind at that exact moment, she would've sworn that she was thinking, Your move, Rainbow.

"Uh, Rainbow..." Spike began to say. "Maybe we should give u—"

"All or nothing, Spike," Rainbow murmured under her breath before taking off.

"What—?!"

Rainbow shot towards Twilight at a downward angle, Spike almost slipping from her back.

Gutsy, Twilight thought, for a moment smiling in adoration. That's the pegasus I love.

The snowballs began flying at her, and soon it was like flying through a snowstorm. She squinted from the rushing wind as her body acted seemingly on its own, flying down, then up, to the left, to the right, upside down... Her maneuvers were a split-second at a time—they had to be, as sloppy and rushed as they were, if it meant getting within distance of Twilight...

Rainbow's eyes widened as a snowball grazed one of her left wingtips, causing her to falter. She snapped out of it, refocusing her attention. Gotta make it look convincing.

Twilight halted throwing any more, watching as Rainbow began spinning out of control—Spike slipping off her back from three feet up, falling harmlessly, with a momentary scream, into the snow.

Alright, Spike's safe, and now... Rainbow ducked her head as she readied for the initial impact into several feet of snow.

Rainbow slammed head first into the snow, disappearing before Twilight's eyes.

A couple moments passed as Twilight looked around, a little too apprehensive to move.

Cautiously, she took a step forward closer to where Rainbow crashed, then another—the only sound was that of the snow softly crunching with each step.

"Rainbow—?"

"Aiyah!" Rainbow shouted as she burst out from underneath the snow, snowball in her hoof. Twilight gasped and stumbled back a little, drawing up an ethereal shield just as Rainbow's hoof, and the snow, collided with it. She breathed out a momentary sigh of relief before she saw her girlfriend's sly smile. Her eyes grew wide once she noticed Rainbow's left wing about to launch another one at her from her peripheral.

She drew up another wall-like barrier, shielding her right side, and covering her from the blast.

Twilight smiled smugly back at her, when her head cocked to her right out of nowhere, as she felt something icy and cold impact the side of her face. She blinked, drawing her attention to Rainbow's snow-covered tail. She... scooped one up, Twilight began to realize in utter disbelief, and threw it... with her tail...

Twilight snapped out of the thought, lighting up her horn just as the grin on Rainbow's worn-out face started to widen.

"Ha! I... I got you, and you... you're all out... out of..." A shadow loomed over her, causing her to look up, and lose focus of what she was saying. She gulped, before looking back at Twilight... looking more defeated than puzzled. "How did you...?"

"Years of practice, Rainbow. You know that." With a soft laugh, she let go of the neatly-arranged pyramid of snowballs, collapsing Rainbow's forelimbs as she did, burying all but her head in snow.

"Urgh..." Rainbow shook her head—then her coat of the cascading snow that covered her, as she stepped out from the snow pile, Twilight brushing the snow off of her own self, unable to keep herself from smiling at the scene.

Rainbow met Twilight's humored stare. "Technically we did win though."

"Says you."

"Yeah, says me. I mean, I totally nailed you first."

"But I buried you," Twilight pointed out as the two continued to playfully argue. "Doesn't that count towards anything?"

"An A for effort—? H-hey!" Rainbow recoiled, her eyes, for a moment, squinting shut as another snowball plopped against her muzzle.

Reopening them, she stared back at Twilight with a deadpan expression. "Very funny, Twi." Twilight giggled as Rainbow wiped the snow from her face.

"Fine," she said with a sigh. "Then as a consolation prize, you may join the victor in a romantic flight, through the wintry, star-filled night sky, if she so chooses."

Twilight pursed her lips slightly at the thought. "Hm... a tempting offer, but can she guarantee me that we won't crash again for, like... the dozenth time?"

Rainbow's shoulders dropped, her head falling in defeat. "Come on Twi, it's not like I mean to..."

"Okay, on one condition." Rainbow's ears, soon followed by her head, perked right back up again. She looked eagerly back into Twilight's eyes.

"We get to cuddle together afterwards, by the fireplace. Maybe with some nice holiday music in the background, a book or two... some frothy cocoa with lots of mini marshmallows," she added in an afterthought.

A shiver coursed through her body at those words, Rainbow swallowing down a lump in her throat. She chuckled a little sheepishly, salvaging a bit of her bravado. "Guess I really did win."

Twilight rolled her eyes as she smiled as well, giving the pegasus a light, albeit playful shove.

"Hey, Rainbow, there you are!" the two heard call out in their direction, followed with the sound of a few wing flaps.

Rainbow and Twilight turned to see a mare with an opal mane, and even lighter opal coat standing a couple feet away from them, her wings folding at her sides. She wore a deep blue vest, Rainbow recognizing it immediately as what she and the other weather ponies wore.

She believed she'd seen this mare up in the clouds before once or twice before.

"Urgh... What does the weather team want now?" Rainbow asked in dismay. "I mean, can't you guys see I'm hanging out with my friends?" A sudden thought occurred to her, and she craned her head around, only to see nothing. "Spike?" she called out. "Spike!"

"Over here," Spike muffled out, raising a claw into the air from where he lay, face first in the snow. "Just catching my breath."

Rainbow nodded, before turning again to face the stranger.

"Besides, it's the holidays—"

"Which is exactly why we need you more than ever."

"Scrooge," Rainbow murmured, getting a giggle out of Twilight, who quickly covered it once the other pegasus's eyes fell on her.

She looked back at Rainbow. "I don't get it."

Rainbow sighed, a little bit exasperated. "Of course not."

"It's alright Rainbow," Twilight chimed in. "You go take care of it. Spike and l could... I dunno... build a couple of snowponies or something in the meantime."

Rainbow nodded softly, picking up on the slight disappointment in her voice. "I'll be back before you know it, Babe," she assured her, as she leaned in to nuzzle her.

Twilight smiled warmly. "You wouldn't be you if you weren't," she replied, returning the nuzzle as she questioned dryly, "Babe... really, Rainbow?"

Rainbow grinned, kissing Twilight's cheek before finally pulling away.

Her grin faded into a smile, Twilight mirroring her.

Reluctantly, Rainbow turned away from her, letting out a sigh as she flapped her wings and took off into the sky.

The other pegasus from her team joined up beside her, raising an eyebrow as she looked over at her knowingly. "Hanging out with my friends, huh?"

Rainbow looked back innocently. "What? Can't my girlfriend also be my best friend?"

A little wobbly, Spike joined up beside Twilight, whose hoof still lightly touched her cheek. "Urgh... feels like I exhausted every flame in my body... Not to mention the whiplash..."

"That's Rainbow for you," Twilight replied, chuckling softly at the remark.

"Still... flying around with her was kinda fun, and we did win, plus— Why're you holding your cheek?" Spike looked up at her curiously.

Twilight's gaze remained lost in the sky, a goofy smile still present on her face. "No reason, Spike."

No less suspicious, Spike slowly nodded. "So... where is Rainbow?" he asked, looking up as well.

"She has a couple of weather-related duties she needs to take care of," Twilight explained, looking down at him. "So, Spike, how do you feel about building a snowpony?"

Spike met her gaze. "A... snowpony?"

"It'll be a lot of fun, Spike," she replied excitedly. "I can still remember Cadance teaching me how to build one."

"I know how to build one, Twilight," Spike murmured, though it went unnoticed by Twilight, who was already reminiscing on the memory.

"It's simple, Twilight," Cadance told her, sculpting up, at first with her magic, some snow stacks out of the snow beneath them. "You start by building four short stacks of snow that will serve as the hind legs and forelegs. Feel free to use a little magic to help form them, though it's a lot more fun with your hooves."

"Then comes the body," Cadance continued to instruct, first helping Twilight roll up a large chunk of snow, then levitating it up and over, weighing it down atop the arms and legs of the soon-to-be snowpony.

"Add a little snow for the neck, and finally... the head."

Looking away from the unfinished sculpture, the alicorn gazed down at the unicorn filly, leaning over a ball of snow almost as big as herself.

Cadance smiled, taking the filly in her magic and hoisting her up to place the pony's head upon the snowy body.

"Lastly comes the decorating. Coal for eyes, a broom for a tail, a hat... You can always carve ears and a mane out of the head too—"

"What about wings?" Cadance heard Twilight ask.

She looked down at her side where the filly now stood, her interest piqued. "Wings?"

Twilight smiled in response. "For Dash."

"Dash?"

"The name I've given to the pegasus I want to meet someday," she explained. Still, the explanation did little to lessen Cadance's curiosity.

"I thought you weren't looking for love," Cadance pointed out.

"I-I'm not, Cadance!" Twilight huffed, then in one long breath explained, "It's just that, after talking with my brother all those months ago, I haven't been able to get this idea of a "dashing pegasus" off my mind."

"I'm afraid I don't follow."

"My brother once told me there were colts out there who would be interested in me, but... none of them sounded like the pony I wanted to meet. And... it's not like I'm in love with the idea or anything, I just... want to meet a pony like that, if only for curiosity's sake."

"Hm..." Cadance leaned down to the filly's level as she asked, "Well, what does she look like?"

"She looks a lot like Rainbow," Spike remarked as he stood beside Twilight, both standing back a bit to get a better look at their snowpony.

Twilight nodded, a bit of that goofy smile of hers returning. "She does, doesn't she?"

She gazed down at him.

"No worries, Spike," she said. "We can build one of me, and one of you too."

"There, all done."

Rainbow breathed out a sigh of relief as she moved the last cloud into place for the Hearth's Warming wonderland exhibit, having set it for a gentle snowfall. She looked over her shoulder at her partner. "Now can I go?"

"Hm... I suppose so."

"Sweet!" Rainbow made a celebratory hoof pump. "Thank you, Celestia—!"

"But first!"

Rainbow froze, the happiness she felt fleeing from her heart as quickly as it had come. Her shoulders and head fell, Rainbow peering up at the pegasus mare, visibly irritated. "What now?"

"You should really pick your girlfriend up something nice for Hearth's Warming."

A gift? Rainbow blinked, straightening up and staring back at the other mare surprised. Crud! I completely forgot about a gift for Twi, and... Wait... "That's it?" she asked. "No sarcasm, or petty insult about me liking another mare?"

"I'm not a total jerk like a lot of the ponies in this city, or on this team for that matter, Rainbow. I think what you and the egghead have is kinda cute."

"Huh." Rainbow eased up, a smile eventually forming on her lips. "You know, I don't think I've ever gotten your name."

"It's Sprinkle Medley," the pegasus replied, then smiled. "Friends call me April."

"April, huh? I'll be sure to remember that." Rainbow gave a short wave as she turned away, giving her wings a couple flaps. "Well, happy Hearth's Warming, Sprinkle. I gotta go find something awesome for Twilight!"

She took off into the sky, her first stop being the bank to withdraw a little spending money from her and Twilight's shared account—Twilight deciding months ago that it would be easier on the both of them, pooling all their bits in one place.

And it was, Rainbow simply stopping by and depositing any bits she made while on weather duty.

Though it did make it sort of tough for her to tell how much of it she could use to shop with.

Then again, Rainbow figured; if the gifts she picked out were nice enough, she supposed Twilight wouldn't mind.

Not to mention there was that holiday bonus she had received a few days back.

With a satchel of two hundred bits at her side, she hit the streets.

"Now what would a pony like Twi want?" Rainbow wondered aloud. "Of course books would be the obvious choice, but she already has like, all of them!"

She looked around at all the different shops. "Maybe some chocolates or something, but what else—?"

A sudden bright light hit her face, for a second blinding her as she squinted her eyes to shield herself. As they adjusted, she noticed the light had been reflected from off some hanging gemstone earrings, in the display of a jewelry store window.

Specifically, rainbow-colored and sparkling-purple gemstones, among others.

Rainbow's head cocked slightly, brandishing a bemused smile at the sight.

Walking closer, they reminded her of Twilight's own makeshift drop earring that held her feather.

She also remembered that it had been made out of nothing more than bits of copper wire and string.

Rainbow walked inside, turning towards the first salespony she saw, standing behind one of the few, far-stretching glass counters. "Dude, how much for one of those gemstone earrings?" Rainbow asked. "The rainbow, and star-studded ones!"

And on the opposite side of the shop, another voice asked in a much less enthralled tone, "Are you almost done browsing, Cady?"

"Why are you in such a rush, Shining?"

"Um, maybe because I'm a guy in a jewelry store?"

Cadance shook her head, staring around into the counter display case. "It won't be much longer, Shiny; I just want to make sure I decide on the right one—" Her ear perked up, picking up the all too familiar-sounding voice coming from behind her.

"I'd like a silver loop please—and could I get one with each type of gemstone, just like in the display?" Rainbow paused, then looked up at him, her brow furrowing slightly. "Why are you looking at me like that? I'm seriously considering buying."

"Sorry, Miss, forgive my skepticism." He removed the requested stones from beneath the counter with his unicorn magic, and began stringing them together, one on top of the other. "I'm just not used to seeing such... commoners wander in. Much less ones who refer to me as 'Dude'."

"Pssh, please." Rainbow rolled her eyes as a soft grin spread across her face. "I'm no commoner; I'm awesome!"

"Rainbow?"

Rainbow froze for a brief moment at the sound of that familiar voice. Turning toward the source, her face lit up with excitement. "Cadance!"

"Long time no see, Rainbow," the alicorn replied, smiling back at her.

She let out a chuckle, noticing she wasn't the only one wearing a Hearth's Warming sweater.

"Oh wow, this is so awesome!" Rainbow exclaimed. "I have so many things to tell you about me and Twi."

"I take by the sound of your voice that everything went alright?"

Rainbow nodded. "Mm-hm."

"Pardon me, Princess," the salespony cut in. "You know this mare?"

Cadance nodded. "Oh, her and I go way back."

Rainbow glanced back at him, a smug look on her face. "Told you I'm awesome."

"Cadance?" Shining stepped closer. "Who's...?"

"Oh, Shining!" She looked over her shoulder with an excited grin. "Come here; I want you to meet Rainbow."

"Rainbow?" he questioned.

"Rainbow is the mare I met at that summer's end festival. Remember, I sensed a heart that needed mending?"

"Slight mending, mind you. I'm better now. Got all my emotions straightened out and junk."

Shining chuckled at that. "Well Cadance is pretty gifted when it comes to fixing a heart... I take it the two of you are doing a lot better now?"

"We've never been better!" Rainbow exclaimed, turning her attention to the counter top behind her, and the various, sparkling gemstones beneath the glass.

In particular, she pointed down at extras of the type she had requested. "Do you think she'll like them?"

"She—?"

Cadance nudged Shining in the side, shooting him a quick look before looking sweetly back at Rainbow.

"Stars and rainbows?" Cadance noted, standing beside her and looking over the counter top as well, before giving her a reassuring smile. "I think she will."

"Wrap it up then," Rainbow said to the salespony, who was placing on the finishing touches when another thought came to her. "Say, how much does all this cost anyway?"

"It'll be one hundred and seventy five bits."

Rainbow didn't even flinch. "I think this should cover it," she replied, setting her satchel of bits over the glass counter top. Golden bits spilled out over the corner. Shaking it lightly, and emptying it out completely, she took it back into her hooves. "Two hundred bits," she exclaimed. "I'll just take back the extra twenty five," she added with a sheepish smile, sweeping some of the bits back into the satchel.

"You can count them if you want."

He deadpanned in response. "I wouldn't be a very good shop owner if I didn't."

"Sweet!"

Her smile soon disappeared and she raised a hoof to the back of her head as she turned her attention back towards Cadance. "So, um..."

"You said you had so much to tell me?" she asked.

"Only if you don't mind," Rainbow replied.

Shining stepped forward. "Actually, we—"

"Come on, Shiny," Cadance pleaded, looking at him with eyes he couldn't possibly resist. "Let us girls have a few minutes together. We haven't seen each other in months."

"I..." A long moment of silence passed before Shining sighed, giving in. "Alright..."

"Yay! Thank you, Sweetie." He blushed, looking away a little in embarrassment as she nuzzled his cheek. "I'll leave it up to you to pick me out something nice."

She pulled away, turning to face Rainbow. "You know, we did pass a dessert vendor on our way here, selling Hearth's Warming cookies, glazed chocolate cake, funnel cake, Canterlot tree cupcakes... My treat while we talk, if you like."

Rainbow's face lit up for only a moment, before being replaced with a questioning stare. "What's a tree cupcake?"

"A chocolate cupcake with the frosting in the shape of a Hearth's Warming tree, a chocolate star on top."

Rainbow's face lit right back up at again.

"Awesome!"

"And... there."

Twilight smiled proudly at their work. "A rather accurate representation of us, wouldn't you say, Spike?"

"I'll say."

Twilight began to turn away when a particular pony caught her attention, as she walked down the street toward them. "Hey Spike, isn't that your girlfriend?"

Spike turned to see who she was referring to, and immediately got a little flustered. "Moon Dancer is not my girlfriend."

"Hey guys," Moon Dancer waved as she called out to them. "Nice snowponies, and, um... snow-drake."

"Hey, Moon!" Spike greeted, running up to her, and wrapping his arms as far around her as they would reach.

Moon Dancer giggled, returning the hug. "Happy Hearth's Warming, Spike."

She nuzzled his head, before turning her attention to Twilight.

"I, um, was about to do some Hearth's Warming shopping. Wanna join, maybe hang out for a bit?"

Twilight said nothing at first, scuffing her hoof in the snow and gazing into the sky for a certain rainbow. "We were kind of waiting until Rainbow got back, but..." She motioned Moon Dancer to come closer, and once she did, she leaned in to whisper, "Truth of the matter is, I was so wrapped up in decorating that I still need to get my shopping done as well. Don't let Spike know."

Moon Dancer nodded reassuringly as Twilight continued. "I was going to go later today, but..."

"No reason we can't do it now," the red-maned mare supposed, seemingly reading Twilight's mind.

"Exactly," she agreed with a nod. "Better now than later anyway."

A moment passed, Twilight biting her bottom lip before she asked, remaining hushed, "Hey, um... Do you think you could help me come up with gift ideas for Spike? I honestly have no idea what to get him."

Moon Dancer raised an eyebrow, looking back at her a little shocked.

Twilight shied away, gazing down at her hooves. "I know, I know."

"Well... sure," Moon Dancer agreed, after a moment. "I know him well enough."

She spun back around, turning to face Spike with a smile. "Looks like I'll be joining you for the afternoon, Spike."

Spike beamed. "Sweet!"

The three walked into the city, Spike taking the lead as he walked a bit ahead of the two.

Moon Dancer looked over at Twilight, deciding to ask in a whisper, "So... does Spike know?"

Twilight met her curious stare as she looked back at her, genuinely oblivious to what she was asking. "Know what?"

"You know," Moon Dancer persisted. Still, Twilight remained lost. "You and Rainbow..."

"Oh... oh! N-not yet... It might be a little too weird for him, you know? I mean, I can only imagine how he'd react."

"I'm sure he'd be happy for you two."

Twilight bit her lip. "I don't know..."

An awkward silence soon overcame them as they both began searching for something else to talk about.

"It's pretty nice out," Twilight said. "Usually it's so blustery, being so high up in the mountains."

"Uh… huh," Moon Dancer replied.

Twilight looked away, muttering angrily to herself, "Stupid, stupid, stupid..."

Moon Dancer noticed, and was about to say something when her mane irritatingly fell before her right eye. She made a wry face at first, before letting out a huff, brushing it out of the way.

She hesitated for a moment before asking, "Do you think I need a manecut?"

Twilight snapped out of it, and looked sheepishly back at her. "H-hair troubles?" she surmised.

Moon Dancer nodded. "It falls in front of my eyes sometimes." She shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe I'll go back to the style I had when we were fillies."

Twilight blinked, her eyes widening. "When we were... Oh yeah!" She pounded her hoof into her other as the memory came back to her.

The act also startled Spike and Moon Dancer, Spike looking back at her puzzled, and Moon Dancer practically jumping out of her fur.

Twilight looked between the two, before putting on an apologetic grin. "Sorry... I, I just remembered." You were that filly that often sat next to me...

"Heh, yeah, I... kinda let my mane grow out since then... maybe a little too much."

"So... wait," Spike joined in. "You two had the same exact mane style?" He shook his head. "Talk about weird..."

"It wasn't weird, Spike," Twilight and Moon Dancer shot back, almost in sync. The two looked at each other briefly, sharing a laugh.

"It was a very intellectual look," Twilight continued, as the last few giggles left her system.

"And if you wanted the teacher to think you were serious about learning, having a smart, sharp manestyle didn't hurt," Moon Dancer added.

The three walked down the city's bustling street when a certain shop caught the attention of Twilight and Moon Dancer.

The two grinned at one another as they both exclaimed, "The bookstore!"

Twilight's smile disappeared at Moon Dancer's reaction. She cocked her head to the side, her brow lifting slightly in surprise. "You love books too?"

Moon Dancer shrugged, smiling softly back at Twilight. "Some, yes."

She turned around, looking down at Spike. "Race you to the comic section."

Spike smiled up at her coyly. "You are so on."

The two ran ahead, switching to a brisk walk once inside so as not to get in any trouble.

Twilight smiled at the display, shaking her head before walking in herself.

Holly decorated the oak shelves, Hearth's Warming music playing out of the speakers above as Twilight walked through the rows of books, when she picked up Spike and Moon Dancer's voices.

"I didn't take you for much of a comic reader," Twilight remarked, walking up to them.

Moon Dancer looked at her funny. "Are you kidding? They're fun, dark, exciting, adventurous..."

"Yeah, so are regular books," Twilight said.

Moon Dancer rolled her eyes. "Besides, they inspire a lot of my inventions back at the lab—"

Twilight's ears perked right up. "Lab?" she asked, her voice growing more and more excited by the second. "As in laboratory? You have a laboratory?"

"Er, back at the academy, yes..."

"Funny," Twilight thought aloud. "I don't remember a laboratory back when we had to attend. Unless you mean the science lab—?"

"It's a touch more advanced than our old classroom, Twilight. If I recall correctly, your muzzle was too buried in books to notice it existed."

Twilight heard Spike stifling his laughter as he faced a shelf from behind where Moon Dancer stood.

She glared at him flustered, as Moon Dancer continued.

"Princess Celestia allowed me access. At first she was a little hesitant, but she sorta likes that I'm finding a way to combine magic with technology. It is for the safety of Equestria, after all."

Huh, Twilight thought, a little impressed. Magic and technology… for the safety of Equestria… It reminded her of what the princess had said to her all those months ago, the day she had confessed her own feelings for Rainbow—a day she couldn't possibly ever forget.

The princess had said she had hopes that she'd change Equestria someday too.

It made her wonder if the princess had these plans for all her students...

"Well it looks like I misjudged you, Moon Dancer," Twilight replied.

Moon Dancer smiled back at her. Most ponies do.

"I mean, originally I figured you were some weird, overly-friendly vagabond."

Moon Dancer deadpanned, unamused. "Okay, Twilight, okay... I get it."

Twilight shrunk back sheepishly. "Sorry..."

"Well, anyway..." Moon Dancer stepped closer, whispering so that only she could hear, "I'll show you some of the titles Spike would be interested in."

"So we kinda just... spent the day together, walked around." Rainbow scratched the back of her head, shying her gaze away as the two sat with snacks in hoof, on a bench right outside the jewelry shop. "We, uh... held hooves, hugged, I put my wing around her... stuff like that. Then we, um… watched the Wonderbolts show, I took her for a flight... we crashed, then uh... kissed... in the mud."

"Aww," went Cadance, much to Rainbow's embarrassment. "That's very sweet, Rainbow. Even if the two of you were in hoof-deep mud."

"Yeah, well..." Rainbow shied away further, looking down at her hooves as they fiddled with a partially polished off cupcake. "Things have been pretty normal for us since. We've gone on several dates in the past few months, my feather hung from her ear…" She paused, looking at Cadance who was trying to suppress her sudden giggles.

"What's so funny, Princess?"

"Nothing really," she assured. "I... I was just thinking how similar we both sort of are." Rainbow tilted her head, looking up at her puzzled. "I mean, I was once a pegasus like you, lost in an unfamiliar world, not knowing who I was—"

"Whoa whoa whoa," Rainbow interrupted, beseeching her to slow down. "Hold up. You were a pegasus?" she asked. "I thought you were always an alicorn?"

"It's a long story... but yes," Cadance smiled sheepishly; "there was a time when I only had wings."

"Huh," Rainbow quietly thought to herself. "So you can become an alicorn..."

"Like I was saying though... Even despite our rocky beginnings, we both still ended up meeting, and falling in love with two really sweet unicorns, who, at times may both be a little clumsy... and both a little awkward..."

"Both a little nerdy?" Rainbow guessed.

Cadance chuckled at that through closed lips as she held a hoof over them. And from the same family... she thought. What are the odds?

The two slipped into silence for a few moments, focusing on their snacks.

Rainbow was the first to break the silence.

"Hey Cadance? Do you think Twi will ever become an alicorn?" she asked. "Just wondering... I mean, I love her no matter what race she is, but..."

"You can't help but wonder what it'd be like to fly alongside her... rather than with her."

Rainbow barely nodded, staring thoughtfully into space.

"Who knows what the future has in store, Rainbow," Cadance said. "Though... if she did become one, it might take away what the two of you love about each other so much, or the things you can learn about one another—like the ways of looking at things you may never have considered." Cadance sighed, gazing down at the snack in her hooves. "Sometimes I wish I were still a pegasus so I could better appreciate Shining's magic... and so I wouldn't have so many royal obligations, urgh." She leaned into the back of the bench, her shoulders dropping. "Thank Celestia, it's the holiday season."

Rainbow smiled, looking back at her. "You don't happen to raise anything in our solar system as well, do you?"

"No," Cadance replied as she shook her head, letting out a bit of a laugh before she continued. "I just help with meetings, scheduling, town maintenance, disputes, and off the job..." She winked down at Rainbow. "Occasional love emergencies."

Rainbow lightly grinned, rolling her eyes in a playful manner at the last bit.

"Aunt Celestia handles the brunt of it, but ever since… Well, let's just say she's glad I'm there for her, and as exhausting as it is, I'm happy to help her."

Aunt? Rainbow shook her head, moving past the thought. "I know about Luna, Cadance," she said.

A moment of silence passed between them.

"Twilight?" Cadance surmised.

"Twilight."

Cadance sighed. "I guess it's no surprise that she knows, or that she decided to tell you." A couple seconds passed before Cadance then held her hooves at chest level reassuringly. "I-it's okay though! I mean, it is public knowledge, it's just… It's really unsettling, you know?"

"Right," Rainbow agreed. Especially for Hearth's Warming Eve...

"So, um... what are you doing for Hearth's Warming?" Cadance's voice broke through to her.

"Oh, um… Hopefully spending it with Twi and Spike. You?"

"Kicking back, enjoying the snow and festivities, might do a little shopping later when Shining's not around." She looked off down the street, seemingly in thought. "We're supposed to stop by his parents' house later today."

A thought spurred in Rainbow's head at what she said. "I wonder what my parents are doing for Hearth's Warming..."

"Your memories, they... still haven't come back yet, have they?" Cadance asked.

"Some did, during my trip to Ponyville, others haven't." Rainbow chuckled, remembering the things Twilight had said.

"Twi pretty much concluded that I'm so thickheaded and stubborn at times that that's the reason why they haven't come back. I... couldn't tell if she was joking or not, but… it doesn't matter anyway; it's become less of a concern for us. We're more focused on creating new memories, you know? Still... it wouldn't hurt to at least remember my fillyhood..."

"W-well, hey, at least you know you have a family! I'm not even sure where I came from; I mean… I was taken in by a village of friendly earth ponies who found me in the woods. It was because of them that Aunt Celestia even ended up finding me..."

"I... had no idea," Rainbow said. "I guess when you look at it like that, I suppose we both have something to be thankful for this holiday season."

"One hundred seventy-four... one hundred seventy-five. Mister Armor, would you mind letting the young miss know her gift is ready?"

Shining turned to him, and nodded his head. "Sure thing," he said, taking the package in his magic, along with his own wrapped gift, from the counter. He hoped she'd like it, even if what Cadance really loved more than anything about the holiday was the festivities and atmosphere.

"And regarding your payment," the salespony began. "I'm guessing…?"

"The royal account, as per usual," Shining replied, tucking his scarf securely around his neck, before giving a short wave to the stallion. "Happy holidays!" he added, before turning for the exit.

"A happy holidays to you and the missus as well, Sir!"

Shining stepped outside into the cold, spotting the two right away to his left. "Cadence," he greeted, "and, um… Rainbow, right? Here you are."

In a rose aura, he levitated the package into her lap, to which she quickly finished off the remainder of her cupcake before opening up the bag and looking inside.

There inside the small paper bag, was her requested earring, gift-wrapped inside a small rectangular box. "Sweet!" She smiled thankfully at him before rolling the top of the bag up, storing it safety away inside her satchel.

Tossing it over her shoulder, she sat up, and looked over at the two. "I... guess I should be on my way then."

"As should we," Cadance agreed, sitting up and leaping down from the bench. "It was nice seeing you again, Rainbow."

"You too, Cadance." Rainbow lifted a hoof off the ground when Cadance reached out to her, putting a reassuring hoof on her shoulder.

"And Rainbow... always remember that you have friends here in Canterlot who care for you, and who'll always be here for you. If you ever want to talk again, keep an open eye in the streets, or around the castle. Because between you and me," Cadance leaned closer; "I wouldn't mind getting away from it every once in a while," she said in a soft whisper.

Rainbow nodded, smiling understandingly. She waved goodbye before turning and taking off, gliding down the street above the many crowds.

"Consider these my gift to you, Moon Dancer," Twilight said, holding a stack of several books in her aura.

Moon Dancer browsed the titles, reading them all aloud in a rather dry tone. "Classic fiction, and historical non-fiction... Hooray."

"I know, right?" Twilight grinned widely. "You know, these stories probably inspired a lot of the comics you like so much."

"Oh, of course! Like Deadpony Killustrated!"

Twilight blinked in confusion. "Sure?"

The two began walking up to the register without worry of Spike knowing or seeing what she was buying for him, having given him some bits for the arcade across the street.

All of a sudden, Twilight stopped, her wandering eyes catching sight of what looked like a particular book that she'd been meaning to get for months.

"Principles of Magic," she exclaimed, pulling the book from the shelf, and smiling down at the cover. "First edition even! Oh wow... I've been meaning to get myself a copy of this for awhile now..."

Moon Dancer couldn't help but smile in humor at her enthusiasm. "Really?"

"But ever since Rainbow..." Twilight averted her gaze from the cover as her smile fell from her face, briefly biting her inner lip. "I should really be saving my bits..."

Reluctantly, she put the book back just as Moon Dancer spoke up.

"Well, hey... You never know what Santa-pony might bring you."

Twilight shook her head, turning away as she let out a few soft chuckles. "Santa-pony isn't real, Moon Dancer. Everypony knows that."

Moon Dancer rolled her eyes, grumbling as they continued up to the register, "It was a figure of speech..."

Twilight's ear twitched, picking up the sound of wing flaps at the entrance of the store as her books were being checked out.

Her eyes lit up, seeing her girlfriend walk in, body and mane lightly coated with snow. "Rainbow!"

The pegasus grinned softly back at her. "Hey, Twi."

"Honestly, I... I wasn't expecting— I-I mean, I... I thought you'd be back at the tower, or at least on your way there," Twilight confessed, only for Rainbow to softly shake her head.

"I was actually, but something in a certain store window caught my eye, and I couldn't resist. Something beautiful."

Twilight smiled sweetly at her.

A couple of things actually, she supposed in an afterthought, returning the smile.

The scene was contagious, even for Moon Dancer who even still couldn't help but admire the cuteness of their relationship.

"You know..." Twilight looked in humor at her mane... noticing the certain lack of colors that she loved so dearly. "Your mane's completely covered in snow."

"Hm?" Rainbow glanced up, then gave her head a shake, snow flying from her mane. "Better?" she asked, now chuckling at Twilight's snow-spotted face.

"Much." Twilight laughed softly as well, wiping it from her face.

"Oh, hey Moon Dancer," Rainbow greeted, noticing her as well as said mare watched the two.

"Hello, Rainbow," she replied with a half smile.

Rainbow looked around them, noticing somepony was missing. "Where's Spike?" she asked.

"At the arcade," Twilight replied. "I had to send him away for a bit while I cashed out some of his gifts—that's what we've been doing, Moon Dancer and I. We thought we'd check out a few other places as well."

"Well count me in!" Rainbow said. "I've still got some things I wanna pick up."

"A-actually, I'll... stay here a bit longer, if that's alright with you girls," Moon Dancer spoke up, drawing their attention. Twilight in particular, gave her a curious look. "It'll only be for a moment," she assured, "then I'll catch up with you both, or keep Spike company if you'd like."

"I'd appreciate that, Moon Dancer," Twilight said, her expression softening, her lips forming a thankful smile. "Thank you."

Twilight took the paper bags from the counter, floating them beside her and handing one book-filled bag to Moon Dancer.

One filled with the books Twilight had picked out for her.

Moon Dancer smiled softly before raising a hoof in a short wave. "I'll see you soon."

Rainbow and Twilight waved back before turning and exiting the store. Once outside, Twilight leaned closer to Rainbow, giving her cheek a nuzzle.

"I can't wait to see what you got me," she whispered.

Rainbow looked at her funny. "How'd you know what I picked up was for you?"

Twilight giggled, replying, "I didn't."

Rainbow bit her tongue, drawing in a sharp breath as she looked away flustered, Twilight continuing to giggle. "Well you're gonna have to wait until tomorrow, Twi."

Twilight nodded, her body quickly regaining its composure. "Honestly though... I still don't know what to get you."

Rainbow looked back at her girlfriend, seeing her slight, fretful expression, and smiled reassuringly. "You don't have to get me anything, Twi," she said, a small chuckle escaping as she thought about what she was about to say. "I realize that I'm probably gonna sound like a Hearth's Warming song here, but what if all I want... is to be with you and the others."

She then backtracked, adding, "Mostly you though."

Twilight blinked in surprise, appearing taken aback before her expression softened and she smiled warmly. "You're right; you do sound like a Hearth's Warming song. Cheesy, slightly grating, you both get stuck in my head—"

"We both make you smile."

"That you do," Twilight agreed, leaning in to rest her head on the pegasus's shoulder. She lovingly nuzzled the underside of Rainbow's chin, causing the pegasus to swallow hard, her forelimbs weakening. "Mm, now I really can't wait until later. You and me, alone..." A sudden push from Rainbow's side caused Twilight to stumble a bit to the side. Her attention was drawn to Rainbow's wings, unfurled from her sides and now standing tall. Rainbow looked over, smiling sheepishly at her, however going unnoticed by Twilight, who seemed more curious than anything. "Why do your wings keep doing that...?"

Rainbow laughed nervously. "Y-yeah, so, um... about what you were saying..."

"Hm? Oh right!" Twilight tore her attention from Rainbow's wings, and looked Rainbow in the eyes seriously. "Everypony wants something, Rainbow."

Rainbow bit her lip, looking off as she thought over her words. "You're right about that, Twi," she began. "Everypony does want something: a place to live, food, water... love," she added softly. "I... I guess I'm just... one of those ponies, you know? I mean, I don't exactly remember what I like, anyway—besides the Wonderbolts, and I've gotten plenty of their stuff."

Twilight silently thought on what she had said. Still, she pressed on, noting, "You like fiction... specifically Daring Do—and video games... movies..."

"I... Okay," Rainbow gave in. "Maybe I have gained one or two new interests since meeting you."

Twilight scuffed a hoof through the snow, her eyes gazing down as she said, "I don't mean to be so insistent, Rainbow. I just don't want you to feel left out."

Rainbow stepped over, placing both her hooves over her girlfriend's shoulders. Twilight's eyes widened at the touch, her eyes snapping up to meet Rainbow's.

Rainbow smiled reassuringly at her. "I know you don't, Twi, but..." Her hooves reached further down her shoulders, wrapping themselves around her upper back in a hug. "I promise you I won't," she whispered, her head beside Twilight's as she nuzzled the unicorn's cheek against her own. "You're gift enough."

Rainbow pulled back, leaving Twilight weak from the jelly her forelegs were reducing into.

The two spent the next hour going around from toy store to video store and sweets' shop, looking for potential gifts for Spike—for his first Hearth's Warming Celebration.

With three full paper bags floating above Twilight's head, she and Rainbow decided that was enough. "Maybe more than enough for the little guy," Rainbow remarked with a soft laugh.

Twilight shared in it as they continued walking again. Eventually the arcade came into view where they saw Spike and Moon Dancer expectant outside the front doors.

When Spike asked her about them, Twilight clumsily and hastily hid the bags behind her, explaining to him, "This is all just supplies and ingredients for Hearth's Warming, Spike, nothing more."

Spike looked at her wryly. "I know those are presents, Twilight. I mean, it's pretty obvious."

Twilight's face paled. She looked toward Moon Dancer for an explanation only for the unicorn to shrug, no less confused than her.

She shook her head, and began fumbling for an excuse when Spike added, "It's alright though. Just knowing that you did get me gifts this year makes me happy." He paused, grinning playfully. "Even if you did sort of wait until the very last moment."

"To be fair," Rainbow said, in Twilight's defense. "It sounds like we all kinda did."

The group all shared a brief chuckle, Twilight being the first to ask after her laughter started to die down, "So what now?"

Moon Dancer blinked, thinking to herself, They probably want some time together, the three of them... Besides, I... "I actually need to get going," she told them, holding a hoof behind her head. "Sorry... I-it was really nice seeing you all again though, and, um..." She floated a wrapped package over to Twilight, Twilight herself taking a sudden step back in surprise. "This is for you."

"For... me?" Twilight looked down at the square shape, wrapped in Hearth's Warming paper with a snowflake pattern. She smiled graciously, accepting it within her own magic. "Thank you, Moon Dancer."

"No problemo." She smiled as she turned to face Rainbow—Twilight tucking away the gift in one of her bags. "And for you—"

Rainbow looked at her, taken aback. "It.. it's okay, Moon Dancer—"

Moon Dancer cut in before she could say another word. "No no, I insist."

She took out another wrapped package, the size and shape of a medium-sized box, out from her saddle and floated it over.

Rainbow gingerly took it in her hooves, staring down at the package as a soft smile grew. "Jeez, Moon Dancer, I... really don't know what to say except... Thank you."

"Think nothing of it," she assured, lifting her hoof in a goodbye wave as she turned away, looking back at them from over her shoulder. "Hope you guys have a good one! And no opening those before Hearth's Warming Day!" she added in a joking tone before turning ahead and leaving the scene, Spike and the others watching as she walked away.

Rainbow looked back down at the present that she held before safely placing it away in her satchel, Twilight's own attention lingering towards the young dragon.

"I'm surprised you didn't ask her for a gift, Spike," Twilight teased, snapping Spike out of his stupor.

"Oh, w-well," Spike began as he turned back around, "she did kind of treat me to most of the games in there; and not to mention there was that holiday gem parfait she bought for me... Plus, just... being with her... It'd be greedy of me to ask for anything more."

"A gem parfait, Spike?" Rainbow questioned. "Jeez, hope that wasn't too much for her."

"That's the budget of a student, Rainbow," Twilight remarked. "We may not receive as much as weather ponies like yourself do, but... we're given enough to afford something sweet every now and then."

A moment of silence passed between the three, Spike being the first to speak up.

"So..."

"So... How about a holiday movie?" Rainbow suggested.

Twilight's face lit up at the idea.

"Oh, like A Heath's Warming Story? A Hearth's Warming Carol? Perhaps Hearth's Warming Vacation?"

"Neigh Hard?" she again suggested.

Spike formed a fist, bumping Rainbow's own raised hoof.

Twilight looked at the two incredulously. "Seriously?"

Rainbow shrugged. "It's a holiday movie," she justified. "Well, sort of."

"And Spike?" she asked. "Isn't he—?"

"A little young?" Spike surmised. "Come on, Twilight; I just look young."

"Besides," Rainbow spoke up; "I'll be with him. A certified adult."

"Is that what you are," Twilight teased, getting an unamused look out of Rainbow as Spike himself chuckled lightly.

"Well, alright; you two go have fun. I'll meet up with you both later."

"And what will you be doing until then?" Rainbow asked.

"Got a lot of gifts to wrap," Twilight replied, looking over her shoulder at the bags she held. Of course, gift wrapping didn't take that long, unless you were as meticulous a pony as Twilight—a factor both Rainbow and Spike silently supposed, rather than argue against. Even if it was a little disappointing for one of them in particular. "Having the two of you out of the tower provides the perfect opportunity."

Rainbow nodded softly. "Alright..." she said, putting on a smile. "We'll meet up outside the theater in a couple hours. See you then!"

"See you," Twilight said softly in response, watching as they turned and began walking away. She quietly sighed before turning away as well, heading back in the direction of their home.

Shaking the snow from her head, then her coat and hooves, Twilight stepped inside the main floor of the tower. She ran to the upper level, grabbing some scissors and tape from one of the cabinets before turning towards the stairs, this time heading lower.

Twilight passed her old bedroom first—now Spike's—remembering how she gave it to him under the guise that he was a budding young dragon, and could use his own room. It wasn't necessarily a lie, nor was what she had said about her and Rainbow sharing a room because they were both girls.

She trotted inside the room she and Rainbow now shared, smiling briefly at the flower she had given Rainbow all those months ago, still kept pristine as ever on their bedside table.

Hoping up atop their bed, she got to work, setting down her bags before her and taking out rolls of wrapping paper she had picked up. One after another, each gift was expertly wrapped using her unicorn magic, until at last she got to Moon Dancer's.

She gently took it out and set it beside her, continuing on and wrapping the next gift from the bag, when she stopped and bit her inner lip, looking back anxiously at her gift.

Not until Hearth's Warming day, she thought begrudgingly, fighting back every instinct inside of her screaming to just rip it open then and there.

Eventually she laid out the presents by the tree, taking a few steps back to admire the scene.

Spike will love it, she assured herself, a slight, saddened smile adorning her lips. We're finally celebrating Hearth's Warming... and it couldn't be going any better.

The snow was falling a lot lighter by the time she left the tower, the sun just beginning to lower to make way for the encroaching night. I probably still have some time before their movie ends, judging from the position of the sun in the sky, Twilight thought, looking up as she continued on her way to the theater. Maybe I can find someplace to sit around until— A soft, golden light poured out into the snow and onto her face as she passed by a modestly-sized building with its wooden doors wide open.

Twilight blinked, recognizing it as a place of prayer, open usually around the holiday season.

"Eureka..."

She poked her head inside, briefly looking around before stepping inside, noticing some ponies in some of the rows further up.

Wishing not to make a sound, she silently climbed into a row of seats, directly left of where she had walked in.

She breathed out a small sigh, leaning back and closing her eyes for a moment.

"Twilight?" an extremely familiar voice asked, coming from the left of her.

Twilight's eyes snapped, immediately looking to her right where she saw a taller mare, wearing a hooded cloak. A long horn poked out slightly from under the hood, and Twilight could make out certain facial details in the little amounts of light that hit it.

"Princess?!" she exclaimed in an hushed tone, nearly forgetting to keep her voice down.

"Didn't think I'd see you here," Celestia replied, softly smiling in happiness. "Where are your friends?"

"T-the movies," Twilight replied, still a little startled and shocked. She snapped out of it before asking, "What are you doing here?"

"This is one of many places across Equestria constructed in my honor. A place where ponies can come to pray for everything to go okay, to which I can't particularly turn a blind eye." Celestia looked back ahead of her. "Sometimes ponies need something—or somepony—to believe in, and... even if I am just a mare, I'll... listen in on their wishes, and do what I can to help them out."

Twilight's brow furled slightly because to her, the princess seemed mistaken; she wasn't just a mare... she was an immortal goddess—the lone ruler of Equestria in fact! These ponies weren't wrong for thinking that way of her.

"So, why have you decided to stop here?" Celestia asked, her voice bringing her back to reality. "Because I take it you're not in need of guidance or charity this holiday season."

"Oh, um..." Twilight shook her head. "I'm not, I... I mean, everything's been going great, better than I hoped! It's just... to be honest, and I mean no disrespect! This place just looked so... homely, and... well, I couldn't resist resting here a bit and observing while I waited for Spike and Rainbow."

"There's no shame in that, Twilight."

Twilight turned away a bit, smiling shyly. "I... I used to think that basically every pony in this city was a complete jerk, but... it's really amazing how much goodwill the holiday season can bring out in ponies."

Celestia nodded softly. "It's those ponies that I pray everything will work out for."

Twilight blinked, her eyes widening a bit in surprise. "I wasn't aware princesses prayed."

Celestia sighed after a moment, looking away as she seemingly stared off in thought. "What if... what if a pony you care for was worlds away, and you wished her safe return, but that's all you could do... is wish."

"I'd wish pretty hard..." Twilight supposed. "Like I did with Rainbow while she was away in Ponyville."

Another moment passed as she hesitated, then asked, "I... I'm guessing these questions aren't entirely hypothetical?"

"There have been ponies who have left Equestria because of me, Twilight; because I didn't take action when I should have... and because I... wasn't there for them when it was clear they needed me..."

"And this is your way of making up for that?" Twilight asked, looking up at her skeptically. "Everypony makes mistakes, Princess. Rainbow and I know this all too well... But, we also know when to forgive one another, and to forgive ourselves. If those ponies are really your friends, then I'm sure they feel the same, and are wishing for the chance to patch things up as well because... true friendships aren't so easily broken."

"Aren't I supposed to be the one giving advice on friendship?" Celestia asked, smiling lightly in humor. "Looks like the student is surpassing the teacher."

Twilight blushed, and sheepishly shrunk back.

"Unfortunately, they... didn't understand friendship the way you and Rainbow do. It would take harmony for them to change..." She looked ahead of her, the smile she had worn slowly disappearing from her lips. "So I wish them well until then... wherever they are."

Twilight nodded. "I do too, even if I never knew them personally like you did... if they were once your friends though, then they can't be all bad. Hay, I don't think I'd mind meeting them someday."

"So what are your plans for the remainder of the evening?" Celestia asked, a couple moments passing in comfortable silence.

"Hopefully a late night dinner at Joe's, maybe some sledding afterwards... Not to mention Rainbow wants to take me flying," Twilight replied. And I'm not particularly against it, she thought in addition, smiling softly.

She gazed up at Celestia. "What about you, Princess?"

Celestia looked down at her sheepishly. "I have a date."

"Wow, I... I had no idea you were seeing anypony." Or that anypony was allowed to in that way, she thought. "Whoever it is must be pretty special."

Celestia nodded, sitting up. "I suppose I should be getting ready for it." She placed a gentle hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "You should go see your other friends, Twilight. I'm sure they're waiting for you."

"How long's it been, anyway?" Twilight wondered briefly before agreeing with her. "You're probably right, Princess. I should be going—"

Twilight was cut short when a bright and warming light hit the circular stained-glass mirror opposite them, flooding the already golden-lit room in reds and oranges.

Twilight's eyes sparkled at the array of warm colors. She tuned and looked with appreciation toward Celestia. "The sunset's beautiful, Princess."

"...Yes," Celestia agreed with a solemn nod. "It... sure is."

"There you are, Twilight!" Rainbow said, their faces lighting up once they saw her come into view.

She waved back at them as the two ran up to her. "Hope I didn't keep you two waiting too long."

"Eh, only a couple minutes or so," Spike replied, dismissing her worries with a claw.

"So... what did you think of it—?"

"Man, do we have so much to talk about!" Rainbow cut in. "Long story short though, it was awesome!"

Twilight chuckled. "Good to hear. I'm pretty curious to hear how, if all, it differed from the book."

Rainbow blinked in surprise. "There's a book?"

"Mhm." She nodded as she turned halfway, about to walk ahead. "Why don't we talk about it—perhaps over a nice meal at Pony Joe's?"

Twilight took several steps forward when she got the feeling she was walking alone. Sure enough, looking over her shoulder, she noticed that the two of them hadn't moved from their spots, and that they were suspiciously averting their eyes away from her.

"Come on—" She rolled her eyes, smiling back at them. "Don't tell me the two of you ate too much popcorn."

Spike and Rainbow exchanged guilty looks.

"Urgh, really?"

The two smiled sheepishly back at her.

"Whew!" Twilight exclaimed as the sled the three of them shared slowly spun to an abrupt stop, slamming a little roughly into a snowbank... the snow tumbling over on them.

After a quick meal at Joe's—Twilight being the only one to actually order anything—she and the others headed a short way up Canterlot mountain near their tower home.

If there was one thing that was nice about living on a mountain, Twilight supposed, it was the perfect terrain to experience her first ever time sledding.

And right then, she couldn't have been more thankful.

"What a rush, huh guys?" Twilight asked as she shook the snow from her own head, then the rest of her body as she stood up.

Rainbow and Spike followed suit, Rainbow remarking, "I didn't think you'd enjoy that so much."

"I didn't either," Twilight replied. "But... wow!"

"I wouldn't mind going again, but man," —Spike yawned, shaking his head— "I don't think I can keep my eyes open much longer..."

Twilight smiled at him. "Why don't you turn in for the night, Spike," she suggested. "You've already had an eventful day, and besides... you want to be well-rested for tomorrow, don't you?"

"I guess you're right." Spike lifted a claw in a hasty wave as he turned for the outer stairwell. "Goodnight, Guys. See you in the morning!"

Once he was inside, Twilight turned to face Rainbow, Rainbow meeting her gaze. She stepped closer, throwing her hooves over Rainbow's shoulder, tenderly caressing the back of her neck.

Rainbow's forelegs, in response, wrapped securely around the unicorn's lower back, understanding, without either saying a word, what Twilight was asking.

Twilight's head nestled itself in the snug spot between Rainbow's shoulder and neck, nuzzling the spot softly... hairs from the unicorn's mane tickling her jaw and causing her own forelegs to weaken.

So she resorted to her wings, lifting off into the night sky as snow continued to fall around them.

No strong gusts of wind, or chills to make it unpleasant for them. Only the gentle snowfall surrounding them as they glided through the air.

Rainbow shifted onto her back, Twilight's head resting right between her shoulder and neck.

She caught Twilight's expression from the corner of her eye, seemingly mewling over... something.

"A bit for your thoughts?"

"I ran into Princess Celestia earlier," Twilight confessed. "She told me about the friends she's lost."

"Yeah," Rainbow smiled, holding back a snicker. "That's not weird or anything."

"There's more to it, Rainbow, and—" Twilight let out a small groan in frustration. "You'd had to have been there."

"Okay, okay. So... why are you bringing this up?"

"Because I don't want to lose you, Rainbow." Twilight confessed, Rainbow all of a sudden finding herself at a loss for words. "Tell me I'm never going to lose you."

Twilight... Rainbow smiled softly in understanding, bringing a hoof to her cheek. "You're the only one who could ever tear us apart, Twi; and hay, even if you did try and get rid of me, I think I'd still persist. I mean, it's like I said when we first became... um, official friends. You can't get rid of me that easily."

Twilight's expression softened, placing one of her hooves over Rainbow's own.

She chuckled, smiling warmly back at her. "You're freakishly loyal... you know that?"

"I have good reason to be," Rainbow replied.

And for that, Twilight nuzzled her lovingly.

The soft, golden glow in the far off distance caught their attention. Rainbow's ears folded against her head, waiting a moment before asking Twilight, "What do think it's like over there? A Hearth's Warming in Ponyville?"

"Unique, for one," Twilight supposed. "But not so different than ours either." She lifted her head slightly, enough to look at Rainbow in question. "Why do you ask?"

Rainbow shrugged, slightly averting her eyes. "Just thinking about what I might be missing out on."

Twilight smiled softly in understanding, setting her head back down between the crevice of Rainbow's neck and shoulder. "We can pay a visit, you and me, if you're really curious."

Rainbow let out a weak chuckle. "Nah... I'd only make it awkward for them," she said, looking back upon Twilight. "Besides, Hearth's Warming wouldn't be the same for you and Spike without me, would it?"

Twilight's head nestled further into her mare's shoulder. "It wouldn't be as awesome," she murmured.

With a free hoof, Rainbow pushed open the lowest tower window, softly kicking it shut as she flew in through. She gently flew to their left, passing the stairs and entering their reading den where she came to a midair stop right before the fireplace.

"Your stop, Madam," Rainbow said in a playful sort of voice, eliciting a smile and a soft giggle out of the unicorn her hooves were encircled around.

Twilight's hooves touched down, instantly a little warmer being so close to the fire.

She lied down before the fireplace, Rainbow laying next to her, with her wing over the unicorn's body. Her wing ran down her back, then repeated the notion as they lay there.

Twilight sighed in blissful contentment at the touch, the soft, cute sound lifting Rainbow's own heart and bringing a foolish smile to her lips.

Eventually the fiery glow and warmth of the fireplace, Twilight began to doze off, her head resting against one of the few throw pillows. No less tired, Rainbow rubbed her eyes before grabbing a pillow herself. She scooted closer and snuggled up beside her, her forelegs serving the sleeping unicorn as a warm blanket, and her right wing—laid out over her as well, embracing her—serving as a comforter for her.

Even knowing they were near a sizzling fire didn't stop Rainbow from making sure Twilight was extra warm.

Can't have her catching a cold, Rainbow mused as her thoughts began to drift. The night before Hearth's Warming no less...

Hearth's Warming Day

Day 124

"Wake up, guys! Today's the day!"

Rainbow's eyes opened groggily, being the first to awaken to the sound of Spike's voice. "What...?" She sat up, blinking a few times to clear the drowsiness from her eyes. She looked around where Spike stood, noticing that the room was lighter than when they fell asleep. "It's morning already?"

Spike grinned sheepishly, placing a claw over the back of his neck. "Well, no... but it's about time for the sun to rise anyway!" he exclaimed, then looked at her questioningly. "Did you two seriously fall asleep down here?"

"Guess the warmth got to us, Spike," Twilight answered before letting out a yawn, sitting up as well. She smiled appreciatively over at Rainbow, before turning to Spike. "Well since we're awake... I guess we can open presents now."

"Really? Awesome!" Unable to hold in his excitement, Spike bolted for the stairs. "Come on, guys!" he shouted back at them, before heading up the stairs.

Rainbow and Twilight shared a small laugh.

"I don't think I've ever seen him so... full of life," Rainbow remarked. "He's changed so much from when I first met him."

"That's because you changed me... and in turn, changed the way I saw him, and the way I treated him."

Rainbow smiled slyly. "And you changed me, and we all changed each other, yada yada."

Twilight gave her a deadpan look as Rainbow simply laughed some more.

"Gee, I wonder why Spike didn't really like you that much back then."

Rainbow's laughter stopped and she looked at Twilight, a little surprised. He... didn't like me...? She shook the thought from her head, giving her shoulders a shrug. "I guess that's not hard to believe, but... whatever. No one really did, and yet... now he looks at me like I'm an older sister or something."

"It's true, Rainbow. I mean, I didn't like you that much at first either, and look at us now!"

"You like me even less now!" Rainbow joked, chuckling as she said it.

Twilight giggled. "Oh I don't know..." She leaned closer. "There are some things I like."

"Oh?"

Twilight smiled softly, nuzzling her girlfriend's cheek. "Thank you for making this possible, Rainbow."

Rainbow beamed. "It looks like your plan for a successful Hearth's Warming really did go off without a hitch, Miss Sparkle."

Twilight nodded, her cheek still lightly pressed against Rainbow's. "I guess so. Hey," she thought suddenly, pulling away. "You know we never had our planned hot chocolate last night. Why don't I make some, for the three of us."

Rainbow smiled brightly.

"Mhm!"

"Flight goggles...?"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow at Moon Dancer's present, as she held it in her hooves. She set them back inside the box, swapping them with the hoof-written note that had come with them.

'Dear Rainbow,

Hope you get good use of this new creation of mine. They might look like ordinary goggles, but these are actually magically-infused with several different field of views, thermal and nighttime vision being just a couple of them.

Not only that, but these will also allow you to diffuse the types of clouds you're working with, whether they're snow, rain or storm, so... I hope they help with your weather duties!

P.S. Or if you're ever just... flying around with Twilight after dark!

Sincerely,

Moon Dancer'

Rainbow gave a small laugh as she finished reading the letter. "Wasn't aware she was so inventive."

"Moon Dancer?" Twilight asked. "Yeah, she works with technology, finding ways to combine it with magic... or something along those lines anyway. I take it she custom made those?"

Rainbow nodded, anxiously looking back down at them. "Yep. Can't way wait to try them out."

"So..." Spike turned to Twilight, bearing a curious expression. "What did Moon get you, Twilight?"

"Guess I'm about to find out." She took the gift in her hooves, ripping the paper down the middle and surprising both Rainbow and Spike.

She tore the rest away, her brow lifting and an excited smile quickly forming on her lips.

"No way," she murmured under her breath. "She actually got me it... Sweet!"

Of course it's a book, Rainbow and Spike both thought, smiling in humor as the unicorn hugged it against her chest.

"Hm?" She noticed something written as she held it at foreleg's length, flipping open the front cover. She wrote something too...

'To my friend, Twilight Sparkle,

Thanks for introducing me to the classics!'

Twilight became a little misty-eyed as she looked back up from the page, and over at Spike with a softened smile.

"Think you could write a 'thank you' letter for us, Spike?" she asked.

Spike nodded. "On it," he said reassuringly as he stood up tall from his ring of opened gifts, Twilight and Rainbow lifting their brows, Twilight's mouth slowly falling open as well as the two stared at him. "I was planning on writing to her anyway to tell her about all the awesome things I got!"

Spike began to turn, signaling a quick wave before walking towards the stairs to his room.

Rainbow snapped out of it, looking over at Twilight whose mouth was still agape. "Did he look taller to you?"

Twilight shook her head, snapping her mouth shut. "Like 'twice his size' tall? A little, yes." She put a hoof to her chin. "I think I'll look into that later, but... before I do..."

She looked excitedly toward Rainbow, to which the pegasus shyly averted her eyes to her side.

"R-right," —Rainbow sheepishly scratched her cheek— "well... I'm not really sure how I can beat that," she said, bringing both their attentions to the book Moon Dancer had bought her. "But, um... here."

She lightly rubbed the back of her neck as her head craned down a bit, her other hoof now holding out a small, rectangular-wrapped box. She smiled nervously up at Twilight as the curious unicorn lifted it from her hoof with her own magic, removing the lid.

Twilight gasped. She raised a hoof over her mouth, the lid from the box falling to the floor as she lost sight of everything else around her.

"Well," Rainbow asked. "Do you like i—?"

Before Rainbow knew what hit her, Twilight tackled her to the floor in what the pegasus felt was the most intense embrace she had ever received. So much so it began to hurt a little.

Still, she stuck it out, sensing how happy Twilight was, and let the unicorn continue to squeeze the life out of her, and nuzzle her affectionately.

Eventually Twilight eased up and stepped back, bringing her attention back to the earring she held suspended in her magic.

With Twilight's attention off of her, Rainbow breathed in a deep, much-needed breath. She sat back on her haunches, arching her back and stretching her forelegs before having them fall at her sides.

She looked over at Twilight, and froze. There she was, wearing the earring she had gotten for her... with her feather attached upside down, and hanging listlessly from the bottom of it.

Twilight smiled bashfully, averting her eyes away a bit, and looking at her from the corner of her eye. "So, uhm... how do I look?"

Rainbow's face broke out into a soft grin.

"Absolutely beautiful."

Days 130 - 178 - Friendship Lessons, Part 1

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Midnight, New Year's Eve...

Day 130

Fireworks went off high above the Canterlot rooftops, lighting up the sky in a fantastic display. Ponies were seated outside at tables and upon park benches, or simply at home, watching from their living room windows.

For Twilight and Rainbow, they sat watching from their own tower balcony, with a couple of blankets both around themselves, and laid out on the lightly snow-covered surface.

"For auld lang syne, Rainbow," Twilight cheered, smiling. "It's been a fun past few months. Now, let's try and make this one even better."

Rainbow nodded from beside her, sharing in the sentiment. "Mhm!"

Twilight turned back to the sky, however Rainbow's attention lingered on her girlfriend as an idea sparked inside her head.

"Be right back, Twi," she said, leaping into the air before Twilight could get a word in edgewise, and diving towards the street below before dashing off into the city.

Seriously, Rainbow...? thought Twilight, an incredulous look written all over her face.

She sighed out deeply, pursing her lips and giving her eyes a roll as she found herself with no choice but to sit and wait for her to return.

And so she did for what ended up being half-a-minute, having—a little impatiently—counted the seconds away in her head before Rainbow came back into view, a couple frothy mugs held securely against her chest.

She grinned meekly back at Twilight, then sat back down beside her, handing over one of the two mugs for her to accept.

Twilight, taken aback at first, leaned forward to take a sniff of the frothy beverage. "Apples?"

"Cider," Rainbow explained. "Buy one, and get a second mug free. Had a couple of spare bits on me and thought, why not?"

Twilight shook her head, blushing as she gently pushed the mug back towards her. "N-no... no, Rainbow, I... You know I don't—"

"Ah come on, Twi," insisted Rainbow with a reassuring, soft grin. "It's just cider." A moment of silence passed between them as Twilight stared back at her skeptically. "Hard cider," she added, not missing a beat.

Twilight bore into her for a moment more before raising an eyebrow. "Are you peer pressuring me, Rainbow?"

Rainbow in return, gave an innocent smile and a shrug.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Twi," she replied coyly.

Twilight snorted as her gaze faltered and she gave her head a shake, a gentle grin parting her lips. "What the hay, right?" She looked back into Rainbow's eyes. "It is New Year's."

Rainbow beamed as Twilight accepted the mug into her own hooves.

The two clinked mugs, Twilight giggling after noticing the froth on Rainbow's upper lip, the pegasus having took the first drink.

"So, tell me Twi; what are your New Year resolutions?" Rainbow asked her, breaking the silence between them.

Resolutions? Twilight blinked, taken aback. "O-oh! Um..." She meekly scratched her cheek as she thought it over. "I'll admit I haven't really thought about that..." She chuckled nervously just as Rainbow threw a deadpan look back at her. "B-but t-that doesn't mean I don't have any!" she insisted, grinning awkwardly.

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she explained herself.

"I just... really want to continue being the best student I can possibly be... a-and the best possible girlfriend that I can be to you too, Rainbow, she added, chuckling meekly. "I, uhm... would also like to continue being the friend that I've been to both you and Spike, and... hopefully to be a friend to ponies all across Equestria, as well as... help others who need it. Almost... almost like a..."

Twilight drifted off, looking off into the night and smiling softly at the thought.

"Princess?" Rainbow surmised for her.

Twilight's gaze snapped back to Rainbow, looking at her in stunned silence for a moment before mentally shrugging it off, instead turning the question back at her.

"Well what are your resolutions, Rainbow?"

Rainbow's brow raised in surprise. "Mine...?" she uttered softly, shying away slowly as Twilight nodded back at her.

"G-gee, um... okay, w-well one of them's kinda hard to get into without a bit of foreword first, s-so..." Her free hoof dug into her sweatshirt pocket, fishing for something to toy with as she searched for the right words. "I want to show the ponies in Ponyville that there's more to me than just a... boisterous, arrogant jerk, y'know? That... I don't know... there's more to me than... meets the eye?"

Twilight licked some froth from her upper lip before speaking. "If you need any help, I'll vouch for you, Rainbow," she said, giving her a warm smile.

Rainbow returned it, Twilight's smile working wonders on her nerves.

"Thanks, Twi, but... this is something I need to show them." She glanced down into her mug. Somehow...

Twilight nodded. "I understand," she said, following up with a small sigh. "So then... what's your other resolution?"

Her question deepened the already-present blush in Rainbow's cheeks.

"R-right, well, ah... you see..." She inhaled a deep breath, before breathing out shakily. "This isn't even all that difficult for me to say, but I can't help but still feel nervous about saying it, and... I'm so thankful for this cider right now because Celestia knows I need the confidence—"

Her ramblings came to a sudden stop, startled by Twilight placing a gentle hoof of hers over her foreleg, giving her all the assurance she needed to continue.

"R-right..." Rainbow flashed her a fast, appreciative smile. "Right. Thanks, Twi."

Twilight smiled and nodded as she leaned back.

"We uh, t-talked about this months ago, and even... sorta joked about it too, and, well, months later, I, uh... still want to go through with it and, um... hope you do too."

Twilight all the while stared back at her, when it all suddenly clicked... and it occurred to her what exactly her girlfriend was getting at. Her body temperature rose as her heartbeat quickened, her chest tightened, and her eyes slowly widened before closing suddenly in a wince, instinctively bringing a hoof to her aching head.

"I-it's not like I have any intention of ever leaving this place," continued Rainbow; "and it's not like we're ever going to break up with each other or anything either, but... I, I-I really love you Twi—to the point where I'd gladly put away my wings just so I can always walk beside you because... that's where I want to be forever and always, you know? At your side."

Twilight breathed out softly as the nauseating pain receded as quickly as it had come, and, chalking it up as the winter weather, smiled teasingly at her girlfriend. "Have you been reading romance novels, Rainbow?"

Rainbow looked back at her in surprise, before averting her eyes, her ears flopping in embarrassment. "Come on, Twi... This is hard enough already as is."

Twilight giggled, laying off. "Alright, alright... As you were saying."

"I know that we're young, and that this is probably hasty and foolish of us, but—"

Twilight cut her off, sporting a knowing smile on her lips. "Featherbrain, just ask me to marry you already."

Rainbow blinked, for a moment finding herself at a loss for words. "Alright, Egghead," she replied, snapping out of her stupor and setting her cider aside, unable to stop the smile forming on her lips as she knelt up on her hind legs. "Twilight Sparkle, would you do me the totally awesome honor of marrying—?"

Twilight tackled her to the ground, knocking the air out of her before she had the chance to say another word as Twilight proceeded to wrap her forelegs around Rainbow's upper back and neck... her muzzle deeply nuzzling the crook of her neck.

Rainbow blushed furiously, laying back and staring up at the night sky, and strands of her girlfriend's mane... asking herself what just happened.

I'll take that as a yes... she decided, smiling like a fool.

A couple moments later and Twilight pulled back just enough to see Rainbow's face, and the surprised blush in her cheeks... and for Rainbow to notice the sudden, teary look in Twilight's own eyes.

Twilight lifted a hoof to dry her eyes, lowering it again to rest upon her mare's chest. "You're so foolish, Rainbow. Asking to marry a pony like me? You know how stressed and persnickety I can get. I mean, hay," she sniffled again, "it'll probably take me a couple of months just to plan everything... and another few just to organize it all!"

"Well..." Rainbow smiled up at her slyly, bringing a hoof up to stroke her cheek and calm her nerves. "We have time; and besides... that only means you're working to make it as awesome as it can possibly be."

Twilight smiled warmly, placing her free hoof over her girlfriend's, lowering her voice as she leaned in. "I'm now engaged to an awesome pegasus, Rainbow. It has to be."

The two kissed, Twilight pulling away just enough to whisper, "I love you so much, Rainbow." She leaned back in to nuzzle her cheek against Rainbow's, adding, "I w-was, a-and still am such an... awkward, unattractive mess; but you Rainbow... you never cease in finding ways to make me feel so... wanted—like I'm the most beautiful mare in the city."

Rainbow grinned, holding a hoof of hers up slightly to refute. "Two things, Twi. One, you really are anything but unattractive, though... you are a bit—or, a lot awkward. That much is kinda true." Her grin became a meek smile as she stared up at Twilight. To her surprise however, Twilight simply let out a short laugh in response.

A laugh Rainbow wasted no time sharing in.

"The... the second thing is," continued Rainbow as her laughter slowly died down; "I... wouldn't be a very good girlfriend if I didn—"

Twilight took her by surprise as she dove in for a second kiss, the feeling of a tear hitting her cheek surprising Rainbow more than the kiss itself. She shrugged it off however, her heart fluttering on the inside as she kissed Twilight back with an equal amount of passion.

The sudden, scattering sound of papers hitting the ground interrupted them. Twilight looked to the sound first, curious for a second before her smile slipped, and a look of sheer panic overcame her.

"S-Spike!"

She scrambled to her hooves much to Rainbow's annoyance as she nearly trampled over her. Her heart now beating frantically and face beet red, she stood rigid, grinning tensely. "I t-thought you were out with Moon Dancer?"

Spike shook his head, snapping out of his stupor. "I... I was, but we decided it was getting late, for the both of us." He raised a claw, pointing it back at her. "How long have the two of you...?"

Twilight gulped, beginning to feel a little sick as she looked over her shoulder at Rainbow who was now on her side, returning her gaze.

She shrugged back at her, looking no more unsure than she did.

Twilight bit her lip as she turned back ahead reluctantly, letting out a sheepish chuckle and shrinking back as she asked, "Would you be angry if I said months?"

Spike didn't say anything as he simply blinked once, dumbfounded... before sighing, picking up his things and walking off.

Twilight panicked, holding out a hoof after him. "Spike!"

"Look, Spike," began Twilight, following after him hurriedly as he walked down the stairs to their rooms. "Neither of us meant to keep this from you! Honest!"

"Believe us, Spike," Rainbow chimed in, hovering behind Twilight. "I mean, you know how she can be."

Twilight looked over her shoulder, shooting Rainbow a serious look.

Rainbow rolled her eyes, crossing her forelegs. "Oh come on," she insisted. "You just admitted you know how you act a few minutes ago!"

"Hmph." Twilight stuck her muzzle up, turning back to Spike as the dragon raised his hands, wordlessly asking them to relax.

"Guys, guys... No arguing... alright? I... I don't know, I just... I need some time to think about all this, and your bickering's not exactly helping any..."

Rainbow and Twilight looked at one another—their ears folding against their heads—before gazing away regretfully, Twilight running a hoof along her other foreleg apprehensively.

"Well... gee, Spike, I..." Rainbow shrugged, bringing a hoof to the back of her head. "It never lasts for more than a few moments. I mean, since the cat's out of the bag anyway... We love each other, Spike. It's like, impossible for us to stay mad at each other for any longer than that."

She grinned softly, Twilight looking back at her with a smile of her own.

"Love—" Spike's gaze fell. "—right..." He gripped his other arm, looking back up at them apprehensively. "Have you told anyone else?"

Twilight's ears perked up, and she turned back to him. "S-several ponies," she stuttered in admittance, sheepishly adding, "The majority of the city might be aware of it as well."

Spike's eyes widened. "The entire...?" He threw his arms out at her. "How did I not know about this?"

"I honestly have no idea, Spike."

"Urgh..." Spike's head fell into the palm of his hand, his head shaking once in disbelief.

Twilight bit her lip, searching for the right words as she took a step closer to him. "If it's any consolation, Spike... This won't change a thing between us." She wrapped a foreleg over his shoulder, pulling him into a surprise hug. "You're as much a friend to me as Rainbow is," she said, her chin resting upon his opposite shoulder. "We just..." Her eyes glanced away, thinking back. "Do different things together is all."

Spike cracked a slight smile at that. "Yeah, I... can imagine." He shook his head again, pushing away from her as gently as he could. "Twilight, I'm sorry, but... really, we... we're not friends like you and Rainbow are. I mean, for crying out loud, when she wasn't around for a day, you nearly fell into a depression!"

Rainbow's brow lifted in surprise at hearing that for the first time. "You did?" she asked, peering down at her only to see that Twilight herself seemed taken aback as well.

Spike's eyes averted as he murmured, "Guess I now know why you were in such a rut..."

"I... didn't want you to know, Rainbow," Twilight confessed, looking back over her shoulder, but not at her directly. "I didn't want to worry you, or make you feel bad over leaving me, I just, well... Y-you left me hanging high and dry, Rainbow." She locked eyes with her, staring up exasperatedly. "You kissed me and ran, leaving me with so many thoughts and questions, just as I was starting to fall in love with you, that I... I-I don't know..."

She scuffled one of her hooves on the stairs, tearing her gaze away to the ground.

Rainbow's face turned wry, setting down a couple steps above her as her ears started to droop. "Gee, I... never meant to leave you hanging, Twi, I... was just trying to cheer you up."

"W-well... hey, in a way, I guess you sort of did. You let me know how you felt about me."

She chuckled as a small smile returned to adorn Rainbow's lips before turning back to Spike. "And so did you, Spike. Cheer me up, I mean. You pushed me to get up, and do something about it."

"I'm happy I could make you happy, Twilight. I just..." Spike turned away, disheartened. "I wish I could be more to you than just a shoulder to cry on."

"You are, Spike," she insisted, raising her hoof a little out towards him. "I really depend on you."

"You depend on me to pick you up whenever Rainbow's not around, Twilight."

"That's not true Spike, I..." Twilight glanced away, rubbing a hoof along her other foreleg anxiously. "I..."

"Right..." Spike scratched the back of his head. "I like to think we're all friends, Twilight. In fact, I know we are, I just..." He turned once more with a sigh, stepping foot into his room. "I wish I could be as important a friend to you as Rainbow is." He sat up on the edge of his bed, softly adding, "Friendship just... doesn't hold a candle to love though, I guess," before rolling onto his side, facing away from them.

Twilight gulped, his words cutting deeper than any knife, and causing her heart to slowly ache as her breaths began to quiver. She blinked a few times, turning and reluctantly stepping out of the room, back onto the stairwell.

Rainbow immediately stepped back a few stairs, giving the heartbroken unicorn some space to breath.

"W-well... that's a friendship lesson, I... I suppose." Her ears sagging, she wiped her eyes with a foreleg, sniffling loudly before turning to Rainbow with a hopeless look.

Rainbow wasted no time welcoming her into her forelegs, Twilight sniffling some more. "If... if only I felt happy about him learning it." She bit her lip, tightly scrunching her eyelids together. "Oh, Rainbow... t-this has all gone wrong, hasn't it?" Rainbow stroked the back of her mane, nuzzling her soft head of hair. "This... t-this should be a joyous time. I mean, we're engaged now, for Celestia's sake..."

"I know, Twi," Rainbow replied, her voice gentle. "Why don't we get some sleep?"

Twilight froze for a second, before peering up at her with misty eyes. "S-sleep?" she questioned. "Wuh... why?"

"Well... It's late, and... maybe we're all just a little exhausted. Spike's probably just not in the right state of mind, and I'm thinking we'll all feel a lot better in the morning. You can talk things out more with him, show him he really does mean as much to you as I do, and," Rainbow continued, stretching out the syllable, "we could begin planning out our future together—the three of us." She smiled warmly down at Twilight.

Twilight let out a brief chuckle at the notion, giving her a thankful smile in return. "That's... not a half-bad plan," she said, glancing away as she raised her right hoof, taking a moment to rub one of her eyes dry.

Day 131

Some hours later—after a long night of celebrations throughout the rest of the city at long last began to die down—sunlight streamed in through their bedroom curtains, warming their bed's comforter. The light lit up both their bed and their faces, their muzzles both scrunching up a little.

Rainbow came to first, rolling onto her back and letting out a pleasant sigh as she arched her back, her eyelids flickering open.

Twilight woke up with a groan, her eyelids creaking open, and her mane a slight mess.

Rainbow heard her girlfriend's groan, and noticing her body shuffling from out of the corner of her eye, rolled onto her side to greet her new fiancée.

"Hey, Twi," she happily greeted. "How'd you sleep?"

Twilight frowned, shaking her head softly against the pillow. "Not too well... It... feels like I have a headache."

"Oh..." Rainbow's ears fell flat, and she glanced away. "I... I-I'm Sorry, Twi..."

Twilight's heart swelled at the sight, despite the grogginess she felt right then.

"It's probably just the weather." She smiled reassuringly, leaning forward to kiss Rainbow's lips. "It'll pass."

A goofy smile overtook Rainbow's face once she broke away.

The two climbed out of bed, Rainbow taking a moment to stretch out her forelegs and hind legs.

Twilight set a hoof of hers on the bedside table to steady herself as she breathed in, her head still pounding lightly. That cider must have affected me more than I thought, she mused. Some herbal tea would probably work wonders. Not to mention, taste pretty good right about now...

She smiled at the thought, looking back to where her girlfriend stood on the opposite side of their bed.

"Why don't I go see if Spike would be willing to make us something?" she suggested, grabbing Rainbow's attention. "Me some tea, you some hot..." Her ears and gaze fell as the memory . "Hot..."

"Twilight?" Rainbow questioned, brow furrowing in concern... when it dawned on her. Right, she... mentioned Spike... She put the thought aside, springing into action. "Come on," she exclaimed, gliding over and setting down beside her, placing a foreleg around her. "Why don't we go see him?"

Twilight looked at her for a long moment before nodding.

The two climbed the stairs outside their room, reaching Spike's room in a matter of moments... only to end up finding it empty.

Twilight's brow lifted in panic. "Spike?" she called out into the room, then turned, and called out over the stairwell, her voice echoing throughout the tower. "Spike!"

No voice replied as Twilight waited a couple moments in eager anticipation.

Her pupils shrunk, and she fell back on her haunches, feeling her heart sink sickeningly in her chest.

"Twilight..." Rainbow lifted her hoof slightly, wanting nothing more than to console her. Her own expression saddened, and she ultimately tore her gaze away to the upper floor. "I'll find him, Twi," she promised, spreading her wings to take flight. "Don't worry."

"Wait..." Moon Dancer's jaw snapped shut, and she adjusted her glasses as they began to slip from her muzzle at the news. "You've been out here... how long again, Spike?"

"It hasn't been that long, Moon. Just a few hours before sunrise, so... if you're worried about me catching a cold, don't be." He shrugged, sitting slumped, contemplative, and staring down absently at nothing but the snow under his feet. "I just... I don't know, needed to get away for a bit?"

"Why, Spike?" Moon Dancer took a seat beside him. "You and Twilight are like brother and sister." She froze, then scrambled to reiterate. "Like, I said. Not genetically or anything, obviously." A sheepish bout of laughter followed suit.

Spike let out a breath, paying little mind to what she had said. "Moon, did... did you know that she and Rainbow are dating?"

Moon Dancer shut herself up quickly, understanding now what the problem was. "Oh. I see. She finally decided to tell you, and it sort of weirded you out a little, huh?" Spike looked up at her for the first time with a look of pure disbelief, one that immediately made her feel a little guilty.

"Or Twilight didn't tell you, and ..." She brought a hoof to the back of her neck and gazed away. "Oh boy—"

"You too?" Moon Dancer flinched at Spike's outburst. "Moon...! Why didn't you tell me?"

"It wasn't my truth to tell, Spike!"

"Well...! Yeah, but... urgh, I don't know!" He sighed and slouched back in defeat, letting both his shoulders and gaze sink. "I... I just feel like, used—like they're taking advantage of my trust or something."

Moon Dancer reached out to him, her hoof curling a bit in hesitation before coming to rest on his right shoulder. "You know that's not true..."

Spike shook his head, letting out another breath and shrugging her hoof off. "I mean, I just..." He fumbled for the right words, quickly finding himself at a loss.

"She loves you, Spike," Moon Dancer pressed, then stopped for a second. "M-maybe not as much as she loves Rainbow, but, ah, well... C'mon; you can't say she doesn't care about you as much as she does Rainbow."

Spike glanced away. "She didn't care enough to just be honest with me," he murmured bitterly.

"She gets anxious, Spike; you know that." Spike rolled his eyes, nodding a little begrudgingly. "Rainbow really gave her quite the confidence boost."

"I just don't see why I never did," he murmured. "I mean... it's like, I had no affect on her."

"Friends may not be as important to some as lovers, Spike, but... believe me, I know you've had an affect on her."

"Maybe, but... I just wish I could be equally as important, you know?"

"You sound just like my lab partner," Moon Dancer mused before dismissing the thought, returning to the topic at hoof.

"Spike... you do realize that... friendship isn't all that much to begin with, don't you? I-I mean, it can be pretty awesome and all, but I think you're exaggerating its importance. Having a friend is just basically having a buddy to waste time with, and confide your troubles in—sort of like we're doing right now come to think of it," she slowly realized, drifting back off into thought. "It's nothing compared to the tempting, intimate touch of another..."

Moon Dancer caught herself too late, quickly raising her hooves in defense. "N-not that I would know!" Another sheepish laugh followed as one of her hooves rubbed the back of her neck.

Spike turned to her with a coy expression, raising an eyebrow. "Don't tell me that you're a hopeless romantic, Moon."

"Me?" She blinked, taken aback as she lowered her hooves. "Nah, I'm just theorizing is all... b-but more so to the point! As Twilight's friend, you should just... be there for her, and support her—as she supports you, Spike." Spike bit the bottom corner of his lip, returning his gaze down to his twiddling claws. "Being a friend is really just about making the other happy, and wanting them to be happy. I can sure tell you that resenting what she and Rainbow have isn't making her any happier."

"She'll... get over it eventually, probably," Spike murmured.

"But what if she doesn't?" Moon Dancer asked in rebuttal. "Spike... Twilight doesn't deserve this. Only, if she, say, suddenly abandoned you or... disappeared without a trace, then maybe I could see that as a cause for alarm. Why, I-I'm pretty sure that I'd turn into a bitter and resentful recluse or something if that happened to me." She couldn't help herself, and let out a soft bout of laughter at the very idea. "But, it's like I said: a pony like Twilight would never do something like that." She smiled over at him with confidence. "Her or you, for that matter."

"Oh, I..." Spike looked up at her, taken aback. "I'd never leave you, Moon."

He grinned gingerly, returning her smile for a second before it fell from his face... his gaze became a little anxious. "Can I... be honest with you, Moon?" His gaze fell further, down to her hooves. "I... really think that might be my worst nightmare actually. Twilight abandoning me..."

"Then don't risk what the two of you already have, Spike." Spike felt her hoof reach out and touch his cheek, before sliding beneath his chin, raising his gaze. "Nothing in life is the way we'd like it to be, Spike. We kind of just take what we can get—like your relationship with Twilight. It'll never be perfect, but... I believe she really does value you as much as she values Rainbow, just in different ways."

Spike sighed, shutting his eyelids tightly. "Celestia, you're so right, Moon." His head fell into his hands. "Urgh, I'm such a bonehead..."

"There there, Spike," she said, running a hoof down the spikes on his head. "You're not dumb, you were just... I dunno, overwhelmed?" She shrugged her shoulders. "In either case, I think you should go see her."

Spike shook his head, his face remaining buried in his hands. "If it's all the same to you, Moon, I... would like to stay with you a little longer."

"Afraid of going back?" Moon Dancer asked. "I can go with you, if you'd like."

Spike sighed, lifting his head to turn and look at her. "I just... really value every second we spend together. We never get a whole lot of time together—not often anyways... s-so, y'know." He cracked a weary smile.

"O-oh, um...! Okay, well, we can talk for an extra few minutes, Spike... but you really should be heading back."

His smile fell, and he solemnly turned back ahead. "I know," he replied. "I know, I just..."

"Spike... by any chance are...? A-are you jealous of Twilight's relationship with Rainbow?" Her question caused his eyes to widen and a blush to break out across his face as he grew a little rigid, turning to her inquisitively. "Because I'm getting the impression your friendship with her isn't the only issue here."

Spike's gaze returned to his lap, to his twiddling claws. "I... don't think I am," he replied, thinking over the possibility. "I don't know... Do you think I am, Moon?"

Moon Dancer adjusted her glasses as she looked off with a slight, teasing smile.

"Well..." she began, "if I didn't know any better, Spike—" She scooted a little closer to whisper the next part in his ear teasingly, only to have inched a little too far. bumping her flank against his hip. Their eyes immediately met at the touch of her fur on his scales, Spike's startled gaze meeting her flustered one, and she instantly smiled, stuttering as she returned to the question at hoof.

"I-I'd s-say you were looking for a girlfriend yourself."

Spike grinned, pushing past the increasing awkwardness between them and instead teasing her back.

"And you're her, huh Moon?"

Moon Dancer's eyelids lowered, her voice becoming a little sultry. "Well obviously," she replied, and before either of them knew it, they were softly laughing among themselves.

"Even though your new manestyle makes you look exactly like Twilight?"

Moon Dancer stopped giggling, her expression turning a little sour. "So it's the mane that makes the mare for you, huh Mister?" she accused, pointing a hoof into his chest.

Spike gulped, his pupils darting back and fourth and lips curving into a nervous smile as he fumbled for his answer.

"No?" he replied in a timid, little voice.

Moon Dancer chuckled, setting a hoof on his arm. "I'm just messing with you, Spike," she assured him.

Spike breathed out a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank—" He froze, realizing Moon Dancer was still sat beside him. "I knew that," he remarked, saving face.

Moon Dancer chuckled some more as she collected her composure. "So, um... what do you look for in a girl, Spike?"

"Honestly, Moon? I dunno," he replied, shrugging as he frowned in thought. "I've never really given romance much thought. I mean... it isn't like I'm not open to it, it just... doesn't really seem to interest me..."

"Yeah... I hear you, Spike. I mean, science, magic, and like... the joys of geekdom are the only things I've ever loved—and I'm proud of it! Well that, and my friends of course," she added as she corrected herself, shrinking back while bearing a meek smile.

"Whew," Spike breathed out, pretending to be in relief. "You had me worried me there for a sec." He grinned over at her.

Moon Dancer looked back at him, amused. "It's true though, Spike. You guys are like, a part of what gives my life meaning."

"So are you, Moon. You're like, my best friend."

"Aww, Spike... You're like, my best friend too." Moon Dancer wrapped a foreleg around him, pulling him into a hug.

Spike chuckled, nestled in her embrace. "Maybe we're too good of friends," he murmured in thought. "Twilight sometimes teases me, telling me that I have a crush on you."

Moon Dancer blinked, leaning back as she stared back at him stunned, her glasses beginning to slip.

"Well... do you?" she tentatively asked.

"Um... I, uh... You're a very pretty mare, Moon, I just..." He sighed, shying his gaze away. "We're too good of friends, you know?"

Moon Dancer's surprised expression became one of understanding as she nodded in agreement. "I guess it would be like dating a friend of the family... and if it's any consolation, Spike, you're a very handsome dragon yourself. Especially now that you've, ah... grown; b-but I could never ruin what we already have." Moon Dancer chuckled stiffly, and Spike rolled his eyes at her, unable to help but smile.

A passing shadow took him by surprise, causing him to jump if only because of its familiar shape.

He glanced up and swallowed nervously as he observed the dark outline of a pegasus. Rainbow... he silently dreaded, feeling his skin grow cold. From what he could tell, she seemed to have noticed him as well, as she made a sudden u-turn, gliding in his and Moon Dancer's direction.

Spike forced his gaze away, staring a little anxiously towards Moon Dancer.

"Hm?" She cocked her head back at him. "What is it, Spike?"

"I... I think Rainbow has come looking for me, actually..."

Moon Dancer lifted her brow in surprise, turning to look up at the sky. "Really?" she asked. "Where is—?"

Spike partly raised a hand of his, drawing her attention back to him. "S-she's uh, gonna want me to head back with her probably... but um, before she drags me back! Wanna hang out again sometime soon?"

Moon Dancer beamed in delight at the idea. "I would love to, Spike! We could totally use a day to ourselves, and hey, we could—! Could..."

Her ear twitched and she glanced to her left, catching wind of Rainbow as she swooped down and landed stylishly a couple feet from them.

"Hey, Moon! What's up?"

"Oh, Rainbow, hey!" she greeted her, smiling. "Nothing much. Hey, uh... Mind if I borrow Spike for a few more quick seconds?"

"Uh..." Rainbow's head cocked, and her brow furrowed in puzzlement. "Sure?"

Spike's eyes darted between the two.

"Cool, cool, so um... Yeah." Moon Dancer's attention returned to him. "So... next time we hang out, wanna grab something at Hay Burger, and watch Mane Hero 6 or something? You... never got the chance to see it, right?"

"Y-yeah, that... was a couple years ago, so no. Twilight always had me working around the clock back then." He chuckled nervously, averting his eyes.

"Yeah?" She giggled behind closed lips, bringing a hoof to them.

"But uh, yeah!" Spike exclaimed sheepishly. "Sounds good! So, how about tomorrow?"

Moon Dancer nodded. "Tomorrow it is."

Spike nodded in turn, stepping down from the bench and turning halfway, waving goodbye one last time before running on over to his other friend.

At least, he hoped she was still his friend.

"Rainbow!" he greeted awkwardly as he came to stand before her. "H-hey, I, um..."

"What was that all about, Spike?" she interjected questioningly.

"What was that all—? O-oh, um... Moon Dancer and me just had a heart-to-heart, or... something... a-and! She, uh... made me realize something..." Spike scuffed a foot through the snow as he paused for a moment. "I'm... just gonna come out and say that I'm, uh, sorry for uh... y'know." His shoulders deflated and his gaze sunk to the snow. "I know Twilight doesn't love me the same way that she loves you, but, um, that... doesn't mean that she doesn't love me."

He shut his eyes and apprehensively grew a little tense, bracing for a scolding that never came.

Instead, Rainbow wrapped a foreleg of hers around him, pulling him in for a gentle, semi-awkward, and... strangely reassuring, makeshift embrace.

"You know, Spike... Twi was pretty upset when you walked off earlier. It took a lot for her to just... fall asleep, and the sight of me has only done so much to lift her spirits. I mean, she's happy about the engagement and all, she's just... beating herself up over the fact that it lead to you catching... you know."

"I, I-I didn't mean to!" he insisted.

"I know you didn't mean to, Spike." Rainbow pulled back to look up at his brokenhearted expression. "Nopony ever means to when they goof up, believe me..." She put the thought aside, smiling up at him kindly. "Why don't we go see her, and you can tell her what you've learned."

Spike's eyes slowly widened and he sniffled, nodding in agreement. "A-alright..."

He smiled back at her as Rainbow took a couple steps back, swerving around and staring back at him from over her shoulder. "Climb on."

Spike looked at her wryly before shrugging, taking a seat on her back, and wrapping his arms securely over her shoulders.

They arrived home in a matter of moments, finding Twilight seated down below in the dining room... slouched over the table and staring with a heartbroken gaze into a cup of tea.

Her ears perked up at the sound of beating wings.

She peered up, spotting Rainbow in the archway with her head raised, using it to give Spike's back a light push, nudging him a couple steps towards her.

Her brow raised, and her heart began to swell in joy. Spike...

She got up immediately, and began to walk over, cautiously at first.

Spike himself rubbed one of his elbows as he looked down at her. "Look... Twilight, I—"

Twilight ran the remaining distance and embraced him—a little tightly for his liking, but at the same time... relief washed over him.

He eased up and hugged her back as she softly nuzzled his chest.

Rainbow chuckled, watching the scene unfold from where she stood.

"I'm sorry," Spike uttered, being the first to break the silence between them. "I had such an... overblown sense of what friendship should be, that... I didn't think to value what I already had." He grinned sheepishly. "Guess I've been feeling a little greedy."

"It's okay, Spike," Twilight assured him in a murmur. "I don't blame you for wanting more. Really, I should have told you months ago, making you feel like more a part of our lives."

"Speaking of..." Spike pulled back from out of their embrace, turning to look down at her questioningly... Twilight reluctantly letting him go. "The two of you really are, uhm... tying the knot, huh?"

"O-oh, um..." Her ears stood up intently, caught off guard by the question. "W-we would like to, Spike." She nodded and smiled shyly... before her resolve weakened and she leaned closer, asking, "Tying the knot means getting married, right? I'm not really 'hip' with figures of speech like that."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, walking up beside them. "Yes, Twi, that's exactly what it means."

Twilight blushed, shrinking back a little. "R-right..."

"So, um... what can I do to help?" Spike asked, taking them both aback.

"Help?" Rainbow repeated questioningly before Twilight cut in.

"By just being here for us, Spike," she told him, bearing a warm smile. "That's all you need to do."

"Oh, I was already prepared to do that, Twilight." He grinned down at her soflty. "Anything else?"

Twilight sniffled, shaking her head. "That's all, Spike."

"Really? Because I don't mind continuing to cook for you guys, I mean... I could totally provide the catering for you—" He gasped as the idea struck him. "I could host your bachelor party!"

Rainbow and Twilight blinked at the same time, exchanging looks of confusion with one another.

Then they broke out into a soft bout of laughter.

"What?" Spike looked between the two, beginning to fret. "Did I say something wrong? I mean, bachelor parties are something you have at weddings, right?"

"Yes, Spike, they are. Though... I think what you mean to say is bachelorette party," Twilight corrected, to which he stared blankly at her for a seconds before mouthing a silent "Oh," in understanding.

He let out a small chuckle himself, joining in on their soft bout of laughter.

Day 139

"So," Twilight began, seated on the sofa in the downstairs loft, a book held open within her magical aura as she overlooked her two closest friends. Rainbow and Spike themselves sat comfortably by the crackling fire, looking up at her, and wondering just what was so important that she had called them together like this. "I was flipping through Snowed In—"

Rainbow cut her off with a startling groan. "Again? Twi, can't we just be done with that lame book already?" she asked, laying out her hooves beseechingly.

Twilight narrowed her eyes at her fiancée, clearly unamused. "One: it's not lame, and two! It's still Winter, so... we could use some more ideas."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, throwing her hooves up into the air. "We haven't had any trouble coming up with ideas for the past couple of weeks!"

"Because I've been using the book, Rainbow—"

"Guys, guys..." Spike held up his hands a little, asking them both to calm down as he turned to Rainbow, giving her a serious look. "If Twilight wants to go by the book... I say we let her."

Rainbow snorted, glancing over at Spike, then up at her fiancée, raising an eyebrow. "You winged it during our snowball fight," she remarked irritably.

"Well, I admit our fight may have been a bit impromptu," agreed Twilight with a sigh, "but... I, I like order, Rainbow. Besides," she clarified, "I'm referencing this book to find things that we can do, not explanations on how to do them."

Rainbow pursed her lips, nodding softly in defeat.

"Okay, okay." She smiled warily, giving in to her fiancée's reasoning. "Fine. We'll use the book for ideas... but no doing anything by the book. Deal?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Oh, very well, Rainbow," she agreed, smiling back at her softly.

Rainbow beamed, victorious, pumping her hoof into the air before turning to Spike excitedly.

"How about you, Spike? You're cool with this, right?"

"Oh, sure," he replied nonchalantly, then leaned in closer to her as he whispered, "You know I hate how persnickety she can be sometimes."

Rainbow grinned, Twilight cocking her head questioningly at their little back and forth.

"Well, ah, a-anyways!" Rainbow said, switching back to the topic at hoof, and turning back to address her girlfriend. "Anything in that book stand out to you?"

"O-oh, um..." Twilight snapped out of her thoughts, hurriedly flipping through several pages with her magic. "Yes!"

She pointed her hoof at the specific page as she held the book out towards them. "It's called hooveskey."

Both Rainbow and Spike's heads slowly tilted in confusion

"Hoof... what-now?" Rainbow asked, brow furling.

Twilight flipped the book back around, and scanned the page. "It's a game we play on the ice, wearing skates, with nets, and goalies and... a puck we must get into the other player's net," she read aloud.

Rainbow pursed her lips in thought, folding her forelegs in contemplation. "It... doesn't ring a bell, so I guess it's not exactly common up in Cloudsdale, or in Ponyville—or I'm just not remembering correctly," she supposed as she smiled meekly, raising a hoof to the back of her head. "But what the hay, I'm game. It sounds kind of fun."

"I'll say," Spike chimed in. "Though... what about a fourth player?" He glanced between the two concernedly. "I mean, if the two of you play each other... who's gonna be our other goalie?"

Twilight and Rainbow looked to one another for an answer, realizing they hadn't even considered Spike's question.

"Gee, Spike, I... I'm not..." Twilight's voice drifted off for a moment before the answer suddenly dawned on her, and she smiled. Across from her, she noticed her girlfriend's face light up as well, and assumed she had thought the very same thing.

"Oh," Twilight said slyly, turning to address Spike.

"I think you know somepony."

"S-so," Moon Dancer stammered out, clumsily adjusting her goalie mask. She straightened up, attempting to stand her ground on the slippery ice, skates on her hooves. "You guys really couldn't have found anypony else a little bit more, uhm, articulate, to play with you?"

The four were set up not far from the Ivory Tower, on the iced-over river that ran close to Twilight's favorite outdoor spot in the sun.

A couple nets had been conjured up by Twilight herself, made to last the duration of however long their game lasted.

"Oh we could have," Rainbow called back from further down the ice; "but we figured they'd all be busy. Like, busy busy. I mean, no offense, but like... all you do is study, and... you can totally take a break from studying, right?"

"Well, I—"

"I mean, just look at Twi!" Rainbow motioned towards her girlfriend. "She's taken, like... months off of studying to have fun with me and Spike! Not to mention date yours truly."

All three of her friends narrowed their eyes at her, unamused, and she slowly retracted her hoof, letting out a nervous laugh.

"To be fair, Rainbow," Twilight spoke up. "Princess Celestia did say I should take some time off, and that we pretty much are on vacation."

Rainbow sighed. "I know, I know, I..." She let both her head and shoulders droop, her gaze peering apologetically over at her girlfriend. "I was only trying to make a point, Twi."

Twilight nodded much to her surprise, softly smiling back at her in understanding.

"W-well," Moon Dancer cut in, "I'm not opposed to playing, if it means helping my friends out. I mean, I could no doubt use the exercise anyway." She smiled between her three friends. "So... thanks for inviting me."

"And thank you for joining us," replied Twilight, rigidly skating up to her, a clear, tense look on her face; and in spite of her nerves, she attempted a smile.

Moon Dancer raised an eyebrow.

"Having trouble?" she surmised.

Twilight averted her eyes as her ears folded against her head, and she nodded shyly.

"Well that's makes two of us. Still," Moon Dancer added with a sigh, "let's give it our best shot. For them."

Twilight glanced over her shoulder, then nodded, swallowing down the nervous lump in her throat.

She skated clumsily over to the center of the ice as Spike took his place opposite her before one of the goals. Her and Moon Dancer, versus Rainbow and Spike. We're playing to have fun, she reminded herself, not to win.

Her concentration was broken by her girlfriend circling around her with ease, wings outstretched at her sides.

Twilight quietly took note of that.

"I dunno about you, Twi, but it looks like I'm already running circles around you," said Rainbow, then chuckled, unable to help but laugh at her own joke.

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Yes, well..." She smiled smugly. "Let's see how well you do without those wings of yours keeping you balanced."

Rainbow's hooves skidded to a halt, and she stared at her fiancée incredulously. A profuse blush stained her cheeks.

"I-I don't need my wings, Twi," she swiftly defended. "The winter air just... feels good on them is all."

"Sure," Twilight teased, stretching out the syllable and riling up Rainbow further.

"Hmph." Rainbow folded her wings against her sweater, and for a second seemed to lose her footing.

She gulped, quickly flashing Twilight a determined grin.

"Three two one, go!" she exclaimed, and their skates clacked, locking the puck in place as their hooves made a move for it.

Twilight popped her head up from underneath the snowy bank by the river. She gave it a shake, snow flying everywhere as she blinked her eyes a few times.

Her heart pounded heavily in her chest.

Her astonished gaze looked beside her to where Rainbow lay in the snow beside her—softly catching her breath—then back at the icy river where their skate marks had torn up the ice completely. Shaved ice was visibly scattered all over its surface.

"Okay," she heard her girlfriend mutter; "maybe I'm not so good without my wings..."

Rainbow sighed, then smiled, staring up at the sky. "How come everything we try together is terrifyingly awesome?" She grinned just as Twilight turned to face her again, this time with an amused smile.

"I, I think we ended up knocking around each other more than the puck itself," she replied with a slight laugh, feeling herself already starting to lighten up.

Rainbow laughed as well before sitting up and giving her own head a quick shake.

"H-hey, well... maybe this wasn't such a bust after all. And hey, speaking of... I just remembered." She turned her attention to the ice, to where Moon Dancer and Spike still stood by their goals, staring back at them worriedly.

"Are you guys okay?" Spike called out to them.

"We're fine, Spike," Rainbow replied. "But hey! Did the puck make it into either of our goals?"

Moon Dancer and Spike both blinked in surprise, turning to look at one another. Is that what they care about? Well, I suppose they weren't hurt, and they really are both so competitive, thought Moon Dancer. I think I got shivers watching them slip around on the ice like that, but... in the end, they seemed to get a kick out of it. Well, she supposed with a lukewarm smile, I guess as long as they had fun... I did too.

She watched as Spike timidly scratched the back of his head, before lifting a puck in his other hand for the two mares to see.

His eyes told Rainbow how sorry he was.

"Aw, man..." Rainbow stared back in defeat, before collapsing back in the snow. "We lost...?"

Twilight meanwhile, stared at the puck in awe. "We... won?"

A growing grin parted her lips. "Woohoo!" She sprung to her hooves, pumping her hoof down by her side. I mean, I know it doesn't matter, she thought, but still... "I beat Rainbow at a sport!"

Rainbow nodded slowly. "Yeah, yeah, Twi... You did." She sighed, then smiled in defeat up at her girlfriend's excitement. Even though we weren't so much playing as we were struggling to skate...

She'd let Twilight have this.

"Yes!" Twilight exclaimed in hushed excitement as she directed her attention back towards the ice.

"Moon Dancer! Can you believe it? We, we won!" she called out to the other unicorn as she, without thinking, foolishly ran out to her. "We—w-whoa!"

She... forgot she couldn't skate... Moon Dancer's eyelids lowered. "Oh no."

She braced herself as her friend—screaming out "No," over and over in panic, her hooves flailing against the ice to grab any sort of traction... came barreling into her.

Rainbow and Spike stared worriedly at the collision before exchanging quick, fearful looks with one another.

It wasn't until the two sat up that they breathed a sigh of relief.

Twilight grinned anxiously, shrinking back a bit as Moon Dancer snorted... rolling her eyes back at her.

Day 148

Twilight hummed a jolly holiday tune as she sculpted another block of snow, setting it atop a wall of other brick-like blocks. One of four walls, connecting to form one impressive snow fort—or snow castle, as she preferred.

Rainbow came down from the clouds, carrying more snow in her forelegs for her girlfriend to sculpt.

Spike meanwhile, carefully carved blocks of ice from the river with his fire breath into windows, carrying them underarm to the first floor.

They were impractical, and you could hardly see through them, but... they were just for show, to make it look as much like a real castle as they possibly could.

The corners had been sculpted to look like columns straight out of Cloudsdale, and large castle doors had been sculpted to appear wide open, leading into an open space, a regal set of stairs leading higher—like Canterlot's own castle.

Twilight smiled up at Rainbow, grateful for her assistance.

"Thank you, Rainbow."

"Hey, no problem," Rainbow replied, setting the fresh snow atop the wall, and returning the smile with a sly one of her own. "Princess."

Twilight's magic dissolved as she froze up, taken aback by the remark.

She blinked, staring up at her girlfriend, befuddled.

"What?" Rainbow asked playfully. "You said you wanted to build a castle for our snow fort idea, so naturally, that makes you a princess. I mean, only princesses live in castles, am I right?"

Twilight shook her head, already easing up from her fiancée's little joke. "Servants live in them too, Rainbow, don't forget."

Rainbow backpedaled. "W-well, y-yeah, I—"

"So..." Twilight's lips trembled, holding back a laugh. "I guess since I'm the princess, that makes you the servant."

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Very funny, Twi," she replied, sounding exasperated before smiling back at her coyly.

"Now, fetch me more snow, servant!" Twilight ordered, smiling. "The ceiling and chandelier aren't going to finish themselves!"

"As you wish, your majesty."

Rainbow bowed, then grinned as she turned and flew off again.

Twilight stared after her, into the wild blue yonder.

This makes me a princess, huh?

Her heart began to flutter, as the thought brought a soft smile to her lips.

Day 149

"So I really am sorry about your glasses, Moon Dancer," Twilight remarked for the hundredth time as she trotted beside her down the midday thoroughfare.

"Mmhm," Moon Dancer replied nonchalantly, though Twilight swore she could still hear a twinge of annoyance in her friend's voice.

Her gaze fell to the sidewalk, sullen, and not going unnoticed by her friend.

Moon Dancer frowned in concern before asking, "Are you alright?" She reached out, placing a hoof on Twilight's shoulder and preventing her friend from taking another step. "If you don't believe me about my glasses, it really is okay. It's just a hairline fracture along the bridge—nothing a little masking tape can't fix."

Moon Dancer laughed softly, but Twilight remained unconvinced that it wasn't her fault... that what had happened wasn't worse than she perceived it to be.

"Hey, it's what happens when you play the most dangerous game, and none of us know how to..."

Moon Dancer cocked her head curiously, noticing as her friend chuckled under her breath.

"I like the literary pun," Twilight explained, catching her friend's wondrous expression from out of the corner of her eye. "Though... our game was nothing like that one."

Moon Dancer's face once more took on a look of understanding.

"Agreed," she said, sharing in her friend's laughter.

A couple moments later, and they slipped back into comfortable silence.

"Seriously though, Twilight," Moon Dancer continued from where she had left off; "I knew the risks, and I still chose to play with you guys. Plus, I'm... still in one piece, right?"

Twilight nodded stubbornly.

"You know, I... Rainbow, she's... asked me to lighten up... Repeatedly, in fact..." Twilight sniffled, shaking her head. "Oh, I'm sorry, Moon Dancer." She turned away in frustration. "I just worry so much sometimes about driving my friends away, and I just thought—!"

"Oh, Twilight... We're better friends than that. I mean, I wouldn't have agreed to come walk with you if I were mad at you."

Twilight sniffled again, before looking back over at her with a thankful smile. "I suppose you wouldn't have."

Another moment passed.

"So... did you bring me out here just to apologize, or did you have something planned?"

Twilight averted her eyes, nodding lightly.

"Is it another sport?" Moon Dancer pressed. "If it is, I guess I'm game. The girls are always asking me to join in on their hoofball game, so... I could use the exercise, you know?"

"Oh, um... N-no, no it's... not, it's..." Twilight took a deep breath, taking a moment to collect herself. "I, I-I thought we could do something a little less demanding together, like make alicorns in the snow and just... talk."

"Okay, so... basically," Moon Dancer clarified, making sure she understood, "you want to hang out... while waving our forelegs back and forth in the snow?"

"A-and!" Twilight added hastily. "Maybe if we're lucky... catch a couple snowflakes on our tongues?" She shied away, explaining, "I just really want to try it all this winter."

Moon Dancer stared back at her for a moment before shrugging. "Eh, what the hay," she said. "Sounds relaxing."

Twilight looked back at her in disbelief, a smile slowly spreading across her face.

"I know, right?" she gushed.

She ran ahead to the nearest snowbank, and threw herself down in it. Sitting up, she grinned at Moon Dancer, silently asking her what she was waiting for.

Moon Dancer smiled and shook her head before running up to join her in the snow.

"Sorry," Twilight explained, staring up at the sky once Moon Dancer was comfortably seated beside her. "I just... I'm just trying to make up for... basically not having a fillyhood, you know? After what happened to your glasses, I was so distraught, I... suggested to Rainbow and Spike that we build a snow fort. Well that snow fort quickly ended up becoming a snow castle. It's not finished yet, but..." She grinned as she peered over at her friend. "That's pretty childish, huh?"

"Oh, I don't know, Twilight. I mean, building a castle out of snow?" Moon Dancer chuckled. "That's actually pretty impressive. But I hear you: I didn't have much of a fillyhood either—er, well I did. I just spent it indoors."

"That's not so bad. At least you were having fun," Twilight supposed.

Moon Dancer pursed her lips. "Sort of. I, I mean... my parents were always pushing me to study so it wasn't really all that fun at home."

"Really?" Twilight replied, genuinely surprised. "I always felt that my parents actually pushed for me to have a social life."

Moon Dancer snorted at that. "Lucky. Comic shops were like, my only escape. I'd go and... waste away the hours wishing that, that I could have these... amazing adventures where I'm saving ponies and stopping the bad guys, only to return to the meagerness of everyday life."

"That's why we read, isn't it? For the escapism—and to better ourselves of course."

Moon Dancer smiled at that.

"You know," she began, "I... always preferred learning from fiction, a-and from listening to other ponies. Like, when you read a book, or watch a film, you get a sense of the creator, what they believe... and you pick up on new ideals—new ways of thinking. It's more fun than a textbook—though I suppose those are good for learning more concrete things, rather than ideologies, and a better understanding of life... you know?"

"I do." Twilight gazed away with a soft nod. "I... also think textbooks are pretty alright," she added in a murmur.

Moon Dancer gave a small laugh. "I never said they weren't, Twilight—b-but it's fine if you think so! It's what sets us apart... makes us different. I, I mean... I couldn't tell you how many times my parents were like, you should be more like that overachiever, Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight blinked. Over... achiever? she pondered, dumbfounded, before shaking the thought from her head, and looking over at her friend sorrowfully. "I'm sorry," she said. "I would have said you were fine the way you are if I had only known."

"You would have stood up for me?" Moon Dancer asked, taken aback.

"Well, of course." Twilight formed a warm smile. "I don't see myself being better than anypony—well, except perhaps for the worst criminals in Equestria, I guess, but even then..." Her expression grew a little sheepish. "Like, even if I were... objectively better, I'm... still just a pony, l-like you!"

She breathed out shakily and turned back ahead, staring aimlessly at the street. "What right do I have to hold myself above another pony?" she asked herself, her voice softening. "I'm a citizen, like anypony else! I, I mean," she added with a nervous laugh; "I'm not Princess Celestia, for Celestia's sake!"

Moon Dancer smiled back at her friend understandingly after a moment, seeing how anxious she was getting.

"You're very humble, Twilight. I... I think that's always why I wanted to be your friend. I-I mean... I was jealous, and angry at first—because of the way everypony talked about you. So I believed you were the kind of pony to hold your muzzle up high and flaunt your intelligence... Only I came to realize that you weren't... conceited, but a pony, aiming for the stars. I just... really admired that about you..." She lifted a hoof from the snow reassuringly. "And I still do!"

Moon Dancer laughed a little awkwardly, feeling a sense of uneasiness begin to set in.

However Twilight just stared, speechless.

"W-wow, uhm... I don't know what to say..." A bashful smile overcame her face. "T-thank you, Moon Dancer."

Moon Dancer eased up, and returned the smile. "Think nothing of it, Twilight. I'm only speaking the truth."

Twilight blushed, and nodded as she looked away.

A moment passed between them before Twilight asked in hushed excitement, "Wanna check on how our alicorns look?"

"I think it's been long enough," Moon Dancer agreed, sitting up.

Twilight leaped up from her spot in the snow, and spun around, grinning down at the indent.

"It... kind of looks like our princess," noted Moon Dancer, peering over. "Celestia, I mean, not the pink one."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "Her name is Cadance, Moon Dancer... but I agree. It does, kinda." She admired it for a moment longer before turning to look at her friend's. "How'd yours turn out?"

"Oh, Um..." Moon Dancer tore her attention away from her friend's snow alicorn, gazing down warily at her own. "It, uhm... looks like you."

She quickly masked her disappointment, and smiled back at Twilight, finding the whole thing a little funny. "If you had wings that is."

Twilight stared back at Moon Dancer as her lips began to tremble. "Y-yeah," she agreed, before breaking out into a soft fit of laughter.

Moon Dancer's smile turned lopsided at her friend's reaction, and couldn't help but join in her amusement.

Day 156

Twilight cheered her girlfriend on, eagerly watching her from the tower balcony, stopwatch suspended in the brisk air before her.

Rainbow zoomed by, dashing through the many stratus clouds as she zigzagged from one to the next, forelegs outstretched before her. The wind whipped loudly in her ears, and out of each cloud came a burst of snow that pelted her in the face and assaulted her vision.

Still she prevailed through the roaring winds and poor visibility because, after all, she wouldn't be who she was... if she didn't enjoy a good challenge.

"Woohoo!" cheered Twilight. "Go, Rainbow! You can do this! You've totally got this!"

Twilight's cheers fell on deaf ears however, being drowned out by the loud sounds of the winter weather.

She kept it up for a single moment more, before turning, making a sudden beeline for the balcony below... landing expertly, and inches from her girlfriend.

Twilight herself jumped, bringing a hoof to her heart as Rainbow blinked her eyes several times, and shook the snow from her face and mane.

"Time?" she asked warily, her breaths a little heavy and rugged.

Twilight snapped back to reality, taking a brief glance at the suspended stopwatch.

She squinted, then looked in dismay at the time displayed... her ears folding against her mane.

"...Eleven seconds." She peered over at Rainbow reluctantly her girlfriend's face already bearing a look of disappointment. "Sorry, Rainbow."

"Tch..." Rainbow looked off angrily, stomping her hoof. "Man...! I'm never gonna get it under ten seconds, am I?"

"I believe you will," comforted Twilight, as she came up to her. "In fact I know you will."

"Yeah?" Rainbow gazed back at her, disheartened. "How can you be so sure, Twi?"

For Twilight, the answer was as clear as day.

"Because you're you, Rainbow... and I know that you're not one to give up."

The hope slowly returned to Rainbow's eyes as her girlfriend's words did a lot to lift her mood up out of her slump.

"Twi..."

Twilight smiled, lifting a hoof, and beckoning her not to say another word.

"Come, let's head back inside. We can try again some other time, but for now..." She drew her hoof back in order to rub her foreleg. "Let's focus on getting warmed up... It looks like there's more storm clouds rolling in anyway, and I would like to get inside before we get hit with the brunt of the storm..."

Rainbow cocked her head back at her, her brow furrowing. "You're chilly?"

Twilight shivered, sheepishly giving her head a nod.

"Unicorns d-don't exactly have as t-thick of coats as pegasi, I mean... you guys are practically... b-born in the clouds, after all!"

Rainbow just gazed back at her sorrowfully, sporting a wry frown. "You should have told me, Twi, here."

She sprung into action, joining up at her side... and embracing her with her wing.

Twilight herself stifled a gasp as Rainbow drew her in, her head coming to rest against the pegasus's upper chest.

She gazed up at her girlfriend with a flustered face. "R-Rainbow—?"

Rainbow looked down at her with a sly smile. "You need warming up?" She leaned her muzzle down, nuzzling the top of her head.

"Let's see if I can help with that."

Day 157

Twilight sat back on the window seat in the tower's foyer, a warm blanket strewn over her belly and hind legs as she stared at the blustery weather just outside, listening to the howling wind.

Rainbow sat beside her on the floor, on her haunches... her cheek resting comfortably on her folded forelegs, which were folded beside Twilight's head. Her gaze paralleled her girlfriend's as she too, stared lazily out at the weather.

"Some storm," Twilight mused, unflinching. "I mean, I know it wasn't your doing, but..."

"It's still nice to look at, and listen to," mentioned Rainbow, understanding what she was getting at. "It's both calming and exhilarating, I know."

She peered over at her fiancée from the corner of her eye. "You're not, I dunno... scared are you? Of being this high up, or say... the window breaking open any moment and sucking us both outside?"

Twilight raised an eyebrow at the oddly-specific scenario, then turned her head on its side to look Rainbow in the eyes. "I'd have you to catch me," she replied with a tender smile. "I feel so safe with you around."

That brought a smile to Rainbow's lips, and she averted her eyes as a blush stained her cheeks. "Yeah, well..." she trailed off bashfully. "I-it just stinks though that we can't play outside today."

"We have plenty of things that we can do inside, Rainbow," Twilight assured her, gazing back outside. She brought a piping hot mug of cocoa that she held in her magic to her lips. "We are sort of surrounded by books."

"I know, I know, I just... I was thinking about our castle—"

"Castle?" Twilight's eyes suddenly went wide. "Oh no, no no no no, I completely forgot!" She clonked one of her hooves against her forehead. "Man... I hope it's okay..."

Rainbow unfolded one of her forelegs, placing her hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "It should be. We built it to last, so..." She shrugged. "You know."

Twilight swallowed, and let out an uneasy breath as she leaned back into her seat. "Y-yeah..." She brought her cocoa back to her lips in her trembling hooves.

"Speaking of castles... I wonder how the princesses are holding up..."

Twilight winced.

"It's been a while since I've seen Cadance... Hope she's doing okay—though, I guess that goes for all of our friends," Rainbow supposed, "not just her."

Twilight slowly reopened her eyes, mulling over what had caused the sharp pain for a brief moment before the mention of her old foalsitter shook the thought from her head entirely.

It also brought a saddened look to her face.

"I still haven't reconvened with her, after all this time... and yet, you've bumped into her twice! I don't know how you do it, Rainbow." Twilight shook her head, exasperated. "I feel like the only way I'm ever going to see her again is if I... march on down to the castle and demand to see her!"

"H-hey. Easy, Twi," said Rainbow. "She's just a busy pony; she told me herself."

She bit her lip and gazed around at the surroundings beside her in search of an answer.

Then it hit her, the sight of scrolls, parchment, and books everywhere sparking an idea.

"Why don't you write to her?"

"Write?" Twilight stared ahead of her, at a loss for words, and all of a sudden feeling so foolish. Then, an elated grin spread across her face as she turned to look at her girlfriend with a thankful expression. "Oh Rainbow, you're a genius! Why didn't I think of that?"

Rainbow shrugged nonchalantly. "Probably because you were so caught up in wanting to talk to her in person that... you never considered anything else was even possible."

"Maybe..." Twilight considered, thinking it over.

"But hey! Writing to princesses is sort of your specialty! Plus, I'm sure she's in the same boat that we are. You know: bored, alone, staring out the window with hot chocolate in hoof... I bet she'd love to hear from you!"

"Maybe," Twilight repeated, in the same thoughtful tone as she pursed her lips.

"Come on," Rainbow pressed, "don't be like that. Here, don't move," she told her girlfriend as she sat up; "I'll go grab you some paper and a quill."

"Rainbow—" Twilight started to say, but it was too late.

Her girlfriend had already flown upstairs.

Twilight sighed, staring down into her cocoa and relishing in the warm, rising steam.

Maybe it wouldn't be so bad.

Maybe her old foalsitter wouldn't mind hearing from her on this, the most blustery of days.

Her ears perked at the sound of Rainbow coming back downstairs, carrying the supplies she needed in her hooves.

Twilight looked at her, and pointed out, a little incredulous, the one flaw in their plan.

"I don't even know where she lives, Rainbow."

Rainbow simply rolled her eyes.

"She lives at the castle, Twi. With Celestia, who can deliver the letter in hoof for us."

"Okay, but..." Twilight gazed away, uncertain. "I don't know how I feel about bugging the princess like this."

"She's your friend, Twilight. I'm positive she won't mind. Besides," she added, "doesn't the princess want you to make friends? I'm sure she'd be super stoked to see you reaching out to an old one!"

She makes a good point, thought Twilight, her resolve weakening. Oh, what the hay... A smile spread across her lips, and she took the paper and quill in her magic.

Rainbow grinned, and plopped back down on the floor beside her.

And so, with Rainbow there for support and inspiration, she began to write.

Hey, Cadance, or... Princess Cadance! I suppose I should address you by your proper title, shouldn't I? Should I...?

"Twi." Rainbow set a hoof over Twilight's right foreleg, grabbing her attention.

The move also happened to ease her nerves a little.

"Don't worry about being political. Just tell her that it's you."

Twilight gulped, and let out a shaky breath. "Y-you're r-right, Rainbow. I... always worry about being too informal, but... she's my friend."

She smiled nervously back at Rainbow. "She'll understand, won't she?"

Rainbow nodded. "'Course she will."

"Right..." Twilight turned back to the letter in her grasp, lifting the tip of her quill to resume where she had left off. "Okay..."

Well, I suppose it doesn't matter in this case, because if you haven't guessed already, it's me! Twilight! Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle, you know, remember? It's been a while; a long while actually... but I've wanted to talk to you again ever since you talked to Rainbow all those months ago. She's here with me by the way, coaching me through all this, hehe.

"Seriously?" Rainbow scoffed, breaking her fiancée's concentration.

Twilight herself turned to face her with a puzzled stare.

"You wrote out a nervous laugh?"

Is that all? she wondered, her expression turning dry.

"To convey the tone of the sentence, Rainbow," she chided plainly, then turned to resume work on the letter.

Well, we figured, because of the storm, that we'd write to you—if you don't mind! If you're not busy, we mean. I mean, we figured you'd be in a similar situation as us, so—

"You're beating around the bush too much, Twi," Rainbow remarked.

"Hm?" Twilight blinked, and pulled back a bit, re-reading what she had written with a critical eye. "Well what do you know... Let me just fix that."

If you're looking for somepony to talk to... we're available! We for one, would love to talk, so... I guess I'll start by asking... how are you? And how was Hearth's Warming? Not too hectic I hope! Receive any nice gifts?

"Those are probably enough questions for now," Rainbow cut in, and as she advised her, Twilight stopped writing. "Don't overwhelm her, you know? She might not even write back—because of her duties of course, not because of you or anything."

Rainbow smiled jokingly up at her, and she rolled her eyes in response, smiling in amusement.

"So... I'll just go ahead and sign this then," she decided, scratching the paper with her quill as she etched in a few, final words.

Your friends, Twilight and Rainbow!

"So," Rainbow said with a sigh, just as her fiancée finished up the letter. "Now we just need—"

"Spike!"

Rainbow flinched, Twilight's call for him echoing throughout the tower... and soon her call was met with a series of footsteps as they hurried up the stairwell.

"Spike," Rainbow repeated dryly, her feathers a little ruffled. "Exactly—"

"You called, Twilight?" Spike asked questioningly as he reached the top of the stairs.

Twilight gazed back at him, about to respond... when she considered the less-than-thrilled tone of Rainbow's voice... and her ears flopped ashamedly.

She had every right to be upset with her.

She had called for him, never stopping to even think what he may have been doing prior...

Twilight blushed, averting her stare.

Spike was too kind, and perhaps too patient with her...

I'll have to treat him to something special this week, she thought, smiling softly. But first... "Thank you for walking all the way up here, Spike. I was just... filled with so much excitement that I... yelled out your name without considering what you might be up to, and... It was inconsiderate of me."

Rainbow's eyes blinked, then widened a bit upon hearing her girlfriend's apology. A slow, amazed smile began to spread across her lips.

Spike meanwhile, stared back at her, a little taken aback.

"Well, I... G-gee, Twilight, you know I'd do anything for you. We're friends after all."

"I know, Spike. I just..." Twilight paused, then met his wowed stare with a warm smile. "I just wanted you to know."

A moment went by before Spike snapped out of his stupor, returning to the matter at hoof. "S-so, uh... what uh, did you want me for?"

"Well, Spike... I just happen to have a letter that needs mailing."

"And I just happen to have the breath for the job!" Spike declared proudly, walking over. "What's the destination?"

"Well... therein lies the problem. It's a letter for Cadance, but..." Twilight gazed away, embarrassed. "We don't know where exactly in Canterlot Castle she lives, so... we figured you could just send it to Princess Celestia, and have her deliver it."

"So... Princess Celestia's chambers?" Twilight nodded softly as he took the rolled piece of parchment from her. "That's no problem, Twilight."

He smiled reassuringly before blowing the letter away in a flume of flames. "Now we play the waiting game," he supposed, turning back to face her.

Twilight's shoulders slumped, a groan leaving her lips. "I hate the waiting game..."

"Don't we all," Rainbow mused.

"Well, I... suppose I should grab a seat up here then, huh?" Spike said as another moment passed in silence, deciding it would be more convenient than making several trips up and down the stairs.

So the three of them waited for minutes on end, lounging around and chatting with one another, when Spike felt something begin to bubble up from deep inside him.

He let out a belch, along with a burst of fire and a letter, which fell listlessly to the ground.

Twilight's face lit up at the sight.

She let out the tiniest squeal, and snatched up the letter in her magic, making quick work of the ribbon around its middle.

Rainbow and Spike both peered on curiously as Twilight unraveled the letter, and gasped breathlessly at the wording.

Well isn't this a surprise! I wasn't expecting to hear from you, Twilight. Today of all days especially... but I'm happy that you and Rainbow chose to nevertheless! It's really made my day to hear from my favorite filly, er, well, I... guess you're not a filly anymore, haha. Gee... I'm not really sure how to approach this, it's been so long... I told your brother all those months ago that I wouldn't know what to say to you if I saw you, since you've grown so much. Guess that still holds true... though, I mean it when I say I'm happy to hear from you again, after all this time! When my aunt knocked on my door, telling me a letter had come for me from a certain Twilight Sparkle... I didn't know what to think, but I just knew I was smiling all the same.

Anyhow... I was a little bummed out by the weather, but having you two to talk to has already put me in a much better mood! Hearth's Warming was anything but hectic for me. It's... really one of the few times I can escape my duties as princess and just... enjoy life, you know?

Twilight smiled at the small frown Cadance had scribbled at the end of her sentence.

And yes, I did receive some lovely gifts. One of which was this truly beautiful necklace, with a silver, heart-shaped pendant. Your brother bought it for me, and... I'll just always treasure it.

And, if I'm not mistaken... I'm not the only one who got jewelry from a loved one—

"So..." Rainbow asked. "What does it say?"

The question tore Twilight's attention away from Cadance's letter, and she instead turned with a goofy smile towards the eager faces of her friends, focusing on Rainbow in particular.

"She's asking about the gift you gave me," she explained, bringing a hoof to her girlfriend's feather, and the gemstones it hung from. "Though, somehow... I think she already knows about it."

Rainbow felt herself blush. "Yeah, she... When I ran into her that day, she... may have been there when I bought it."

She let out a shy laugh as her ears lowered sheepishly.

Twilight, in turn, rolled her eyes playfully at her fiancée's sheepish confession, before turning her attention towards Spike, who sat comfortably... staring outside at the roaring blizzard.

"Spike?" she called out to him, the dragon turning his head, and lifting his brow in response. "More parchment, please?"

"Oh, um..." He glanced up at the floor above, before lifting himself up off the floor. "Sure thing, Twilight."

"Thank you."

She let out a breath to calm herself, then looked down again at Rainbow. "Can you believe it?" she asked in hushed excitement. "We're talking again, after all this time..."

Rainbow laughed softly. "So I heard," she replied, peering up at her and forming a sincere smile. "I really am happy for you, Twi."

"It's you I owe though," Twilight insisted. "You pushed me to write to her, so... thank you."

"It's what friends do—"

"I, I know, I just... wanted to thank you anyway."

"Oh, well, um..." Rainbow's gaze shied away. "Y-you're welcome, Twi."

Spike came back down the stairs, carrying in his claws a stack of paper.

"I figured I'd bring a stack with me, if you end up writing back and forth to one another."

The surprise on Twilight's face lifted, and she eased up, thanking him with an appreciative smile.

"Thank you, Spike."

She levitated a piece over. "Now where were we...?"

You're right, and I know you already know, but... Rainbow did indeed buy me a beautiful, custom-made earring to hang her feather from. The stones sparkle, shimmer, and just... glimmer so radiantly in the sunlight, like the stars in the night, or the rainbows after a storm, it's just... breathtaking. Like, I can see into them, and reflect back on all the times we've shared, and the pony I've become thanks to her friendship. I know it'll sound crazy, but I sense this sort of... spark, when I think about it—like she's more important to me than I even realize.

Anyhoo... I noticed you used the term, 'loved one.' Does that mean you finally confessed to my brother? I mean, I don't mean to pry, I just... Remember when I was a filly, and you wanted my help in calculating your odds with him? Well, I guess I'm wondering if anything ever came of that, since I was too absorbed in my books back then to ask, hehe...

But if you're not in a relationship with my brother, that's okay too! I just... oh wow, I'm sorry. I just thought that... you two would make a really nice couple.

I hope she understands... Twilight swallowed nervously, frowning wryly before calling out to Spike, "I have another letter."

"On it!" Spike exclaimed as he got to his feet and walked on over.

"So what did this one say?" Rainbow asked, then went on to explain, "You were holding it sort of close to yourself... Couldn't have peeked at it if I tried."

Spike whisked Twilight's letter away in a puff of green flame as she replied, "I asked about her love life... and if she was in a relationship with my brother."

Rainbow stared back at her, dumbfounded. "Why...?"

"Because, Rainbow. She referred to my brother as a 'loved one,' and... I remember her having a crush on him." Twilight gazed off, smiling fondly as she reminisced on the memory. "I think they would be... cute together, I guess."

"Huh..." Rainbow nodded softly, her mind wandering back to that day in the store. "Twilight... I, um..." Rainbow bit her lip, unsure how to tell her girlfriend. "Cadance was kind of acting all lovey-dovey with this stallion that Hearth's Warming Eve. His name was... Shining-something, I think." Her ears flopped, and looked up at her with a sorry look. "Sorry, Twi..."

To her surprise however, Twilight snorted, then started giggling a little uncontrollably.

"Twi?"

"Shining... S-Shining Armor is, is my brother, Rainbow," she sputtered out between laughs.

"Wait..." Rainbow sat up, staring at her in disbelief.

"He's your brother?"

Twilight nodded, her laughter quickly dying down. "S-sorry, Rainbow. I know I told you I had a brother, but I should have told you more, like his name, or what he looked like... I mean, I told you what Starswirl the Bearded looked like for crying out loud, but not my own brother..."

"No no, it's... it's okay, Twi! It just slipped your mind, or wasn't of note, I guess. I just can't believe he is your brother... I mean—"

"He's brawny, and I'm brainy?"

Rainbow let out a laugh. "Kinda, yeah."

Twilight smiled at that. "We're both very ambitious though, I mean—we both work hard, and we're both playing parts in making Equestria a safer place. Really, the similarities become apparent if you're around him long enough. He's not entirely a jock though, you know. In fact..." Twilight leaned in closer. "He plays Ogres and Oubliettes."

Rainbow cocked her head. "I take it that's nerdy?"

"Oh yeah."

"It is not, guys," Spike cut in suddenly, a little irritably. "I mean, you've never even played it."

Twilight and Rainbow exchanged surprised glances with one another, Twilight deciding on being the first to speak up.

"I... didn't know you were into it," she admitted honestly.

"Yeah, I... meet up with Moon Dancer every week, and we play it late into the nigh..." Spike stopped, feeling something familiar begin to swell up inside him.

"Huh, well... Alright, Spike." Twilight shrugged. "I guess we'll just have to play a game together sometime. The three of us, that is."

"The three of us?" Rainbow silently mouthed, looking up at her with a crushed look.

"Yes, Rainbow," she replied with an air of determination. "We're going to give our friends' game a chance—!"

Spike belched, and with it, came another sealed scroll.

"Her letter!" exclaimed Twilight, scooping it up within her magic. "I guess I'm not really all that anxious about her response though... Now that I know she is together with Shining, and I didn't just embarrass myself. Still... Knowing kinda takes away the suspense of what she wrote..."

"Well," Rainbow remarked, "did you write to her about anything else?"

Twilight's eyes lit up. "As a matter of fact I did... I, I wrote to her about that, uhm... spark I get, whenever I'm with you."

"Oh, right..." Rainbow nodded in understanding before smiling teasingly. "That weird feeling."

"It isn't weird, Rainbow," Twilight was quick to refute. "It's like, a feeling that tells me... I'll never have to face anything alone. That I'll always have you to catch me when I fall."

"I think they call that friendship," joked Rainbow. "Or us being engaged to one another."

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I'm trying to be serious with you, Rainbow. "

Rainbow's expression softened, and she smiled apologetically.

"I know, Twi... and I'm serious when I say that..." She leaned up onto her hind legs, and deeply nuzzled her fiancée's cheek. "I'll never leave you hanging."

Blood rushed to Twilight's face, warming her cheeks as Rainbow pulled away, leaving her smiling like a fool.

"But hey! That feeling you get is definitely something to read into, and even write about," she proposed, sitting back down.

"You're right," Twilight uttered, slowly coming back to reality. She returned to the letter in her hooves, and began undoing the ribbon with renewed excitement.

Don't be sorry, Twilight, because you're not wrong. Your brother and I have been going steady for... some time now. I know neither of us ever told you, and we're sorry, but... we knew you hated to be interrupted and enjoyed solitude, and plus I... wasn't even sure if I was 'in your life,' so to speak. Thanks again for your help with him, by the way, and... I'm so relieved to know that you're still okay with... you know, your brother and me.

You know... I have a feeling he might even propose to me soon, but only time will tell. It's amazing to think though that we'd be sisters-in-law!

Also, I've heard Aunt Celestia mention a spark before. I think it has to do with true friendships, or something along those lines; but I just know that if anypony can figure out the feeling... it's you, Twilight.

It's me, huh? Twilight thought as she read over the passage.

So... anyway. I've told you about my relationship. How are things going with you and Rainbow? Any details I should know about?

I really am happy for the two of you, by the way.

Twilight snorted in laughter. Any details? she thought. Where to even begin...?

If her friends didn't mind, that was.

Twilight lowered the letter from her face and turned to face them. "I think we might be writing to another for awhile." Her ears flopped, and she chuckled shyly. "You two don't mind... do you?"

Rainbow shook her head. "I'm just enjoying sitting here with you and watching," she replied.

"And there's a reason why I brought so much paper with me, remember?" Spike chimed in with a half smile.

Twilight stared back at them, switching between them as a smile of her own vastly grew.

"I really do have... the absolute greatest friends a pony could ask for."

Day 158

"And what better friends could you ask for to help finish this?"

Rainbow grinned as she brought more snow to her girlfriend who laid on her back, leisurely sculpting the ceiling of their castle.

Spike worked around the outside and first story, cleaning away the snow that had blown their way from the storm the day before. A little flumes of fire here and there, and the snow melted away into water.

"I could only ask for the two of you, Rainbow," Twilight replied sweetly, recreating The Starry Night out of the snow ceiling.

"Impressive," Rainbow mused, following Twilight's gaze. "I had no idea my fiancée was such an artist."

"I'm not that much of one, Rainbow; I just... have an eye for detail, and an appreciation for art." She shrugged simply. "Really, it's easy once you've studied the techniques of these artists for as long as I have."

"You've studied artists?"

"I study everything, Rainbow; you should know that."

"Ah, you're right, you're right..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck. "My bad. Guess I forgot you were an egghead."

Twilight cracked a soft grin. "Now there's a name I haven't heard in a while."

"Exactly!" Rainbow exclaimed, taking a seat beside her. "See my point? You've become so much less of an egghead this winter, and... it's really kind of awesome, I mean... You've, like, really stepped out of your comfort zone."

"And I have you to thank for that," Twilight said, turning to look at her. Rainbow's expression, in turn, softened into a warm smile.

"You've gotten me to step away from always... following instructions, and instead... to trust my instincts. To just... wing it, so to speak. And don't even get me started on what you did for Cadance and me."

"Okay, I know, I get it," Rainbow joked, "I'm awesome."

Twilight however, remained serious. "You are, Rainbow, and don't let anypony tell you otherwise."

Rainbow looked back at her, her face growing more solemn. "I'll... do my best," she promised after a moment of hesitation, averting her eyes.

She lied down beside her girlfriend, letting out a sigh as she did.

Twilight smiled as she resumed her carving.

"Comfy?" she asked.

"I gotta admit, snow is pretty cushioning; but I think we could do with some furniture. Sculpted outta snow, you know? What do you think?"

"Mm..." Twilight pursed her lips at the thought. "What did you have in mind?"

"Beanbag chairs?" Rainbow put forth. "A couple sofas? Or, hey... what about..." She rolled onto her side, perching herself up on a foreleg. "A throne! Since, you know, we are sort of building a castle." She grinned down at Twilight.

Twilight stopped carving, gazing away from her mural. "You know..."

She smiled slyly up at her girlfriend. "I like that idea."

Day 174

"So... I'm just saying," Moon Dancer began, as she exited the theater alongside Spike, Rainbow, and Twilight, "why give Godragon the ability to shoot laser beams outta the dorsal fins on his back? Like, okay, I get it: he's a byproduct of ponykind negligence, but..." She shook her head incredulously. "It's like in International Mare of Mystery. Remember, Spike? The whole 'wanting to give sharks laser beams' thing? Like, he's practically already a shark, y'know? Laser beams are just overkill, I M O. Er, no, scratch that. Not I M O—stone-cold facts."

"Overkill, yes," Spike agreed, "but also kinda awesome." He glanced back disappointingly at his own dorsal plates. "Wish I could do that..."

"And why do you wish you could do that?" Rainbow asked, cutting in.

"Why would I not?" he argued plainly. "It'd be awesome."

"Well... you're already able to breath fire, Spike, so... don't be greedy, you know?"

Spike sighed, nodding begrudgingly. "I know, I know."

"Well, I, uhm... enjoyed the political and social satire," noted Twilight, adding her two cents to the conversation. "The ability of these movies to show the sometimes-negative repercussions of Equestrian militarization on smaller races and cultures, and their own inability to sometimes deal with the fallout of crises that occur in their own countries. Not every country can be Equestria, after all; or have a leader as perfect as Princess Celestia."

"Mhm," Rainbow sided with her with a nod of her head, "and speaking of... Lowering the sun to lower the solar radiation levels in Godragon? Pretty smart thinking."

"Agreed, but that was totally science fiction, Rainbow. Nopony other than the princess can lower our sun."

"Which is what makes it so much fun, Twi."

Moon Dancer smiled, watching their back and forth. "Listen to you two," she remarked. "Bickering, and being all egghead-like... Totes adorbs!"

Twilight and Rainbow blinked, sharing a look of confusion with one another before turning back to their friend, cocking their heads. "Adorbs...?" they questioned softly.

"So, what do the two of you have planned for Hearts and Hooves Day anyway?" she asked, carrying on from where she had left off. "It is the day after tomorrow, after all."

"O-oh! Uh..." Their eyes collectively widened, Rainbow looking off shyly... bringing a hoof to the back of her neck anxiously.

Twilight's face reddened, and she bashfully gazed down at her hooves.

Rainbow shrugged sheepishly, attempting to explain as she did, "It actually sorta slipped my mind... but, um..."

"It's a good thing that you have me to remember for you then, Rainbow," said Twilight, speaking up. She stepped over to stand beside her fiancée, leaning in closer to nuzzle her sweetly.

"I do have a little something on my mind... if Rainbow will be up for it, anyway."

Rainbow deadpanned. "It's not another fancy restaurant, is it?"

Twilight barely shook her head.

"You know I hate the fancy places, Rainbow. I mean, we eat at a doughnut cafe twice a week." Rainbow breathed out in relief, then smiled at the joke. "No I was thinking about appreciating... the simpler things with you, this Hearts and Hooves Day."

"Which are...?" Moon Dancer urged her to spill the details, but Twilight stood firm.

"M-mm," she said, pulling away from Rainbow. "Our plans are strictly confidential."

"Apparently," Rainbow agreed, "so confidential that even I don't know what they are."

Spike chuckled, then replied, "Well I hope the two of you have fun with... whatever it is you have planned."

"I hope so too, Spike," Twilight mumbled softly, before then redirecting the question back at both him and Moon Dancer.

"What will you two be doing? Since I take it you'll both be hanging out together."

"What will we be doing?" Moon Dancer repeated, exchanging a quick look with Spike before smiling proudly. "Well, we just so happened to have picked up advance tickets to the all-new, upcoming Ponypool film!" She bumped hooves with one of Spike's fists while pumping the air once with the other. She grinned, directing her gaze back towards Rainbow and Twilight, her cheeks relinquishing a small squee. "We're sort of in a film-binging mood."

Twilight and Rainbow stared back at them for a moment before rolling their eyes, smiling nevertheless.

Of course, they both thought.

Day 175

"Rainbow? Raaaiinbowww?"

Twilight called out her fiancée's name over and over again into the wide field of trees that she knew Rainbow was in charge of.

She cantered carefully through the tall, snow-covered grass, passing by several trees... until the sight of several different colors, mixed in with leaves, and dangling from a particular tree branch caught her eye.

Twilight gazed up in bewilderment.

"Rainbow...?"

She came over to the tree that Rainbow's tail hung down from with a questioning stare.

Sure enough, she could make out a body as well, sprawled out on one of the tree's many branches.

Twilight touched the base of her hoof against the trunk of the tree, glancing up again at the pegasus she loved, and mulling over her options.

Raising her hooves high above her head, Twilight wrapped them as far around the body of the tree as she could manage in an attempt to hoist herself up... only to fall flat on her rump a few seconds later.

Oh who am I kidding, she grumbled in thought, firing up her horn.

She reappeared with a bit of a stumble on top of the tree branch and up against the trunk of the tree itself—shaking loose a few dead leaves as the bright flash of magic snapped Rainbow out of her nap.

"Ngh..." She stirred, directing her annoyed, blurry gaze at the source.

Her fiancée came into focus, and slowly, a soft smile grew in place of her frown.

"Hey you," she greeted, following a quick yawn as she sat up.

Twilight gulped, glancing up from the ground and at Rainbow instead. "H-hey, Sleepyhead." She leaned back a little more comfortably against the tree's trunk, and smiled sheepishly in return. "I wasn't aware that pegasi slept in trees."

"Neither was I. I sat down here for a quick lunch break with April... Guess I dosed off." Her eyes glanced away, noticing the position of the sun in the sky. "For a while apparently..." She sighed, turning back to Twilight. "April's a fellow co-worker by the way. You met her on Hearth's Warming Eve."

"Right, right," Twilight recalled, a little distastefully. "The... mint-green pony." A few moments passed between them in silence, the two of them staring at each other awkwardly. Twilight's hooves fidgeted. "I... I don't sound jealous, do I?" she asked, a little anxiously. "I'm not or anything, I mean... y-you know I'm not, right?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Right," she assured her. Still a little groggy, she then asked, "So... what brings you up here?"

Twilight however, found herself just a bit taken aback by her girlfriend's tone.

"Hmph," she snorted playfully, glancing away. "Well if you're going to use that tone, then I think I won't tell you."

Rainbow's eyes widened.

"No, no," she pleaded, "I—ah jeez, I, I didn't mean..." Her shoulders fell, and she looked up at her with apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry, Twi. Please tell me?"

Twilight's lips pursed, and she kept her gaze tilted away for a moment longer before glancing back at the mare out of the corner of her eye, throwing her act out the window, and breaking out into a huge grin. "Six words," she exclaimed in a hushed tone. "Starswirl the Bearded. Exhibition. Science museum."

"Uh..." Taken aback, Rainbow cocked her head, giving her a funny look. "Have fun?"

Twilight groaned, giving Rainbow's foreleg a playful push. "No, silly! It's later this evening and I'm asking you to accompany me. Rosette Nebula is even going to be there—she's my favorite astrophysicist—and I'd like you to be there with me when I meet her."

Rainbow mouthed a silent, "Oh," then grinned teasingly. "You have the weirdest concept of what a date should be."

Before Twilight could narrow her eyes, Rainbow added, "As long as we don't have to get all gussied up."

Twilight's ears perked up. "We, we don't," she stammered, a big, trembling smile forming on her lips as she threw her forelegs around Rainbow's shoulders.

She nuzzled her girlfriend's cheek tenderly, making it grow all the warmer as blood rushed to it.

"Oh, thank you, Rainbow!"

"N-no problem, Twi. After all," she said, stammering slightly, "w-what kinda wife will I be if I'm not always there for you when you need me to be?"

Twilight smiled warmly.

"You spoil me, Rainbow," she mumbled into her shoulder.

"And you spoil both me and Spike, so... we're spoiled—even! I meant even! Urgh..." Rainbow blinked away the grogginess in her eyes, and gave her head a quick shake as Twilight pulled away—staring at her coyly, her hooves resting on her shoulders.

"Still waking up?" she asked.

"Something like that," Rainbow laughed in response. "What do you say we climb down from here, maybe grab some dinner on the way?"

"You know I was just thinking the same thing," Twilight remarked, looking back at her in slight awe.

"Well, you know what they say about great minds." Rainbow formed a lopsided smile.

Twilight nodded, returning her smile knowingly.

She turned her attention back to the ground, when it dawned on her that... she had no wings.

Suddenly she felt as though she were a thousand feet in the air.

Her breath caught in the back of her throat, and her heart sunk into the pit of her stomach as her whole body tensed up. "Uhm..."

She turned to Rainbow again, shakily... this time with a sheepish smile. "Think you could help a girl down?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes, leaning forward and placing both her hooves at her fiancée's sides before hoisting her gently into the air, then softly setting her hooves back upon the ground.

"Better?" she asked.

"Much," Twilight replied with a relieved smile, and with that, the two took off for the nearest diner.

"So... I was thinking a couple apple danishes, and hot cider myself." Twilight looked over at Rainbow. "You?"

"Oh, cider for sure," Rainbow said. "The kind I like though, you know?"

Twilight deadpanned at her.

"What?" Rainbow asked innocently.

Twilight's eyes narrowed, burrowing into her.

Rainbow silently gulped, turning to look on ahead.

"I-I agreed to come with you, didn't I, Twi? At least let it be tolerable for me."

"Tell you what," said Twilight after a moment, leaning in to nuzzle her neck. "You stay sober for me tonight, and..." She shied away, smiling softly at the thought. "I'll treat you... to the time of your life tomorrow—since it is Hearts and Hooves Day, after all," she noted, pulling away.

"Right, right... I remember," replied Rainbow, before stopping to consider the proposal. "Mm... well, I have to admit, Twilight Sparkle... you drive a hard bargain, but you've made me real curious with all this 'strictly confidential' business... So, the time of my life, huh?" Rainbow grinned, looking over at her. "And what exactly does that entail?"

Twilight's heart rate increased, but she remained steadfast. "Nuh-uh," she denied. "I'm not saying a word until tomorrow."

She followed up by giving Rainbow a coy look, Rainbow herself dropping her shoulders in defeat.

"Maaan... Come on, Twi."

"Well... I'll say this much, Rainbow." Twilight leaned in again, this time nuzzling the fur of her cheek. "It's been... agonizing, waiting this long, and lying next to you every night, being... too scared to make a move, or even... discuss the possibility with you! Thinking we're too young, or... moving too fast, but I don't care about that anymore. I'm willing, Rainbow... a-and I hope you are too, because, I just... can't think of a better time to share this moment with you than tomorrow, and..."

She sighed, smiling a dreamy smile. "I really hope it'll be as special for you as it'll be for me."

Rainbow stared ahead, mulling over what her girlfriend was getting at... when it occurred to her.

"Oh, I get it..." Her eyes lit up in realization, turning her head a smidgen to look into her girlfriend's eyes. "You got us passes to Do Con, didn't you? Aw, Twi... I've been hearing about that for a while now, and it's still like, a month away, but... I'm so glad you're down with going!" She turned and happily threw her forelegs around her fiancée's shoulders, giving her a tight squeeze as she nuzzled her lovingly. "You're the best!"

She let go of Twilight, pulling back with an elated grin... only to find her staring back at her stupefied.

And right away, Rainbow could see she was dead wrong.

"No?" Her ears folded, and her brow creased in worry. "Then what...?"

Day 176

Twilight pushed Rainbow back upon her forelegs, and up against the door as it slammed behind them in a purple glow, feverishly pressing her lips against hers. Her hooves resting on her shoulders, Rainbow's lips parted for Twilight, and pressed deeper into hers.

They broke apart, breathless... their cheeks stained red, and bodies burning up. Twilight bit her bottom lip before burying her muzzle in her fiancée's fur, and gingerly planting slow kisses from Rainbow's cheek, down her neck, across her shoulder...

"So much better than Daring Do..." Rainbow breathed out. "And so totally worth the wait..."

Twilight smiled, turning to kiss her chin before realigning their gazes with one another, and delving in to get another taste of her lips.

They fell back onto their bed, parting for a moment to better adjust themselves.

Rainbow's head came to rest inches above Twilight's, and the unicorn felt her soft, short breaths upon her lips.

Twilight herself smiled nervously, excitement swelling in anticipation to the point where it made her feel a little sick... but still she brought her hooves up to caress the nape of her girlfriend's neck.

Rainbow shivered at the touch, and brought herself to smile back as her girlfriend's hooves left her neck, traveling further: along her shoulders, down her back...

Rainbow wasted no time in recapturing Twilight's lips as she leaned down, resting her body on top of hers... passion fueling her every move, with Twilight's heart beating a mile a minute against her chest.

Whether it was out of fear, or excitement... the realization made Rainbow break off the kiss, and gaze down at her in concern.

"Sure you wanna do this?" she asked in a whisper, then smiled, humored. "Your heart's beating like crazy..."

Twilight swallowed hard as she looked her girlfriend once over... then smiled slyly.

"Oh yeah. I just have... one concern."

She briefly illuminated the room with her horn as she lit up Rainbow in her magic.

"Wha—?"

Twilight plopped Rainbow down beside her, and in one swift move, climbed on top of her, successfully pinning her to the bed.

She stared down at her fiancée triumphantly, Rainbow staring back at her dryly.

"Easy, tiger," she teased jokingly, to which Twilight rolled her eyes before diving in to snuggle the sweet spot beneath her lover's chin.

The breath caught in Rainbow's throat.

"I get to make love to you first... okay?"

Rainbow couldn't form a response—she was mere putty in her girlfriend's hooves at this point.

Twilight smiled, trailing a hoof down her chest, then up again, simply relishing in the feel... and reminding herself that this was all indeed real.

That she had a pony who loved her, and that she was lying here with her, about to share something truly special with her...

It all felt so unreal, so unbelievable—like her life had become some... fairy-tale romance since meeting Rainbow, and this was her happy ending—

No, scratch that, she supposed. They still had a wedding to get through. This was just another cornerstone in their relationship, and... fairy-tales hardly ever had happy endings anyway...

But, hay, this was more than close enough.

Rainbow ran a hoof through Twilight's mane as her head continued to rest beneath her own, her muzzle nuzzling the underside of her chin.

"How'd I get so lucky?" Twilight mused aloud.

Rainbow let out a soft laugh. "I ask myself that all the time, Twi."

Twilight pulled back just enough for Rainbow to no doubt see the dumb smile she had plastered on her face, before she surprised her with another kiss... Rainbow easing into it quickly as their mouths parted, and their lips sealed together.

Rainbow's forelegs wrapped themselves around Twilight's lower back, while Twilight's hooves draped themselves along her shoulders.

They slid down a little further, coming to caress her folded wings, and that's when Rainbow jumped—startled by the action. They broke apart—Twilight with a distasteful groan—as her girlfriend's wings sprang to life, standing tall at her sides.

Rainbow herself swallowed nervously, forcing a sheepish smile to her lips just as Twilight pulled back, switching between her wings with a dumbfounded expression.

Then it dawned on her.

"That's why your wings do that..."

The profuse blush in Rainbow's cheeks deepened, and she softly nodded.

"I've been trying to control it, but, well... what can I say? I have a really hot girlfriend."

Twilight's brow slowly lifted, finding it now her turn to break out into a deep blush.

"Mm, well... you sure know how to flatter a girl, Rainbow. If my voice, or my hooves... excite you, then..." Twilight lowered her cheek to her fiancée's upper chest, where she planted a nuzzle, then a kiss. She smirked, feeling Rainbow's heart beat faster, before working her way down her lover's body.

"I can't wait to see what this does..."

Day 177

Twilight walked the bright, sun-filled streets, feeling rejuvenated and light on her hooves. She hummed a classic melody, and looked to the clear sky, giving a wave and a thankful smile to a rainbow streak as it whirled on by overhead, stopping briefly and waving back as it took note of her below, returning the smile with a grin of her own.

Twilight giggled, and, if only as a sign of her happiness, blew a kiss to the pegasus, who pretended to catch it before smiling again and taking off once more. Twilight watched as she disappeared into the distance before letting out a sigh and glancing down at the road, her entire body heating up as she smiled softly, enjoying the ticklish feeling of her hastened heart beats. She felt like she could burst into song at how happy and loved she felt, and hay! She thought about even the city folk joining in.

If only this weren't Canterlot.

"Hey, Twilight!"

At the sound of her name being called, Twilight looked straight ahead, only to come face-to-face with another pony.

She stifled a shriek immediately as she took a couple steps back, taking in everything about this mysterious, mint-green unicorn mare.

"Who are you?"

The mystery mare grinned, sticking out her hoof for Twilight to shake, Twilight doing so apprehensively. "My name's Lyra, Lyra Heartstrings. I used to go to Celestia's school as well, remember?"

Twilight withdrew her hoof, now staring at her thoughtfully. "Not really..."

"Oh." Lyra looked down dejectedly, her ears falling flat against her head and cuing Twilight to try and make things right. "B-but I am happy to meet you again!" She scrambled to add, "It's always nice meeting fellow students."

Lyra's smile returned to her lips. "Ditto. Say..." she began, looking up at her again with a knowing look. "You look rather happy. I take it that's Rainbow's doing?"

Twilight's brow raised. "You know Rainbow?"

"Oh, I've seen her around. When you hang out with Minuette and the girls, it's impossible not to hear them gossip about her." She paused, then held a hoof up reassuringly. "It's nothing bad though, it's just...! We don't get rainbows too often up here in Canterlot, so when you have an embodied one walking around, dating one of Canterlot's most prestigious minds, well... The girls all think it's pretty cute by the way, what the two of you have."

Twilight's head tilted to the side. "Thanks?"

An awkward silence ensued.

"How'd you do it?" Lyra asked out of the blue. "How'd you swoon her?"

Twilight blinked. "Swoon?"

"Yeah, you know. Swoon."

"You mean like... win over?"

"Well... yeah," Lyra nodded. "Totally."

Twilight replied with a silent "Oh," in understanding, looking back fondly. "Well... it was more like she swooned me," she began to explain. "A lot of what she said to me caused me to blush, and smile and laugh... though in hindsight it may have been for the wrong reasons, but regardless... She... she never gave up on me. I mean, she was always so persistent... wanting to be my friend—and something more, unbeknownst to me at the time."

She looked back at Lyra, and was shocked to find her with a notepad and quill suspended in her magic, scribbling down a few words.

"Persistence... Never give up—"

Twilight's brow furled. "Are you... taking notes?"

Lyra glanced up. "Should I not?" Before Twilight could answer, Lyra rolled her eyes. "Duh, of course I shouldn't! Just be yourself and say what's on your mind, right, Twilight?"

Twilight shook her head as she came forward, resting a hoof over her notepad, and looking at her with concern.

"What's all this for, Lyra?"

"Oh, well, ah, you see... A long time ago, when I was just a filly, I lived in Ponyville—i-it must've been before Rainbow moved there because I don't remember any rainbow-haired girls... Anyway! There was this really sweet filly that I hung out with a lot... She wore glasses and kind of had that whole 'lovable dork' thing going on."

Wonder if she'd mind attending our wedding, Twilight mused, accidentally zoning out as she listened. We could use more guests...

"It wasn't until years later though that I came to realize my feelings for her were more than simply platonic, but I could never work up the nerve to speak to her again after I transferred here with the other girls... But hearing about you and Rainbow sort of gave me the confidence to face her again, and maybe even try for something more!"

Lyra's exclamation snapped Twilight out of her thoughts.

"Let me see if I have this straight... You need help winning over a fillyhood crush?"

"Correctamundo!" Lyra exclaimed, then meekly added, "That, and... rekindle my friendship with her. If anything, I'd just settle for that."

"Huh..." Twilight nodded softly, giving her predicament some thought. "Well, it's like you figured I'd say: just be yourself. I mean, the two of you were good friends, right? So I'm sure she'll just be happy to see you again."

"That's just it though!" Lyra exclaimed in dismay. "When I left with the others for Canterlot, I... may have left without ever saying goodbye to her..." Her ears fell as she raised a hoof behind her head, scratching it ashamedly.

"Seriously...?" Twilight uttered incredulously, her jaw slowly dropping in disbelief.

Lyra averted her eyes further, her expression saddening and causing Twilight to take into consideration this pony's possibly already-fragile state of mind. "Er, w-well... my point still stands." She smiled, taking on a more considerate tone. "If the two of you really were such good friends, then she'll understand, and... if she feels the same as you, I'm... sure she'll just be happy to see you again!"

Twilight beamed, grinning a little anxiously as she wrapped up. "Sorry if that's lame, I'm... still working on giving friendship advice to ponies who need it."

"Actually, that... may just have been exactly what I needed to hear, Twilight, thank you."

Twilight blinked, taken aback. "It was...?" She quickly shook her head. "Er, y-yeah, I mean... n-no problem."

She's such a silly pony, Lyra thought, giggling inwardly before saying goodbye.

"Later, Twilight."

She gave her a thankful smile in passing as she turned and began walking backwards briefly as she called out to her. "I gotta catch the next train to Ponyville before it leaves the station!"

Twilight waved goodbye to the unicorn as she turned and galloped down the road, before turning back ahead herself with a giddy smile present on her face... and a sudden, elated step in her stride.

Day 178

"I know it's cliché of me to say this, but..." Rainbow swooped down, coming to hover before Twilight as she said, "You really brighten up my day, Rainbow."

She stood outside on their balcony, hoof-deep in the snow.

Rainbow's face turned wry, before it broke out into a teasing smile. "Sap-py, Twi."

"Hey, I said it was cliché," Twilight insisted. "I knew exactly what I was saying."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Did you now?"

Twilight stared back at her with a challenging smirk. "You know you liked it."

"Well, okay... Maybe a little," Rainbow conceded, and flew down to peck Twilight's cheek.

The swift gesture warmed her to the bone—not that she was cold, what with her fur coat and there being next to no wind.

No, Rainbow just... had a way of making her feel all fuzzy on the inside.

The feeling also stirred a memory from their time spent together on Hearts and Hooves Day.

How did I get so lucky...?

A couple moments passed since the kiss, and Rainbow was now looking at her girlfriend funnily, not having gotten a single reaction out of her.

"Earth to Twilight?" she asked. "Heeellloooo?"

Her voice seemingly did the trick, bringing her back to consciousness.

"Er, uhm... y-yes?" Twilight sheepishly asked, turning to her.

"You sorta zoned out..." Rainbow's eyes grew weary. "Is... something on your mind, Twi?"

"As a matter of fact... Yes," she replied with a sigh, walking forward... leaning up and draping her forelegs over the balcony railing.

"Really? Well... if you'd like to talk about it..." Rainbow walked up and leaned over the railing beside her, staring listlessly off at the city. "I'm right here."

"You always are." Twilight turned to her and smiled appreciatively. "Thank you."

Rainbow gazed over at her, returning the smile. "No problem. So," she asked, looking back ahead, "what's on your mind?"

"Well..." began Twilight tentatively. "It sort of stems from what we did together... the other day, on Hearts and Hooves..."

Rainbow blushed profusely, feeling her pulse quicken. "R-really...? Well... are you thinkin' you'd like to have another go? 'Cause, I mean... I'm up for it if you are—"

"No!" Twilight blurted out hastily, before realizing with what she had just insinuated. "Er, y-yes! I mean, just not... Agh!" Twilight grit her teeth. "Rainbow!"

"Sorry!" Rainbow lifted her hooves in defense slightly from their resting position, then looked over worriedly. "S-sorry. That was stupid of me to assume... A-as you were saying..."

Twilight snorted and looked off, still feeling a little flustered. "It's stupid."

"Twi," Rainbow pressed. "Tell me. Please, I, I don't care if it's stupid— I just want to help. Plus," she supposed, "if it really is stupid... at least we can have a good laugh about it."

Twilight pursed her lips, lowering her gaze. "Well... I suppose we could..."

Rainbow grinned.

"Alright, well... it, it's just... remember when I asked how I got so lucky?"

"And I said that I ask myself that everyday..." Rainbow gave her a friendly nudge on the foreleg. "I meant that, by the way."

Twilight smiled, feeling her heart flutter at her girlfriend's words.

"It's just," she tried to articulate, beginning to feel a little foolish. "The thing is... Doesn't it ever scare you, how close we almost came to... never experiencing any of this? This life, this... relationship, this...!" She sighed, averting her eyes. "Happiness, between us..."

Rainbow gave it some thought, a little taken aback.

"Of course it scares me, Twi," she stressed. "Why wouldn't it? I just... try not to think about it, I mean... " She bit her lip, then threw her forelegs out, exasperated. "Our meeting was a total fluke, and... if I hadn't made the jump across several rooftops, and risked face-planting every single time, we wouldn't have met again."

Twilight smiled fondly at the memory. "You went through a lot to see me again, I know."

Rainbow shrugged. "Well, I did find you... kind of awesome, and I wasn't about to pass up something awesome." She looked over at her and winked, bearing a playful smile.

Twilight looked on ahead, nodding softly. "You know, they... say ponies enter our lives for a reason..."

"Exactly! So..." Rainbow's ears flopped, and her brow creased. "What's the problem, Twi?"

"I don't know, I just..." Twilight gave her head a little shake. "Now I can't stop fretting over all the different ways our lives could have gone..."

"So you mean, like... alternate possibilities, of what could have been?"

"Precisely, Rainbow. Alternate possibilities, or... realities... Like, one where you simply blacked out but never hit your head, or one where... you ended up in the company of somepony else, or one where you stayed in Ponyville!" Twilight's gaze fell, saddened as her voice softened considerably. "One where I never learned to put my faith in friendship..."

"So in other words," Rainbow replied, "the reality we're living in, is the best."

She flashed a lopsided grin in her direction.

Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes, giving the pegasus a friendly nudge of her own in return.

"H-hey!" Rainbow laughed, leaning away playfully.

Twilight giggled, turning away to look out idly upon the city, a smile still present on her lips.

"W-well," Rainbow said, regaining some composure, "I guess it is interesting to think about all the different ways this could've turned out... Hay," she supposed, "maybe somepony guaranteed that we'd end up together!"

Twilight turned to her, looking at her skeptically. "The Princess?"

Rainbow quickly shot down the proposal. "No, no, no. What I mean is, like... somepony traveled back in time, and altered things so that we would meet." Twilight raised an eyebrow, finding herself quickly amused by the sheer thought.

"Probably unintentionally though," Rainbow figured. "I mean..." She stared off with a saddened smile at the possibility. "They would had to have deliberately ruined my life, and made me want to run away, so..."

Twilight immediately stepped a little closer, raising her forelegs to wrap them over her girlfriend's shoulders... hoping to provide some comfort from her sudden, troubling thoughts.

"You've been reading a lot of H. G. Spells, haven't you?" she asked, adding in a bit of levity.

It seemed to work, as Rainbow laughed softly.

"They stood out to me," she replied coolly. "What? I can't read action-thrillers forever; I have to expand my horizons."

Twilight nuzzled her cheek against hers. "Mm... well, I suppose... So... what?" she asked, drawing back a bit. "You think we're living in an alternate timeline?" She smiled dubiously. "That's pretty far-fetched, Rainbow... and I'm the one who's into quantum sciences."

"I-I know, I know, I..." Rainbow stopped to collect herself.

She turned to face Twilight with a slight smile. "I was just humoring you."

"Were you now?" Twilight teased, seeing right through her. "Well... regardless, that's a possibility I'd rather not think about. I mean, talk about scary. The idea that we're just some... byproduct of another reality, I mean... what would that even make us?"

"Well... we'd still be us," Rainbow supposed, looking off. "That much is true, and I think we should just enjoy knowing that—"

"Guys?"

Twilight undid her hooves from around her girlfriend, setting them back on the floor as both she and Rainbow turned to face Spike, who stood in the archway.

"What are the two of you up to?" he asked.

Twilight and Rainbow shared an uneasy look with one another.

"Oh, just..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck a little anxiously. "Being eggheads, talking about quantum theories... stuff like that," she explained, deciding it to be a good enough answer as any.

"Huh."

"So, what about you, Spike?" asked Twilight.

"Hm? Oh, right, well... I actually came up here to ask if you'd like to join in on a game of Ogres and Oubliettes, but if not that's—"

"Actually, Spike..." Twilight assured him with a smile. "That sounds perfect. Doesn't it, Rainbow?"

She peered over at her, half-expecting her to have a pure look of hesitation on her face.

Instead, Rainbow merely shrugged, pursing her lips.

"Eh... what the heck, why not. I think we could go for some fun to get our minds off... all that." Rainbow half-smiled back at her.

Twilight's brow lifted in slight surprise, a small grin slowly parting her lips. "Agreed," she said with an enthusiastic nod, before joining her two friends as they journeyed back inside.

Even if their world wasn't quite what they thought it was, she mused... That wasn't about to stop either of them from living it up... and spending every moment enjoying the life they've been gifted together.

Days 201 - 326 - Friendship Lessons, Part 2

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Day 201

Twilight nervously gulped.

She had really hoped she'd never have to wear skates again...

"Thanks again for helping me out here, Twi," Rainbow spoke up, her voice bringing Twilight back to consciousness.

"O-oh, uhm... N-no problem, Rainbow!" Twilight lost her footing for a quick moment before regaining it. "A-although Princess Celestia is already in the middle of c-changing the s-seasons, the ice still needs to be cut up to make it easier to thaw and I'm all the merrier to assist you in doing just that! N-not to mention I'm getting to experience ice skating again, a-and it never ceases to be thrilling!"

A good enough word as any to describe how she felt about it, she supposed.

"If not a little scary?" Rainbow surmised.

Twilight blinked. "W-why would you suggest—?"

"Twi," Rainbow said, cutting her off. She glanced back at her girlfriend, making a wry frown as she motioned with her eyes to the unicorn's own hooves—gripping carefully—but for dear life at the sides of her own sweater-clad body.

"O-oh, um...!" Twilight grinned, looking at how her forelegs were gripping Rainbow's sweater, and let out a sheepish chuckle. "S-so I guess I need a little help from my fiancée. We aren't all naturally awesome at everything, Rainbow. My brother helped me with my magic, and hay, I'll bet your parents helped you a lot when you first learned how to fly."

Rainbow chuckled at that. "No way," she declared, looking on proudly. "Something tells me I was always a natural-born flier. Top of my class!"

Twilight gasped softly, her eyes twinkling. "So we were both top students?"

"You know it!" she exclaimed, pushing off again... when a grating sound filled her ears, making her pause, her eyes narrowing. She raised an eyebrow as she glanced behind her once more, to see Twilight's hind skates clumsily scraping the ice.

Rainbow sighed, turning to look back at Twilight directly with a deadpan stare.

"Hm?" Twilight tilted her head, noticing the look Rainbow was giving her.

"Twi... You know you've got to learn to stand on your own, if you really want help with the ice."

"R-right," Twilight stammered, barely nodding her head in agreement. "Right... I mean, my hooves aren't even making a dent, are they?" She smiled as her hooves scuffled behind her frantically, in an attempt to firmly plant themselves into the ice.

Breathing out, Twilight withdrew one of her hooves from Rainbow's back for a quick moment, skating up beside her with a timid smile. "If it's all the same to you though," she said, placing one of her forehooves back, this time around Rainbow's shoulders, being wary of the blade. "I'd like to keep one of my hooves around you—for prosperity." Rainbow looked at her coyly, Twilight returning her own teasing smile. "I mean, I don't have wings like you do to keep balance with."

Rainbow blinked, looking over her shoulder at her wings, outstretched at her sides.

Her cheeks immediately reddened.

"R-right..." She chuckled and glanced on ahead. "W-well, if it's all the same to you, I'd like to keep a hoof around you too—for, er, well.." Rainbow thought about it, then shrugged and smiled slyly. "Because you're cute, that's why."

"Aw, look at you," Twilight teased. "Being charming, awkward and bashful—but mostly charming."

Her eyelids lowered, and she nuzzled her, Rainbow's blush deepening. "That's just the way I like you."

Rainbow swallowed hard as Twilight drew her muzzle away, now leaving her with no choice but to rely on her wings as she pushed herself and Twilight forward across the icy river with ease.

Day 210

"Kingdoms rise, kingdoms fall..."

Rainbow dramatically wept, leaning her head back as she held a foreleg over her eyes. "Such was the tragic tale of Princess Twilight Sparkle's, whose was dealt a devastating defeat by the Solar Empire of the Celestial Regime..."

"I... think you're being a little melodramatic here, Sweetie," Twilight remarked, standing beside her and watching her with an humored smile.

Rainbow turned to her appalled, letting out an exaggerated gasp as she pretended to take offense. "Twilight, please... This was our kingdom, our castle! Show a little respect for our fallen snowponies."

Twilight pursed her lips, raising an eyebrow as she turned her gaze away dryly, to that of the citizens and guards they had expertly crafted to stand at attention around their melting snow castle... now reduced to lumpy piles of snow with drooping carrots, and pieces of coal.

Their castle that once stood proud, now looked like melting ice cream among the melting snow and puddles of water... the familiar green grass once more poking on through.

She gave her eyes a roll, sighing briefly before deciding she'd play along.

"Oh, however will we cope?" She draping a foreleg over her forehead, and fell as if lightheaded, onto her girlfriend's back. She pouted her lips, peering up hopelessly at the mid-morning sun. "We'll have no choice but to... surrender our land, and... and all of our fine art will be seized, and...!" She gasped in horrid realization. "We will be assimilated into Canterlot society! We will be forced into being normal, a-and wearing fancy clothes, and... and attending snooty banquets!" She waved her forelegs dramatically about. "The horror! The absolute horro—!"

Rainbow burst out laughing, cutting her off... and leaving her more dumbstruck than anything.

"And... and you said that I was the one be... being melodramatic?" Rainbow asked between bouts of boisterous laughter, looking back at her all the while.

Twilight met her gaze, growing a little indignant. "I was only being dramatic because of you, Rainbow," she argued, Rainbow continuing to laugh softly as she climbed off of her back.

"Well, either way..." Rainbow wiped a pretend tear from her eye before looking on solemnly, a few last chuckles passing her lips. "I think I'm seriously going to miss this place..."

"Me too... Hey, at least we'll always have the memories... and I suppose there's always next year!" She leaned in, holding a hoof over her mouth. "Between you and me, I've already drawn up several schematics in my head, mapping the entire interior and courtyard—not to mention the tower spires, and thirteen different floors I have planned!"

She finished with a wide grin, looking at Rainbow with sparkles in her eyes.

Rainbow stared back at her blankly.

Thirteen... different... floors...?

She silently gulped, already beginning to feel her hooves go cold at the dreadful thought.

H-how capable does she think I am?!

Day 213

Rain trickled through Rainbow's fur, dripping from both her face and mane as she flew into the storm head on... facing the thunderstorm that brewed over the skies surrounding their tower home.

The beads of rain battered her body, but she kept going, bursting through the layer of storm clouds... and into the warming embrace of the sun.

She grinned, flinging her sopping mane from her face and relinquishing in the sunlight for but a moment longer, before swerving... and diving back towards the storm.

Twilight looked on intently from the road below, umbrella stretched out over her, and stopwatch beside her.

She bit her lip anxiously in anticipation of the outcome... praying to Celestia that this time her girlfriend would break the record she had set for herself.

"Come on, Rainbow..."

Rainbow tore through the clouds, taking out two at a time with her forelegs out by her sides, and a third with a swift butt of her head.

Sunlight began pouring through the multiple lanes she created, causing Twilight to squint as some of it shined down upon her.

She chopped the final cloud into water vapor with a mighty cry, then headed back to the ground, touching down and... soaking wet.

She softly caught her breath as she turned her gaze towards her girlfriend... silently telling her everything that she wanted to know.

Twilight looked back at her with a sorry look.

"...Ten point eighty—"

"Darn it!"

Rainbow kicked her foreleg in frustration, scuffing it across the pavement. "This was a bigger storm and everything, too..."

Rainbow... Twilight's brow creased in concern for her fiancée, and she hesitated before asking, "Why... is this record so important to you, Rainbow?"

Rainbow sighed out, grumbling, "I wish I knew..." Her shoulders slumped, her brow furrowing in contemplation. "Something in me just... strives to achieve this."

"Something in you?" Twilight repeated, questioningly.

"Yeah," she lamented, struggling to articulate what she was feeling. "Like... some part of me, deep down... wants to just... clear the sky in ten seconds flat..." She shrugged hopelessly. "A part of me that I don't even remember..."

Twilight nodded softly. "You did mention the other day how you had this... feeling... that you were always a natural born flyer. Top of your class."

Rainbow peered up at her with a halfhearted smile. "I'm pretty sure I was joking there, Twi..."

"Maybe you were," Twilight agreed. "But... that doesn't mean you weren't a great flyer. As much as you are prone to crashing," she added teasingly.

"Ha ha, Twi."

Rainbow's gaze sunk disparagingly.

"S-seriously though, Rainbow..." Twilight's expression softened, her lips forming a kind smile. "Maybe these are more than just feelings... Maybe these are clues to who you used to be. Maybe... maybe achieving this record of yours will help you to reclaim your old identity!"

Rainbow looked back at her in surprise, a small, hopeful smile now tugging at her lips.

"You... y-you think?"

Twilight nodded confidently. "I do," she replied, stepping forward, and taking a hoof of her girlfriend's in her own. "I believe this will help you to reclaim your memories, and..."

She leaned forward, lowering her eyelids as she brought her face forward, brushing the fur of her cheek lovingly against Rainbow's.

"I'll be here to help you every step of the way..."

Day 214

Rainbow checked the clock at the train station for the umpteenth time, standing on the platform by the train tracks. She frowned as she tapped a hoof impatiently, wondering what was keeping them.

I mean, Ponyville isn't that far away... She sighed as her gaze sunk, her fears and doubts beginning to take hold of her thoughts. Is it possible that they forgot about me, or... or don't care abou—?

The train platform began rumbling beneath her hooves, a train whistle alerting her to the presence of an incoming train... as if in response to her disparaging thoughts.

Her spirits slowly started to lift, a small, hopeful smile gracing her lips. Could it be...?

The train chugged into the station before stopping completely, the doors sliding open and ponies from Ponyville filed on out past her. Some of them looked familiar as they too seemed to recognize her, and turned to look the other way.

Rainbow however, remained undeterred, standing on the tips of her hooves to see over the flood of incoming ponies for a couple of pink manes.

Her face lit up upon seeing one pony in particular, with a butterscotch coat, and flowing pink mane, step out onto the platform. Fluttershy, she thought, her heart swelling in excitement. She took a step forward, when she froze... a scared look replacing her smile.

"Dashie!"

Oh no. She braced herself a second before being tackled by a pink blur, the two of them tumbling out into the street. The small clouds of dust around her settled, and she looked up in a daze as her vision came into focus.

A wide smile greeted her, belonging to an energized and ecstatic pink pony, standing in a peculiar pronking stance on top of her stomach.

"Hi Dashie!" she greeted cheerfully.

Rainbow stared back at her with a bemused smile. "H-hey, Pinks. It's, uh, good to see you again." A few seconds passed as she hid her discomfort, forcing a small grin up at Pinkie. "Um, do you think maybe you could get off of me please?"

"Hm?" Pinkie glanced down at her hooves. "Oh, no problemo, Dashie!"

She bounced into the air, coming back down beside her as Rainbow sucked in a quick, much-needed breath before gazing wearily to her left, where her friend now stood.

"Pinkie... remember what I said about the name Dashie?"

Pinkie grinned. "Nope!"

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she sat up. She rubbed the back of her neck and glanced up, her brow lifting at the sight of another pony standing meekly a few feet ahead of her.

She cocked her head to the side of her pink friend, and smiled invitingly. "Hey, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy rubbed her hoof along her other foreleg before replying in a voice so soft, "Hi, Dash."

"Sorry this visit has been a long time coming, I just, well..." Rainbow's shoulders deflated, and she smiled apologetically.

"Aw, it's okay, Dashie." Pinkie poked her head between the two of them. "We're sure you've just been caught up doing other things. With other ponies." She gave Rainbow a suggestive look.

Rainbow stared back dumbfounded, however.

Until the implication hit her anyway.

"Oh! Twi, right... Yeah, we, uh... have been sort of busy lately I guess, planning our future and whatnot..." She smiled fondly at the thought for a long moment before something else occurred to her, and she turned hastily towards Fluttershy.

"I'm sorry, Flutters. You have no idea who Twi is, do you? She's—"

"She's your special somepony... Isn't she, Rainbow?"

Rainbow blinked, stupefied. "Am I that obvious?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "Goodness no, I—!"

"I-it's okay, Fluttershy." Rainbow raised a hoof assuredly. "I'm easy to read, I know. And hay... as of recently, we're no longer just special someponies."

Rainbow's words caused Fluttershy's brow to raise, and for an alarm to go off inside Pinkie's head. She gasped, springing into the air. "Oh my gosh, you guys have to let me plan your wedding!"

Rainbow smiled, chuckling lightheartedly. "We'll see, Pinkie... we'll see."

"So how was Winter Wrap Up for you guys?" Rainbow asked, looking between her two friends as both she and Fluttershy walked—and Pinkie pronked—down a bustling street within the market district.

"Um, only nothing short of fantasti-mazing!" Pinkie replied, exclaiming the last bit in a sing-songy voice.

Rainbow chuckled at that. "That awesome, huh?"

"Though... there were a fair share of, um, hiccups," Fluttershy noted, grabbing her attention.

"Hiccups?" she asked.

"Oh, right..." Pinkie remembered, thinking back. "Like Ditsy flying West, when she was supposed to go South—to bring the birds back so they can roost, you know?"

Ponies do that sort of thing? Rainbow looked at her in surprise. I thought they flew back on their own? "Um..." She shrugged off the thought, and put on a nonchalant front. "Yeah, totally. Of course I remember that small detail." She grinned between the two. "Sorry, it's... been a while since I was a part of a Winter Wrap Up in Ponyville, and I was mostly seated on the ground for this one—save for me pushing around a cloud here and there."

"Well, there's always next year!" Pinkie proposed, Rainbow turning towards her. "Maybe you could even join ours next year. The townsfolk would undoubtedly appreciate it."

"Yeah," Rainbow scoffed, softly chuckling. "Maybe they'd finally start to warm up to me..."

Both her friends' ears lowered, Fluttershy peering over at her with a sorry expression... Pinkie frowning softly as her eyes averted.

"B-but, uh... hey!" Rainbow exclaimed, picking up on the awkward silence between them, and quickly changing the topic. "You mentioned Ditsy. How's that pony doing?" She turned to look back at Pinkie worriedly. "Has she made any friends? 'Cause when I last saw her, she seemed kind of down..."

Pinkie Pie blinked, lifting her head and meeting her friend's curious stare. "Oh, well..." A smile softly grew, putting her friend's mind at ease. "She seems to have made a friend in Doc. He's an inventor of all things sciency!"

"A scientist?" Rainbow repeated, taken aback. She looked on ahead, quietly musing, "Imagine that..."

"And now, introducing... Buffalo Bull's Amazing Wild West Show!"

The three friends sat together, idly watching the traveling rodeo after having discovered it while discussing things they could do to pass the time.

Pinkie in particular, held a stack of dishes a mile high in her hooves, and was eagerly stuffing her face full of sweets uncommon to that of Canterlot and Ponyville.

Rainbow watched her in stunned silence.

How come every time she comes to Canterlot, she wondered, with a bemused smile, she goes for the food...?

"Oh, wow..." Fluttershy uttered under her breath.

"What?" Rainbow asked, turning to her. "Did I miss something?"

"Oh, uhm... n-no. It's just... breathtaking. The finesse, and athleticism... I-it reminds me of that mare who works the apple orchards... Applejack."

"Ah, right..." Rainbow nodded solemnly. "Applejack..." She returned to snacking on the container of kettle corn she held in her hooves.

"I know you knew her better than I do," Fluttershy continued, "but... I still walk her dog Winona for her, sometimes..."

Rainbow looked back up, smiling over at her. "Well, you are good with animals."

"Thanks to you, I suppose..." Fluttershy gazed down at her hooves, thoughtfully.

I helped her...? Rainbow thought in slight surprise. "Er..." She hurried to think up a quick response. "I, uh... Y-yeah. Guess you just... needed a push in the right direction."

Fluttershy nodded barely, and soon the two had fallen into an awkward silence.

Rainbow returned to munching on her kettle corn.

Fluttershy meanwhile, pursed her lips as she debated saying something, feeling as though the growing silence was her fault.

"I'm sorry. This... isn't awkward for you... is it?" she asked worriedly, turning again to face her. "I... know you and Applejack never quite got off on the right hoof, but..."

Rainbow swallowed quickly before glancing up at her friend assuredly. "No no," she insisted. "It... It's okay; you can mention anypony you want, I mean... it is what it is."

Fluttershy stared at her friend for a moment longer, before nodding and sighing in relief. "Okay," she replied in her soft, whispery voice, looking back ahead. "I just..." She bit her bottom lip, turning again, and placing a hoof of hers on her friend's foreleg. "Things will get better in time, Dash. I, I mean, I... I'm no stranger to how ponies see you, but they don't know the pony I do, and... I wish I could just... force them to see you in a different light." She shrugged dishearteningly, adding, "If I was a different pony, that is, I mean... I could never force a pony to change—it would no doubt offend them. Hay, I... can't even bring myself to be strict with Zephyr..."

Rainbow cocked her head. "Zephyr?"

"Oh, come to think of it... he's going to be pretty disappointed to hear that you're already smitten with somepony..."

Why? Rainbow frowned as her mind slipped into thought. Did I have feelings for this... Zephyr? Was I dating him before I lost my memories?

"It's okay, though." Fluttershy's voice snapped her from her thoughts. "You never seemed to reciprocate his, uhm... feelings."

A small wave of relief washed over Rainbow. Whew... she thought with a smile.

"Yeah... we both used to find him so frustrating, didn't we?" Fluttershy remarked, noticing her friend's smile. "I could never dislike him though, I mean... he's my brother, so..."

Brother? Rainbow thought, taken aback. Well what do you know...

"In either case... my voice will never be heard above the majority of ponies, but... I just hope the ponies of Ponyville learn to one day forgive you because really, you were never the pony they still make you out to be, and really it just.. makes me so peeved, I just...!" Her hooves clenched. "I just..." Her shoulders slumped, Her anger depleting.

Her gaze fell in frustration.

Rainbow's eyes all the while were wide. Fluttershy... She swallowed hard, then smiled gently, setting a hoof of hers over Fluttershy's. "Hey... chin up, pal. You're kind, alright? Probably the kindest pony I know... and that's nothing to be ashamed of, because it's a rare thing. Twi says it's like common sense. A lot of ponies just don't seem to be able to... rationalize, or... respect one another anymore. They don't see us as equals, with feelings and minds of our own, like... I get it; I was just like that. I was a bully—"

Fluttershy looked up at her in shock. "You were never a bully, Dash—!"

"I got a kick outta messing with ponies, didn't I? Because I couldn't find the joy in the things made to entertain us? Instead, no," Rainbow murmured bitterly, "ponies were toys to me, weren't they? I..." Her voice quivered, and she tore her eyes away from her friend. "I pushed you around, didn't I?"

Fluttershy shook her head, insistent. "No, never!"

Rainbow's ears perked up, and she lifted her now hopeful gaze.

"Er, well..."

Rainbow's ear flopped back down.

"Maybe you did pull a few nasty pranks—" Pinkie's ears twitched at the remark.

She finished scarfing down the last of her peach crisp, and cut in, "I always told her it wasn't a smart idea."

The two turned to deadpan at their friend, Pinkie shrugging her shoulders. "Just saying."

She went back to stuffing her face, Rainbow and Fluttershy returning to their conversation.

"B-but I know you never meant anything by them, Dash. Deep down, I knew you had a heart, you were just... protective of it." Fluttershy shrugged. "Protective of who got to see the real you... And," she stressed the last bit, "any cruel thing you did... was because of the things we went through as children. I became shier, and you became, well..."

"A little rough around the edges?" Rainbow guessed, brandishing a slight smile. "Well, be that as it may..." She averted her gaze away. "That doesn't stop them from judging us. They don't care what we've been through, only that I was a jerk, and jerks are never forgiven. Hay, why should they be? They betray our trust, and hurt who we are."

"But you're not a 'jerk' anymore, Dash," Fluttershy insisted, then backpedaled. "N-not that you ever were, I was just—"

Rainbow shook her head.

"Doesn't matter," she argued plainly. "Once a jerk, always a jerk."

Fluttershy gazed down at her hooves, thinking maybe that her friend was right.

"Ponies can be so stubborn sometimes," she murmured.

Rainbow shrugged indifferently. "They're just being protective—but hay, I can't complain. I'm stubborn, and protective too. You said it yourself."

"Y-yes, but... Oh, if I didn't know you so well, I'd say you should just... forget about trying to win everypony over."

Rainbow looked up at her, surprised that her friend would even suggest such a thing.

"You have a new life, you... you live here now," Fluttershy continued, then nodded begrudgingly. "You're not a quitter though, I know."

She gazed back down at her hooves, Rainbow shrugging once more.

"I just... want everypony to see the real me," she said simply.

"I know you do, Rainbow Dash."

A moment of silence passed between them.

"Ah, don't worry, Flutters," Rainbow said, putting on a grin, and giving her friend a friendly tap on the foreleg. "We all just... gotta keep moving forward. It's what I try and tell myself. Don't dwell too much on the negative... and have confidence that everything will work itself out in the end."

"Oh, well..." Fluttershy shrunk back, her face hiding behind her mane as she played with a bit of her mane, twirling it around the tip of her hoof. "You know I've never been very confident..."

"I changed for the better, Fluttershy. Maybe someday... you will too."

Fluttershy's hoof froze, and she looked back at her, hopeful. "You think?"

Rainbow nodded, looking on ahead. "Who knows what the future has in store for us," she mused.

The show soon fizzled to a close, as did the crux of their hushed conversation.

As other ponies got up to leave, Rainbow arched her back, stretching out her forelegs before dropping them lazily at her sides, letting out a sigh of contentment.

"Alright, well... the day's still young. What's say we hit up the arcade, play some Gauntlet..."

Fluttershy averted her gaze away in a moment of uncertainty.

"Or," Rainbow offered, picking up on her friend's hesitation, "me and Pinkie can play Gauntlet instead."

"Oh, sure! I've always loved the dungeon siege, Ogres and Oubliettes type of games." remarked Pinkie, with a mouthful.

Rainbow turned to her with a bemused smile. "Yeah, I... sort of got into them myself lately."

She turned back to Fluttershy. "We could play some Bubble Bobble, or... hay, there's a lot of games to pick from!"

Fluttershy softly shook her head, politely insisting, "Today's all about you, Rainbow Dash. I'm up for whatever, but... thanks for thinking of me."

Rainbow smiled back at her.

"Anytime."

They got up from their seats in the park grass, Pinkie filling an empty wastebasket to the brim with empty containers.

"Where does she put it all?" Rainbow murmured as she stared in astonishment.

"I never knew you to be all that into games, Rainbow," Fluttershy mentioned, capturing her friend's attention. "I mean, I knew you liked them, I just... thought you'd want to do something more... athletically-inclined—l-like, um... buckball."

Rainbow stared back at her with a mystified look. "Buck... ball?" she uttered, then shook the thought from her head. "Yeah, well... y-you know... That was just the old me looking for attention."

She pumped her hoof by her side in determination, bearing a confident grin.

"I thought I'd try training my brain for a change."

Rainbow crept quietly into her bedroom, taking into consideration her fiancée who was already under the covers, her back to her.

She slipped into their bed, sinking further down until warm and snug, sighing out softly in contentment.

"Mm... Rainbow?"

Rainbow's eyes flew open, her heart skipping a beat. "T-Twi? You're awake?"

"I'm a light sleeper, Rainbow," Twilight murmured as she stirred awake, "you know that."

She rolled over to face her girlfriend, greeting her with a slight smile.

"R-right, sorry," Rainbow apologized. "My mind is still sorta hung up on the day I had."

"And what kind of day did you have?"

"We caught the tail end of a country show, and played a bunch of different games at the arcade—"

Twilight pointed a sudden hoof into her chest. "You didn't spend all day at the arcade, did you?" she chastised.

"N-no, no, I..." Rainbow swallowed hard, blinking a couple times before clarifying, "We did other things too, like..." She glanced toward the ceiling and mumbled sheepishly, "Talk, and catch up... see the sights... Lame, I know."

Twilight pursed her lips in response.

"Not entirely," she replied, then shook her head... smiling softly. "They're friends of yours that you haven't seen in months, Rainbow. There's no shame in shooting the breeze with them, or showing them what this city has to offer. Hay, if you ever take me to see Ponyville..." She moved in to nuzzle the side of her face. "I'd love to just walk around with you... and take in all there is to see."

"I'll... keep that in mind, Twi."

Rainbow lovingly nuzzled her back.

"So what was your day like?" she asked as she did.

Twilight averted her eyes, shrugging her shoulders.

"Eh."

"Eh?"

Rainbow leaned back, looking at her skeptically. "What do you mean, eh?"

"I spent the day with Spike and Moon Dancer. We visited a couple of different bookstores, saw a movie, ate dinner, and maybe spoiled Spike a little... but other than that, it wasn't really all that eventful."

Sounds eventful, mused Rainbow, then shook the thought from her head. "You know you always could have hung out with me and the girls."

"I know I could have, but... I really wanted you to have time to yourself, you know? Besides..." Twilight closed her eyes, smiling contently as she rested her head on her girlfriend's chest... wrapping her hooves around her like she were hugging a pillow. "You and I will be spending this entire weekend together."

A figurative light bulb went off over Rainbow's head as Twilight herself got comfortable.

"That's right..." she softly uttered in realization, the fact having slipped her mind. I had almost forgot...

Her face broke out into a wide grin.

"Here's to Do Con!"

Day 216

Spike watched his two friends from their bedroom entrance with a skeptical look. "So you guys are seriously going to the convention dressed in those costumes?"

"Cosplay, Spike," Twilight corrected. "These are higher quality than your typical Nightmare Night costumes."

Twilight's tongue poked out from between her lips in concentration as she levitated the gold-colored collar necklace over her head, giving it a brief adjustment so that it sat comfortably around her neck. The surfaces of the crown-shaped bracelets caught glimmers of sunlight and reflected across the room as she strapped one to each of her forelegs.

The final piece before she was ready, was a single, round earring she looped around her right ear.

"I'm all for the idea of dressing up as characters you admire, Twilight. I just... Don't you think you sort of overdid it?"

Twilight cocked her head, feeling a few butterflies begin to form internally. "What... do you mean, Spike?"

"I mean..." He pointed a claw at her tail, which had been braided, and weaved through a couple of paper towel tubes painted blue. At the end was one of his dish gloves, inflated and painted blue as well, held securely to the tube by a third bracelet. "And also..." He lifted a claw to his own face as he cracked a toothy grin, in reference to the painted fangs on her lips.

Twilight's ears flopped a little, and she blushed, her face adorning a sheepish smile.

"And don't even get me started on those floppy hands and paws that you're wearing."

"Come on, Spike... She looks awesome."

Rainbow adjusted the pith helmet on her head as she stepped up beside her girlfriend, wearing nothing more than a green safari shirt, with the sleeves rolled up, and a pair of compass decals on her flanks.

"It'll be worth it, Spike. She looks a lot like Ahuizotl, and is totally going to be the center of attention! I mean, it's not every year you see an Ahuizotl cosplayer. Er, probably." Rainbow grinned, throwing a foreleg around Twilight's shoulders, pulling her closer. "We're totally gonna win the cosplay contest, aren't we, Twi?"

She looked over at her excitedly, Twilight giving her a coy look in return.

"We'll see, Rainbow, because these are fans we'll be up against. I expect that a lot of them will have put so much time and effort into their costumes too."

"Yeeaah, okay, I suppose... but they're not us."

Twilight's lips formed a sly smirk at her remark.

"Um, one more thing, guys," Spike spoke up, lifting a claw in thought. "The convention's a long ways away, right? Shouldn't you wait until you get there to get dressed up? I mean, after the fuss you've made in the past—"

"Should be left in the past, Spike. I'm a changed mare! Though..." Twilight shrunk back, thinking it over. "It is embarrassing going out like this... Luckily the convention is being held in Canterlot Castle this year."

Spike stared back at her in disbelief. "Seriously?"

"Mhm." Twilight nodded simply.

His brow creased. "Why?"

Twilight froze. Why? she thought, wondering about it herself. "W-well... why not, Spike?" she replied. "I mean, Canterlot is like, the birthplace of Daring Do. The movie premiered here, the books are printed here..."

"Speaking of the film," Rainbow cut in, "can you believe that Chestnut Magnifico is going to be there?"

"Oh we just have to get a picture with her!" gushed Twilight.

"Not to mention her autograph!"

"Well, naturally."

"Guys..." Spike deadpanned. "I'm still here."

Twilight and Rainbow blinked, then broke out in soft laughter.

"S-sorry, Spike, but... but hay—it's not like you've never geeked out before yourself."

Spike crossed his arms, cracking a slight smile of his own. "Fair enough."

"So what do you say we get going?" Twilight suggested to Rainbow, before glancing up at their bedroom clock. "Our ride should be here any minute."

"Ride?" Spike asked, looking down at them questioningly.

"We're friends of the princesses, Spike," explained Rainbow with a growing grin.

"We travel in style!"

"This is so awesome!"

Twilight held out her autographed picture before her, a giddy smile plastered on her lips as she suspended it with her magic.

Rainbow tucked hers under her wing before turning her attention back to her girlfriend, playfully elbowing her side. "Told you it would be!"

Their attention soon shifted to a couple conventioneers as they wandered up to them.

"Excuse us. We just love your costumes, and were wondering if we could trouble you for a picture?"

Rainbow exchanged a quick look with Twilight before they each responded with an enthusiastic nod.

"Totally!"

They struck poses—Rainbow's being cool, and Twilight's imposing as she crouched forward. The flash went off, and the two ponies nodded, thanking them once more before trotting off.

Twilight's eyes sparkled all the while in awe.

"They love us—! Er, well... they love our costumes, b-but still!"

"See?" Rainbow teased. "Who was right all along?"

Twilight smiled and rolled her eyes as she glanced away, her and Rainbow continuing through the vendor's alley... when her eyes spotted something that made her gasp.

She held out a foreleg in front of Rainbow, stopping her where she stood.

"Oh my gosh... Is that the Limited Edition Koumabukiya statue of Daring wielding all three Flankara Relics atop Mount Vehoovius? That was a Manhatten Do Con exclusive!"

Rainbow's brow creased, looking over at what had caught her girlfriend's attention, then raised an eyebrow as she turned back to her dubiously.

"Twi... you're beginning to sound like Moon Dancer. How do you even know that's an exclusive?"

"Hm? No, it... says so on the corner of the box," she explained plainly, pointing to the sticker on the upper corner of the box.

"Ah."

"It's sooo finely detailed..." murmured Twilight, mesmerized by its craftsmanship. "Excuse me for a moment, Rainbow." She grinned as she excused herself, sheepishly backing away, before turning... Rainbow watching with a soft, humored smile as her fiancée cantered on over to the salespony.

"Excuse me? Rainbow Dash?"

Rainbow jumped slightly, turning in surprise at the sound of her name being said, Who—?

"I never thought I'd see you at a convention," the mystery mare continued, dressed from head to hoof in a similar-to-her-own Daring Do costume.

Whoever it was... she reminded her somewhat of Pinkie Pie.

"I'm Berryshine," the pony greeted. "From Ponyville. You remember me, don't you?"

Rainbow's lips parted to reveal a nervous grin. "H-how could I forget?"

She silently gulped, her eyes darting from left to right.

"I didn't know you were into Daring Do!" Berryshine continued on, oblivious to her distress. "Me personally, I love it almost as much as I love cider."

She winked, cuing Rainbow to smile knowingly. "I hear that. Seriously though, my girlfriend's more into it than I am."

"She's the Ahuizotl cosplayer, isn't she?" Berryshine gave Rainbow a sideways glance before nudging her side. "Nice catch."

"Um, thanks..." Rainbow murmured, returning the glance for a second before furrowing her brow in thought, and bringing a hoof to rub the back of her neck anxiously. "Listen, uh... if you don't mind me saying this, Berryshine... Why are you being so nice to me?"

Her words piqued Berryshine's curiosity as she turned to face the pegasus. "What do you mean by that?"

Rainbow sighed. "I mean... You said it yourself: you're from Ponyville. You used to know me. so..." Her ears flopped as she looked to the ground. "I figured you'd want nothing to do with me..."

Berryshine stared back at her vacantly for a long moment.

"Oooohhh!" she finally replied, drawing out her realization of just what her fellow conventioneer was referring to. "Right, well..." She laughed meekly. "If you were still your egocentric, self-centered, grouchy self... Then yeah, I wouldn't."

Rainbow's expression saddened even further.

"But you're like, totally unrecognizable now!" Berryshine continued, giving Rainbow a playful tap on the shoulder.

Rainbow lifted her head, taken aback... her eyes slowly widening.

"I can tell just from looking at you, that you're somepony who'd be a blast to hang out with—and not just because you're into something that I'm into. You seem kinder, more considerate... You haven't cut me off once this entire time—a-and just look at...!"

She held out her foreleg towards Twilight, her name on the tip of her tongue.

Rainbow deadpanned. "Twilight."

"Twilight!" Berryshine exclaimed, "She's practically glowing she's so happy!"

Rainbow blinked, staring blankly at Berryshine, then back at Twilight.

"I'd do anything to make her happy, Berry. Really, you... have her to thank for turning my life around."

It was now Berryshine's turn to be dumbstruck as she lifted her brow back at Rainbow.

"Really...?"

"Well..." Rainbow thought it over, looking back at her with a timid grin. "She played a part."

"Huh."

Berryshine nodded slowly, slipping into silence as Twilight turned from the table with a satisfied look.

"Alright, it'll be delivered in a few days from now, where it'll be paid for in full— oh, hello," greeted Twilight, taking note of the unfamiliar mare standing beside her girlfriend.

"Hi, Twilight!" exclaimed Berryshine, extending a friendly hoof. "It's nice to meet you. You look great, by the way."

"Oh, uhm..." Twilight returned the hoofshake. "Thanks, but..." She cocked her head. "Do I know you?"

"You do now!"

Rainbow smiled, shaking her head. "This is Berryshine, Twi. She's a, uh... friend, f-from Ponyville."

"Oh! Well... any friend of Rainbow's... is a potential friend of mine!"

Berryshine deadpanned. Potential?

Twilight leaned in close to her girlfriend, slyly whispering, "And here you had me thinking that you didn't have a lot of Ponyville friends."

Rainbow internally panicked, searching her mind for something to tell her. "I-I, uh..."

Berryshine frowned.

"Well..." she cut in, a feeling of awkwardness beginning to set in. The two of them turned their attention towards her, Rainbow appearing more relieved than anything as she breathed out a quick sigh of relief under her breath. "I don't want to keep you two— I just couldn't help but say 'hi' when I saw you."

"You know you're free to join us, Berryshine," remarked Twilight... Berryshine smiling appreciatively at her kind invitation.

"Thanks, but... I know I'd just end up being a third wheel."

Third wheel? wondered Twilight.

"I hope you both enjoy the rest of the con though!" She lifted her hoof back at them as she turned halfway. "Maybe we'll bump into one another again?"

"Maybe, Berry," Rainbow agreed with a slight nod, returning the wave goodbye.

Berryshine soon disappeared into the crowds of ponies, leaving the two of them to discuss where to go next.

"So," Twilight proposed, flipping through their convention pamphlet, "what do you say we hit up the Search for the Sapphire Statue? Apparently it's an event where some of the halls have been transformed into an obstacle course, and at the end of them lies an actual sapphire statue. It also just so happens to be a team exercise, and this mare just so happens to have spent some time here in this very castle when she was a filly."

"So, what you're saying is... We have the home-court advantage."

"I think?" Twilight's brow creased in worry, as she gazed over apologetically at her girlfriend. "That's sports terminology, isn't it? Sorry... That's an area of expertise I'm not quite familiar with... but I suppose it's an apt enough analogy."

Rainbow stared back at her dryly.

"Yes," she assured herself with a confident nod, "with my magic, and your speed... we just might stand a chance..." She closed the pamphlet, tucking it safety away. "It's entirely up to you though, Rainbow. What do you say?"

"I say the other teams should watch out!" She turned to Twilight with a determined grin. "'Cause when the two of us are together, there's nothing that we can't accomplish!"

Twilight held out their imitation Sapphire Statue before her eyes, the statue itself being levitated inside of a soft, orchid aura.

She smiled up at it adoringly.

The moon was in full bloom, the street lamps emitting a warm, golden glow as she walked alongside Rainbow down the late-night city street to their tower home.

The streets themselves were mostly bare—save for other conventioneers as they either walked home, or headed for the nearest hotel. The convention itself had lasted well into the night, the hustle and bustle of the daytime having come and gone.

Of course, what ponies thought of her silly costume was the last thing on her mind. No... she simply wanted to enjoy a nice stroll, with her girlfriend beside her, in the calming peace of the night. The cool springtime air worked wonders on her mood, feeling so good on her fur after the tiring day the two of them had had.

She and Rainbow would no doubt have to shower when they eventually got out of their costumes, but for the time being... that was the least of their worries.

"I can't believe they actually let us keep this..."

"Heh... I can! I mean..." Rainbow grinned, lightly elbowing her side. "Isn't it obvious? It's 'cause we were so awesome today!"

Twilight giggled at her girlfriend's optimism. "I'm pret-ty sure they just wanted it taken off their hooves, Rainbow."

Rainbow shook her head, turning back ahead triumphantly. "Yeeaah, no. You can tell yourself that all you want, Twi, but I'm gonna choose to believe it was because we're so awesome!"

Twilight rolled her eyes before leaning her head over to nuzzle her, smiling tenderly.

"Yes, Rainbow, we are. One thing is for certain though—" She drew her head back, looking back with a fond smile at her complementary saddlebag. "—and that's that we undoubtedly earned this one."

Rainbow looked back as well, softly grinning at the sight of their cosplay trophy sticking out from under the saddlebag flap.

"What'd I tell you, Twi? I knew we would."

"I saw you sweating up there on stage," teased Twilight, seeing right through her mask of bravado.

Rainbow's heartbeat skipped, her eyes widening.

"T-those overhead lights were hot, Twi, yeesh..." She averted her nervous gaze, Twilight giggling at how flustered the pegasus was becoming.

"Okay, okay... Well, in either case... today was truly wonderful." She pressed her lips to her girlfriend's cheek, kissing it before whispering sweetly, "Thank you, Rainbow."

Rainbow snorted in amusement, her face heating up. "What, you didn't seriously think I'd leave you hanging, did you?"

"Mm mm," replied Twilight, softly giving her head a shake. "I know you wouldn't."

The two soon approached their home, coming to a stop before the front steps and shrubbery that decorated the exterior.

Both of them peered up solemnly at the winding stairway in thought.

"What kind of a day do you think Spike had?"

"Well, I guess we'll just have to ask him," Twilight supposed, before she then backpedaled. "If he's even home. We never did ask him, did we? I mean, he might be with Moon Dancer for all we know."

"Yeah..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck anxiously. "We should probably keep better track of stuff like that. Though, then again, he is a growing dragon..."

Twilight nodded. "Mm hm. Sort of makes me realize that he won't be with us forever, I mean... we're going to be married soon! Spike says he'll be there for us, but, well... can't count on him forever, I suppose..."

"Aw, come on, Twi... give a mare some credit, I mean... I can provide for the both of us!"

"Really?" asked Twilight, genuinely surprised. "You know how to cook?"

"Er, w-well I..." She gulped, shrinking back. "Know how to order takeout."

Twilight rolled her eyes, a humored smile on her lips as she nodded her head forward. "Come on, featherbrain... Let's get out of these costumes and makeup, and relax a little."

"Sounds good to me!" Rainbow nodded enthusiastically, following after her fiancée.

"You know... Speaking of our wedding..." Twilight looked over at her to make sure of something important. "Our wedding preparations officially start next week. We'll be meeting with the girls, and my parents will be there too, and... ever since I mentioned my engagement to them, they, uhm... really want to talk with you. You, um... haven't forgotten, have you, Rainbow?" she asked, looking to her with a hopeful expression.

Er... Rainbow grinned back at her nervously. "H-how could I forget?"

"It'll be okay though, Rainbow. You've met them before, and I'm pretty sure they like you! I mean, hay... My mom already approves of me dating you, and I'm certain that Dad just wants to make sure that you're the right pony for me. I mean, I already know you are, but... ah, well... You know how dads ar—"

She caught herself, her eyes widening in embarrassment, before sheepishly turning towards her girlfriend, her ears flopping ashamedly. "S-sorry..."

She smiled apologetically, Rainbow looking off as she nodded slightly. "Mhm."

An awkward moment passed between them in silence.

"So, ah..." Twilight cleared her throat, returning to the topic at hoof. "You'll be alright, won't you?"

"Heh..." Rainbow turned back to her, putting on a brave face. "You know me, Twi. Of course I will!"

Twilight nodded happily, content with her answer as she cantered on ahead... leaving Rainbow to stew over the fact.

She looked off, breathing out shakily.

Oh boy...

Day 221

"So your friend really slapped you, Lyra?"

"It was just with her tail, girls. It stung more knowing she was mad at me."

"But you're all good now, right?" Minuette asked.

"She came around eventually. We were always too good of friends to not want to work things out."

Lemon wriggled her eyebrows. "And you're still just friends, eh?"

Lyra turned red, and smiled bashfully. "I don't know what you're talking about, Lemon." A sheepish laugh followed suit.

"Well," Twinkleshine said, taking charge of the conversation, "in either case... One thing's for certain, and that's that one of our best friends—"

"Girls..." Twilight insisted, raising a hoof partway. "Please... it's no big—"

"Is getting married! And thanks to Moon Dancer, we're finally all together to make it happen!"

The others all nodded as they sat seated around a table at Doughnut Joe's, each with a cupcake of their own.

"I must admit," she went on to say, "when the two of you hooked up after like, a week, well... we doubted it would last."

"I mean, you're like, total opposites!" Minuette added.

"They're more alike than you know, girls," Moon Dancer murmured, glancing at them sourly from the corner of her eye.

"Thanks, Moon Dancer, but... it's alright. I had doubts myself, all those months ago..." Twilight gazed down solemnly, into the pages of her open book on wedding planning. "Regardless, I'd like to thank all of you for being here today." She looked to each of them with a thankful smile. "It truly means a lot, since this is the first big step in legitimizing our relationship. I mean, I've been planning this for months, but haven't actually made any serious headway until now."

"Well, that's why we're here!" Lemon exclaimed.

"Aaaand... let me just add that this is also the first time we've all been together since school," Moon Dancer noted. "I think such an occasion is worth capturing."

She winked over at Spike, cluing him in.

"Oh. um..." He sat up immediately from his slouched position, head resting in his palm.

Twi's folks want to photograph every aspect of their wedding anyway, but... He grabbed the camera from the table, and readied himself to snap a pic. This one's for you, Moon.

"So, we'll get to be your bridesmaids... won't we, Twilight?" Twinkleshine asked.

"Well, I..." Twilight glanced between them, taking in the looks of eagerness on all the girls' faces. "O-of course."

Minuette clapped her front hooves together. "We get to be bridesmaids!"

The others shared in her excitement as Moon Dancer tried desperately to grab their attention.

"Girls, Spike's about to take our picture and you have frosting on your muzzles... and Twilight, you—!"

A bright flash went off, shutting her up.

She blinked, slowly turning towards Spike, who bore a sorry smile on his face.

"It ah, went off quicker than I thought it would. I'm uh, not sure if we can do a do over, I mean... they're trying to save film, so..."

Moon Dancer shrugged it off, calling back to him, "It's okay, Spike."

Twilight's ear twitched, and she gazed up from her book in confusion.

"Was Spike taking our picture? I'm sorry, I didn't—" Her ears flopped ashamedly, and she averted her eyes.

Moon Dancer was quick to react, reaching out to her, and setting a hoof over her shoulder reassuringly.

"It's no biggie. Twilight. The memory matters more than the picture itself, anyway."

"I still feel bad, Moon Dancer."

Moon Dancer smiled. "Seriously, it—"

"How would you like to be my maid of honor?"

Everypony at the table stopped chitchatting, turning to look at the two of them.

Moon Dancer's open jaw snapped shut, and she pushed her glasses back up her muzzle. "You're serious."

Twilight smiled kindly, setting her book down before holding out her foreleg, inviting her in for a hug. "I can't think of anypony better suited."

"Maaan..." Minuette's gaze turned sour. "I'm jealous..."

"Don't be so ungrateful, Minuette," Twinkleshine scolded, lightly shoving her friend's shoulder.

"I won't let you down, Twilight." promised Moon Dancer, as she pulled away. "So, um... what were you reading earlier that had you so engrossed, anyway?"

"Not engrossed, Moon Dancer—frustrated. I mean, this guide on weddings goes on about both bachelor and bachelorette parties—this was clearly written for heterosexual couples, but... why would I ever want to celebrate not being married? It's not like marrying one another is going to hold either one of us down."

"Well, I... think it's more of a 'last night of freedom before kids come along' sort of thing."

"Oh, well... if that's the case, Rainbow and I don't need to worry."

"Really?" Twinkleshine pressed. "The two of you wouldn't consider adoption?"

Her words struck her hard... leaving her speechless for a moment.

"I, uh... h-hadn't considered that, Twinkleshine. To be honest, that's... certainly a possibility."

Their faces lit up briefly before Twilight held up a hoof, stopping the three of them before they got too giddy.

"I'm not saying we will though!" she blurted forth, feeling her ears and face begin to get a little hot. "I mean..." She gazed down at the table, her voice softening. "If the situation ever arose... we'd think about it. Really though, we're... just too young to be parents, a-and I'm still looking after Spike..."

A long moment passed before any of them spoke up again.

"So... no parties before the ceremony then. How about after?" Minuette asked.

Twilight's head perked right back up. "Oh, definitely after. Spike wanted to host anyway, and plus Rainbow and I talked about having one of her friends put the whole thing together. She's this huge party planner from Ponyville."

"Pinkie Pie?"

Twilight lifted her brow. "You know her?"

"Mhm!" Minuette nodded. "Totally."

"Huh... Guess the world's a smaller place than I thought."

Twinkleshine bit her lip, switching between the two of them anxiously. "We can still help!" she insisted. "Tell us everything you'd like, and we'll tell Pinkie when we see her, won't we, girls?"

The others all nodded their heads in agreement.

"Mhm!"

"Well, I... Gee, girls, I... Rainbow and I would really appreciate that."

Twinkleshine clapped her front hooves together. "Awesome! So, what colors would you like the decorations to be?"

"Hm..." Twilight brought a hoof to her chin, giving it some thought. "Well I've always liked red the most when it comes to colors..."

"Red, got it—"

"B-but really, any warm color is fine!"

Twinkleshine's smile fell, and she cocked her head as her mind retracted her earlier statement. "Oh kay..."

"Sorry." Twilight shrunk back, bearing a meek smile. "I'm persnickety, I know."

Twinkleshine shrugged it off.

"Hey, it's your wedding, Twilight; you have the right to be choosy. Now, how about food?"

"Hayburgers and horseshoe fries are fine," Twilight answered plainly, glancing up only to meet her friends'appalled faces.

"What?"

"Twilight," Lemon Hearts began with a shake of her head; "you can't serve burgers—"

"Actually," Twilight cut in, "I was thinking we'd order them, and have them delivered."

"Twilight," Minuette stated sternly. "I love burgers too, but... at a wedding? That's just tacky, Twilight."

Tacky? questioned Twilight, forming an angry pout. "You said I could afford to be choosy!"

"Well, yes, but... Argh, fine." None of this is worth getting into an argument over, Twinkleshine decided, breathing in, and then out deeply. "What about desserts, Twilight? Besides the wedding cake of course."

Twilight eased up, her expression softening. "Cookies and donuts," she answered. "Rainbow and I don't really like pie so that's out of the question."

"How about truffles?" Twinkleshine asked. "Fritters? Cobbler? Caramelized pecan bites?"

"No, nuh-uh, nope, no way."

"Chocolate, or cheese fondue?"

Twilight's expression became horrified. "Oh gosh no!"

"Twilight..." Twinkleshine slumped forward, propping her temple up by her hoof. "Think of your guests..."

"I am!"

She huffed, gazing over to where her parents and fiancée were seated at the opposite end of the restaurant. I hope Rainbow's having an easier time than I am right now...

Rainbow sat up straight, a nervous grin plastered on her face.

"Stay strong, Sweetheart," she heard Twilight call over to her, from across the restaurant.

She swallowed nervously, glancing over at Twilight for a brief second before returning to her parents. G-gee, thanks...

"My daughter seems so enamored with you, Rainbow Dash," Night Light remarked, leaning forward and holding his hooves together. "Now, we've met before, back when Twilight was never really interested in anypony, romantically or otherwise. So, what was it about you that changed that?"

"W-well I, uh... I-I guess we sorta just... had this connection straight from the get-go, Sir. We, ah, knew that we needed one another in our lives... you know? Then things only escalated from there."

"Escalated?" He raised an eyebrow.

"I-in that we started going on dates, growing closer... that sort of stuff. I mean, it, it's not like we've been having sex or anything!" she added with an awkward laugh.

Twilight's parents deadpanned back at her.

Smooth one, Rainbow, she groaned internally.

"I'll... take your word for it," Night Light replied, moving ahead with his next question.

"What are you doing for a living nowadays, Dash?"

"Oh, Honey..." Twilight Velvet placed a hoof over his. "That shouldn't matter."

Night Light weakened at his wife's touch.

"I just want to make sure that our daughter's own fiancée has a respectable career, Dear," he tried to explain.

Twilight Velvet however, shook her head. "Need I remind you that you were working at this very restaurant when we first met?"

"I, uh..."

"I used to come in during the evenings with my typewriter, and he'd be working the tables," Velvet explained as she turned to Rainbow, Rainbow perking up intently. "That might've been something the rich and elite would scoff at, but not me, because I saw you for who you were... and not for how rich or poor you were. Remember my parents' reaction to me announcing our relationship?"

Night Light averted his eyes, ears flopping. "Don't remind me..." he grumbled.

"They said I should marry somepony wealthy... that I was making a mistake... but the only mistake would have been not following my heart." She lowered her eyelids, nuzzling the side of his neck. "And now we have two wonderful kids, and more than enough funds to last us the rest of our lives..."

She pulled back with a loving gaze. "You never really know what the pony you fall in love with will make of themselves."

Rainbow smiled warmly, nodding in agreement.

"W-well, um... I push clouds around, Mr. Light—to answer your question. I know it's not much, but it's a living... and apparently Canterlot needs ponies like me, so..."

"It's a high-paying job for that exact reason, isn't it?"

Rainbow nodded. "Yes, Sir, it is."

"And... you don't gamble it away, or anything like that, do you?"

"N-no!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "No, I, ah... deposit it all under Twi's name to help her pay for things, though... sometimes I'll buy books or movie tickets, spend some at the arcade, on gifts for my friends, or on Wonderbolts stuff..." She stopped herself, realizing how much she was rattling off. "R-really though, I spend a lot of it on spoiling your daughter—er... you're okay with that... right?"

She rubbed the back of her neck, peering back at the two of them with a meek smile.

Twilight Velvet gave a gentle smile, placing her hoof over Rainbow's free one reassuringly. "We signed her up for the most prestigious magic school in the kingdom, Rainbow. We're no strangers to spoiling her, just... don't take it too far. We want her to live comfortably, but also to understand the value of hard work."

"Oh, Twi and me already understand the value of hard work, Mrs. Velvet. I mean... we both wanna be somepony important! I've already got my sights set on being a Wonderbolt, but we don't exactly expect these sort of things to just... fall into our lap."

"Well it certainly warms my heart knowing that Twilight is still aiming high," Velvet quietly mused, "ever since she saw Princess Celestia raise the sun all those years ago..."

"So... you wish to be an entertainer?" Night Light asked her.

Rainbow beamed enthusiastically. "Yes, Sir! A Wonderbolt!"

"And what brought this on?"

"Oh, well..." Her excitement slowly dwindled as she gave the question some thought. "Our first date was sorta this Wonderbolts show, and the show brought about so many smiles, I guess I decided right then and there that I wanted ponies to look at me the same way."

"So you're an attention seeker?"

Rainbow furled her brow, and she looked away slightly, his accusation managing to ruffle her feathers a little. "I just want to liven up ponies' lives a little, Sir," she murmured, looking him seriously back in the eyes. "That's all. I'm not looking for fame or fortune."

"Good to know you're humble then." He smiled pleasantly. "Now, I've got just one more question for you, Rainbow Dash... and that's why you love my daughter."

Her eyes widened in surprise. "Why I—? Pfft, that's easy! It's 'cause she's so awesome!" She smiled back at them with a broad grin, Twilight's parents staring back at her, less than enthused. She immediately gulped. R-right... Her grin quickly fell, her face heating up and gaze sinking to the tabletop. Guess I should probably give this a bit more thought, she realized, her mind slipping into deep thought for a couple moments.

"...I love her outgoing personality," she began to explain, properly this time. "Her quirkiness, dry sense of humor, big brain, even bigger heart, and... just how open she is when it comes to the things I like. She's also totally gorgeous if you don't mind me adding."

"I'd be insulted if you didn't," he remarked, seemingly a lot more pleased this time around. "I just wouldn't want her looks to be the only thing you had to say about her."

"Of course; and honestly, Sir, more than anything... she changed my life, gave me things to strive for. I'd be lost without her."

"Aw..."

Night Light and Rainbow turned to look at Twilight Velvet, who looked between them innocently. "What? That's sweet."

"So, ah, w-what do you say, Mr. Light? Do you approve of me marrying Twilight?"

"Hm... well, I suppose so."

Wait... Rainbow perked up, staring at him in disbelief. "Seriously?"

Night Light nodded. "You seem like a good pony who genuinely loves my daughter and has her priorities straight. That's all I was really looking for in you."

Rainbow smiled softly at his kind words, before shying her gaze away as she bit her lip, reluctantly asking, "And it doesn't weird you out that I'm... you know... a mare?"

Her question gave him pause, taking him aback.

He looked off in solemn thought.

"I was brought up to think that it was this... choice ponies made—a bad one—and one that ponies made to act out or break the mold. When I heard that Twilight was dating you, though, I couldn't believe it. I knew Twilight wasn't one to seek thrills, or look for attention, so I was doubly curious to talk with you, and understand her reasons. Now though, I see it was a choice, but not a morally bad one. My daughter's happier than I've ever seen her, and her behavior is so much healthier..." He looked back to her with a look of approval. "You make my daughter happy, Rainbow Dash. That's all that really matters."

Rainbow met him with a look of awe, the smile on her face growing larger and larger until she could no longer contain it.

She sprung up from her seat, pumping both of her hooves high into the air, before bringing them down by her sides. "Yesss!"

Twilight's ear twitched, and she turned to see her fiancée hovering in the air, wearing a wide grin.

Guess things really are going better for her, she mused... her surprise fading into a loving smile.

Day 223

"So we made some real progress the other day, girls."

Twilight walked with her friends while her fiancée hovered beside her.

As grueling as it was... she groaned internally, in an afterthought.

"Heck yeah we did!" cheered Rainbow, before swooping in for a hug and taking Twilight by surprise. She folded her forelegs over her girlfriend's shoulders, pressing her cheek against hers. "Your dad totally approves of us, Twi! I still can't believe it..."

Twilight smiled affectionately, lifting her head and nuzzling Rainbow's fur, relishing in the warmth it provided.

She then stopped for a moment, setting a hoof of hers over her girlfriend's.

"Because he knew he would be getting an awesome daughter-in-law."

Rainbow grinned at the remark, easing her embrace before returning to the sky beside her.

"Man... So jelly..." Lemon Hearts murmured yearningly, in awe of what they had. "You two are seriously making me wish I had a girlfriend of my own."

"Really? I... had no idea you were like that, Lemon," replied Twilight, a bit taken aback. The others all shared the same look of surprise.

Lemon Hearts shrugged nonchalantly.

"I'm just exploring my options. I mean, it's not like you're gay, Twilight. You just... fell in love with who Rainbow was, right?"

"Mhm." She nodded softly. "Though... after being engaged to her these past few months, and dating her for a few months prior, I'm definitely leaning towards mares. I mean, I guess I could see myself with a stallion—if he were considerate, and danced with me, made me feel special the way Rainbow did..." She smiled fondly back at her fiancée. "He still wouldn't compare to you, Rainbow."

Rainbow's face reddened as she returned her girlfriend's compliment with a bashful smile.

"And how about you, Rainbow?" Lemon Hearts asked, grabbing her attention. "Have you always been attracted to mares?"

Rainbow's smile slowly disappeared as she gave the question some thought.

"I... really don't remember," she answered truthfully. "I guess from the way I fell for Twi though, I'd say... yeah, probably."

"Huh."

"W-well, I think we can all safely say that we're jealous of what these two have," said Twinkleshine, cutting in. "We're here to help plan their wedding though, okay?"

Lemon Hearts rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah..."

"So, what can we help you with next. Twilight?" Moon Dancer asked.

"Well, I was thinking first that we'll need a place to hold the ceremony."

Minuette gasped breathlessly. "I was thinking the exact same thing," she boasted in excitement, only for her friends to deadpan. "What?"

"And where did you two lovebirds have in mind?" Lyra asked, looking over at them curiously.

"Oh, well..." Twilight looked between her friends with a determined expression.

"I have a few places in mind."

"The gardens?"

Twinkleshine and the girls stood with their mouths agape, save for Lyra and Moon Dancer, who both shrugged their shoulders indifferently.

"I like it," remarked Moon Dancer. "Seems like a good place for a get together."

"Thank you, Moon Dancer. You see," Twilight went on to explain, "this place holds special meaning to both myself and Rainbow." She leaned over to nuzzle the underside of Rainbow's jaw, the bold move tugging at her girlfriend's heartstrings. "We come here for solace and peace of mind. It's also the first place I took Rainbow after she was released from the hospital, so... I guess you could say it's the most memorable."

"Okay, but... It's also outside. I mean... what if it's windy, or if it's scheduled to rain?"

"Uh, hello?" Rainbow grinned, puffing out her chest, and expanding her wings.

Twinkleshine blinked, before letting out an elongated "Ooooh," as what Rainbow was hinting at finally dawned on her. "Right..." She chuckled meekly. "Forgot that pegasi could manipulate the weather."

"Eh, no biggie," Rainbow replied with a nonchalant shrug.

"So, if this is where you'd like to hold it, we'll need Princess Celestia's permission, won't we?"

Twilight lowered her gaze in thought, lifting a hoof to her chin. "I suppose we will... But don't worry, everypony," she proclaimed proudly, "the princess and I are close!"

Her friends all exchanged dry looks with one another, before turning to both herself and Rainbow.

"We know."

Day 238

Twilight's eye twitched.

Two weeks.

Two weeks just to book an appointment with her mentor, and friend.

Two weeks of having to put hers and Rainbow's wedding plans on hold.

Stupid summit meetings, she grumbled in thought, seated beside Rainbow with her forelegs crossed.

The slight headache she had certainly wasn't helping to elevate her mood any, either...

The doors to Celestia's chambers creaked opened, and out walked an aptly-dressed stallion wearing a dark red coat, gray cravat, and glasses. He turned to the two of them as they sat seated in a couple of stools, and the second he did, Twilight feigned a smile in his direction.

"Her Majesty will see you now," he said, motioning to the door.

Twilight hopped down from her seat as Rainbow flew out of hers, exclaiming, "Sweet! About time!"

The door was shut behind them after they entered, leaving them face-to-face with the alabaster princess.

Celestia herself had heard Rainbow's exclamation from the hall, and chuckled under her breath before turning to face both her, and her most faithful student. She smiled pleasantly at the two as Twilight took a seat on her haunches a few feet away, and Rainbow swooped down to sit beside her.

"Hello, Twilight. Rainbow. It's wonderful to see the two of you again." Her smile quickly turned upside down. "Especially after these past couple of weeks..."

Twilight smiled back at her knowingly.

"I can imagine," she agreed with a soft laugh. already feeling her mood start to lighten.

"So what can I help you two with? I take it you've been trying to get a hold of me for some time now."

"Right, well, ah... y-you see..." Twilight trailed off, averting her eyes as she did. She rubbed a hoof along the back of her neck, and chuckled nervously. This seemed so much easier in my head—

"Twi and me are dating."

Twilight blinked as she lowered her hoof, dumbfounded. Did I just blurt that...? No, she concluded, that was bad grammar.

She turned to her right, incredulous.

"Rainbow!"

"What?"

Rainbow leaned back, raising her hooves halfway in defense at her girlfriend's angry pout. "Twi, you were taking too long, so I thought I'd, you know... answer for you."

Twilight crossed her forelegs indigently. "Hmph."

"Uh, girls?"

Twilight's ears perked at the sound of the princess's voice, and she swiftly turned to face her.

"Yes, Princess?"

Celestia cocked her head, creasing her brow in worry.

"The two of you are... dating? Did I hear that correctly?"

Twilight parted her lips to answer, when Rainbow once again beat her to it.

"We're more than that!" She threw a foreleg around Twilight's shoulders, pulling her close to her chest. "We're engaged!" Celestia leaned her head back, lifting her brow at the news. "Twi has been waiting weeks to tell you!"

Twilight sighed, rolling her eyes before smiling at her girlfriend's brashness.

"Yes, I had been."

Rainbow froze as she realized what her girlfriend was getting at, and gulped, her ears drooping ashamedly.

She let out a meek laugh. "Oops..."

Twilight lifted her head, kissing the corner of her girlfriend's lips. "It's alright, Rainbow."

"So, I... take it you have been together for a while now?"

The two of them turned back towards Celestia.

"For a little under eight months now, yes," Twilight replied with a slight blush. "Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, Princess."

"N-no, no... It is alright, it..." Celestia breathed out, collecting herself before smiling knowingly in their direction. "I can see now why you were asking questions about love all those months ago."

Rainbow turned to Twilight, now finding herself with more questions than answers.

"Say what now?"

Twilight looked away, flustered, her ears flopping. "I couldn't get you off of my mind, Rainbow," she murmured.

"W-well... in either case," Celestia hastily cut in. "I must admit, I was sort of expecting you to focus more on furthering your friendships... Though, then again... I suppose your love for her simply is the result of that friendship."

"I'm sorry, Princess, but... I couldn't help it. I love all of my friends—" Twilight closed her eyes, leaning back in to nuzzle Rainbow, and relishing in the feeling of her fur against her own. "—I just love Rainbow a little bit more."

Rainbow smiled warmly, lowering her muzzle, and nuzzling the top of Twilight's head in return.

"Well, I..." Celestia's expression softened at their little display of affection. "I suppose love happens when we least expect it. Nevertheless, I... am happy for the two of you. I'll be honored to help in whichever way I can."

The two of them froze at her words. They pulled away from one another, and leaned towards her intently with growing grins.

"Honored?" they both exclaimed. "Really?"

Celestia softly laughed, nodding in response.

"You're some of my best friends, and to tell the truth... I'm a little envious of the two of you."

Rainbow smiled bashfully as Twilight's jaw hit the floor.

"The two of you have both come so far. You have allowed love and friendship into your hearts, and it is these attributes that will help to shape Equestria for the better—if you continue to hold them near and dear, that is."

As Celestia spoke, Twilight's mind flashed back to several months prior.

"You were always meant to accomplish great feats, my student, and hopefully someday play a part in changing Equestria for the better."

The words played out in her head as she wondered, Is this what she meant? I suppose I have changed Rainbow's life for the better, and Spike's... Moon Dancer's... Lyra's... She smiled at the foolish idea... but maybe it was true. Maybe I really have been helping Equestria...

"So—" Twilight's mind became fully alert once more as her attention snapped back to her teacher. "—I will be more than happy to help arrange your wedding."

Twilight and Rainbow both beamed at the news.

"Awesome! So then, it wouldn't be too much to ask to hold the ceremony in the sculpture garden, would it?" Rainbow asked.

Her question gave Celestia pause.

"Er, the... sculpture garden?" She cocked her head, and furled her brow. "Haven't the two of you ever felt a, ah... chaotic presence in that place?"

"Hm?" Twilight's happy expression vanished from her face as she picked up on her mentor's distressed tone.

She turned to Rainbow, the two of them exchanging puzzled glances.

"No...?" they both replied warily.

Celestia eased up, breathing out a little sigh in relief. "Oh, well... never mind then."

Rainbow and Twilight remained no less confused.

"You see," she went on to explain, "that garden has a peculiar history... and some ponies believe that rogue magic haunts the area. They believe the reason is that some of the sculptures there are cursed."

Twilight's brow lifted. "Rogue magic?" she inquired. "I've never felt any malevolent presences."

"Hay, maybe it just doesn't affect Twi and me," boasted Rainbow, nudging her side.

"Or maybe it's just an old filly's tale," figured Twilight, turning back to Celestia in thought. I never took her as superstitious... Then again, if enough ponies reported hearing or seeing something... I suppose she'd have to give it some validity, as ruler...

"So, have the two of you decided when the wedding will be?"

Celestia's question snapped Twilight from her sudden thoughts.

"Oh, well, um... honestly, no. We, uhm... haven't given it any thought."

Twilight averted her gaze away ashamedly.

"Well, how does the start of Summer sound? That should give the two of you more than enough time to finish your preparations, and we can even have it take place before our one-thousandth Summer Sun Celebration— so that you'll both be back from your honeymoon in time to see it, of course."

Twilight thought it over in her head.

It'll be the first, and one of the most important Summer Sun Celebrations that Rainbow and I will get to witness as a couple...

To her, the answer was a no-brainer.

"That sounds perfect, Princess," she said with a polite smile.

"Then it's settled. We'll hold it before the celebration, and not a day after." She knelt forward, leaning in and adding jokingly, "Summer Sun Celebrations can sometimes get a little hectic."

Rainbow and Twilight turned to one another, then back to her, smiling knowingly.

"Oh," they both replied, breaking out into a soft fit of laughter, "we can imagine."

Day 239

"Alright! Time to get this wedding underway!"

Twilight rolled her eyes, smiling at her girlfriend's antics.

"So what's first on the agenda, Twi? I mean, we have your parents' blessing, help from the girls, catering, a venue, Pinkie Pie to plan everything, Spike to document everything, and Celestia to preside over it all!" Her brow furrowed for a moment. "What more do we really need?"

"Well..." Twilight gave her a slight tug on her tail with her magic. "If you would come down here... I'd be happy to explain."

"Ah, right. Sorry."

She darted onto the couch in a sheepish manner, sporting a meek smile in her fiancée's direction. "So what's next?"

An excited grin parted Twilight's lips.

"Okay! So, first thing's first, I put together a binder full of tips, tricks and ideas to give our wedding some much-needed flare!"

Rainbow's face beamed with excitement, mirroring her girlfriend's. "Now we're talking!"

Twilight nodded happily. "All the sources I could find said how, in the early days of a wedding, it's important to create a folder or binder to house inspiration, but who am I kidding? A folder would never be able to house this much inspiration!"

"Right right, so... what are we talking? Games? Music? Live entertainment?"

"All that and more!"

Rainbow squealed, bringing her hooves to her chin in giddiness... hardly able to contain her excitement.

Twilight clasped her hooves together. "Now we simply need to narrow down our options, and pick from hundreds of different acts!"

"Yeah, and—!" Rainbow caught herself, her eyes blinking open... her face bearing a look of puzzlement. "Wait... whu-w-what...?"

A feeling of unspeakable dread washed over her, her enthusiasm fading quickly from her system as her gaze singled in on the overstuffed binder, sitting dauntingly on their coffee table.

She swallowed hard, her pupils shrinking.

Twilight, all the while, brought a hoof to her own lips, giggling at her little prank and cuing Rainbow in to what was really going on.

"Oh, I see..." Rainbow glared playfully at her girlfriend. "Very funny, Twi."

"Sorry... I, I couldn't resist seeing your, your reaction."

Rainbow snorted, crossing her forelegs. "Humph."

Twilight softly giggled some more, lowering her eyelids as she leaned in closer. She cracked a sly smile before bridging the gap between them, pushing their muzzles together as their lips connected in a brief yet loving peck on the lips.

She pulled back slightly, leaving Rainbow's face beet red as she stared half-lidded, and longingly into her girlfriend's eyes.

"All better?"

Darn it, Twi, Rainbow grumbled in thought. I'm supposed to be annoyed with you...

She caved in, easing up as her shoulders drooped.

"Y-yeah..." she admitted, smiling meekly in defeat.

Twilight returned the smile, turning away and falling back, sinking into the back of their sofa.

"I was being serious about having to comb through hundreds of options though, you know..." She sighed out drearily, levitating the heavy binder onto her lap. "Go have fun, Rainbow." She turned back to her, this time with a wary smile. "I'll find us the best options. Research is my forte, after all."

Twi... Rainbow's heart lurched as she peered over at the stairwell anxiously, biting her lip before turning back to her girlfriend.

"It'll probably take me days to file through all this," she continued in her unenthusiastic tone of voice, frowning down at it.

"W-well... maybe not if we, um... you know." Rainbow shrugged, averting her eyes as her voice softened. "Work together."

Wait... Twilight's eyes widened slightly. Did I just hear her say what I think I did?

She sat up straight, staring at her girlfriend in disbelief.

"R-really, Rainbow? It won't be boring for you?"

"Oh, of course it will!" Twilight proceeded to narrow her eyes. "But hey, it's my wedding too!"

Rainbow winked back at her, reaching out and nudging her nearest foreleg. "I can't have you making all the decisions, because you might end up picking some boring classical music band, or something."

Twilight huffed at her remark, staring back at her indignantly, and crossing her forelegs. "You know I like pop music, Rainbow."

Rainbow chuckled. "I know, Twi. Guess I was just getting back at you." She stuck out her tongue playfully.

Twilight stared back at her daringly. "Is that right..."

"Well, hey!" Rainbow leaned back beside her with a comfy sigh. "Till death do us part, or... something having to do with vows, right?"

Twilight chuckled, rolling her eyes. "Yes, Rainbow." She smiled over at her warmly. "Something like that."

She plopped down beside her fiancée, flipping open the cover to her binder.

"So, uh... who did you have in mind?" Rainbow asked, leaning her head over.

"Well..." Twilight turned her attention back to the many pages of adverts and newspaper clippings, pointing a hoof to one pony in particular. A pony with black and blonde hair, and very long bangs. "I was considering Songbird Serenade... until I saw her rates..."

"Yeesh... that is a lot... Hmm..."

Twilight continued, skimming page after page, when Rainbow's hoof cut her off. "Ooh!" She pointed to an article that highlighted another popstar... this time with a long, white ponytail, and face concealed behind a veil. "How about this pony?"

Twilight looked to where she had pointed, giving it some thought.

"Countess Coloratura..." A small smile softly spread across her lips. "Huh..."

Day 241

"See anypony you like, Rainbow?" Twilight asked, flipping lazily between entertainment acts. She waited a moment, then frowned, turning to the spot beside her curiously. "Rainbow...?"

She deadpanned at the sight of her girlfriend, curled up beside her, and snoozing away.

"Rainbow!"

Rainbow darted up, eyes wide in panic. "I'm awake!"

"Rainbow..." Twilight looked at her with a soft smile, setting a hoof on her hind leg. "You know you really don't have to help with this if you don't want to."

"No, no, I..." Rainbow shook her head, assuring her, "There's no place I'd rather be. I just..."

"Yes...?" Her voice took on a concerned tone. "What's the matter?"

Rainbow threw her forelegs out towards the binder in frustration. "None of these acts seem any good! I mean... it's just a bunch of... one-trick ponies, and local magicians."

A moment passed in silence as Twilight sat there stunned, taken aback by her girlfriend's confession.

I see... I... "I understand, Rainbow," she replied, solemnly. "I've never cared for stage magic myself. It's nothing but parlor tricks, usually performed by braggarts and charlatans... Still, we're not the ones they'll be entertaining."

Rainbow however, doubled down on her stance.

"Nuh-uh, no way, Twi. We are not subjecting our guests to, and I quote, 'The Great and Powerful Trixie.' Hay, I betcha we could put on a better show!"

She puffed out her chest as she finished, grinning proudly.

Twilight lifted a hoof to her lips, giggling at her display.

"I bet we could too... Unfortunately..."

Rainbow slumped her shoulders, sighing out heavily. "We'll be too busy getting married... Right..."

"Not to mention we'll be in dresses the whole time."

The two slipped into silence as they looked at one another, the same thought occurring to them at once.

"Do I need to wear a tux?"

They blinked, staring questioningly into each other's eyes for another moment before softly cracking up.

"I guess that's something we'll have to look into!"

"True enough." agreed Rainbow. "Hey... it just dawned on me! You know who'd be perfect?"

Twilight leaned forward as she turned towards her intently. "Who?"

"The Wonderbolts!"

"The... Wonderbolts..." she repeated, slowly deadpanning. "At a wedding?"

"Mhm!" Rainbow nodded.

Twilight's smile wavered, her brow furrowing as doubt quickly set in. "Don'tcha think that might get a little... destructive, and, ah... noisy?"

"Nope!" Rainbow exclaimed simply, brimming with confidence.

Twilight stared back at her incredulously.

"..We'll think about it."

Day 244

"Okaaay..."

Rainbow collapsed beside Twilight on the couch, after returning from a long day of pushing clouds around. "What's next on the agenda?"

"Mm? I was just considering what kind of games and activities we should have," she explained plainly, never once looking up. Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"Twi... Why not let Pinkie Pie take care of that?"

Why? she wondered incredulously. It's simple! It's because... "I can't place everything on her shoulders, Rainbow," she insisted, turning to Rainbow, a clear look of distress on her face. "B-besides..." She turned back to their open wedding planner. "I think I found a few things Pinkie never would have thought of!"

Oh really? Rainbow sat up, her interest piqued. "Like...?"

Twilight beamed excitedly.

"A dance off!" she exclaimed. "The two of us together... It's time to put our months of practice to the test!"

Rainbow meanwhile, stared back at her dumbstruck.

"Honestly, Twi... I'm sorta surprised, I mean... I guess I was expecting something a bit more academic, like..." She shrugged, naming off the most Twilight thing she could think of. "A life-size game of chess?"

Twilight gasped, her eyes sparkling. "That sounds like an awesome idea!"

Rainbow's heart sunk.

It... does—?

Twilight leaned forward, hugging her around the shoulders... Rainbow herself tensing up in surprise.

"Thanks, Rainbow."

Rainbow chuckled awkwardly, giving in to her girlfriend's embrace.

She smiled softly, closing her eyes and leaning closer, nuzzling Twilight's cheek intimately.

"Heh... No problem, Twi."

Day 245

"So, uh... Karaoke, huh?" asked Rainbow. She stood alongside Moon Dancer as the three of them walked through the evening streets. "Gee, Twi... First dancing, and now singing?" She cocked her head in uncertainty.

"What can I say, girls?" Twilight turned to face them both with a broad smile. "I guess I'm just so happy that I could sing! Besides," she added in a hushed tone, leaning forward while wearing a giddy expression, "who doesn't love embarrassing themselves by singing terribly in front of others?"

"Er..." Rainbow and Moon Dancer exchanged quick, fearful looks with one another, swallowing hard.

"E-everypony...?" they squeaked out. Twilight grinned in determination.

"Fear not, girls!" She spun on ahead, taking on a more singsong tone of voice. "Because tonight, yeah, we're gonna have a party, so I thought of something fun to do! I don't know what's gonna happen; I just know it's gonna feel right!"

Rainbow and Moon Dancer deadpanned, watching as Twilight danced on ahead... before once again exchanging less-than-enthusiastic looks.

"Oh yeah, uhn! Shake your tails, girls, 'cause we're here to have a party tonight!"

Day 253

Twilight giggled as she did a little twirl, stopping to admire herself in the dressing room mirror.

Today was hers and Rainbow's bridal appointment, and the two were currently in the middle of meeting with different stylists to discover their dream wedding dress silhouettes.

And, after a couple long hours of indecisiveness... Twilight believed she had finally found it.

Somewhere between ball gown and sheath, simple, yet eloquent... Her shoulderless, ivory-white dress seemed to fit her nicely—feeling snug without feeling too flowy.

Her silk, sash-like bodice sat comfortably around her middle, connecting her full, lace skirt that glided over haunches and tail so elegantly... coming to rest at around her fetlocks.

She marveled at the mare she saw in the mirror, her eyes shimmering at her reflection.

"I look so amazing," she gushed, bringing a hoof to her cheek. "Like a real-life fairy-tale princess even...! Oh, I wonder what Rainbow looks like in hers..." She sighed dreamily. "I wonder if it's as stunning as she is... and compliments her beauty the way she compliments me..."

Twinkleshine cleared her throat suddenly, reminding Twilight of her presence beside her.

"Now, Twilight... remember what they say: seeing your bride in their wedding dress before the day of the wedding is bad luck."

"Yeah," Twilight scoffed, "back when marriages were arranged, Twinkleshine." She softly laughed, shaking her head. "I'm not really one for superstition either."

Twinkleshine stared back at her, her eyes narrowing.

"Hm, well... let's play it safe anyway, just in case," she suggested with a forced smile. Because I am!

Twilight breathed out, and straightened up as she gathered her composure.

"Speaking of Rainbow..." She looked off wistfully, towards the door to their fitting room. "I wonder how she's fairing..."

"Ngh... Stop squirming, Rainbow!"

"Mrgh... I can't help it, Moon! I'm not exactly used to wearing something this... I dunno, form-fitting?"

"Yeah," Moon Dancer muttered with a roll of her eyes, "because you're always wearing that hoodie of yours, I know."

"Hey!" Rainbow rebuked, indignantly. "That hoodie is awesome, and it was a gift from Twi, which makes it even more awesome!"

"Nopony said it wasn't, Rainbow. Now, let me just zip you up, and..."

Rainbow stiffened immediately, stifling a gasp as Moon Dancer zipped her up.

The unicom herself stepped back to admire her handiwork.

"Not too shabby," she remarked, cuing Rainbow to take a look herself.

She anxiously stepped over to the full body mirror, where she took an apprehensive peak at herself.

Her eyes then proceeded to widen at the sight of a mare whose beauty was rivaled by none other than Twilight herself...

Well, okay, Rainbow supposed, doubling back. Maybe that was far from the truth... but she couldn't help it...

She had never before seen herself looking so... captivating.

Even if it was a little too... restrictive for her liking.

Moon Dancer had called it 'fit and flare,' and for the most part... it seemed to compliment her athletic physique perfectly.

It was a plain-white wedding dress, with the faintest rainbow hue encircling the skirt. The straps of the dress draped down past her shoulders, wrapping nicely around her upper forelegs.

The skirt itself flared out around her knees, granting her the freedom she loved, and so desperately desired.

She remained lost in her own reflection, not noticing as Moon Dancer stepped up beside her.

"Told ya you'd like it," she remarked with a coy smile.

Rainbow snapped out of her reverie, blushing lightly.

"W-who, me?" Her pupils darted back and forth. "I mean... i-it's okay, I... I guess."

Moon Dancer giggled, seeing right through her little facade.

"S-so, uhm... How is it you know so much about all this anyway, Moon?"

"Hm?" Moon Dancer's smile fell as she looked back at her friend in surprise. "How do I...?"

Her eyelids lowered as her gaze slowly sunk. "It just runs in my family, is all... I guess," she murmured, somewhat grumpily.

Rainbow raised her brow, staring back at her friend worriedly. "Did I... say something wrong, or—?"

"N-no," Moon Dancer stammered out assuredly, "no, you... you didn't." She smiled back at her, igniting her horn. "Here, let me help get you out of this. It's not like you can wear this out of here, after all."

"Y-yeah," Rainbow chuckled awkwardly, turning back ahead. "Well, if you're sure you're fine..."

"Mhm," Moon Dancer hurriedly replied, focusing on the task she made for herself.

Rainbow mentally shrugged, taking one last, long look at herself. If this is really what I look like... Man...

She smiled amorously. I cannot wait to see Twi!

Day 256

I guess that does it.

Twilight sighed out as she leaned back, closing her eyes while bearing a content smile as she closed the cover to hers and Rainbow's wedding portfolio.

For the time being anyway. Games and entertainment, catering, venues, dates, photography, decorations, a list of guests, and our bridesmaids have all been decided. Even our wedding dresses have been reserved, and will be delivered to us the day of our wedding. Oh, I just know that Rainbow will look absolutely beautiful in hers... She sighed dreamily, imagining what it would be like on their wedding day, when at last, the day finally arrived...

The scene was picturesque: her bride in a flowing wedding gown with a rainbow tinge, and her mane done up in a pretty ponytail with golden hair bands... The two of them stood facing one another on the alter, and wore deep-seated blushes, both out of embarrassment... and the adoration that they deeply held for each other.

Celestia stood presiding over them, and all of their friends were there, but their attention was focused elsewhere, lost in each other's eyes as they stood silently admiring the other. Rainbow herself bit her lip, glancing away from behind her wedding veil for a brief second before looking back, smiling sheepishly.

Twilight pictured herself smiling back in slight humor at her fiancée's anxiousness, before dawning a loving expression. She felt like she was in a dream state, Celestia's words barely registering as she spoke her vows, and replied to her mentor's questions with a vague "Uh-huh," or "Mhm."

The only part she found herself becoming attentive towards, was Celestia permitting them to seal the deal. She gulped, her ears on fire and heart beating a mile a minute.

Her horn sparkled with magic as Rainbow met her halfway, kissing her lips with gusto... holding a hoof of her own in hers, and...

Then it was over.

The scene faded from her mind... and reality unfortunately set back in.

Well... I guess I can't just sit around, fantasizing all day... She let out a muffled groan as she sat up begrudgingly, looking around with a bored expression. Rainbow's at work, Spike's with Moon Dancer, and I'm sure the girls are all off doing their own thing. Probably even working their own jobs too...

She snorted in frustration.

Sometimes, she grumbled in thought, thinking back... I wish I weren't still on mandatory vacation... Sure I'm grateful to Princess Celestia for this time off to get my life together, make some friends and even a girlfriend, but... She slouched back, tilting her head towards the ceiling. I sure do miss conducting magical research, and reporting my findings to the princess... Especially on days like this when I'm alone...

She rolled onto her side, mulling over the fact. She bit her lip, wracking her brain for an idea... when she was reminded of what her mentor had told her, all those moons ago...

"Do not worry over when or how often you write to me, so long as you keep me informed on how things are going."

Twilight's eyes widened, a giddy smile spreading steadily across her face.

Rainbow and Spike have both told me before that... if I had something to get off my chest... I should write about it. Yes... that's what I'll do!

She sat up, reinvigorated before calling Spike's name out into their empty home. Moments passed, and as she was met with a deafening silence, realized, Right... He's with Moon Dancer... Duh. She shrugged, smiling at her own forgetfulness. Guess it's sorta still instinct at this point...

She hopped down from the den's couch to fetch some parchment and a quill for herself, before heading back and plopping down on its cushions.

With a relaxed sigh... she began writing.

Dear Princess Celestia...

"See you tomorrow, April!"

"See you, Rainbow! Be sure to tell your fiancée I said hello!"

"Sure thing!" replied Rainbow with a wave of her hoof, before then flying off.

She grinned, soaring through the streets and high above venues, all the while relishing in the cool Spring air that wafted through her feathers. She slowed her pace as she ascended further into the sky, closing her eyes and for a moment, basking in the warm light of the sun.

Man... Twi's really missing out... I should see if she wants to go flying... If I don't fall asleep first, she sheepishly thought, feeling the effects of a long day of work begin to set in. We haven't gone for one in a while... and I'm feeling like today's perfect for just that!

Giving her head a quick shake... she smiled, blinking her eyes open in resolve, and speeding off in the direction of their home.

She set down at the top of the staircase, slipping in through the front doors of their tower abode.

"Twi?" she called out immediately... only to be met with no response. Huh...

She journeyed further in—over to the stairs leading down, and thinking to herself as she walked, Hope she isn't stressing out too much over our wedding plans...

She couldn't help but smile as an image of Twilight filled her imagination, her fiancée's eye twitching and mane unkempt as she tacked everything to a board, connecting everything with strands of red yarn.

As she rounded the stairs into the den, her face lit up at the sight of her fiancée, sat comfortably on the sofa, and writing something down at her own leisure.

"Twi?" she called for a second time, this time working as Twilight stopped her pen's movements in the middle of whatever sentence she was writing, and glanced up.

She smiled fondly at the sight of the pony she loved.

"You're back," she said, sounding a little relieved. "How was work?"

"Oh, you know..." Rainbow shrugged nonchalantly. "The usual. April says "Hi," by the way."

Twilight softly nodded, noting as she returned to her writing, "That was nice of her."

"Mhm."

Rainbow walked on over to the back of the sofa, peering down at her girlfriend's hoofwriting. Her brow furled as she attempted to make heads or tails of it.

"What are you writing?"

"Oh, just a letter to the princess," Twilight replied simply.

Rainbow leaned down to nuzzle the top of her head.

"About what?" she asked in a soft voice.

Twilight smiled, stopping her pen's movements once more, and turning her attention away from the sheet of parchment in favor of nuzzling her fiancée back.

"Nothing much... Only how happy I am, Rainbow."

The two pulled away from one another blushing... Rainbow herself unsure of how to react before coming to her senses and forming a lopsided grin. "Well, hey... I'm happy too, Twi. Say, you know... Spike won't be home for a little while, and you can't exactly send that until he gets back..."

Twilight's brow lifted, all of a sudden feeling like such a scatterbrain. "Right..." she grumbled. "I knew I was forgetting something..."

Rainbow chuckled as she raised a hoof of hers off the floor, setting it reassuringly over her girlfriend's.

"Come flying with me," she said, taking Twilight by surprise.

"Fly?"

"Sure," she replied. "It's such a nice day today, and... we haven't in a while, y'know?" She averted her eyes away, shrugging innocently. "I dunno, I... figured you'd just really—"

"I'd love to," Twilight responded swiftly, without a moment's hesitation.

"Really?" Rainbow looked back at her, now finding it her turn to be surprised.

Twilight giggled, then nodded... forming a tender smile. "Really, really."

A light blush stained Rainbow's cheeks as an elated grin slowly spread across her face.

"Awesome!"

Twilight stepped down as Rainbow came up beside her.

"You're gonna love it, Twi. The weather's like, perfect, and I noticed these, like, totally comfy looking clouds... I would love to take credit, but I only sorta just push them around." A sheepish laugh followed suit, Twilight's gaze lowering lovingly.

"Which you do a fantastic job at," she remarked, leaning in to nuzzle her.

"Heh... thanks, Twi. So, um... you get any planning done today?"

"Actually, it's... all done," she explained as she pulled away.

Wait... Rainbow did a double take, looking at her in amazement. "Really—?"

"F-for the time being anyway," Twilight added with a meek smile.

Rainbow's gaze quickly turned deadpan.

"Ah. Well, either way... that leaves a lot of free time for just you and me."

"Really?" Twilight asked, hopefulness in her voice. "No more cloud pushing?"

Rainbow grinned. "Not unless they need me," she replied sweetly as she placed a foreleg around her mare, pulling her closer.

A happy smile adorned Twilight's face, as her heart melted at her fiancée's words.

Rainbow herself pulled back, opting instead to extend a wing over her girlfriend's back as they continued up the stairs. "So, like I was saying..."

Day 257

"So I take it she's happy?"

The moon hung heavy in the world Celestia considered a home away from home. A parallel world so different, and yet so familiar... as though it were a reflection of her very own.

An Equestria where she herself did not preside... but rather the kind and noble King Sombra.

A pony who was so much more than a friend to her, and gave her some much-needed comfort... as the days until her sister's return drew shorter.

The garden outside Canterlot Castle came alive with the various buzzing and chirping sounds of insects, as well as the soft, orange glow of fireflies as Celestia trotted along the winding, moonlit walkway beside her beloved.

She nodded in regards to his question, smiling softly at the memory. "Very much so— a-according to this letter of hers, anyway."

She drew attention to her pupil's letter as she withdrew it from her saddlepouch with her magic.

"I see," Sombra observed. "H-has she been doing this often? Writing to you, I mean?"

"Only when she feels that it's necessary," she explained. "Like when she has something to get off of her chest. In this case—" She smiled warmly, down at the scroll of parchment. "—it's her impatience towards her own wedding in a few months."

Sombra nodded softly, looking back ahead. "Speaking of..." He blushed lightly as he stopped in his tracks, hesitating before asking, "Do you think we'll ever be able...?"

Celestia answered her lover's inquiry with a sorry look.

"Sombra... you know we've talked about this..."

"Yes, I recall..." He sighed, dropping his gaze disappointingly. "Not until our worlds are at peace, you said, can we even consider such a possibility..."

Celestia bit her lip, looking at him sorrowfully. "I don't like it anymore than you do, Dear..." She moved forward, nuzzling him tenderly. "I wish for you to forever be my always."

Her words brought a slight smile to his face.

"...Well, hey," he supposed, perking up a little; "can you honestly blame me for being so insistent? I love you, Celestia."

His beloved smiled warmly. "And I you, Sombra. It's just... You remember what Star Swirl warned us about?"

"The paradoxes, yes..." He looked ahead solemnly. "It really sort of makes me envious of this student of yours. This...?"

"Twilight Sparkle."

Sombra turned to look at her, horrified. "You don't mean the leader of the Erroneous Equines?"

Celestia stared back at him, at a loss for words.

She crinkled her brow, her head softly tilting. "The... what?"

"Er, my apologies. I take it that's just another difference between your world and mine. You see, it's unfortunate, but on this earth... A group of hooligans nicknamed the Erroneous Equines go around, committing all sorts of heinous crimes in service of their queen."

"The other me... Right, I understand." Celestia sighed softly, averting her eyes. "I always feared Twilight might be led astray without proper guidance... Without a good and kind leader to show her a better way..."

Sombra picked up on the distress in her voice, and turned to her sympathetically, holding out his hoof and scooping up one of hers in his.

"I promise you that, once the evil you is dealt with... I shall do my best to try and reach out to her."

"Thank you, Sombra." She met his loving gaze, smiling back at him appreciatively. "She deserves as much."

The two continued on their stroll through the gardens, making small talk as they did.

"So I sense she's special to you?" Sombra asked.

"She's so much more than a true friend to me... I have such high hopes for her. She's more than a powerful mage... She has potential to become a truly great leader..."

The whole time she spoke, Sombra couldn't help but admire the passion his beloved held for this student of hers.

She's glowing... he thought, smiling softly.

"Which is why I want so desperately to protect her until then," she continued, looking ahead somberly. Her gaze softened as she brought a hoof to her heart. "But I fear I lack the power to do just that."

"You," Sombra scoffed, "lacking power?"

"Hey!" Celestia turned back to him with a playful glare. "I'm serious, Sombra. I... I don't have the same defensive abilities that you do. The only thing that I can do is count on her friends to keep her safe..."

"Is something after her?"

Celestia grew quiet, her expression becoming more serious. "I... cannot say for sure, but... something happened some time ago, and... I cannot help but worry that... an old foe of mine is targeting her to get to me."

"That sounds an awful lot like something that my Celestia would pull..."

"Fortunately however... I discovered many moons ago, that she cannot harm a pony... so long as they hold those they love... near and dear to their hearts."

"Then... forgive me for asking this, but... what seems to be the problem? If love is keeping her safe, then... what's there to worry about?"

Celestia bit her lip, gravely looking ahead. "That she has something else up her sleeve..."

Her mind flashed back, remembering the unfamiliar dark magic that had seeped from her student's body, all those months ago. It sent a chill down her spine, simply recalling the sinister feeling. "I had cast one of your spells on her mind... but I fear even that may be wearing thin..."

Sombra cocked his head at her curiously.

"S-sorry. I'm just... being paranoid. You're right though. It's... probably nothing." She feigned a smile as she turned back to face him.

"I can tell that you care deeply for her, Celestia, and... what it sounds like to me—" He smiled in slight amusement... sensing what the problem seemed to be. "—Is that you're being a little overly protective of her."

Celestia stared back at him puzzled. "Overly protective?"

"Mhm, sure. She's been your protege ever since she was a filly, but now that she's becoming independent... I think you're worried that you'll no longer be there to protect her... or that she'll even need it in the first place."

Celestia pursed her lips, lowering her gaze in deep thought.

She supposed there was some truth in what he said, but... "I'm just worried that, if something is indeed coming... that she alone won't have the strength to face it."

"Ah, show a little faith, Celestia!" Sombra grinned, elbowing her side. "You said it yourself: she's pretty powerful by herself, and even has the love of those around her to keep her safe."

"I-I know, I know..." Celestia nodded reluctantly. "I-I just..."

"Well, if you need more convincing, perhaps send her away, on an errand of sorts."

"Errand?"

"Well, on second thought, I suppose it would be more akin to that of a test... but yes. Have her prove herself to you, that she and her friends have what it takes to face whatever it is the future may have in store for them."

"She does like tests..." Celestia thought it over, then smiled, her mind made up. "Alright. When the opportunity presents itself, I'll... think about it."

Sombra gave a hearty laugh in response. "Glad to hear it."

They carried on... Celestia's mind once more slipping into thought.

And maybe, she mused, sending them on these assignments will help them to unlock... their hidden potential—

"Sombra?" came a voice familiar to them both.

Luna emerged from the foliage, draped in her distinctive Saddle Arabian garb. "There you are. I've been looking for you, and—" Her face lit up with joy as she noticed who it was that stood beside her majesty. "If it isn't my sister from another world! "'Tis a pleasure to see you again! Tell me, what hath brought you here? Have you only just arrive? If so, we'd love it if you could st—!"

"Actually, Luna..." Celestia began to say, forcing her gaze away from her sister's otherworldly counterpart, and turning instead to address her beloved. "I think I should be going." Her ears flopped as she met his look of surprise with an apologetic smile. "I-it's just... I'd be putting both of our worlds in danger if I were to stay any longer."

The surprise he felt faded from his face, replaced with a look of understanding.

"Say no more, my love. I understand."

"You're referring to the paradoxes... aren't you?" Luna asked with a wary voice, looking worriedly between the two of them.

Celestia nodded, averting her sorrowful gaze. "Yes, Luna... that's correct."

"You will be back though, won't you?" she asked, a twinge of hope shining though in her voice. She looked away sadly. "Ever since my sister turned. it's... been so nice having you around."

Celestia gazed back at her, a wistful look in her eyes.

"She's right, you know," Sombra chimed in, setting a hoof on her shoulder.

She switched between the two, a kind smile softly forming on her lips. "Thank you, both of you... and of course I'll be back, Luna. For I feel the exact same way."

Luna looked back at her, disbelievingly at first, before beaming giddily.

Celestia's own smile softened as she stood admiring her alternate sister's joyous expression. I only hope, she thought in pensiveness, that when the time comes... and my sister is saved from her own inner darkness... that the transformation will not have the adverse effect on you, Luna...

Day 273

Rainbow and Twilight walked side by side, trotting down one of the many residential streets in the early morning daylight, and chatting leisurely with the other.

"So, what do you suppose it is that Moon Dancer and Spike want to show us?"

"Hmm... Your guess is as good as mine, Rainbow. Spike just ran off after receiving that letter from Moon Dancer, and told us to meet up with them before leaving. He mentioned... Workhorse Way..."

"Well, this is the place," Rainbow remarked, drawing their attention to the street sign at the corner of the intersection. "Now where do you suppose... Hm?"

She noticed as a couple of bushes—in a long line to her left—rustle, across the street from a row of houses.

A white hoof shot up from behind one of the bushes, waving the pair over.

Rainbow leaned her head back in surprise, exchanging a puzzled glance with her girlfriend.

The two walked on over, Twilight being the first to ask, "Is that you, Moon Dancer?"

Moon Dancer poked her head up from up out of one of the bushes, bearing a pleasant smile. "Hiya, Twilight."

Twilight cocked her head. "What are you doing hiding in the bushes?"

"...And where's Spike?" Rainbow asked, chiming in.

On cue, Spike sat up from the bushes as well, camera in hand. "Oh, hey guys. Glad to see you could join us."

"Join you in doing what, Spike?" questioned Twilight. "What are the two of you up to?"

"Well, we—"

Moon Dancer started to explain, then gasped, her eyes widening before pulling both herself and Spike back into the bushes.

Across the street, the door to one of the houses opened, an unfamiliar pony to both Twilight and Rainbow walking on out.

The pony carried on their way after locking up, leaving the two of them dumbstruck as they turned back to their hiding friends with raised eyebrows.

"Um... who was...?" Twilight began to ask.

"Shh!"

Moon Dancer poked her face back out from the foliage, wearing a serious look.

"We don't know! That's why... we're conducting some reconnaissance."

"Reconna... what now?"

Rainbow looked between the two, completely at a loss.

"Field research, Rainbow. The question I have is what they're researching..."

Twilight turned back to Moon Dancer with a suspicious look on her face, urging her friend to explain herself.

Moon Dancer sighed, before explaining, "Spike is assisting me in looking into a sort of... myth that's been circulating around."

"Myth?" Twilight and Rainbow questioned.

"Mhm!" Moon Dancer began to articulate with her hooves. "You see, it's been rumored that there's this... underground monster-hunting agency, located right under our muzzles, here in Canterlot!"

"So, in other words..." Twilight slowly deadpanned. "You guys are investigating some conspiracy theory."

"It's not a 'conspiracy theory,' Twilight," Spike murmured sourly.

"And plus, calling it a conspiracy gives it less credibility," added Moon Dancer, indignantly. "What we're researching is one hundred percent legit."

"Uh huh..." Twilight remained no less skeptical as she proceeded to ask, "What makes you believe that... any of this is true?"

"Well... think about it! Countless monsters exist in our world, and yet we've never faced invasion by a single one of them! Not once!"

Because Celestia has a multitude of spells in place to counter them, mused Twilight, dryly.

"And then there's this." Moon Dancer threw her forelegs out towards the house that her and Spike were surveying. "On the surface, that might look like your average house, but lo and behold!" She leaned forward, putting a hoof to her mouth as she explained to Twilight and Rainbow in a low voice, "Ponies say they've seen unfamiliar ponies enter and never, ever exit. Instead, a completely different pony will leave the house, hours or even minutes later, lugging around some strange equipment even..."

A shiver ran down Rainbow's spine, as she glanced over her shoulder nervously at the house in question.

Twilight rolled her eyes, placing a hoof to her chin. "That does sound odd... but I'm sure there's a perfectly good—"

Moon Dancer cut her off.

"There's more! The house is completely windowless, a-and every time somepony comes or goes, they lock the door with some sort of enchantment so that nopony can break in. Man, I swear, girls..." Moon Dancer redirected her wary gaze back to the mysterious house. "Something strange is going on in there, and ponies believe that Princess Celestia is behind it... That she's been out recruiting ponies in secret to protect Equestria from behind the scenes."

Celestia? Twilight scoffed in thought. Now I know this is all a conspiracy...

"This could mean that all the guards she hires are actually just there for show, and..."

Twilight's ear twitched, and she turned back to Moon Dancer irritably.

"...Imagine how ponies would react to finding out that their tax money were funding this secret team of—"

"Moon Dancer." Twilight glared at her sternly. "My brother is the captain of the Royal Guard."

Moon Dancer stared back at her, realization quickly setting in.

Her ears flopped, and she smiled apologetically, letting out a few sheepish chuckles.

"Sorry..."

"Urgh..." Twilight brought a hoof to her forehead, taking her girlfriend aback.

"Haven't seen you do that in a while," Rainbow murmured.

"M-my point still stands!" Moon Dancer held out her hoof, asking them to hear her out. "This could very well expose just how truly vulnerable Equestria is—!"

"Er... Moon?" Spike gently grabbed her shoulder, giving it a light shake.

"Hm?" She turned to him curiously. "What is it, Spike?"

He pointed a claw past her tentatively, toward a familiar alicorn princess... coming their way.

Moon Dancer's eyes widened, her expression quickly turning fearful.

"T-this proves it! Princess Celestia, coming this way at this exact moment? It must be to deter our investigation! Quick! Hide, Spike!"

The two dove back into the bushes, leaving Rainbow and Twilight standing there awkwardly in the street as Celestia came up to greet them.

"Twilight, Rainbow, what a surprise! Today is such a nice day for a stroll, wouldn't you agree?"

"Y-yeah," Twilight agreed with an anxious smile... her pupils darting between her teacher, and the bushes.

Celestia turned towards them herself, craning her head down and asking in a low voice, "And what say you, Moon Dancer? Spike?"

The two in question scrambled out from the bushes, Moon Dancer exclaiming in a panicked voice, "Run for it!"

Rainbow and Twilight shook their heads, hopeless as their two friends scurried down the street, tails between their legs.

Celestia lifted her head, staring after them worriedly.

"Did I say something wrong?"

Rainbow stepped up beside her, grabbing her attention. "They think you're leading some sort of elite team of monster hunters," she explained, giving the alicorn pause. She laughed softly, lightly elbowing her foreleg. "Pretty funny, huh?" I just hope it isn't true! she thought, sweating nervously on the inside.

"Monster hunters?" Celestia repeated, taken aback as she glanced between Rainbow and Twilight, before looking back on ahead.

She brought a hoof to her chin, smiling in good humor. "Now isn't that a silly idea..."

Day 299

This was it.

Today was the day... There would be no turning back...

Today would be the day that she finally demolished her record.

Rainbow pushed herself harder than ever before, the wind rippling across her face as she blazed through the sky, expertly weaving between clouds, and kicking off one only to launch herself into another.

She ricocheted from one to the next, and from Twilight's point of view, looked like a cascading rainbow zigzagging across the cloudy sky.

She held a hoof to her heart, as her chest swelled in anticipation.

Sunlight began poking through, hints of blue seeping through the cloud layer... soon being unveiled completely as Rainbow tore through the final cloud with a single, swift kick.

She swooped down before Twilight, panting softly.

"Time...?"

She braced herself for the worst, but no words ever came.

Instead, Twilight gazed away from her stopwatch, simply looking up at her with a joyous expression on her face.

Rainbow's lips softly parted in disbelief, staring back at herself in wonder.

For real...?

An uncontrollable smile softly began to grow, spreading across her face as her excitement became too much for her to bear.

Twilight was knocked from her hooves, landing on her back as Rainbow dove at her, tackling her to the ground in a happy embrace.

"I did it, Twi!" she exclaimed, nuzzling her deeply. "I... I really did it!"

Twilight blushed, letting out a soft chuckle at her girlfriend's ticklish nuzzles. She lifted her hooves, wrapping them around her withers, returning the loving gesture.

"I knew you could," she soothed, looking up at her endearingly, a proud smile gracing her lips.

"Heh..." Rainbow smiled bashfully, pulling back to look into her fiancée's eyes. "What can I say, Twi?"

She beamed, grinning broadly. "You really bring out the best in me!"

Day 320

Twilight stood completely still, staring down at the couple of books on her lectern... coated somewhat in a layer of dust.

As she gazed down contemplatively at the cover of the topmost book... she found herself hit with a sudden rush of memories.

That's right... She slowly blinked, parting her lips in awe of her own forgetfulness. All this time and I completely forgot...

She tentatively lifted a hoof to the cover, when she drew back, turning in startlement at the sound of her fiancée's voice.

"Twi?" Rainbow called out from the tower entrance.

"C-coming, Rainbow!" Twilight called back, looking back briefly with a wry frown, before putting her thoughts aside and running up to meet her halfway at the stairs.

"Is everything alright?"

"Y-yeah. I just... realized how little time I've actually spent here in my study." She smiled in embarrassment, meekly scratching her cheek. "Everything's gotten a bit dusty."

"Ah, right. Your allergies... Well, we'll just have to clean it when we get back!"

Twilight stared back at her blankly, cocking her head and crinkling her brow. "Back from where, Rainbow? You know you've still neglected to tell me where it is you're taking me exactly..."

She cantered down the stairs, Rainbow hovering in the air beside her as they approached the front doors.

Rainbow grinned, landing beside her as she exclaimed, "That's 'cause I want it to be a surprise, Twi!"

She threw open the front door, before crouching forward, and smiling back at her excitedly.

"Now hop on!"

"Can I open my eyes now?"

"Mm... Not quite yet, Twi."

Twilight deadpanned as she rested her head on the back of Rainbow's neck, pouting her lips. Really? It feels like we've been soaring for a good half hour, she grumbled in thought. Where are you taking me, Rain—?

"Aaaand now we're here," Rainbow announced suddenly, snapping her from her thoughts.

Twilight lifted her head, and tentatively peered over her girlfriend's mane... warm sunlight immediately hitting her face, as well as a cool breeze that blew through her hair as her eyes slowly adjusted, then widened in awe of the paradisaical view laid out before her.

Deep-blue skies that stretched over the green, mountainous landscape for as far as she could see... and enormous, white puffy clouds that drifted across the sky like islands in a vast, open sea. Rainbow waterfalls poured forth the clouds, the ends of which evaporated into a mist that refracted rainbow light radiantly across the picturesque landscape, that seemingly sparkled in the mid-afternoon sunlight.

Beneath them sat a lake of rainbow-colored water, and a wide waterfall with the same coloration that emptied out into it, surrounded by grassy fields that rippled as a pleasant wind blew across the land.

"Wow..." was all Twilight could think to say, uttering it breathlessly.

Rainbow grinned back at her. "Pretty neat, huh?"

Twilight laughed, softly shaking her head. "That's putting it lightly," she nevertheless agreed. "What is this place?"

"W-well... I, uh... don't know actually," Rainbow meekly admitted, shying her gaze away in embarrassment. Twilight's smile fell, and she gazed down at her girlfriend quizzically.

"You don't—?"

Before she could get another word out, Rainbow hastily went on to explain, "I-I just found it while taking sort of a roundabout way back from the weather factory some time back... and I may have thought that today would be the perfect day to finally show you."

"So you've been keeping this a secret from me?"

"N-not deliberately, Twi! I just figured that it was something you needed to see for yourself. Wasn't sure if you'd have believed me, had I told you about this place existing."

"What? A valley full of rainbow waterfalls? I dunno, Rainbow..." She smiled warmly, tightening her hold ever so slightly around her girlfriend's shoulders in a loving notion. "I'd say my suspension of disbelief has been broadened a lot since I met you..." Rainbow smiled softly, placing a hoof of her own over one of hers as Twilight proceeded to ask, "Think this is all related to the weather factory?"

"Well the rainbows there are made artificially, so... I'd say probably, yeah," she replied.

"You don't think we're intruding, do you?"

Rainbow mumbled an indifferent "I dunno," only to receive an earful from her fiancée.

"What do you mean, I dunno?" Twilight shot back, incredulously.

Rainbow flinched. "I-I'll just, uh, you know... smooth it out with them if any workers spot us. I am one of them after all." She grinned back at Twilight, somewhat easing her nerves.

"Well... alright, Rainbow, I believe you."

"Cool! So, um... what would you like to do? Maybe do some sightseeing, or—?"

"Honestly, Rainbow?" Twilight nodded her head in agreement. "Yes. I think I... I-I'd like to take in all there is to see. Think you could fly us around?"

"Heh. Sure thing, Twi," she agreed with a grin of determination, regaining her momentum.

She cruised through the sky at a leisurely pace, weaving in and out between the suspended waterfalls. The cool and refreshing mist that the water generated gently splashed them, and the sun's light refracted a rainbow hue that decorated their coats as they flew by.

The whole scene brought a smile to their faces, and an excitement that Rainbow could no longer keep bottled up.

"Hey, Twi. Hold on to me, okay?"

Twilight, whose mind was focused on her surroundings, absentmindedly replied, "You know you don't have to ask, Rainbooowwwww—!" Her words turned into a shrill shriek as Rainbow unexpectedly steered them towards the water below. Twilight gulped as they steadily picked up speed. "When I asked if you could fly us around, I was sort of inferring you do so at a leisurely pace!"

"Trust me, Twi. You're gonna love this a whole lot more!"

Rainbow eased up on her descent, stopping just a few inches short of the water's surface, parting it as she sped off, picking up speed once more. She grinned, feeling the rush of wind against her face, and the thrill of having cascading water walls on either side of her.

Twilight all the while, simply marveled at her reflection in the rainbow waves, before then closing her eyes and leaning her head back, relishing in the cool mist, and in the feeling of skating on water, light as a feather.

Her girlfriend looked back at her for a moment, then smiled deviously as a playful thought entered her mind.

Twilight gasped, shaken back to reality by Rainbow turning onto her side.

"R-Rainbow!" she scolded in a playful tone, glaring down at her.

Rainbow chuckled to herself, straightening back out as she made a turn for the large waterfall emptying into the very body of water they were flying over. She slowed down for a moment as she approached the base before rocketing up along the side of it, emerging over the water's crest within seconds in spectacular fashion, and bringing with her a rush of water that rained down both around them... and directly over them.

The two immediately deadpanned.

Ah well... Rainbow swooped down to the edge of the waterfall, setting herself and Twilight down on the grass as they softly caught their breath. Water droplets dripped from their partially-soaked manes and fur as they turned to address the other.

They met one another's flushed expressions, and smiled shyly.

"So, uh... how was—?"

Twilight closed the gap between them as she kissed her passionately, her heart pounding wildly in her chest.

"Exhilarating, Rainbow... as always," she whispered sweetly, pulling away. "Even if it wasn't quite what I had in mind..."

"Heh... yeah, well... hey! You know how spontaneous I am, Twi." She struck a triumphant pose, puffing out her chest, "I mean, you know I'm a true, blue mare of action!"

Twilight let out a soft laugh at her fiancée's little play on words. "Yes... I know, Rainbow," she replied, bearing a loving smile.

The sun began to dip over the horizon as the two of them now laid back together by the roaring waterfall, gazing out at the sunset. Twilight rested her head over Rainbow's chest, while Rainbow held a foreleg around her... her other foreleg resting comfortably behind her head.

Twilight let out a content sigh. "I could spend all day out here..."

"We sort of just did, Twi," Rainbow remarked with a soft grin.

At that, Twilight narrowed her eyes. "You know what I meant."

The two slipped back into silence for but a moment before she spoke back up.

"You know... maybe my head's still in the clouds... but after today, I... I think I'd like to spend more time in the sky."

"...What're you getting at, Twi?"

"I think that... I'd like to visit your hometown."

"Hometown?" Rainbow's brow furrowed as she sat up, looking down at her girlfriend inquisitively.

Twilight sat up as well, looking back at Rainbow, and meeting her confused gaze.

"I'm talking about Cloudsdale, Rainbow,"

Rainbow's eyes flew open in realization.

"O-oh! Um, right, right... Sorry," she apologized, giving her head a quick shake. "I just haven't really thought about that place in a long while."

Twilight nodded in understanding, bearing a thoughtful smile as she looked off. "I just thought it'd be a nice getaway, you know? It'd be a nice opportunity for me to experience more of your world—and hey! We have a wedding coming up, and we've yet to inform your parents. Not to mention..." Twilight lowered her voice, and leaned in to nuzzle her fiancée's cheek. "You've still yet to introduce me..."

Rainbow gave a humorless chuckle in response. "Y-yeah," she agreed, silently gulping as she averted her gaze away.

M-my parents, huh? She chewed her inner lip anxiously, her chest growing heavy.

Seriously, Twi...?

Day 326

"So... Twi and me are planning on taking a trip to Cloudsdale tomorrow," Rainbow mentioned, somewhat out of the blue as she sat seated on one of the wooden swings in a park near Canterlot Castle.

Cadance sat beside her on a separate swing, lending an ear, and looking over at her puzzled.

"What's wrong with that?" she asked the younger pony. "It sounds like a fun little getaway."

Rainbow however, breathed out a sigh... shaking her head sorrowfully.

"If you call us going there to meet my parents fun," she grumbled.

Cadance gazed back at her, surprised at first before it all dawned on her.

"You're nervous, aren't you?"

Rainbow averted her eyes, biting her lip before nodding reluctantly.

"I see..." Cadance turned to the sky. "I would be too, I suppose..."

"T-though... don't get me wrong, Cadance!" Rainbow held her hoof out reassuringly. "I'm excited as well, I just..."

"You haven't gotten back your memories... have you?" the alicorn princess surmised, turning back to her with a pensive gaze.

"Of my parents?" Rainbow gave her head a solemn shake. "No, n-not really..."

"...And you don't remember how things ended between you and them, or... if they even want to see you again... Is that right?"

Rainbow looked over at her friend, amazed.

"Am I really that easy to read?"

"Actually... I was just speculating... But I'm glad to know that I guessed correctly!"

She winked at her, Rainbow smiling, humored as she rolled her eyes... looking on ahead.

"Twi just thinks the trip will be good for me, and not just because it might jog my memories of them. Plus, she uh, wants to meet them, and introduce herself as their daughter's awesome new girlfriend... and possibly bring up our engagement—"

Cadance cut her off with a gasp, reaching out and setting a hoof over her foreleg.

"You two are engaged?"

"Uh..." Rainbow shied her gaze away as her cheeks reddened. "Right... G-guess I forgot to mention that I, uh... proposed to her a while back..."

She chuckled awkwardly, turning back towards Cadance with a sorry smile.

Cadance however, was too overcome with emotion to even notice.

"That's incredible, Rainbow," she gushed, then smiled slyly. "You know I thought I sensed something different about you, but wasn't quite sure what it was. Can't say I was expecting something like that though..."

"Yeah, well..." She looked off, meekly scratching the back of her head. "Again, I really am sorry for not telling you sooner..."

Cadance waved her hoof assuredly.

"Oh it's okay... sooo long as I'm invited?"

She finished with a hopeful expression, Rainbow looking back at her, and garnishing a humored smile.

"Totally!" she exclaimed, her mood lighting right back up. "I mean, Twilight would so totally freak if you were to make it!"

"Then I'll try not to miss it," Cadance replied, then paused, pursing her lips in thought. "You meant 'freak' in a good way, right?"

"Oh, totally."

"Just making sure. You know... we sure do get sidetracked a lot whenever we're together."

Rainbow turned to her in total agreement. "Right?"

Cadance tilted her head in her friend's direction, cracking a soft grin. "So how about we get back to what you were saying earlier, about your parents, and Cloudsdale."

"Oh, uhm... right." Rainbow turned her gaze to the sky, staring up aimlessly at the rolling clouds. "I'm just nervous, you know? I mean, it's my first time seeing them again in who knows how long, and... sure I know what they look like and where they live, but... I feel like... I'll have no idea what to say, or... or how to even act around them, you know?"

Cadance nodded her head softly in understanding. "Mhm... Well, hey... at least Twilight will be there with you, if you find yourself needing emotional support, or advice... guidance even."

Rainbow nodded softly. "I guess that's true..."

Cadance frowned at her friend's rather... unenthusiastic response, biting her lip in thought. There must be something I can do to lighten her mood...

A sudden light bulb went off above her head and her face beamed at the idea it had given her.

She reached over, setting a hoof of hers on Rainbow's foreleg. "Hey, wanna know what used to cheer Twilight up whenever she was nervous or stressed?"

Rainbow looked back at her funnily. "I—"

Before she could answer, Cadance leaped down from her swing, and began dancing on the spot, singing a brief little song that made Rainbow speechless, even after she was finished.

Rainbow's lips parted but no words came out, staring dumbfounded at what she had just bared witness to.

Cadance noticed the expression on her friend's face, as well as the lingering silence, and sheepishly smiled... staring at her from over her shoulder, rump raised high in the air.

Rainbow couldn't help it, her lips curling into a smile as they trembled uncontrollably, struggling to keep her laughter contained.

Cadance composed herself, spinning around quickly as she cleared her throat. "I mean, you know... i-if Twilight ever needs comforting," she explained, cheeks stained a deep red.

Rainbow breathed out, calming herself before replying... a slight, humored smile still present on her lips.

"Yeah..." she said, drawing out the syllable, "that's never gonna happen."

Days 327 - 331 - Friends Forever

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Day 327

Rainbow reacted swiftly, throwing one of her forelegs around Twilight's withers, and the other around her chest, grabbing her as she stumbled forward.

They had only just stepped out from their hot-air balloon when she had taken her first step onto a cloud, and promptly lost her footing.

Twilight gulped, staring down at the clouds beneath her trembling hooves, before directing her gaze back up at her girlfriend, and smiling gratefully. "T-thanks."

Rainbow grinned back at her. "No problem."

"I, I-I had no idea what walking on clouds would feel like... but I never imagined it would feel, well... steep—l-like I'm walking up the side of a mountain."

"Lucky for you then that we're only a few steps away from the docks," Rainbow remarked, nodding towards the docking bay, where other ponies were getting off.

"A few steps," Twilight repeated with a nervous laugh. "Right..."

"You know," Rainbow said, as they moved carefully, one step at a time, "we could have parked the balloon at the docks so that we wouldn't have to be doing this right now."

"Yeah..." Twilight agreed, "but then I wouldn't have been able to try out my cloud walking spell. You know I've been itching to."

Rainbow rolled her eyes before jutting forward suddenly, finding both of Twilight's trembling forelegs wrapped securely around her neck and withers, the unicorn chewing her lip even as they remained a few steps away from solid ground.

Despite this, Twilight remained wrapped around her... unwilling to let go.

Rainbow sighed, glancing back at her with a dry look in her eyes.

"You know, you aren't going to fall through, Twi," she teased.

Twilight gulped. "I j-just... like holding onto you, alright?" She feigned a smile rather unconvincingly back at her.

Rainbow narrowed her eyes, then shook her head hopelessly.

In a lightning-fast display of speed, she scooped Twilight up, and flew her onto the cobblestone docks... setting her down gently.

"Better?" she asked, keeping a wing around her as she gained her footing.

Twilight breathed out shakily. "Much—er, I-I mean! I was doing just fine, Rainbow."

Rainbow, in turn, raised an eyebrow skeptically. "If you say so, Twi..." She looked on ahead, to the glorious city that awaited them. "Anyway... Looks like we made it."

Twilight turned to look at what her girlfriend was seeing... and her eyes instantly widened.

"And what a sight it is..." she murmured in breathless awe, the early morning sun working to bask the entire scene in a heavenly glow.

Just beyond the docks was a widening market street stretching as far as the eye could see, brimming with ponies. They entered in and out of the various brick and marble shops and cafes at a leisurely pace, completely unlike the hustle and bustle of Canterlot. Bells chimed whenever one of the doors opened, and their arched windows and columns bore an ancient sort of look—a look that Twilight was quick to appreciate.

Militaristic... yet modern, paying homage to the glory days of Cloudsdale... I... "I love it," was all that passed her lips as she continued looking around in awe.

"It is pretty incredible," mused Rainbow, then nudged her side. "So where to first?"

The question caught Twilight off guard, and she turned to Rainbow in confusion. "What do you mean, 'where to first,' Rainbow? I thought we were going straight to your parents."

"Well... I just thought, since this is sort of a new experience for the both of us... that you'd like to see the sights is all."

Twilight pointed a hoof into her girlfriend's chest. "You're not trying to get out of seeing them, are you?"

At that, Rainbow gulped at the accusation. "O-of course not, Twi! I just... We have some time to kill... so why not check out some of the local cuisine in the meantime?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes, feeling her resolve slowly start to weaken. "I have always wanted to explore pegasus culture..." She bit her bottom lip, the offer too tempting to resist. Even if this was some sort of ploy by her girlfriend to stall for time—and seeing as her girlfriend was Rainbow Dash, it was more than likely... They were here for the whole day...

And she had always wanted to visit the Cloudeseum...

Twilight sighed, bowing her head and smiling up at her in defeat. "Alright, Rainbow, you win."

Rainbow's face lit up, pumping her hoof in victory. "Yes!"

Twilight giggled, seeing her reaction... and before long, the two were roaming the crowds, checking out every store window and outdoor kiosk.

"Hey Twi, look." Rainbow touched her shoulder, grabbing her attention as she proceeded to point to a tall, circular display, filled from top to bottom with what appeared to be clouds in glass containers. "Miniature storm clouds!" she exclaimed. "Betcha these would make for a neat souvenir."

"Hm..." Twilight brought a hoof to her chin, looking at them with a critical eye. Some seemed to ripple with electricity, while others frosted their glass as snowed sprinkled down from the inside.

They reminded her a little of snow globes, in a weird sort of way. "Maybe on our way back, Rainbow," she decided. "I'd hate to have to carry it around with me."

Rainbow looked back at her, her expression softening in understanding as she gave her shoulders a shrug. "Eh, fair enough. On our way back then." She smiled assuredly, Twilight nodding in agreement.

The two carried on, eventually coming across a neon sign that caught their attention.

"How about some cloud candy?" Rainbow suggested, turning to her girlfriend.

"Dipped in real rainbow..." Twilight's brow furrowed, and she turned to Rainbow in puzzlement. "Real rainbow?"

"Well... rainbows are manufactured, right? Guess the coloring agent they use is also edible... Who knew!"

The two of them stewed in silence for a moment, before Rainbow turned to her with a challenging look in her eyes.

"I'll give it a try if you will," she said, Twilight looking back at her in surprise for a moment before garnishing a daring smirk.

"Oh, you're on, Rainbow."

A couple minutes went by, and the bell above the door rang as the two stepped back out into the fresh air, each holding their own paper cone filled with artificial cloud and rainbow syrup.

Twilight acted first, taking a tentative bite.

"Mm, I'm not really tasting anyth—"

She proceeded to eat her words as the flavor kicked in, and she instantly began fanning her mouth.

"Hot hot thot thot thoooooooot!"

Rainbow chuckled. "I take it that it's hot?"

"Not funny, Rainbow..." Twilight grumbled, narrowing her eyes.

"Heh, well... luckily for me," Rainbow proclaimed proudly, "I don't mind a little spiciness!" She smiled and raised the snack to her mouth, when another pony bumped into her shoulder, knocking it from her hoof.

"Smooth, Rainbow Crash," murmured a voice, quietly and among himself.

The pony beside him bumped his hoof. "Nice one, Hoops," he remarked in a snide tone, the two of them looking over their shoulders briefly, each with a smirk before disappearing out of sight.

Rainbow stared ahead of her, at a loss for words. "What... what was that all about?"

"I'm not quite sure, Rainbow," Twilight replied curiously, looking on as well. "Let's try and not worry about it though. Here you go, by the way."

Rainbow smiled, accepting the paper cone from her magical hold. "Thanks," she added, leaning in to give her girlfriend a thankful nuzzle. "It's times like these that I'm super grateful I'm engaged to a unicorn."

Twilight pulled away, skeptical of her girlfriend's choice of words. "Oh? So there's times when you aren't grateful?"

Rainbow blinked in slow realization, swallowing hard as her brow raised in panic. "D-did I say 'times?' I meant to say all the time."

Twilight giggled, her lips forming a pleasant smile. "That's more like it."

Rainbow breathed out a sigh of relief, Twilight's ear twitching at the sound of it.

"You know I wasn't really annoyed with you," she teased, ruffling her girlfriend's feathers as her face broke out in a blush.

"I, I-I knew that," Rainbow swiftly defended, her voice shaking.

"No you didn't," Twilight replied simply... and at that, Rainbow's head and shoulders slumped.

"I hate how much you know me sometimes," she grumbled in defeat.

Twilight giggled, leaning in to kiss her cheek. "Love you too, Sweetheart," she teased in reply.

"This looks like the place."

Rainbow peered away from the home's address, turning instead to face Twilight, who nodded reassuringly. A couple hours had passed since their arrival in Cloudsdale, and after visiting its Cloudeseum and weather factory, they decided there was nothing more for them to see.

That it was time to pay her family a long overdue visit.

She let out a deep breath to relax her nerves before forcing a smile to her lips. "Okay... now to knock."

She looked back ahead and lifted a hoof, but didn't take the step forward.

Instead Twilight did, noticing as her girlfriend swallowed nervously, and set her hoof back down.

"Would you like me to, Rainbow?" she politely offered.

Rainbow snapped back to reality, looking back at her with a thankful smile. "Could you?"

Twilight nodded, smiling softy as she conjured up some magic to make a few knocking notions on the door, silence soon proceeding them.

Rainbow swallowed again, her breaths becoming more shallow and shaken as trembles traveled down her forelegs, when all of a sudden they lessened... Twilight setting a hoof over her right one.

And feeling her touch, Rainbow's nerves vanished almost instantaneously... a few butterflies remaining in her stomach.

She lifted her hoof off the ground slightly, and wrapped it as much as she could around her girlfriend's just as the door itself finally opened.

The two quickly separated, looking away in embarrassment from each other before peering up sheepishly at the pony in the doorway.

Twilight's mouth slowly fell open, taking note of an older stallion as he stood before her.

She swore he looked almost identical to Rainbow, save for his amber-colored eyes and cutie mark, which resembled a horseshoe and rainbow that was more of a streak than a bolt.

Rainbow's eyes meanwhile, slowly widened, and grew a little wet at the pony who was unmistakably family.

The stallion's brow lifted, seeing who it was at the door. "Dash?" Rainbow's eyes darted to the ground at the sound of her name as it called her back to reality—to hide the fact she had let out a few tears.

His voice had the same, familiar rasp that Rainbow herself had, and his demeanor seemed a bit off, like he wasn't sure how to go about this.

I... can't imagine how long it's been since these two have talked, Twilight thought sorrowfully, switching between her girlfriend, and the older pony, anxiously chewing her lip.

"I... I haven't seen you in years. Come in, come in." He stepped aside to make room for them. "What uh, w-what brings you back here?" Rainbow opened her mouth to explain when she was suddenly cut off. "Wait, don't tell me, don't tell me... I saw you two holding hooves for a brief second there when I opened the door." He looked between them, Twilight and Rainbow gazing shyly at the other. "I knew it..." Rainbow gazed up apprehensively at who she assumed was her father. "Congratulations!"

Huh? Her eyes widened for a moment before she furrowed her brow a little in confusion.

Her dad continued, a genuine twinge of excitement in his voice. "I was beginning to wonder if you'd ever find a special somepony, but here we are!"

Rainbow exchanged a quick glance with Twilight, Twilight being the one to speak up first.

"You're... pretty fast to notice something like that," she noted simply. The older pony softly grinned.

"Oh, well... Fast runs in the family," he boasted, somewhat bashfully. "O-of course Rainbow surpasses me, her mother, and like, our entire family lineage when it comes to speed."

"She is a pretty good flier," Twilight agreed, turning to Rainbow with a smile in admiration. Even if her speed does gets her injured sometimes.

"Of course she's a good flier," the stallion proclaimed proudly. "I taught her everything she knows, back in the day. Even apparently, how to pick the right mare."

Twilight blushed at the remark, lowering her gaze.

"You have her mother's eyes too. I guess it's true what they say about ponies who fall in love with those who resemble their parents in one way or another. I take it Rainbow's at the very least a little bit like your own father?"

"I... suppose in some ways she is, Sir. B-but honestly I... just fell in love with your daughter because she's so... one of a kind, and sweet." Rainbow looked away a little flustered, a blush staining her blue fur as she rubbed the back of her neck. "Not to mention awesome."

He smiled at that.

"I can already tell you have a good heart, Miss...?"

"O-oh, um..." Twilight silently berated herself for forgetting such a thing. "Sparkle. Twilight Sparkle."

"Now that's a unicorn name if I've ever heard one." He held out a hoof for her to shake. "You can call me Bow."

"Thank you for the honor," replied Twilight, returning the gesture. "You know your daughter thought it was pretty funny when we first met. My name, I mean."

Bow turned to his daughter, surprised. "She did?"

Rainbow's ear twitched, and she brought her attention back to the two of them. "W-well! Geez Dad," she scrambled to explain. "I... I didn't know it was some prideful unicorn name or whatever. It just sounded kind of corny, and my head wasn't really all there, y'know?"

"I suppose you always have had sort of an odd sense of humor..." Rainbow's cheeks reddened further, and she rustled her feathers, her body language growing visibly distressed to those around her. "Kidding, kidding..."

I see being fast isn't the only thing that runs in the family, Twilight mused, watching the scene before her with a humored smile.

Hey, hold on a minute. Rainbow looked around the room, a worrying thought crossing her mind. Where's...? She frowned. Is Mom out doing stuff? she wondered before turning to her dad for an answer. "Hey, Dad? Can I see Mom? I'd like to introduce her to Twi."

"I'm sure she'll be pleased to meet her." Twilight raised an eyebrow. "You still remember where to find her, right? It's the large park right down the street. Just keeping heading the way you came to get there."

Rainbow formed a lopsided grin. "Of course I still remember her, Dad. What... kinda daughter would I be if I didn't?"

"Just making sure," he replied. "It's been some time since your last visit... Oh, and be sure to take one of these as well." He gently wrapped his hoof around the stem of a rose—one of many in a vase atop a small cabinet—and held it out for his daughter to take. "You know she loves it when you bring her one."

Rainbow shrugged and nodded slowly, taking the stem carefully between her teeth. "Okay!" she muffled out.

The two waved goodbye, promising to be back soon, before walking back out into the street.

"Is this the place?" Rainbow asked—well, as best she could anyway, with a rose between her teeth.

Still, Twilight got the gist of what she was asking.

"Looks like it, I... think." Rainbow nodded and galloped on ahead in excitement while Twilight stood back apprehensively, taking in every detail about this place. Tall trees covering the park in shade, benches, water fountains... several rows of headstones—she gulped, the knowledge of them doing nothing to ease her mind—and just by the entrance, to her right as she hesitantly turned her head, stood a wooden sign with the words, Clousdale Memorial Park...

Twilight read them aloud in her head, her eyes widening and her body extending a sudden hoof out in Rainbow's direction. "Rainbow, wait!"

She ran ahead, hearing Rainbow muse aloud, "What's with all the graves?"

"Rainbow!"

Rainbow froze as Twilight called her name a second time, but she didn't turn around. Something else had captured her attention...

"Rainbow?" Twilight's gallop slowed to a series of hesitant steps, the unicorn pausing to catch her breath as she turned to see what had caught Rainbow's attention.

Her heart sank and ears flopped... seeing that it was her mother's grave.

'Beloved wife to Bow Hothoof,' it read. 'Cherished mother of Rainbow Dash.'

Rainbow fell back on her hind legs before the gravestone, her forelegs falling limp at her sides.

"No..."

Twilight stood off to the side, looking on silently, her heart aching at the sudden sight.

She bit her lip before taking a step forward, wondering as she did what she should say and do, if anything at all.

Rainbow's eyes grew heavy as an ache built in her chest, causing her to feel a little sick.

Her eyes squeezed shut as her body began trembling, muttering a string of "No"s under her breath.

The last word got caught in her throat and she jumped at the feeling of fur on the back of her sweatshirt. Twilight's forelegs snaked their way over her shoulders, while her chin came to rest on her left.

"Hello, Rainbow's mom."

"T-Twi?" Rainbow uttered in confusion, her ear perking up a bit at the sound of her voice. "What're you...?"

Twilight smiled warmly, running her right hoof across her mare's chest in a loving manner.

"Go on," she pressed, lifting her head a smidgen and kissing her cheek. "Talk to her."

Rainbow sniffled, glancing out of her peripheral at Twilight. "T-talk to her...? W-whut're are you talking about, Twi? She's—"

"She's right here with you, Rainbow. In here." Twilight's right hoof came to rest over the spot on her chest that concealed her heart, the organ hammering once at her touch. Rainbow peered down in question. "As cliché as it sounds, I'd like to think that it's true." Her hoof dropped from her girlfriend's chest, taking hold of her hoof instead and nuzzling the underside of her chin.

"Your words will reach her, Rainbow," Twilight assured her, before pausing for a moment. "Remember when you asked what your parents would think of you dating me? I told you that your parents would just be happy to know that you've found somepony who loves you. Well, your dad's happy for us. Now let your mother know."

Rainbow shut her eyes again, letting out only a small, hiccuping sob... doing her best to stifle her tears.

Gently, Twilight let go of Rainbow's hoof, resuming her embrace as she threw her foreleg back over her girlfriend's shoulder, lightly kissing a spot on her jawline as her hooves interwove over the pegasus's chest.

Rainbow cleared her eyes with a swipe of her foreleg, wiping away the last of her tears with her hoof, and blinking a few times to clear away the blurriness in them.

She turned her head a sliver and gave Twilight a weak but thankful smile before focusing her attention once more on her mother's grave, breathing out heavily.

"Oh... kay, uhm... H-hi, Mom! It's, um... b-been a while, I, I g-guess..." She smiled briefly at her own foolishness. "I... can't even remember the last time we spoke, or how it ended between us, but... almost a year ago, I got into a pretty bad accident."

"She crashed through my window, Mrs. Whistles," Twilight elaborated, chiming in. "She's better now though... and don't worry, I don't hold it against her." She nuzzled Rainbow's cheek. "Anymore."

Rainbow rolled her eyes, feeling her mood lifting, and a genuine smile spreading from her girlfriend egging her on.

"Mom... m-meet my girlfriend, Twilight Sparkle. I hope you like her." She turned to face Twilight with an affectionate smile. "She's the best thing to ever happen to me."

It was early in the evening as Rainbow leaned against Twilight, the two of them walking the street back to her dad's house.

"Think you could... find out how she died, for me?" Rainbow asked out of the blue, her voice a low murmur.

Twilight peered back at her, for a moment taken aback, before hurrying to assure her.

"Of course I will, Rainbow. Hay, if I didn't," Twilight supposed, "then your dad would know something was up..."

Rainbow softly nodded, her heavy heart weighing down her every action.

Twilight turned to her with a sympathetic smile, resting a hoof on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Rainbow; I'll find a way of asking him. Truth be told, I'm curious too, because she's my family as well."

Rainbow lifted her head, enough so that she could meet her girlfriend's kind and loving gaze, and flashed a brief, thankful smile back at her.

The two walked alongside the house, and up the winding pathway that lead to the front door.

Twilight gave it a light push, and, as the two stepped inside, Rainbow walked over in favor of taking a seat on the couch.

She sank back and breathed out a sigh, closing her eyes for a moment with a look of contemplation.

Twilight gave a soft smile in her direction.

"I thought I heard the door open," Bow's voice remarked as he stepped into the living room from the kitchen, a look of concern written all over his face. "You kids took longer than I expected... Everything go okay?"

Twilight looked back at Rainbow briefly before answering. "Things got a little emotional, Sir—more so than we thought they would."

"I see..." Bow's face took on a quick look of understanding.

"Um... your daughter's a little drained at the moment, so..." Twilight bit her bottom lip and averted her eyes, holding a hoof along her other foreleg. "If it's alright with you, Sir... while she rests... I'd like to learn more abut her mother."

Bow was taken aback by this, looking back at her dubiously.

"Rainbow didn't tell you anything?"

"No no, she ah, she did!" Twilight hurriedly assured, holding out a hoof. "She let me know what an awesome mother Windy was, but she's still a mystery to me, Bow, and... she was my girlfriend's mother as well."

"Hm, well... that's fair, I suppose... So what it is then, that you would like to know?"

"A-anything really," Twilight answered. "If you have a picture of her too, I'd... like to know what she looked like."

"Lucky for you then that we had a habit of photographing everything!" He smiled proudly, winking down at her. "Come with me."

Bow motioned for her to walk with him, waving his hoof forward as he turned and walked down a hall that divided the living room and kitchen.

Twilight cantered up beside him.

"So I noticed my daughter gave you one of her feathers," remarked Bow. "She must be pretty serious about you, to do something like that."

"A-actually, Bow," Twilight began, explaining sheepishly, "she didn't give it to me per se. I, um... kinda just ended up with it, and began wearing it around because I liked the way it looked. We, uhm, didn't begin dating formally until a few days after that, and that was when I began treating it as a symbol of our relationship, having learned about its significance and whatnot."

"I see..." His ears flopped as he turned to look down at her worriedly. "You are still serious about one another though... aren't you?"

Like you wouldn't believe, Twilight mused, before returning her attention to him, cheeks blushing. "Y-yes, very much so."

"Well, that's good." He looked back at her with a relieved smile. "It's good to know my daughter has ponies like you looking out for her."

The two carried on, Twilight continuing to make small talk as she observed the walls around her.

"You know my parents had the same habit," she remarked, noting how the hall they were in seemed to be lined with family photos. "Still do, actually..."

Bow gave out a light chuckle. "That just means they're proud of everything you are, Twilight."

Twilight blushed as she gave the idea some thought... when out of the blue, her legs grew wobbly, and she began to lose her footing as her head grew light.

"Are you alright?" she heard Bow ask despite the ringing in her ears, reaching out his hoof to try and help.

Twilight however, held out a hoof of her own reassuringly.

"It's just the altitude," she insisted, breathing in and out until the nauseating feeling faded. It's just the altitude...

"If you say so..." A skeptical look remained on his face however, as he took her word for it, slowly drawing back his hoof. "Well, in either case..." He nodded his head towards one of the framed pictures. "Here's one that I think you'll like."

Twilight peered up and immediately saw what he was talking about.

A large, framed portrait hung before her eyes, consisting of two older ponies and their filly. The male in the photo, and his filly, she both knew; but the mare remained unfamiliar to her.

Is this...?

She bore a light-blue coat of fur, with round, magenta eyes and an orange mane with bangs, a couple darker stripes down the front. Freckles dotted her cheeks.

"I really did have her mane..." Twilight uttered in awe, softly bringing a hoof to her own bangs before turning to face Bow. "She was a beautiful mare, Bow. I see now where Rainbow gets it from."

Bow, in response, smiled and chuckled halfheartedly. "Yeah, she got her mother's looks and charm... and all I had to give was my mane, coat, and speed."

"Which she and I are both very grateful for. I for one love the rainbow mane."

"Other than Windy, you'd be the first." Bow's smile softened as he began to reminisce. "You know, for the longest time... Windy was so dead set against going out with me because of this mane. She said she knew, eh... knew my barn door didn't swing her way, and that I, ah, only wanted her to pose as my girlfriend."

His expression turned sheepish as he brought a hoof to the back of his head, and laughed meekly.

Twilight had the opposite reaction.

"That's awful!" she exclaimed... then shrunk back, surprising Bow with her outburst. "S-so, uh..." She scuffed a hoof along the carpet and lowered her voice, now blushing a little. "H-how did things end up changing between the two of you?"

"She had never been considered beautiful before," he explained simply, thinking back. "At first she thought I was pulling her leg."

Twilight's embarrassment vanished from her face, and she smiled softly, remembering her own past.

"I felt the same way about your daughter at first, never knowing whether she was playing with me or not."

"Guess that also runs in the family then," Bow remarked, smiling in good humor.

A moment passed between the two of them as Twilight silently worked up the nerve to ask her next question.

"Bow... How did she die?"

Bow's expression turned grim, the question giving him pause. "I figured you'd ask that sooner or later."

Twilight looked up at him worriedly. "Are you alright with me asking?"

He averted his eyes and nodded solemnly. "Y-yeah, yeah, I... I-it's just not easy to talk about..."

Twilight waited with bated breath as he got his thoughts in order.

"Some... I dunno, lowlife... crossed paths with her one night, and... had I only been there—!" His shoulders dropped in dismay. "Had I only been fast enough..."

A pang crossed Twilight's heart as silence set in, and she looked up woefully at Rainbow's dad.

I had expected something tragic, sure... but that... Her ears fell flat. "I'm... so sorry to hear that, Bow. I... I don't think I need to comment on how... awful that is, but, it's just... I dunno, hard to believe such acts of violence could exist in modern times..."

"You'd be surprised," he said, without stopping to consider what he was saying. He noticed Twilight grow more distressed by his words, and scrambled to steer their conversation.

"I-it was years ago though, a-and Equestria's become a considerably more peaceful place!" He placed a hoof on her shoulder and flashed her a soft smile. "You kids are lucky. Danger will only find you if you go looking for it."

Twilight bit her bottom lip, then looked up at Bow, undeterred. "If it meant protecting your daughter, as well as my friends... I'd search the ends of the world for it, and charge at it head on."

Bow's expression turned wary. "It's that way of thinking that could get you seriously hurt, or worse," he noted.

Twilight shook her head, pursing her lips.

"It's that way of thinking that will keep them safe, Bow."

Rainbow lied on her side on her old home's couch, gazing deeply into the fireplace.

Lying here waiting is getting me nowhere... She sat up, and leaped down from the cushions, taking a long look around the living room. There's gotta be something around here that'll trigger a memory...

She wandered idly into the kitchen, along the way picking up on her dad and Twilight talking down the hall.

There was nothing out of the ordinary that stood out immediately to her, her family's kitchen looking similar enough to hers and Twi's from their own home back in Canterlot. A counter top wrapped around the inner wall to her left, cabinets dotting the wall above, and cupboards lined below the counter.

Come on, Rainbow, think!

She sighed in frustration, eventually taking a seat around the dinner table, and drumming her hooves on the surface.

"Rrrgh..."

She set her head down on the table, her forelegs wrapping over her head.

"Maaan," she groaned. "Nothing's coming to me—"

"Hey, Dad?" a voice in her head asked. "When's Mom coming home?"

Wha...? She blinked, sitting up and looking around. Was that—?

"A sonic rainboom! We're so very proud of you, Honey," said her mom, leaning down to nuzzle her filly self's cheek.

Her younger self blushed, gazing away in annoyance.

"To think our daughter pulled off the impossible today!" her dad chimed in. "Not that we ever doubted you had it in you."

"Daaaaad," she whined in protest.

"Oh we just have to celebrate. We'll invite Fluttershy, and Gilda... and we'll order the largest cake!"

"I, I don't even like cake!" she replied, her voice cracking as her embarrassment levels rose. "Cake's for fatties."

Her mom looked down at her, taken aback. "I thought you liked cake... Don't worry, Honey. I'll be sure to get the fat free kind."

"Mooommmmm!"

Rainbow smiled fondly as the memory played itself out in her head, cutting to some time in the evening.

"No way," her dad uttered in amazement. "You mean Princess Celestia herself was actually there to see you pull it off?"

She rolled her eyes, smiling incredulously at the idea. "I doubt she was there to see me pull off the sonic rainboom, Dad... but yeah. I swear I saw this winged unicorn outta the corner of my eye, hovering in front'a the sun, and when I blinked... she was gone! I just know what I saw though! I mean... Equestria only has one princess... Right, Dad?"

"It used to have two," her dad corrected, sparking her curiosity. "Her name was Luna."

"Really?" her younger self asked, leaning toward her dad as her interest grew. "Do you know what happened to her?"

"Uh..." His expression panicked as he racked his mind for an answer. "M-maybe it'd be better if I didn't."

Her filly self frowned, and sat back, crossing her forelegs indignantly. "Come on, Dad."

"Perhaps when you're older."

"Man... No fair," she groaned, slumping forward onto the table. Her head rested on her cheek as she stared ahead bored. "Hey, Dad...? When's Mom coming home?"

"I... honestly don't know, Rainbow."

She peered up at her dad, only to find him with a concerned look on his face as he sat gazing into the living room—one she had never seen him wear before.

She wasn't sure how much time had passed before she heard a rapping at the door.

"Mom?" Her head shot up from its resting spot.

"H-hey, slow down, Rainbow," her dad called out after her, but her younger self ignored his advice, skidding around the corner to open the door to their home.

"Mo—!"

A couple of policeponies stood where she had expected her mom to be standing.

She shrunk back, intimidated by the strangers' presence.

"—om...?"

The two policeponies—one a stallion, the other a mare—looked at one another, having not expected there to be a child.

"Erm..." The female officer spoke softly as she crouched forward. "Is your dad home? We, um, have to speak with him."

"I-I..."

Rainbow gulped as she stared into the shades of the policepony, unable to read her emotions. D-did something bad happen? I... I-I don't...

"Rainbow? Who is it at the door?" Her dad rounded the corner. "Who—?"

He saw the two policeponies, and froze, his face turning deathly pale.

"We're sorry, Sir..."

Rainbow sat up from the table, having had just about all she could take from the memory. She turned tail, her breaths shaky and cheeks stained with tears.

Her heart ached as she ducked out the front door, slamming it shut behind her just as her fiancée and father reemerged from the hall.

Twilight looked at the door with a curious expression. "Was that Rainbow?"

"I don't see who else it could have been..." Bow looked towards the door with a wistful expression. "She sure has been acting funny... n-not that I can blame her. Truth be told... I'm still amazed she even came to visit, considering everything that happened in the past between us..."

Between us?

Twilight raised an eyebrow back at him, pondering his words briefly before placing them in the back of her mind for the time being.

"...I'm gonna go check on her, Bow. Don't worry, it... shouldn't take long!"

"I'll be here," he remarked cheerily, raising a hoof assuredly as she turned for the front door, softly closing it behind her.

A gentle breeze wafted through the air, and through Rainbow's mane as she sat staring idly into the empty street.

The sun was only just beginning to dip over the horizon, casting its warm, golden light over the street and illuminating the buildings opposite where she sat in a shimmering light.

The door to her house shut softly behind her... her girlfriend's voice snapping her from her reverie.

Twilight walked up beside the bench, gazing up at the setting sun admiringly.

"You know..." she began, as she reminisced, "ever since I befriended you... I always imagined what it would be like to see the sun set from the city of clouds..." She peered away, letting out a disheartened sigh. "Too bad it couldn't have been under better circumstances..."

She smiled apologetically up at her girlfriend, who returned it with a slight one of her own.

"H-hey, Twi," she greeted in a bit of a hoarse voice, reminding Twilight of just how much her girlfriend had been crying earlier.

It sent a pang across her heart... seeing her in so much pain, and yet... remaining so strong through and through. She walked further up, grabbing a seat beside her girlfriend, and smiling over at her warmly.

"How're you holding up, Rainbow?"

"Oh, y-you know... other than my mom being dead, being unable to remember a single thing about her, and having to keep it all a secret from Dad... I'm doing okay."

"It's for the best, Rainbow," Twilight consoled, gently wrapping her forelegs around her shoulders, bringing her into a warm, comforting embrace. "I love you."

Rainbow couldn't help but smile a little, nuzzling Twilight's cheek in return. "Thanks for being here with me, Twi," she murmured into her girlfriend's fur.

"Of course."

"S-so, ah... d-did Dad tell you how she died? I just... really need to know."

Twilight stared back at her for a moment, her lips softly parting. "It might be better if I don't," she confessed, her gaze shying away.

Rainbow nodded understandingly, blinking away a couple of growing tears. "It was that bad, huh?" she remarked with a soft, humorless laugh.

Twilight bit her lip, hesitating for a moment more, before pulling her back in for a second hug.

"...But it's because I love you that I won't keep this a secret from you," she continued, murmuring softly into Rainbow's shoulder. "You deserve to know."

Rainbow turned to her slightly, a worsening feeling growing in the pit of her stomach.

Twilight tightened their embrace, squeezing her own eyelids shut

"It... was another pony, Rainbow."

A moment of silence passed between the two before Rainbow eventually reacted, and for Twilight, it was the longest, most agonizing moment of her life.

The pegasus backed out immediately of her girlfriend's embrace... an incredulous look written all over her face.

"Whu-w-what...?"

A small, momentary grin broke through her uncertainty. "What do you mean another pony? I... I don't...?"

"Another pony took your mother's life, Rainbow," Twilight repeated, as much as it pained her.

She needed her girlfriend to accept it.

Rainbow stared back at her like she was in a state of shock. "Is that even possible...?" she muttered. "Ponies can be jerks sure, but... that kinda crime only ever happens nowadays in Daring Do..."

Twilight picked up on a change in her breathing as she spoke... becoming shorter, more panicked...

Her ears flopped as she stared back at her sorrowfully.

"Oh, Rainbow... I'm here for you—"

"No!" exclaimed Rainbow, pushing away from her harshly. "I-I mean, no Twi, I... Geez, I... just really want to be alone right now."

"Why?" pressed Twilight, a look of betrayal in her eyes. "I want to help you, Rainbow. I won't say a word if you don't want me to, but please just let me be here for you!"

Rainbow squeezed her eyelids shut... a tear trickling down, and dripping from her cheek.

"No!"

The air around them grew thicker, replacing the once cool breeze with an unbearable mugginess. Her wings unfurled themselves at her sides, flapping mightily... and stirring up powerful gusts of wind.

Twilight winced as the sudden wind threatened to push her back, but she prevailed, grabbing around her body in the nick of time as Rainbow took off into the sky.

She sniffled, choking back sob after sob as her mood began to affect the very weather itself. Her wings flapped slower than usual from Twilight's added weight... but that didn't stop her from pushing to go faster.

Anything to help clear her mind... and to help find some clarity.

The air around her grew windier, the sky a light grey... reflecting her current state of mind as another memory of her family became all-encompassing, ensnaring her thoughts as it rushed to the forefront of her mind.

Her eyes widened, remembering it as though it were yesterday...

She stood staring with an emotionless gaze as the funeral service lowered her mother's casket into the ground. Her breaths shallow and ragged, and eyes red... She stood on the verge of tears, being hit all at once with so many thoughts and feelings that she could barely think straight.

Fluttershy stood beside her tentatively. Whereas everypony made the decision to give her space... She was not about to abandon her friend in her darkest hour. She stayed quiet, knowing her friend like a sister, and knew she wouldn't want to speak, but... knew she wouldn't want to be alone, either...

She knew, more than anything, how much her friend hated being all alone...

Their parents talked in the background, about things neither of them necessarily cared about, nor understood... and went unnoticed for the most part, until they were both ushered along, the funeral eventually coming to a close.

"We can't stay here forever, Rainbow," her dad murmured.

Rainbow continued to stare for a moment more before tearing her gaze away with a frustrated sigh, turning sluggishly towards her dad.

Fluttershy bit her lip, her brow creasing in concern for her downtrodden friend... wishing there was something that she could do for her.

"You too, Fluttershy," her dad said, grabbing her attention. "Come, it's time we headed home."

"U-uhm... Oh— o-oh kay... "

She continued to peer sadly in the direction of her friend however, her heart yearning to somehow make everything okay again...

Rainbow trotted a short distance behind her father, her head hung low as an uncomfortable silence set in between them.

Why was he acting like this was all her fault? she wondered. He was so proud of her the other day too... and now he was treating her like a complete stranger...

So her mom, and his wife passed away...

That still didn't change how she felt about—!

"Dash."

Rainbow blinked, dumbstruck.

Huh?

She looked up at the sound of her name being called in surprise. Her brow lifted, her spirit rising as a slight, hopeful smile tugged at her lips. "Y-yeah, Dad?"

Her dad seemed to hesitate for a moment however, as he stood unflinching, peering on ahead.

"I had a talk with Fluttershy's parents. They... agreed to take you in for the foreseeable future."

What...?

Rainbow stared back at her dad in disbelief... her heart slowly breaking in two.

"Whu... w-whut do you mean, take me in?" she stammered out angrily.

"Exactly what I said!"

Rainbow's breath stuttered, startled by her father's sudden outburst. She shrunk back as he turned his head a bit, enough to look back at her with a slight glare.

"I can't be who you need me to be anymore... alright? So... you'll be moving into a more stable household in the meantime."

Rainbow felt her body go cold, as she continued to stare up at her father.

He had turned back ahead, but the image of him remained... his unshaven face, and cold glare, baring down on her.

It was like she barely recognized him anymore...

She averted her gaze, staring bitterly down at the street. "Why?" she spat. "S-so you can just drink yourself to death... guilt-free?"

She prepared herself for the worst—for her dad to do something he'd regret... but what that was never came.

Instead he said something that hurt her even worse.

"Windy may still be alive if it weren't for you..."

He had muttered the words under his breath... but his daughter always did have exceptional hearing...

Tears now welled in her eyes as she stomped her hoof, screaming at him, "Fine! I-if that's h-how you feel, then... good riddance!"

Bow's eyes widened ever so slightly as she turned and ran in the opposite direction, leaving him shaken... the weight of her words weighing heavily on his already aching heart.

Darn it, Bow... What did you just do...?

Rainbow ran as far as her little hooves could carry her, her eyelids squeezed tightly together as tears continued to fall from her face... the clouds on both sides of the street growing darker, and rumbling with thunder with each step she took...

The sky now rumbled with thunder as the evening sky darkened... reflecting the storm currently raging within her own head.

She soared over a series of rooftops, Twilight's hind hooves touching down and being forced to run along as she clung desperately to her girlfriend's barrel.

Rainbow let out a grunt, feeling herself being dragged down by her girlfriend's hooves as they attempted to find some traction.

"Nngh... Let go, Twi!"

Twilight shook her head.

"I'm not leaving you like this!" she yelled over the howling winds.

Tch... Rainbow grimaced, focusing her thoughts elsewhere as her memories—now flowing freely—compounded her mood, flashing their way through the foremost front of her subconscious.

"Well, uhm... make yourself at home, Rainbow Dash!" Mrs. Shy said, as she finished up going over the last of the house rules.

Rainbow looked off indifferently, an air of nonchalance about her.

A pair of shades sat loosely upon the bridge of her muzzle... keeping her true feelings a mystery to the older mare.

"Uh-huh."

Fluttershy's mom pursed her lips for a second, then crouched down to her level, bearing a kind smile. "Um... I know this is hard for you... b-but just know that we're all here for you. I'm sorry about your father, Rainbow Dash... but please try to understand. He really does love you, he just thinks that... you'd be better off with us for the time being."

"Whatever."

Her friend's mom softened her gaze as she stood back up. "I'll just give you some time alone then. To adjust, t-that is."

She walked off, looking back at her worriedly for a moment more, before leaving her all alone in the quaint, and cozy living room.

Or so she had thought.

Fluttershy silently crept up beside her, apprehensive at first before mustering up the courage to say something.

"He... H-hello..."

Wha...? Rainbow turned startled towards the source of the meek voice, coming face-to-face with her longtime friend.

"Oh..." She gave a half-smile in her direction. "Hey, Fluttershy."

The two stood looking at one another for a moment, the silence between them growing increasingly uncomfortable by the second.

"Hey, so... um, Flutters..."

"Oh, I'm just so sorry to hear what happened to you, Rainbow!" her friend cried out.

Rainbow stifled a gasp, and tensed up as the meek and timid filly leaped forward, embracing her around her withers.

She gulped, unsure of what to say, or how to react.

"I-it's no big deal, Flutters, really..."

She feigned a smile as she turned her head slightly to look at her. a faint blush staining her cheeks, and... she would never admit it to anypony, but... being in her friend's hooves like this...

It felt exactly like what she needed.

Fluttershy nodded reluctantly, stepping back and rubbing a hoof along her foreleg, peering away.

Rainbow sighed as she pushed the shades she wore back up her muzzle, quick to regain her composure.

"Still, I-I have to say..." Fluttershy peered back at her with a soft smile. "It'll be nice to have you here. It'll be like having an actual, real sister to play with!"

Her wings buzzed excitedly, her face lighting up at the thought.

Speaking of... Rainbow looked around before turning back to her inquisitively. "Got anything to do around here?"

"O-oh, um..." Her friend snapped back to reality, scrambling to reply, "W-we've got l-lots to do!"

"Really?" Rainbow urged her on. "Like...?"

"U-um...! Well, uhm... f-for starters, we have lots of games that—!"

"Pass," she replied plainly, without a second's hesitation. "I'm not really in the mood for games..."

"Oh." Fluttershy shrunk back, her face once more becoming obscured by her mane. "Okay."

An awkward silence fell over the two, Rainbow bringing a hoof to scratch the back of her head, and biting her lip, looking off.

Fluttershy all the while, gazed at her longingly... wanting nothing more than to reach out, and spend time together—like they used to...

She knew her friend was hurting, but even so, couldn't understand why she was being so distant with her...

Those stupid sunglasses certainly weren't helping any, either...

Fluttershy's gaze turned pensive, biting her lip anxiously before speaking up.

"H-hey, Rainbow? I-if you d-don't mind me asking... w-why are you wearing s-sunglasses indoors?"

Huh? Rainbow turned back to her, taken aback... her brow raised. "I see... It's that obvious, huh?"

"Mhm." Fluttershy softly replied, barely nodding.

Rainbow's lips tightened as she debated telling her friend the truth... when she took another look into her friend's longing stare, and she instantly caved in.

She sighed, motioning for Fluttershy to lean in a little closer.

Fluttershy herself cocked her head in confusion, before doing as her friend instructed.

"I'll let you in on a little secret, Shy," she whispered. "These are pret-ty useful at hiding how you really feel."

"How you... really feel?" Fluttershy repeated in question.

Rainbow nodded. "This way, you'll look brave to everypony you meet!" She put on a convincing grin. And, she solemnly thought, hide just how weak you really are...

Oh, Rainbow... Fluttershy took on a sorry expression. You've always been brave. To me, anyway...

She stored the thought in the back of her mind as another thought occurred to her right then.

"Where did you get those anyway? I-I didn't think you owned any sunglasses..."

At that, Rainbow cracked a sly grin. "That's 'cause I stole 'em!"

Fluttershy gasped. "S-stole them?"

"Mhm! Off of some policepony when she set 'em aside." She adjusted them with a wry smirk, looking into the stunned look on her friend's face.

Her expression soon changed however, into one of disapproval, as her eyes steadily bore into her.

Rainbow herself frowned. "What of it, Shy? Life's unfair, so why not break a few rules?"

She let out an indignant scoff, tearing her gaze away just as Fluttershy's brother entered the room... his face lighting up upon seeing who it was making such a commotion.

"Well if it isn't Rainbows!" Zephyr said in a suave and flirtatious, slightly grating tone of voice. "I hear you'll be staying with us for the foreseeable—"

"I think I'm gonna hit the town," she murmured, making a beeline for the front door... never once looking back. "Don't wait up."

"Youch. Talk about being given the cold shoulder... Ah well." He shrugged indifferently, walking off. "I'm sure she'll come around eventually..."

Fluttershy paid her brother's words little mind, her attention still focused on the fleeting image of her friend as she opened the door to her home.

I know we're each thinking this for separate reasons, but... She watched sorrowfully as the door shut behind her friend... leaving her all by her lonesome once more.

I hope so too, Zephyr... I really do...

Twilight's hooves ran out of runway, once again becoming airborne as the wind around them grew ever more fierce.

Rainbow's heart lurched as she gritted her teeth, shutting her eyes tight.

"What do you know about loss?" she growled out accusingly. "About losing a family member? One that... that you can't even remember!"

Her dad stood on the sidewalk outside, within the dim glow of the indoor light as it shone from both the front door and windows.

Mr. Shy stood in the doorway, facing him with a sorry expression. "We would love to let you see her, Bow! Unfortunately..."

He averted his eyes nervously, cuing her dad to assume the worst, grabbing him by the shoulders in a panic.

"You're telling me that you lost my little girl?"

Fluttershy's dad leaned back, holding a hoof up assuredly. "T-technically that's not the case! Y-you know her, Bow, she's... free-spirited... and going through a rough patch in her life," he noted as he finished, giving her father an accusing look.

Bow himself looked off ashamedly, letting out a humorless chuckle. "R-right..."

He straightened up, staring back at the other stallion directly.

"W-which is why I want to see her!" he pleaded. "I've got my priorities straight, m-my life in order! Please..." His gaze lowered, his voice quivering. "I just want to be a dad to her again..."

He bowed his head, a long moment passing between them.

Mr. Shy gave him a long, serious look, before setting a hoof over his old friend's shoulder.

"We've known one another since flight school, Bow... so I know you, and can tell when it is that you're being sincere. When Windy passed... it hit us all hard, and I understand you needed time alone, but... you also said some things to your daughter that you can never take back. I'm sorry, Bow, I... I'm not trying to keep your daughter from you. But she needs to be the one to decide whether she wants to see you again, or not..."

Bow nodded begrudgingly, sighing out in defeat. "I...! I understand, Sorry, I..." He peered up at him weakly. "C-can you at least tell her that I was here... and that I'd like nothing more than to just speak with her again?"

"Of course, Bow, but... I can't guarantee she'll reciprocate the notion..."

He nodded once more, the two saying their goodbyes before he walked away dejectedly, unwittingly being spied upon by a dark figure on the residence's rooftop.

His daughter sat there, forelegs wrapped around her hind legs as she watched him walk away with a bitter stare.

You haven't changed one bit, Dad, she thought, sourly. You can forget it. I'm never going back...

Twilight's brow creased at her girlfriend's accusation, her gaze peering away pensively.

"Maybe you're right, Rainbow... but, before you came along, I... forgot what it was like to even have a family!"

Rainbow's eyes snapped open, Twilight's confession giving her pause.

"I... I never considered visiting my brother, o-or my parents until you came along—I hadn't seen them in years!" she continued, slipping deeper into thought. "I... I was even neglectful towards Spike... and all I ever really wanted was to be alone!"

A moment passed, the only sound being that of occasional thunder, and heavy raindrops as they fell all around them.

"Maybe it is different for me, Rainbow. Every member of my family is still alive and I can visit them whenever I like, but... I've also felt what it's like to be away from them for as long as I was, and... when it hit, it hit me hard, Rainbow."

Rainbow's shoulders fell as she continued to slow down... the growing storm slowly dipping in ferocity. "The pony who's responsible is still out there, Twi! I... I c-can't just..." Her eyes darted back and forth longingly. "I can't just let it go..."

"So, your mind's really made up, huh, Fluttershy?"

She stood beside her oldest friend in an empty, open field on the edge of Ponyville.

A homely cottage sat not far from where they both stood, a 'For Sale' sign out front, and connected by a winding pathway... leading to a short bridge that sat over a narrow creek.

The field itself was alive with the many different sounds of buzzing insects, chirping birds... and the frivolous chatter of her little forest friends.

"Hm?" Fluttershy lifted her gaze to meet her friend's, brushing her mane from her face, and in doing so, revealing just how thrilled she seemed to be. "Oh yes. I've been in love with this very town ever since I fell to earth in this very spot!"

Her expression softly turned amorous, as she gazed fondly into her friend's eyes.

Rainbow's feathers ruffled, an embarrassed blush staining her cheeks as her whole body tensed up.

"W-what're you looking at me like that for? If y-you're looking for an apology, y-you can forget it!" She huffed, peering away defensively. "It wasn't my fault..."

"Oh heavens, no, I...!" Fluttershy lifted her brow, holding a hoof out assuredly. "I actually wanted to thank you, because had it not been for you, I... never would have met all of these little guys."

She allowed a little squirrel to scurry up her foreleg, lifting her close to her face, and nuzzling her sweetly.

The squirrel hugged her cheek, returning the affectionate gesture.

"Er..." Rainbow stared back at her friend, at a loss for words. "Y-yeah," she finally stammered out, "uh... anytime."

Fluttershy giggled, setting the squirrel back into the grassy field.

"Isn't this place wonderful, Rainbow? Oh, let's live down here together, just the two of us... away from all the mean old bullies."

"You mean meatheads like Hoops, right? Yeah... I wouldn't mind getting away from them myself... and really," she added with a shrug, "where else do I have to go?"

"W-well... You could always—"

"No," Rainbow cut her off, "don't finish that sentence, Flutters. My dad decided long ago that he didn't need me in his life, so..." She shook her head indefinitely, her mind made up. "I'm never going back."

Oh... Fluttershy shied her gaze away, softly chewing her bottom lip. "Okay," she agreed simply.

"Hey, come on... Chin up, Flutters. I don't need him, 'cause I got you, and you have me!" She reached out, giving her a light tap on the foreleg. "We don't need nopony, so long as we have each other!"

Fluttershy smiled back at her halfheartedly... barely nodding her head.

"I'll see if I can go find a photographer." She flew up off the ground, grinning down at her. "A moment this awesome deserves to be immortalized!"

"Yes you can, Rainbow!" Twilight insisted, shouting back over the rumble of thunder, and sopping rain. "If you obsess over this... then nothing good will come of it! You'll grow bitter, a-and detached! Think about how that would make me feel!"

"I-I am! I'd never dream of hurting you, Twi, I...! I..."

The rain now slowed to a drizzle, the roar of thunder calming.

"Then look at what you do have, and the family that you're going to have, with me, a-and Spike! You have a loving father and fiancée, and friends who all expect you to be stronger than this. Rainbow!"

Rainbow's gaze faltered, her ears folding as she bit her lip.

She smirked, swiping an apple with a flick of her tail from a marketplace fruit stand.

She snickered to herself as she and Fluttershy walked out of view, before tossing it with her tail over her head, and directly into her waiting hoof.

"Neat trick, huh, Shy?" She took a bite, explaining with a sly wink, "Learned it from Gilda some time ago."

"Rainbow... You know I don't approve of you stea—"

"Shh!" Rainbow raised a hoof to her own lips suddenly, cutting her off. "What are you doing, Fluttershy?"

Her eyes fixated themselves into a glare as she continued to lambaste her friend.

"Are you trying to blow my—?"

"Hey!"

Rainbow jumped at the loud voice, that seemed to be addressing her directly.

"Cover..." She deadpanned, breathing out a sigh. "Great."

She turned with a peeved look in her eyes.

"Can I help you?"

"Oh, I'm sorry," the salesmare mocked. "Am I bothering you? Because ponies like you stealing from honest, hardworking ponies like myself really bothers me."

The marketplace quieted, some ponies turning towards the scene, their curiosity piqued.

Rainbow glared back at her, when she felt something touch her foreleg.

She peered to her right, finding it to be her friend's hoof, attempting to grab her attention.

"Rainbow, please..." Fluttershy cautioned. "Just pay the pony—"

"Hold that thought, Shy." Rainbow glared back ahead, stepping forward in a confronting manner. "What do you mean by ponies like you? What do you even know about me, huh? I would love to hear it."

"I know you're somepony who likes to take others for a ride, and cheat them out of their money."

Rainbow narrowed her gaze further, her feathers rustling. Who did this pony think she was? Challenging her like this...

In public, no less!

"Whatever," she finally said with a snort, cocking her head coolly, You want it back? You can have it."

Before the other mare had the chance to react, Rainbow threw it near her hooves, splattering it against the ground.

Her action only garnished more attention, seeming as though all eyes in the marketplace were now on her and Fluttershy.

Fluttershy herself shrunk back, hiding behind her mane, but Rainbow stood tall... standing her ground.

"Wasn't ripe anyway..." she muttered.

The pony opposite stood facing her, left a little shaken by the display.

She gulped, managing to put on a brave face.

"A-actually, I... want the bits that you owe me, but that's fine. I-I'll just add that to your list of criminal offenses."

"Criminal offenses? There's a laugh! And what exactly am I guilty of?"

"How about harassment?" one pony said, coming forward.

"Vandalism!" another pony put forth.

"Public endangerment!" a third exclaimed.

Rainbow stepped back, taken aback... her heart beating faster with each accusation thrown her way.

"You've been nothing but trouble since the day you arrived!" one last mare, with curly pink and blue hair declared. "We've all tolerated your antics for as long as we care to remember... but no more!"

"Pfft... w-whatever!" Rainbow deflected, her voice stammering. "Good luck even proving any of that!"

She turned away bitterly, motioning for Fluttershy to follow her with a wave of her hoof. "C'mon, Fluttershy."

"...No."

What? Rainbow turned back to her incredulously. "Excuse me?"

Fluttershy gulped... feeling her hooves go numb as her friend gazed at her angrily.

She trembled, averting her eyes for a second before swallowing her nerves, and glaring back at her sternly. "I-I s-said no, Rainbow Dash."

Fluttershy...

She swallowed hard, swiftly putting on a nonchalant front, staring daggers into her friend.

"You're siding with them?"

"...I've tolerated a lot that you've done, Rainbow Dash, because I knew you had your baggage... but I always held out hope that you'd one day return to the kind and noble pony you once were when we were fillies. And for a moment, it felt like you were starting to... But these ponies are right, Rainbow Dash. You've taken things too far!"

"Oh, y-yeah?" Her mask of bravado faltered, quickly finding herself on the end of a losing battle.

Still she held her ground.

"S-since when did you grow a backbone, Shy? You never spoke up about any of this before!"

"B-because, Rainbow! We... w-we're supposed to be friends... a-and friends treat one another with kindness—"

"Kindness, yeah," she scoffed. "What does kindness get you, other than stepped on?"

Fluttershy shook her head. "That's not true at all, Rainbow! Being kind isn't a weakness, it... i-it's a virtue! Being able to forgive somepony, no matter their mistakes... makes you strong, Rainbow! Not some... stupid pair of sunglasses!"

Rainbow stared back at her in stunned silence, brow raised.

Fluttershy realized what she had said, as silence fell over them... and brought a hoof to her lips as she shrunk back, hiding her face partially behind her mane.

"...What are you suggesting, Shy?" Rainbow asked warily.

"U-um.." Fluttershy chewed her lip, mustering up her courage as she blurted out, "Y-you n-need to learn to f-forgive your da—!"

She flinched, recoiling and shutting her eyes as Rainbow scowled, raising a hoof as if to strike her.

The crowd of townsponies gasped, and before Rainbow could act... a bright, turquoise glow emanated from deep within the crowd, hitting her directly and causing her to stumble backwards... blinking her eyes several times.

"W-wha...?"

She glanced all around her, her mind basked in a deep fog.

Unfamiliar ponies stood surrounding her, murmuring things she couldn't understand.

Are they... talking about me...? Wait... who even am I...? Her heart skipped as it dawned on her. Why can't I remember my own name?!

Fluttershy tentatively opened an eye, peeking at her old friend, before widening her gaze at the sheer look of terror on her face.

R-Rainbow...?

She furled her brow, cocking her head as she took a step forward.

Rainbow saw as she took a step towards her, and began to panic.

"S-stay back!"

Fluttershy froze mid-step, looking at her worriedly. "Rainbow, it's... i-it's me, Fluttershy."

Rainbow brought a hoof to her head, feeling so lightheaded... the world around her starting to blur.

Am I Rainbow? she wondered, her breaths growing deeper. I don't... Fluttershy...? W-who's...?

"Rainbow... are you feeling okay? Please," Fluttershy insisted, reaching out her hoof, "let me help y—"

"D-don't touch me!" Rainbow cried desperately. She swatted her hoof away, scrambling further back as she unfurled her wings.

She turned without wasting another moment, and took off into the sky, a rainbow trail blazing behind her as she flew off in search of something she recognized... leaving Fluttershy with nothing more than an outstretched hoof... and her friend's name, as it softly died on her lips...

"You have to let it go, Rainbow, like you've always managed to do up until now!" Twilight continued to exclaim, before drifting off... her voice becoming that of a low murmur. "Because if you won't..."

Twilight slowly loosened her grip on her girlfriend's body.

Then...

Her hooves slipped free, her eyelids falling shut.

I may as well...

Rainbow snapped back attentively, her mind on full alert the second she felt Twilight's hooves slip.

Her breath caught in her throat, her heart sinking and pupils shrinking at the sight of her girlfriend—her best friend and love of her life—falling through the sky... and fastly approaching the ground.

"Twilight!"

She sprung into action, descending through the sky in a blur of color, and scooping her up in her hooves, holding her tightly against her body.

Twilight's eyes snapped open from the sudden thrust, finding herself now staring bewilderingly in her girlfriend's own frantic expression... feeling the pegasus's rapid heartbeat pounding wildly against her chest.

"Are you crazy?" she screamed, voice laden with tears. "Geez, Twi, I... just lost my mom, I-I don't wanna lose you too! I mean... what were you thinking?!"

Twilight blinked, slowly taking in her girlfriend's distress.

She swallowed nervously, shrinking back with a sheepish grin.

"T-that you'd hopefully catch me?"

Rainbow's jaw hit the clouds.

"Well, yeah I'd catch you!" she exclaimed incredulously, rolling her eyes. "And not just because I love you or anything. I may have gotten worked up back there, Twi... but not enough to let you fall!"

She flew herself and Twilight down to the ground, the dusk sky breaking through the stormy weather as it slowly dispersed, cloud by cloud.

Their hooves touched down, Twilight taking a few, anxious steps back.

Rainbow, in turn, reached out worriedly, placing a hoof over her fiancée's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Twilight however... stared back at her in shock, taken aback.

"Am I okay?" she exclaimed, exasperated. "Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?"

Rainbow leaned her head back, her brow raising. "I... y-yeah, I... I'm fine now, Twi, really."

"Really really? Because..." Twilight bit her lip, clutching her foreleg. "You nearly caused a potentially devastating storm up there, and—"

"I know, Twi..." Rainbow's gaze saddened as she lifted a hoof, resting it over hers comfortingly. "I know..."

"Well... if you don't mind me asking, Rainbow... What snapped you out of it?"

"Heh..." She cracked a soft grin. "You did, Twi. The stuff you said to me up there, it... really rang true. I should be valuing what I still have... rather than stewing over what I lost."

Twilight garnished a tender smile, bringing a hoof to softly cup her girlfriend's cheek. "What happened to your mother was wrong, Rainbow, but... please don't let it consume you. Be somepony your mom can be proud of... okay?"

Rainbow chuckled, resting a hoof of her own over her girlfriend's, and reciprocating her loving gaze. "I know, Twi... I promise I'm not going to lose myself a second time. Especially with you being in my life this time around. I'll never push you away..."

"And I won't ever leave you either, Rainbow... even as we stand here..." She leaned in, her gaze softening as she brought her muzzle in to lightly nuzzle her cheek. "We can just stay here for as long as you need, and you don't need to talk or say a word... I'll just be here for you."

"Heh... Thanks, Twilight," Rainbow replied, returning the nuzzle. "You really are the best thing to ever happen to me..."

"As are you, Rainbow." Twilight smiled warmly.

She drew her head back, staring sympathetically into her girlfriend's dewy-eyed expression.

Rainbow smiled back at her briefly, before taking a moment to dry her eyes.

She sniffed, breaking the silence between them.

"...H-hey, uhm... Twi?"

Twilight tilted her head inquisitively. "Yes?"

"There's, um... something else I really ought to tell you."

"Which is...?" She urged her fiancée on. "You know you can tell me anything."

Rainbow nodded slightly, averting her eyes for a moment before turning back to face her, a serious look on her face.

"I remember, Twi," she confessed, in a pensive tone.

Twilight's lips softly parted, staring back at her in disbelief.

"I remember everything..."

"Well, I... honestly can't say I was expecting any of that..."

The two sat side by side on a sidewalk bench, Twilight listening intently as Rainbow told her everything.

"So, ah..." Rainbow looked off, fidgeting anxiously as she stole the occasional, nervous glance at her girlfriend. "H-how do you feel about me, n-now that you know the truth?"

She swallowed hard, silently cursing the fact that Twilight had to be such a deep thinker at times like these...

"Hmm..." Twilight tapped her hoof against her chin, furrowing her brow. "I don't understand, Rainbow... Am I supposed to feel any different?"

Rainbow stared back at her, exasperated.

"What do you mean, Twi? Of course you are, I mean... I was a total jerk to everypony—!"

"Yeah," laughed Twilight in agreement. "Including me. Remember when we first met?"

"Er..." Twilight's remark gave her pause. "H-how could I forget?"

She smiled meekly at her girlfriend's own amused expression.

"The important thing," Twilight continued, reaching over, and setting a hoof on her foreleg, "is that you recognize the mistake, and realize that what you did was wrong. We all make mistakes in life, Rainbow... but seldom are we ever actually capable of owning up to them. You did though, Rainbow... and I couldn't be more proud. "

She leaned over to kiss her girlfriend's cheek, eliciting a soft chuckle out of the pegasus at the ticklish feeling.

"T-thanks, Twi."

The two gazed fondly at the other for a brief moment... another thought occurring to Rainbow right then and there.

She peered up solemnly towards the night sky. "I really ought to apologize to Fluttershy when I get the chance..."

"Really?" Twilight cocked her head, brow furrowing in confusion. "But I thought the two of you were on good terms."

"Oh we are, but... I realize now that that's only because of how kind she is..." Rainbow turned back to face her with a determined look. "I still wanna make things right with her, y'know?"

"I see..." Twilight's expression softened into a look of admiration. "Well, maybe you can, the next time you're in Ponyville."

"Totally." Rainbow nodded, grinning softly. Man... I never imagined myself actually looking forward to going back there...

The two sat comfortably in silence for a few moments more, simply enjoying the company that the other provided them.

"You know, your dad's probably worried about us..." mused Twilight aloud.

"Then I think it's about time that we made our way back," agreed Rainbow. "Hey, um... Twi? Before we do... I could really use your help with something."

Twilight perked up, turning towards her girlfriend in interest.

"Really?" she asked. "With what?"

"N-nothing major, just... I wanna tell my dad something."

"Oh, well... Why do you need my help then? Do you need help finding the right words? Because if so, I think we both know that I have quite the encyclopedic vocabu—"

"Actually, Twi," she interjected with a dry chuckle, "I was sorta just hoping you could be there for me. Y'know, for emotional support."

Oh.

Twilight blushed, faintly scratching a nonexistent itch on her cheek "I see. W-well, that... may not have been what I was expecting, but..." She smiled reassuringly. "I'd be happy to."

The couple hopped down from where they had been sitting, before turning in the house's direction, and galloping off towards it with a renewed sense of clarity.

They reached the front door within minutes of running, Rainbow looking back at her girlfriend and taking one of her hooves in her own.

Twilight beamed, happily reciprocating the gesture as Rainbow turned back ahead, and a made a series of quick knocks on the door.

Only a couple moments had passed before the door was whisked open, her dad standing there in the open doorway with a frantic expression.

Relief washed over him in an instant, seeing his daughter and her girlfriend standing side by side, hoof in hoof before him, both safe and sound.

"Hey, Dad!" his daughter exclaimed.

"Rainbow, you're... y-you're okay!" He smiled thankfully, placing a hoof over his worried heart.

His daughter formed a lopsided grin. "I'm better than okay, Dad!"

"I should have known as much... S-sorry, it's just... you two were gone longer than I was expecting, a-and I heard a storm raging outside, and...!"

Rainbow cut him off, letting go of her fiancée's hoof in favor of embracing her father.

Bow himself, bore a look of astonishment... staring straight ahead in stunned silence as his daughter wrapped her forelegs as far as she could reach over his broad shoulders.

"I know things have been sorta awkward since I showed up today, Dad... and I know that it maybe feels like I've been avoiding you, but... t-that isn't the case! The real truth is..." She nuzzled him affectionately, her dad growing a bit teary-eyed as his heart beat heavily in his chest.

Rainbow pulled back with a teary expression of her own, and a sorry smile on her lips.

"...I forgive you, Dad. For everything."

She peered off ashamedly, sniffling as she dried her eyes with a foreleg.

"S-sorry I was such a featherbrain—"

Her dad hugged her back, cutting her off and leaving her speechless, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

Day 328

The night had passed by quickly for the three of them, exhausted from the drama that the previous day had brought.

The sun eventually rose over the horizon, rousing both father and daughter from their slumber, and Twilight, who remained asleep, was gifted a few extra hours of shuteye from her girlfriend as she lay in her hooves.

Rainbow silently crept out of bed, then proceeded to spend the next few hours helping her dad around the house, letting him handle breakfast, and instead simply lending a helping hoof wherever she could.

Twilight's muzzle crinkled, and her eyes fluttered open to the smell of something good wafting through the air.

Mm... She rubbed her eyes, sitting up and taking in everything about the spare room she and Rainbow had fallen asleep in... recalling the events of the day before.

Getting out of bed, she cantered out into the hallway, following the delicious smell.

Is this Rainbow's doing? she wondered, then smiled at the silly thought. Couldn't be. She and I are terrible when it comes to cooking...

She entered the living room, when she heard the rasp of her girlfriend's voice, calling out to her excitedly.

"Twilight! You're awake!" She waved her on over. "Over here! My dad and I made breakfast!"

"Really?" Twilight asked, dubiously. "The two of you?"

"Er..." Rainbow quickly backtracked, rubbing a hoof along the back of her neck. "Well... I helped."

"Ah, don't be so hard on yourself, Rainbow!" her dad chimed in. "Remember your old man wasn't much of a chef either, back in the day. Give it time, and you'll learn."

"Heh..." Rainbow blushed, averting her eyes with a bashful smile. "Y-you think?"

"Well, I certainly believe so!" He grinned proudly. "You're awesome at everything you do."

Twilight's expression softened, smiling admiringly towards the two.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Bow asked excitedly, looking between them. "Let's eat!"

"Well, here you are, Rainbow," her dad said. "Nice and warm, fresh out of the dryer."

Rainbow beamed, happily accepting her sweatshirt back into her hooves.

She threw it over her head, the article of clothing itself feeling so warm and cozy against her body. She popped her head out the top, giving her head a quick shake before turning towards her girlfriend with a playful smile, for her opinion.

"How do I look?"

Twilight in turn, smiled warmly at her. "Like the most beautiful Wonderbolt."

Rainbow softly grinned at her little callback.

"S-sooo," her dad interjected by clearing his throat, beginning to feel a little awkward. "You sure you girls can't stay a little longer?"

The two mares blinked as they turned to look at the other... their ears flopping ashamedly.

"Sorry, Dad," Rainbow began, "but... we really ought to be getting back to Canterlot..."

Her dad sighed, half-expecting that to be her response as he nodded, somewhat begrudgingly. "I understand... You do have a life of your own now, after all..." He held a hoof up a moment later however, assuring the two, "Please don't get the wrong idea! I-I not trying to guilt you into visiting or anything!" A nervous laugh followed suit.

Rainbow and Twilight gazed at the other, sharing a look of understanding.

They turned back to him, Rainbow nodding assuredly. "We know, Dad," she said, coming up to hug him goodbye. "And w-we'll certainly try to."

The two soon left out the front door, waving goodbye one final time before closing it behind them, carrying on their way.

They had only just reached the end of the walkway however, when Rainbow leaned over, lovingly nuzzling her fiancée.

Twilight giggled at the sudden, ticklish maneuver. "Y-you're acting more affectionate than usual, Rainbow. N-not that I necessarily mind..."

She closed her eyes in bliss, returning the loving gesture. "Mm... any particular reason?"

"I just... love you so much, Twi. You're just... such an awesome mare, and it's times like these I can't believe that you're actually mine..."

Twilight gulped, blushing lightly as she turned her head to face her girlfriend's.

"I'll always be yours, Rainbow," she promised softly, leaning in to kiss her lips.

Rainbow mirrored her, and after a long moment, pulled back... gazing amorously at the other.

"So, whaddya say?" Rainbow asked, staring deeply into her fiancée's eyes. "Wanna head for home?"

Twilight's face lit up. "Mhm! O-oh, but first!"

"First?" Rainbow cocked her head, crinkling her brow.

"There's a place I wanna stop by before we reach the hot-air balloons."

Rainbow remained no less confused however, as Twilight insisted on keeping her in the dark, a coy smile forming on her lips.

Twilight hummed happily, standing with Rainbow in their hot-air balloon's basket as it leisurely descended through the sky... holding in her magic a souvenir storm cloud, encased in glass.

I really should have known, mused Rainbow in thought. She did say she'd think about it, on our way back...

"So, what do you think, Rainbow?"

What do I...? Twilight's voice snapped her from her thoughts, a faint blush of embarrassment staining her cheeks. "Uh... y-you know I like just about everything you pick out, Twi. Still, I... have to ask. Why a snow one?"

Twilight smiled back at her, as if it were obvious.

"Because it was wintertime when you proposed to me."

"Ohh... right. How could I forget?"

Twilight grinned, setting her storm cloud down beside her, on the floor of their balloon.

"I just wanted to have a little something to remind me of the night when that foolhardy pegasus who crashed through my window... made me the happiest mare in Equestria." Her grin turned lopsided. "That's me being hyperbolic of course... but still."

"Heh..." Rainbow's expression softened in awe of her words. "You made me happy too, Twi, don't forget."

"I would never." Twilight smiled lovingly.

The two stepped over to the wall of the basket, leaning up onto their hind legs, and slouching forward... their forelegs resting folded on the basket's ridge.

A refreshing, midmorning breeze blew gently through their fur and manes as they stood by each other's side, staring out idly at the sea of white clouds.

Twilight peered over at her girlfriend after spending a moment in silence, lowering her eyelids as she leaned closer, planting a kiss on the pegasus's cheek.

"...Thank you for the wonderful trip, Rainbow," she said softly, as she drew her head back. "Even if not everything went as planned, and I may have nearly died getting you to come to your senses... b-but!"

Rainbow deadpanned back at her.

"I nevertheless enjoyed getting to see Cloudsdale for the first time... meeting your family, learning more about you, your past... And speaking of..." Her face lit up excitedly. "You finally remembered your past!"

She leaned over once more, embracing her girlfriend around her shoulders.

"Y-yeah... I only wish I knew why they chose to show up now, I mean... I've received little flashes here and there before, but..." Rainbow looked off pensively. "Got any ideas, Twi?"

"I'll admit, it is a tad strange... Then again," she teased, "you are a strange pegasus."

Rainbow glanced back at her, a dry look in her eyes. "I'll try not to take offense to that, Twi."

"Please don't." Twilight smiled, nuzzling her deeply. "It's one of many reasons why I love you."

Rainbow chuckled under her breath, rolling her eyes as she turned to look back ahead.

"B-back to the matter at hoof! I believe that they may have chosen to return to you at this point in time because, well... you were forced to confront your past, and all of the painful memories that came with doing so."

"I was hit with a lot, all at once..." Rainbow gave it some thought. "Huh. You know, you may be right, Twi... It could have just been my brain, trying desperately to find answers."

"Well, either way... Now that we know your past... we can now start building properly towards our future!"

Rainbow grinned broadly.

"Heck yeah!" she cheered, pumping her hoof down by her side.

Their balloon eventually reached Canterlot, the two docking at the hot-air balloon rental bay.

Rainbow nudged her girlfriend's side, before crouching forward and urging her to climb aboard.

And after a short flight, arrived at the doors to their tower home.

"Guys!" Spike exclaimed excitedly at the sound of the front doors opening, and their voices filling the room. "You're back!"

He ran down the short stairwell, coming up to greet them properly, a multitude of questions running through his head. "How'd your trip to Cloudsdale go? Were you able to meet your family?"

"Er..." Rainbow bit her lip, her and Twilight exchanging a brief, hesitant look.

Spike continued. "Did you tell them about your engagement?"

Our...

Their eyes slowly widened.

Engagement...?

They simultaneously gulped as they stared into one another's eyes... a sinking feeling coming over them as their hearts sunk into the furthest pit of their stomachs.

"We forgot!" they both exclaimed, in dreaded realization.

"Aw, man..." fretted Rainbow. "How could we forget to tell him? That was like, the whole reason we went up there!"

Spike switched between his two friends with a worried expression.

"Well, hey... look on the bright side, Rainbow," said Twilight. "We do have well over a month before our wedding day arrives, so... we have more than enough time to pay him a second visit. You did say how we'd try and pay him another visit, after all."

"...I guess you're right, Twi." Rainbow turned with a relieved smile in her girlfriend's direction.

Twilight always did know exactly how to put her nerves at ease.

"Yeah..." She looked ahead with an air of determination, a confident grin softly parting her lips.

"We'll just have to tell him when we see him again!"

Why today?

A pony—a young mare, bearing a green coat and a messy, even greener mane moved hurriedly through the bustling, midday Ponyville streets... all the while muttering a distressed string of "No"s under her breath.

Why? she fretted, glancing over her shoulder anxiously. Why did it have to be today?

Her hoofsteps grew more frantic, her already brisk pace picking up speed as she shoved herself past several ponies in the marketplace... hoping to lose her pursuer deep within the crowd.

I'm invisible... Nopony even knows I exist... a-and I even made sure that she wouldn't remember me! So then why... w-why is she following me?

Could the spell have been broken?

Did she seriously have a change of heart?

Her steps broke out into a mad dash, keeping her head down as her feelings worsened.

I never meant for things to turn out the way they did, I... I wish I had never found that... that stupid rock!

She threw the door to her home open, slamming it shut behind her as she looked around in a panic.

I'm gonna have to leave this all behind, a-and leave town! Oh, but first...

She scurried over to one of several planters filled with dirt, and scrounged her hoof around within the soil, digging out a stone with unique carvings akin to an eye in its center.

I'll need to bury this, back where I first... where I first unearthed it.

She sat back, brushing the dirt off with her free hoof, and held it close to her hammering heart... The stone itself emitting a pale green light.

I can feel it... Something about the stone, it's... different... I-is it possible that her memories really have left—!

A sudden series of knocks came at her door, causing her to jump, letting out a breathless gasp.

S-she found me? No... no no no no, no! I could have sworn I lost her, I...

She turned her rigid gaze fearfully towards the source of the noise, feeling her entire body go numb.

She held her breath in anticipation, the air around her becoming deathly still.

Tears welled up the corners of her eyes.

"Wallflower," the voice spoke sternly. "I know you're in there... Open up."

S-she knows my—! How...? she wondered desperately. How does she know my name?!

"Wallflower, please," the voice persisted. "I... remember what you did."

She truly does remember... She swallowed hard, standing up in resolve. I'm gonna have to leave out the back, make a break for the train station... She shut her eyelids tight, choking back a sob. I-is this my punishment? Being forced to run... a-after forcing her away...?

She made a beeline for the backroom, when another series of knocks at the front door gave her pause... her heart skipping a beat.

"Wallflower... Please open up, I... just want to talk," the soft voice once again spoke up. "I'm not mad with you, I... I-I only wish to know why you did what you did, so... please. Won't you open up?"

I...

Wallflower bit her lip, standing halfway between her front door, and the backroom. The voice sent a pang across her heart, slowly urging her forward.

What am I doing...? W-what if it's all a ruse, a-and she's here with a few police ponies, ready to take me away!

Her hoof trembled as she reached forward, reluctantly taking hold of the door handle.

No, she assured herself with a nervous gulp, there's something in her voice telling me that... she's for real...

Her door creaked open, sunlight pouring in, and a warm breeze wafting on through.

There, in the doorway, stood a mare with a butterscotch coat, and flowing pink mane... bearing a kind, sympathetic smile as she met her own fearful gaze.

"Hello... Wallflower."

Wallflower could only stare back in disbelief... her eyes heavy and gaze quivering.

She broke down before her visitor, collapsing on her hind legs, and sobbing uncontrollably.

Fluttershy stepped forward, quick to console her as she embraced her ever so gently.

"There there," she soothed. "I forgive you... Wallflower."

"S-so, uhm..."

Fluttershy idly played with a lock of her hair, twirling it anxiously as she sat beside Wallflower on her living room sofa.

Wallflower herself fidgeted awkwardly, staring down with red, puffy eyes... her muzzle sniffling every now and then.

Fluttershy smiled meekly. "M-my name's—"

"Fluttershy," Wallflower said, cutting her off. "Your name is Fluttershy. You live in that cottage on the edge of town."

Fluttershy blinked in surprise, slowly letting her hoof fall. "How did you—?"

"I was there when you first moved in. You were too soft spoken to grab anypony's attention in town hall that day, so I filed the paperwork for you. Since I was volunteering there at the time, anyway."

"That was you?"

Wallflower deadpanned back at her.

Fluttershy blushed, hiding behind her mane with an embarrassed smile.

"S-sorry... I-it was so long ago that I suppose some of the details are a bit hazy..."

The two sank back into uncomfortable silence for a couple of moments... mulling over what to say next.

"Still, I... guess I should thank you, because had you not stepped forward... I doubt anypony would ever have noticed me..."

I know the feeling... Wallflower lamented in thought as she sniffled, before peering over at her sadly. "How can you still thank me? You know what I did! To both you and Rainbow Dash! I used that stone, and I—!"

"You stole our memories... I know, Wallflower."

Wallflower simmered down, looking back at her no less distraught.

"I had followed you home that day because I had noticed a strange glow emanating from your hoof. I think everypony else was too caught up in themselves that day to notice, but..."

Fluttershy reached out after Rainbow as she dashed off in a hurry, in the direction of the woods just outside of town.

"R-Rainbow, wait!" she exclaimed in a soft voice, looking after her worriedly.

Some of the townsponies noticed her distress, remarking snidely, "I can't believe she actually cares for that pony..."

"Well you know what they say: losers of a feather flock together," the other pony snickered.

Fluttershy glanced at them from behind her mane, her gaze saddening. She chewed her bottom lip pensively... mulling over her next course of action.

Should she give chase?

No... She knew her limitations, and knew that she would never be fast enough...

Rainbow had no family she could alert to her disappearance that would actually care either... And what friends did Rainbow have other than herself?

The authorities would no doubt drag their hooves because they too, knew about Rainbow's antics... And what would she even tell them...? That her friend flew off to... Celestia only knows where?

I'm useless... Fluttershy whimpered, a few tears dripping from her face as she stood, helpless... gaze downtrodden in the darkened street.

The other ponies all began to disperse, happy with themselves to finally be rid of such a menace... but not Fluttershy, who stood shaken, softly crying.

She clutched her foreleg, thinking to herself, Should I just stand here, waiting for her l-like I... I a-always d-do...? Or, should I perhaps maybe...?

No... she solemnly decided, sniffling as she wiped her hoof across her face, drying her tears. I have my little animal friends who depend on me... I can't just... up and leave...

With her mind made up, she sluggishly turned towards her home, her gaze sullen... when it all of a sudden perked up at the faintest turquoise hue, coming from further up the street.

Her eyes widened slightly in curiosity. What is...?

A young mare, with a green coat and mane, moved anxiously from the scene, keeping her head low, and clutching something... close to her chest.

Something emanating an eerie, turquoise glow that she seemed to be trying to smother.

Fluttershy leaned her head forward, increasing her own pace in hopes of keeping up with this mystery pony. She furled her brow, listening in on what this stranger of hers seemed to be muttering.

Something about this not being good... and... a memory stone...?

She continued to eavesdrop, following closely behind the mare as an uneasy feeling grew in the pit of her stomach.

Is this pony... the reason Rainbow began acting so funny?

She stayed on the stranger's trail, carefully following her until she came to an ordinary house she believed must have belonged to her mystery mare.

Fluttershy turned her head away, pretending to walk in a different direction for a moment as the pony she trailed glanced around swiftly, before ducking inside.

Fluttershy swallowed her nerves, turning back ahead and coming to grips with what she had to do.

She approached the house, hesitantly lifting a hoof before knocking on the front door a few times.

Her knocking was met with a few, loud obscenities, mouthed in startlement from the other side of the door.

And then nothing.

Fluttershy stood startled, unsure of her next course of action.

Should she try knocking again? Or maybe try saying something?

Her gaze sunk disappointingly "...M-maybe I should just head home—"

The door all of a sudden creaked open, causing her to hesitate, turning back with a hopeful expression.

"H-hel-lo—?"

A blinding, turquoise light shone forth from within the darkness, shining brightly in her eyes... and leaving her dazed for a couple, long moments.

The door slammed shut, snapping her out of her reverie.

W-what j-just—? She blinked several times, bearing a confounded look on her face. What am I doing here? I... I-I remember walking with Rainbow... and I remember her having to leave unexpectedly, but...

She shrugged, putting the thoughts aside, and instead prioritizing the last thing she did remember.

Maybe I should just head home...

Fluttershy walked off, Wallflower watching as she left from the front window, as she peeked out from behind the curtains.

Phew...

She breathed out in relief, turning and slumping back against the wall... holding a stone in her hoof that softly illuminated her hammering chest.

"...I call it the Memory Stone. I just used it to erase little things at first. You know, like embarrassing exchanges, or moments of clumsiness... I never meant for things to turn out the way they did, honest!"

Fluttershy all the while, sat beside her, listening politely... and as she finished, turned to her with a kind smile.

"I believe you, Wallflower," she said simply.

Wallflower turned to her guest, incredulous.

"H-how can you believe me? Y-you barely know me, which, by the way... How did you even find out my name?"

"Oh, that was my friend Pinkie Pie's doing. She knows everypony in Ponyville, though... even she had to admit that she didn't know very much about you. Only your name."

"Figures... That pony is always prying into everyponies' private life..."

"O-only because she wants to plan parties a-around the interests of those that she's p-planning for!" Fluttershy assured her. "S-sorry, she... doesn't mean to be so intrusive."

"Well, if you say so... I-in either case, as I was saying... How can you trust that what I'm even telling you is the truth?"

Fluttershy tilted her head.

"You mean you were lying?" she asked.

Wallflower bit her tongue. "Well, no, but...!"

"Then I believe you, regardless of whether or not you're a friend of mine," she explained simply, giving Wallflower a warm smile as she finished.

Wallflower stared back at her in frustration for a moment more... before caving in, letting out a sigh as she lowered her guard.

"I do still have one last question, though."

Wallflower instantly tensed back up.

"Why did you steal our memories in the first place?"

Why? Wallflower stared back at her, dumbfounded. "Because Rainbow was going to hit you, that's why!"

Fluttershy's eyes widened at her outburst, before returning to normal... a steady smile beginning to spread across her face.

To Wallflower's amazement, the pegasus softly began to giggle, holding a hoof to her lips.

Is she... laughing? She stared at her guest with a flabbergasted expression. "I'm sorry," she began, "but how in Equestria is that funny?"

"B-because, Rainbow, she... would never hurt a fly. Sure, she may talk big, get angry, cause mayhem, provoke others—"

"You know you aren't exactly helping her case..." Wallflower deadpanned.

"M-my point is!" Fluttershy held out a hoof, blushing profusely. "Rainbow may be a lot of things, but physically abusive isn't one of them. She would never take her aggression out on anypony. Even if she sometimes comes close, she always stops herself. Why... I-I only reacted the way I did because, between you and me... I get scared easily... I, uhm, don't know if you've ever noticed, I... hide it pretty well."

Yeah, thought Wallflower, with a roll of her eyes, very well...

"She's really a big softie," Fluttershy went on to explain. "She's just... guarded when it comes to her emotions, and puts on an act to fool others, and I think even herself into believing that she's strong... when she always has been—t-to me, anyway!"

She shrunk back as Wallflower contemplated what she had just been told.

"Okay, so... maybe I reacted without knowing all of the details... b-but you heard the townsponies' complaints! She's caused so much trouble that I felt like I just had to do something! So I asked the stone to steal away her memories, and return them to her if she only ever truly changed. It must have worked too, seeing as you're here, memory in tact."

"Hm..." Fluttershy furled her brow in thought. "That can't be right..."

"Fluttershy?"

"I-it's just... I met up with her not too long ago, a-and she seemed like an entirely different mare to me..."

"Maybe she was lying to herself?" Wallflower suggested.

"No... I don't think that's the case. Wallflower, are... a-are you absolutely certain that you know how that stone's magic works?"

"Hm? Beats me." She shrugged her shoulders. "It didn't exactly come with instructions."

"Hmm... Well, what if... what if it takes more than a change in attitude to break the spell? Like... what if she needed to accept who she truly was deep down... in order to break it for good..."

"If that's true, then... something big must've happened recently, to remind her of who she was," agreed Wallflower, snorting in amusement. "You know... I'm sorta surprised there was even a spell to break. I would have assumed that actually breaking this would be the only way to set her memories free..."

"Speaking of..." Fluttershy motioned towards the stone itself. "Do you think we should, um... you know..."

"Break it?" Wallflower smiled softly. "You read my mind, Fluttershy. Nopony should have this kind of power... and it was foolish of me to ever wield it in the first place..."

The two got up from the couch, Fluttershy reaching out to her reassuringly once they set hoof on the floor.

"Don't be too hard on yourself, Wallflower," she said, Wallflower's eyes widening for a short moment before she averted them away. "I mean, sure..." she continued, "it was wrong of you to steal away her memories, but... if you hadn't, then she never would have met Twilight and turned her life around, so... it wasn't all entirely a bad thing."

"I guess..." Wallflower supposed with a halfhearted shrug. "Say, um... you're not going to tell Rainbow about this... are you? I mean, I'll understand if you do, a-and really you should, I just—!"

Fluttershy cut her off with a shake of her head.

"It isn't my truth to tell, Wallflower," she said. "Though, Rainbow lives in Canterlot now, and has her memories back, so, I think... we should let bygones be bygones, and just... leave it in the past. Though, that doesn't mean that I condone not telling her, i-if the opportunity ever presents itself—"

"Y-yeah, no, I... I understand." Wallflower nodded assuredly. "If I ever meet her again, I'll... think about telling her."

Fluttershy smiled, nodding back at her before turning, the two finding themselves heading for the house's backdoor, where Wallflower kept her garden.

"So, um... Who's Twilight?" Wallflower asked, making small talk as they walked.

Well, that, and... she had to admit, she was a teeny bit curious.

"Oh, she's Rainbow's very special somepony," explained Fluttershy, Wallflower looking back at her in disbelief.

"Really...? And here I thought that mare only loved herself... Guess she really has changed for the better..."

The two opened the door leading into her backyard garden, Wallflower herself walking a short distance before dropping the stone into the grass by her hooves, then turning... making a beeline for her tool shed.

She reemerged a couple moments later with a mallet slung over her shoulder.

"Alright..." She breathed out, motioning for Fluttershy to step back, and readying her strike. "Time to do what I should have done all along..."

The mallet came crashing down, expecting a loud crack as the stone shattered into dozens of little pieces.

Instead there was a soft plop as it hit the soft dirt and grass.

Wallflower slowly blinked, exchanging a puzzled look with Fluttershy, before glancing down curiously at where the stone was supposed to be.

A hissing, purple smoke wafted out from under the hammer's head, softly dissipating into the air... and leaving them both mystified.

"It... evaporated?" Fluttered questioned.

"No... no no no, that can't be!" Wallflower drew the mallet back, looking frantically at the spot where the stone should have been. "I... I-I know it was an actual rock when I found it!"

"Then... does this mean that this one was... fake?"

The last of the smoke vanished into the air, leaving them each wondering the same thing. If this one was fake, then...

What happened to the real one?

Day 330

Twilight could hardly contain her excitement, prancing giddily down the sunlit street beside the pony she loved more than anypony in Equestria.

"I can't believe I'm finally reuniting with Cadance after all these years...! It feels almost unreal..."

Rainbow smiled over at her, silently admiring her excitement.

"I'm happy for you, Twi, really... but let's not forget that we're meeting up with her for a specific purpose," she noted, giving her girlfriend pause. Although, she supposed in thought, I wouldn't mind chatting with her a bit myself. She did want to hear all about our trip to Cloudsdale, come to think of it...

Twilight slowly blinked, the reminder turning her smile upside down. "Right, right..." She drooped her shoulders, letting out a small sigh of disappointment. "Because who better to decide our honeymoon destination than the Princess of Love herself? Still," she added, looking on the bright side, "I get to see her, even if it's related to our wedding plans!"

"That's more like it, Twi!" Rainbow grinned.

Twilight nodded happily. "Mhm! So," she asked, the two continuing on their way, "which do you think she'll like better: a beachfront with a cliffside hotel that overlooks the ocean, or—and this is the one I'm leaning towards myself... A honeymoon in the clouds."

"A honeymoon," Rainbow restated skeptically... "in the clouds? Twi—" She shook her head in disbelief. "—we just got back from Cloudsdale, and I don't think I need to remind you how stressful it was up there."

"That's all in the past, Rainbow," Twilight insisted, then pleaded, "Pleeeaaase? Just imagine how beautiful it would be..." She sighed amorously. "Soft, marshmallowy clouds, bathed in a radiant, orange hue..."

The two soon came in full view of Canterlot Castle, the castle itself towering over them in all of its regalia, for a moment stealing their attention away with thoughts of the princesses, and their meeting to come.

Twilight tore her gaze away as she winced and brought a hoof to her forehead, stopping as her breaths all of a sudden grew shorter... a searing pain wracking her brain.

"Yeah, well... We'll just have to see what Cadance has to say, won't we?" Rainbow continued, looking over her shoulder with a humored smile.

Her smile then fell from her face as she noticed her girlfriend standing still, some feet behind her with a pained expression... clutching her head, her breaths rugged.

She spun the rest of the way around to face her, her brow furrowing instantly in worry.

"Twilight?"

Twilight felt nauseous, the pain pounding at her skull as a pressure seemingly built up within her horn... the world itself spinning around her...

It'll pass, she told herself. This is... j-just like all those other times... It'll pass. It'll—!

Rainbow gasped, taking a few steps back, and shielding her eyes as Twilight's own went white. A beam of magic expelled from her horn, into the sky, where it crackled and fizzled out... disappearing high above the clouds.

Rainbow had followed the magic with her eyes, staring up mystified at the layer of clouds over them. "What was...?"

Her attention snapped back to Twilight, catching her as she began stumbling forward, her eyelids rapidly falling shut as the last of the light drained from her eyes.

Rainbow's breath froze in the back of her throat.

She passed out in Rainbow's hooves, her head falling flat against the pegasus's upper chest... her horn expelling a few, short cracking sounds as rogue magic rippled for split seconds like bolts of electricity.

Rainbow stared down at her girlfriend with a fearful gaze.

"Twi...?" she barely managed to utter out.

She swallowed hard, forcing her gaze away from Twilight, and glancing around her desperately.

Turning back to Twilight, she nudged the unicorn up onto her back... before galloping off for the nearest hospital.

Twilight softly winced, letting out a muffled groan as she slowly came to.

She opened her eyes, then instinctively squinted as she was met with the bright, white glow of a ceiling light.

Where am...?

She paused as she picked up on a gentle, loving feeling that seemed to stroke her left hoof.

She'd recognize that feeling anywhere...

"H-hey," she greeted, turning her head slightly to greet her girlfriend as she stood at her bedside, hoof resting over her own. "What... h-happened?"

"You passed out in the street, Twi," explained Rainbow, her voice a little shaken. "I was honestly pretty freaked when it happened, a-and wasn't sure what to do other than take you to the first hospital that I could find..."

"So that's where I am..." Twilight peered down at the bedsheets covering her body, then to the remainder of her surroundings, and door on the far side of the room. Everything about the decor indeed seemed to give her hospital vibes— "Wait."

Her eyes widened, staring up at the pegasus with a fretful look. "I passed out?!"

"D-docs say you overexerted yourself," Rainbow continued, holding a hoof out reassuringly. "They said you were spreading yourself so thin that your magic wasn't flowing properly, and that..." She lowered her voice, gazing off pensively. "There was too much of a magical buildup inside of you."

Rainbow finished her explanation, but Twilight remained no less at ease, staring ahead of herself in contemplative thought.

"That doesn't sound right... I mean, I do remember feeling a little sick, but... I felt like I've had a pretty good handle on my magic, this whole time..."

"But doctors are usually right... aren't they, Twi?"

At that, Twilight turned her head away. She focused on her horn, only for nothing to happen.

"Can't even teleport..." she grumbled.

Rainbow smiled down at her apologetically. "Your magic reserves need time to recover, Twi, sorry."

"Mmrgh..." She stared up in frustration, piquing her girlfriend's curiosity.

"Something wrong?" Rainbow asked.

"Oh I don't know, Rainbow. I mean, it's not like I hate hospitals or... that I just lost control of my magic again."

Rainbow stared down at her for a moment, taken aback by her confession.

She bit her lip, averting her eyes for a second before insisting, "It may as well be my fault that you lost control, Twi! Traveling to Cloudsdale was like, the last thing either of us really needed, thinking back..."

Twilight sat up immediately, arguing, "B-but it was my decision for us to go in the first place—!"

"Because of me, Twi." Rainbow set a hoof against her left foreleg. "Sorry, but... I dunno, I just... got real worried, having you collapse in my hooves like that..." She looked off, ears folding against her head. "I thought something seriously bad may have happened, and that, I don't know... that this was it for us, and it was because of me that—!"

Rainbow tensed as Twilight reached her hoof up to cup her cheek.

"Don't blame yourself, Rainbow," she implored, in a sweet voice. "I mean... hay." She smiled assuredly. "I'm still kicking, right?"

"Yeah..." Rainbow supposed, shrugging halfheartedly. "For now, anyway..."

Twilight frowned at her fiancée's dreary remark, once more insisting, "I just got exhausted, Rainbow... That's all."

"If you say so, Twi... Sorry, it's just... you know how much I love you, and... it's sorta hard for me not to worry."

"I know, Rainbow... and I promise that if something truly was the matter, I would tell you. As far as I can fathom, however... it was a complete mishap."

Rainbow nodded slightly, proceeding to take a seat beside her on the edge of her hospital bed. "Well, look on the bright side, Twi," she said. "You have me to keep you company!"

"Why?" She cocked her head while bearing a confused stare.

Rainbow met her gaze with a deadpan look.

"I-I mean, how much longer do they plan on keeping me here?" she reiterated, then clarified. "I already feel fine enough to leave."

"You look it too," Rainbow remarked, triggering a faint blush to creep into her girlfriend's cheeks. "B-but, um... y-you know, docs want to make sure you're stable, and that your magic replenishes properly. They, um... need you to stay overnight."

Twilight's jaw hit the bed.

"Overnight?"

She stared back at her in exasperation, Rainbow's hoof urging her to calm back down.

"W-what about Cadance? I-I mean, we were supposed to meet with her today, and—!"

"And we will, Twi... I promise," Rainbow reassured, setting a hoof over one of hers. "Just... not today. I wrote to her after bringing you here, telling her what happened, and had Spike send it off."

"A-and Spike, he...?"

"Knows you're here. Again, don't worry about a thing, Twilight; I've got it all covered. Just focus on getting better... alright?"

Twilight pursed her lips, stubbornly doing as her girlfriend advised. She laid back, folding her forelegs as she let out a small huff.

"Still," she grumbled, "I hate hospitals..."

"Well, hey," Rainbow supposed, "at least it's only one night." She let out a short chuckle at the thought. "I mean, how do you think I felt when I was told that I'd be staying here for days? I mean, geez, Twi... I was willing to jump out a window and take my chances with the ground than be without you, out of sheer boredom!"

Twilight deadpanned, staring back at her with a dry look. "And it was sounding so romantic until the 'boredom' part."

Rainbow smiled meekly back at her in response.

Later that evening... the sky above Canterlot lit up for but a moment.

An object tore through the sky, leaving a trail of color in its wake... and alerting Celestia to its presence.

She ran out to the balcony outside her room, gazing up at the strange object as it blazed its way across the partly cloudy night sky.

There was no mistaking it... Whatever it was, was endowed with an unmistakable magical signature.

A shooting star? she theorized. No, it's... much too big, and would have burned up by this point...

The mysterious object flew overhead as it rapidly made its descent towards the forest that lay just beyond Canterlot Mountain. It eventually touched down, lighting up the surrounding trees briefly within an eerie blue light.

Celestia's heart sunk, recognizing the specific spot within the forest all too well...

Our old castle...

It couldn't be a coincidence, she decided. The days until her sister was released from her prison were growing ever shorter...

The timing was too perfect... too orchestrated.

If that truly was a lunar meteorite, then...

She gazed up wistfully, towards the moon itself.

What are you planning... Sister?

Day 331

"Celestia wants to see us?" Twilight exclaimed, disbelievingly. "Does the letter say why, Spike?"

Spike shook his head, redirecting his gaze back to the open letter that he held in his hand with a mystified look.

"No, it... just says that it's urgent."

Twilight shut her eyes tight, teleporting both herself and Rainbow to the castle and leaving Spike in the dust, momentarily stunned.

They reappeared outside the castle doors, already opened to them by the guards who had seemingly been expecting them.

Sharing a look of worriment, the two mares ran inside.

"Princess!"

Celestia's ear rose at the sound of her student's voice, and she turned, looking over her shoulder at the two ponies who had come barging into her private corridors with looks of concern etched into their faces.

"Twilight, Rainbow," she greeted, looking back ahead. "Welcome. Come, sit."

The two paused, exchanging quick glances with the other, before each doing a double take.

"Princess, we... thought you were in danger," confessed Twilight, looking up at her warily.

"Danger?" Celestia furrowed her brow, smiling in slight humor. "Why would you think that?"

"W-well, it's just... T-the letter you sent Spike said you wanted to see us because it was urgent." Twilight looked away in shame, down at her hooves. "I could only assume..."

"I see... Well, I assure you that I'm not in any danger, Twilight."

Oh, they both thought, looking back at her as a sense of relief came over them. Phew...

"Equestria however, might very well be."

Twilight and Rainbow both froze, their eyes slowly widening.

"What...?" they both uttered.

Celestia nodded solemnly, turning and walking towards her open balcony. A warm breeze filtered through, gently moving the curtains that separated her balcony from her main chambers.

"After I had finished raising the moon last night... an object of unknown origin fell from my sky. I sensed it was laden with magic."

Magic? Twilight wondered. "C-could it have been a meteor?"

"I have my theories..." Celestia looked again to the sky. "An explosion of light lit up the area when it crashed within the Everfree Forest... where my old castle still stands."

"I read about that," Twilight softly mentioned, thinking back... The castle you once shared with Princess Luna...

"Twilight Sparkle. You have always been my most faithful student. It's time now I feel, for you to take the next step in your studies."

"The next step...?" Twilight's eyes grew bigger.

"To send you out into the world, to learn about the different types of magic there, and continue of course," she added with a kind smile, "to help the ponies you meet."

Twilight lightly blushed, gazing towards the floor. "I wouldn't really say that I've... helped anypony, Princess—"

"Aw, don't be ridiculous, Twi!" Rainbow was quick to interject. "You've helped ponies, I mean—" She pointed both of her hooves at herself. "Hel-lo."

Twilight softly giggled before turning back to Celestia, silently asking the taller pony to continue.

"I would like to send the two of you to the Everfree Forest just outside Ponyville, to investigate this object and report back to me."

The... Ev-verf-free F-forest...? Twilight gulped, growing a little pale as her heart skipped a beat. "W-with all due respect, Princess," she stammered out. "That... sounds a little daunting, d-don't you think...? I-I mean, the... the E-Everfree is— I... I mean I've just heard stories that... it's kind of a dangerous forest... full of all sorts of horrible things!"

Celestia raised an eyebrow back at her. "So you aren't up to the task? I would have thought that, at the very least... with the aid of a friend, you'd be able to handle it. With friends, you know... you can accomplish amazing feats." She crouched down to her student's level while bearing a reassuring smile, managing to calm her worries a little as she added, "Even take down an ursa."

Twilight blinked, looking back up as her brow lifted a bit.

"Whoa, whoa... whoa," Rainbow cut in, a look of seriousness on her face, "who said anything about an ursa? And Twi, I know you pledge allegiance to Celestia and worship her every whim or whatever—"

Twilight groaned, her face, unbeknownst to her, all of a sudden turning beet red at that precise moment. "I do not worship her."

"You do too!"

Twilight looked back at Celestia, forcing a smile to her lips. "I have no idea what she's talking about."

Both her attention and gaze were torn away, drawn back to her girlfriend as Rainbow grabbed her by the shoulders.

"It's cool, and hey, I respect her too," she continued. "But! Being asked to journey to some potentially, danger-filled forest, to investigate who knows what! And especially," she added in a hushed tone, "when you just got released from the hospital yesterday."

Twilight's look of surprise faded quickly into a gentle look of understanding. "I can't let the princess down, Rainbow," she explained simply, with an apologetic smile. "Sorry."

"The concern you have for her is very sweet, Rainbow," Celestia interjected, grabbing their attention away from each other, "but you needn't worry. I was only joking about the ursas."

Rainbow narrowed her eyes.

"Ha ha, Your Highness," she sarcastically replied, only to receive a light jab from her girlfriend.

"I lived in that forest for many years, Rainbow, and I can assure you that it's in safe territory," continued Celestia. "The ursas I encountered there seemed... reclusive, and not openly aggressive towards me nor my sister. And besides... I figured, what with your wings, that you could make it there and back again before midnight."

Rainbow's face slowly lit up at the remark, a confident grin parting her lips.

"Heh..." She puffed out her chest, boasting, "I could make it sooner than that."

Celestia chuckled at the display. "I don't doubt it. Twilight has mentioned how fast you've become in her letters as of late..."

"She has?" Rainbow turned to her right, staring inquisitively towards her girlfriend. "You have?"

Twilight shrugged indifferently, peering off with an embarrassed blush. "I dunno, I... needed something to write about, and you're, well... " She turned her gaze back to meet her girlfriend's, smiling shyly all the while. "Pret-ty awesome subject material."

Rainbow gazed back at her, a little taken aback at first, before garnishing a loving smile.

They discussed their assignment for a bit longer before saying their goodbyes, Celestia remarking that the next train to Ponyville would be leaving soon.

So they left, chatting still, this time among themselves as they left her chambers.

Celestia paid little mind to any of it however, assuming it to be more talk about the Everfree, and what it would be like.

Twilight will be accompanied by a potential element bearer, so... she should be alright. It'll be a test, to see if she's capable of what I have in store for her, and... if it overwhelms them, I'll step in. I cannot do as much as I once could, but…

She directed her gaze back to the outside world, as she stepped out onto her balcony and into the warm, evening air.

She stepped over to the railing, watching listlessly as both Twilight and Rainbow eventually exited out the castle gates, lost in conversation as they hurriedly made their way to the train station.

Biting her lip, Celestia turned her gaze pensively towards the sky.

Please do not be wrong about this... Sombra.

? ? ?

That mare knew nothing about the power she wielded... The ability to steal away memories... and store them deep within a mere rock...

A pony—their voice wispy and indistinguishable—stood solemnly within the dark foyer of an unfamiliar castle... silently musing over the fact.

Their body remained encased entirely within a crystal suit of armor, from their hooves to the tip of their horn.

Had she not made foolish assumptions, and had only instead done the research... She would have known that, come sundown of the third day, those memories vanish for good.

They smiled down at the rim of a pool of rippling water, where the real memory stone sat before them... emitting a low, turquoise hue.

Well, fortunately for me... I was able to intervene before that happened, leaving a convincing fake in the real one's place... and delaying the inevitable, because luckily... They smirked behind their crystal mask. There is no sunset... on the moon.

"...And now," they began to proclaim, "thanks to the actions of that feeble-minded fool, I can now return Rainbow Dash's memories myself!" They sneered in eager anticipation. "She's currently in the middle of her trip to Cloudsdale, so... there's no better time than now... to begin my revenge."

They ignited their horn, levitating the stone into the air... before then flinging it against the far wall with incredible force.

The stone crumbled into pieces, falling listlessly to the floor.

The crystal-clad pony glowered at its remains, before straightening up, watching as Rainbow's memories, taking the shape of multicolored orbs, floated up out of the rubble... eventually leaving out the castle doors.

"I want you to remember everything you still have to lose, Rainbow," the pony growled out, "So that you'll be all the more distraught... when I rip it all away—!"

"Are you done monologuing?"

The crystal-clad pony whirled around, turning to face an older, much taller alicorn, leaning against the frame of the archway entrance, and staring dryly at the display.

Nightmare Moon...

They averted their eyes, muttering, "I'm enacting the first steps of my revenge."

Nightmare Moon stared at them for a moment longer before sighing, shaking her head as she came forward. "Yes. The revenge I assisted you with. Do not forget, that it was my underlings and I who fetched you that wretched rock in the first place... and told you all about Clover the Clever and the three day time limit."

"Hmph." The crystalline pony turned their head away indignantly. "If you're expecting gratitude... look elsewhere. You couldn't even get the color of the memory stone correct—"

Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes. "What I expect... is for you to stop obsessing over this Rainbow Dash. She isn't even the one from your reality—"

"I want her to suffer," the pony stated. "Plain and simple. Her and her friends." They glowered at the alicorn from behind their crystal mask. "If there existed another version of Celestia in this reality, and you had the chance to destroy her... Wouldn't you?"

The two glared at one another, a moment of silence hanging between them.

"...Get ready," Nightmare Moon said, as she turned to walk away. "Our plan to take over Equestria is bigger than either one of us, and I'll need you at your best if you intend on restoring your reality back from the brink of destruction. After all... I need your ability to wield the Elements of Harmony, and..."

She turned to look back at them with a wry smirk. "I am the only one aside from my foolhardy sister, who has the power to enact Star Swirl's time spell... and send you back from whence you came."

(The Night of) Day 331 - Legends of Magic

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"The Everfree forest..." Twilight uttered breathlessly, as she stared marvelously up into the treeline of the enigmatic forest in awe. "Wow..."

The forest loomed over her and Rainbow, casting its eerie shadow over them both.

She gulped, feeling her body go numb with fear, and legs locking rigidly in place.

"Hey, maybe we'll see an ursa," Rainbow remarked in a teasing tone of voice. She nudged her girlfriend's side. "You've always wanted to see one of those, right?"

Twilight shot her a sour look, pouting her lips.

"That's n-not f-funny, Rainbow. You know I don't."

Rainbow eased off, her smile softening as she averted her eyes away. "Heh, right... Sorry."

She scratched the back of her head meekly while her fiancée took in a calming breath, then breathed out deeply, straightening up in confidence. "Princess Celestia gave us a test—a field test, that I fully intend to pass!"

"With flying colors?"

Twilight turned back to face her with an unamused look.

Rainbow returned it with a blank stare of her own, shrugging her shoulders. "What? It's just... you know. I'm here with you, and... flying colors? It would've been perfect."

Twilight smiled, rolling her eyes as she turned to look ahead of her.

She attempted to take a step forward, only to remain in place. "Urgh..."

"Nerves?" Rainbow asked in concern.

"It's just a forest," Twilight murmured bitterly, casting her gaze down to her hooves. "It's not like it's that intimidating..."

"Your body seems to disagree," Rainbow pointed out, to which Twilight's gaze narrowed. "Come on," she insisted, "it's not like ponies who enter, never ever come back out. Princess Celestia wouldn't have sent us if that were the case."

Twilight sighed. "I know, I know," she agreed, looking away in uncertainty. "But—"

"But what? Look... we can't exactly dig our way under, but... who says we have to go through it either? I can just fly us to the crash site."

Twilight blinked, turning her attention back to Rainbow, dumbstruck. "Why didn't I think of that...?" She smiled, stepping over to her girlfriend who knelt forward, allowing her to climb aboard her back.

She grinned, pointing ahead in a playful manner, her other foreleg wrapped securely over and around Rainbow's chest.

"Take us away, Rainbow!"

Rainbow nodded—a look of determination on her face as she flapped her mighty wings, lifting both herself and Twilight into the air before taking off over the treeline.

Twilight's eyes scanned the environment below, widening as Rainbow flew them across an open ravine equipped with nothing but the goggles Moon Dancer had designed for her, all the way back on Hearth's Warming. Better safe than sorry, the two of them had figured, for the same reasons Twilight had opted to leave her feather earring behind.

They were in unknown territory now. Foggy, dark, and murky territory... and despite Princess Celestia's assuring them that the forest was safe... A forest can change a lot in one thousand years...

"There!" Twilight exclaimed, leaning forward while setting a foreleg over Rainbow's head for support, pointing her free foreleg down at a dilapidated stone castle.

Her exclamation was met with a miffed groan.

"Your foreleg's sort of making it hard for me to see," Rainbow murmured irritability.

Twilight froze, looking down to see her foreleg was weighing her girlfriend's head down, and withdrew it quickly. "S-sorry!" she squeaked out ashamedly.

She eased back, allowing Rainbow to raise her head and see just what had captured her girlfriend's attention.

Her brow slowly rose at the sight.

Whoa...

She swooped down, landing before the stairs that lead to the front doors. Her wings folded at her sides, allowing for Twilight to climb down safely from her back.

As they now stood side by side, Twilight brandished a small, quick smile in Rainbow's direction, silently thanking her.

Rainbow returned it, nodding back at her before removing her goggles from over her eyes and looking on ahead. They climbed the short staircase and pushed open the castle doors that lead to a circular room with large, triangular-shaped windows encircling them on every side. All shattered, the bars in between them busted.

Vines wrapped around several ancient columns that no longer supported anything.

"Must have been some earthquake," Twilight mused aloud, taking in the scenery.

"Or it just fell apart," Rainbow supposed, putting forth the idea. "This place looks like it's hundreds of years old..."

"Maybe a thousand—" Twilight shut herself up, both her and Rainbow's eyes finding themselves drawn to a moss-covered pedestal in the center of the room, six orbs on full display atop six perches.

She broke out of her awe-stricken gaze, her ears perking at the familiar sound of wings flapping, and snapped her attention to her girlfriend who was now hovering beside the artifacts. Rainbow raised a hoof to one of them. "Hello mysterious ancient orbs, what do you guys do—?"

Twilight held out her hoof, Rainbow's name dying on the tip of her tongue as the sound of stone cracking against pavement cut her off.

Rainbow blinked, realizing her mistake. "Oops." She glanced back at Twilight both slowly and sheepishly, only to find her gaze narrowing.

"Rainbow..." she growled out through slightly gritted teeth.

"I-it's okay, Twi!" Rainbow assured, landing back down in a panic, and motioning with her hoof, "This one didn't have a symbol on it like the others. I-I'm pretty sure it was just a placeholder."

Twilight's glare softened and she breathed out a sigh, taking into consideration what Rainbow was thinking. "A placeholder for what?" she asked, stepping over to the pile of stone.

Rainbow's spirits lifted, and she smiled in relief, taking a look around. "I mean... nothing went off, so at least it wasn't a trap or anything."

Twilight's brow furrowed in deep thought the more she stared into the rubble, before giving her head a shake. "It... probably doesn't matter. We're here to do reconnaissance, to find that shooting star, or... whatever fell from the sky. Come on," she said to Rainbow, nodding towards a set of stairs that lead deeper into the castle. "Let's keep moving."

The stairs lead them into a throne-like room, with two long tapestries hung on the wall opposite them. One of Celestia, one of, Luna...

Twilight tore her gaze away, Rainbow following close behind her as they walked on over to a room on their left. A room that just happened to contain a library.

Twilight's face lit up instantly upon laying eyes on the sight.

Rainbow rolled her eyes at the sight.

She galloped ahead—Rainbow walking a little more cautiously as the unicorn looked all around her at the shelves upon shelves of books.

Rainbow however, groaned at the different door stoppers that otherwise caused her girlfriend to squeal and prance around the room in a giddy fashion.

She rolled her eyes, turning to look ahead of her, when a looming figure made her jump back in fright. She placed a hoof over her chest, coaxing her hammering heart back into her chest as she stared up at the... statue. A broken down, and, in her eyes, funny-looking alicorn statue. She smiled up at it. "Some caricature, eh Twi?" She peered past the broken statue to see her fiancée with her back turned, standing in front of a rickety and worn, long wooden table. "Twilight?"

Twilight's ear twitched at the sound of her voice. She swallowed before stuttering in response, "I... I, I-I dunno, but... I, I think I..." She shook her head incredulously. "I think I just found a journal belonging to Princess Celestia..."

Rainbow lifted herself into the air, gliding over to her for a closer look. "And you haven't read it yet?" she asked, folding her wings at her sides.

Twilight looked over at her quizzically. "Why would I—?"

"Come on, Twi. She's the most powerful pony in the land! I mean, aren't you the least bit curious about her past? Her secrets?"

Twilight bit her lip, her gaze faltering to the table. "I... I respect her too much... and..." Her voice drifted into an inaudible murmur.

"And?" Rainbow pressed.

Twilight sighed, raising her voice to speak a little more clearly. "And I'd rather not be banished."

"Oh, get real, Twilight. You're telling me that she'd banish you—her student and friend—for snooping in some ancient journal she left behind in an abandoned castle she sent you to, knowing full well that you are kind of a bookworm and would probably be unable to help yourself anyway?"

"It made sense in my head..." Twilight murmured, then gasped as she felt Rainbow grab the book out from under her hoof, climbing a little ways away from her into the air. "Hey!" she shouted, swiping a hoof at her, only for her to swerve back, flying further out of her reach.

Twilight pouted her lips, lighting up her horn as Rainbow flipped open to a random page, grabbing her tail with her magic.

Rainbow began reading, all the while fighting Twilight's grip on her tail.

"My o-own sister has become what I feared worst: a nightmare, regrettably... of my own fruition." Twilight's heart sunk and her eyes slowly widened at those words, forgetting all about getting the journal back right then and losing control of her magic, allowing Rainbow to regain some altitude. "Nightmare Moon, as Luna now calls herself, has been banished to an environment I think will suit her. For myself, I will journey into the mountains to take a more active role in Equestria's growing community... and so that I may be closer to her, even..."

"Now..." Rainbow finished reading.

Her head raised up from the pages of the journal. "What...?"

Twilight shook her head, her jaw quickly snapping shut. She snatched the book from Rainbow's hooves with her magic, her eyes scanning the page. "Princess Luna, she... Nightmare Moon is nothing more than an old pony's tale! And now apparently this book is telling me that Princess Luna did not in fact die, but instead was banished as an old pony's tale and, just..." She slammed the book down upon the table. "What!?"

"Uh, Twi?" Rainbow hesitantly spoke up. "Mind explaining to this pegasus who or what Nightmare Moon even is?"

"Nightmare Moon is the fabled Mare in the Moon..."

"Uh, that still doesn't help any—"

"The Mare in the Moon, Rainbow!" Twilight's voice trembled. "Remember? A pony imprisoned in olden times by Princess Celestia herself!"

Rainbow's lips pursed, and her brow furrowed in thought. "Mare in the moon, mare in the moon— Wait..." Her eyes widened in realization. "Twi, are... are you talking about that Nightmare Night myth?"

Twilight nodded, still a little shaken. "No wonder Princess Celestia wanted me to study Equestria's past and The Elements of Harmony! Those must have been what she used to imprison Princess Luna!"

"So... okay, I'm smart, I can follow. Princess Luna, who we thought was dead, is actually an ancient monster who was banished to the moon itself... by Celestia, her own sister?"

"Yes, Rainbow, that's exactly what happened—according to this journal." She placed a hoof on the cover, letting her gaze fall back upon it.

"But why rewrite history?" Rainbow's voice brought her back to the present moment. "I mean, why would she trick you and all of Canterlot into thinking otherwise? That her sister had been dead this whole time?"

Twilight shrugged. "If I had to guess, I... I'd say she didn't want to besmirch her sister's name..." She turned to look directly at Rainbow. "Wouldn't you do the same for your family?"

"Well, yeah, I mean..." Rainbow smiled back at her. "Of course I would."

Twilight responded with a slight smile of her own before turning back to the journal. "This must be what she expects of me! She wants me to save her sister—!"

She froze, and the two of them practically jumped from their skin at the sound of a door at the far end of the room slowly creaking open.

They ducked behind the table, exchanging terrified glances.

"What was that?"

"H-how the hay should I know?" Twilight whispered back.

"You're the egghead! I mean... You've actually researched this place. I haven't."

"W-well...!" Twilight glanced away, thinking back. "There was something, i-in this one book I read. An old pony's tale. A 'Pony of Shadows,' so to speak. It's... sort of like Nightmare Moon's lingering will—sentient magic that wasn't sealed away with the rest of her."

"And you're only bringing this up now?" Rainbow stared at her, incredulous.

Twilight's eyes narrowed at her. "Excuse me for thinking that a legend used to scare foals wouldn't be relevant to the task at hoof, Rainbow."

"Y-yeah, well..." Rainbow's resolve faltered for a brief second before she glared back stubbornly. "We sorta just discovered that Nightmare Moon's not exactly a legend, so who's to say this 'Pony of Shadows' is either?"

If it even is the Pony of Shadows, Twilight solemnly mused, rolling her eyes as she glanced away. She held her breath, and simply listened for a few seconds before calling out.

"H... H-hello—?"

Rainbow elbowed Twilight's nearest foreleg, effectively shutting her up.

Twilight turned back to face Rainbow, finding her girlfriend staring back at her with a look of disbelief. "What are you doing?"

"Calling out, obviously," Twilight replied, matter-of-factly.

"Well, tch, yeah... but did you ever stop to think about what you might be calling out to? We're in an abandoned castle, Twi—i-in the middle of a forest!"

"That's precisely it though, Rainbow. It could just be an animal—a scavenger perhaps... or it could have been a simple draft. Judging by the state of these walls, it wouldn't be a surprise..." She flashed Rainbow a confident smile before getting to her hooves, focusing some of her magic into her horn.

An orchid light extended from the tip of her horn like a beacon, lighting up the area around them.

Twilight took note of nothing out of the ordinary, other than a damp fog presumably creeping in from the woods outside, spilling out over their hooves.

She dropped her shoulders in relief, sighing as she did before gazing back down at Rainbow. "The coast is clear, scaredy cat."

Rainbow quickly met her gaze. "M-my hooves just fell asleep is all," she hurriedly explained, hopping to her hooves, and smiling nonchalantly. "What, did you seriously think I was scared or something?"

"Think?" Twilight chuckled. "No."

Rainbow deadpanned.

"Aw, I'm only teasing, Rainbow. You just... remind me a little bit of Spike right now."

"I do?"

Twilight nodded, then smiled tenderly, stepping closer to nuzzle her cheek. "It's okay to be afraid of something though, Rainbow... So long as you also have the courage to face whatever it is you're afraid of."

"Which I do," Rainbow replied playfully, puffing out her chest and earning another chuckle from Twilight.

"I know you do." Twilight pulled away, her smile becoming one of admiration. "Because you're the bravest pony I know."

Rainbow gazed away, letting out a humorless laugh as her ears fell. "Right..."

"I mean... it's you being here with me that even gave me the courage to come here," Twilight went on to say, wrapping her forelegs around her girlfriend's shoulders lovingly as she leaned in... gently resting her forehead against hers. "I'm honestly... still a little afraid myself. I mean hay, who wouldn't be? We're in an eerie, empty castle at night, in a forest a long ways away from home, and... Princess Luna's magic may or may not be in here with us." She swallowed anxiously, contemplating the idea for a moment as she once again pulled away. "Though... knowing that it really is her magic, however corrupted it may be, gives me hope that it can be reasoned with. If she can be reasoned with."

"Her memories may be gone, but, well..." Rainbow searched for the right words, longing to give her girlfriend all the reassurance she needed. "That doesn't necessarily mean that she's gone, Twilight."

Twilight gulped, looking on ahead as she softly bit her lip. "She is if her mind's been infected by dark magic, Rainbow—"

She felt a sudden chill run down her spine, and glanced around her hooves apprehensively.

Rainbow carried on, oblivious to Twilight's distress.

"Look, Twi. Can't we just... move on?" Rainbow looked over her shoulder, then back at her, a little on edge. "Find out where that star or whatever it was landed already so we can...?" Her brow raised, taken aback. "Twi?"

She swiftly caught Twilight in her right wing, catching her as she had seemingly scrambled backwards out of the blue, tripping over some rocks and losing her balance.

"Twi!? W-what—?"

"T-there!" Her breathing elevated, her heartbeat quickening as she backed up further into Rainbow's wing, pointing a shaking hoof of hers down into the thick fog. "So-s-something j-just... s-slithered over my hoof—l-like a snake!"

Rainbow blinked, dumbfounded by her words, before choosing to stare down at her funnily.

"You're afraid of snakes?"

Twilight swallowed hard, turning her head, and revealing to Rainbow her petrified expression.

"I-I'm serious, Rainbow—" she chastised for but a moment before glancing back into the dark blue fog... and immediately regretted it, burying her gaze back into Rainbow's chest. Her eyelids shut tightly together. "There it goes again!"

So much for facing your fears, mused Rainbow with a roll of her eyes, turning to look... when she too became deathly still at the sight of... something parting a trail through the fog.

A dark serpent-like silhouette slithered beneath its surface, quickly disappearing around the corner of the door that had creaked open.

A long moment passed before Rainbow forced her awe-stricken gaze away, turning her attention back to Twilight who remained trembling as she clung to her sweatshirt.

"Twi?" she whispered, one of Twilight's ears perking up in response. "Twilight, it... it's gone."

"G-gone?"

"Out the door." Rainbow motioned with a cock of her head over to where it had fled. "Pret-ty sure it wasn't a 'snake' either. It sort of looked like it was swimming, and... I dunno, shimmering? Kind of like magic."

"Magic?" Twilight repeated aloud in thought, eyes growing wide. She pushed away from Rainbow's chest, looking frantically around the room in surprise. "Magic..." Her eyes were drawn to the withdrawing fog surrounding hers and Rainbow's hooves.

She dipped one of them into the fog curiously, swirling it around. A subtle numbness lingered as she withdrew it.

She gulped at the realization.

"This fog is magic..."

Rainbow stared at her quizzically, cocking her head.

"Twilight?"

Twilight threw her fears to the wind and ran ahead, Rainbow raising a hoof after her.

"H-Hey, wait—!"

"I can't, Rainbow!" Twilight yelled back, her eyes focused on the path ahead of her. "The slithering entity, a-and... and all of this fog—it's magic! Magic... that's manifesting itself as one of my worst fears!"

Twilight's hooves skidded past the open door, rounding the corner to find stairs leading further up. She stared up at the stairwell with a look of determination, the spacious library carrying her softening voice just enough for Rainbow to hear her say, "And I have a feeling I know who it belongs to."

Twilight galloped up the stairs without a second thought, Rainbow unable to do anything but watch, before sighing and shaking her head. "This is so not a good idea," she murmured, mustering up some courage and hoping into the air, taking off after her.

"Princess Luna, wai... wait!" Twilight called as she chased the fog up the stairs, almost tripping as one of her hooves accidentally caught up with some of the fog.

"Twilight, wait up!"

Twilight glanced over her shoulder for a second at the sound of Rainbow's voice, before looking back ahead.

"Wait! Please, Princess, I... Your sister is my teacher! S-she set me here! I'm—!"

The last of the fog slunk beneath a pair of closed doors at the end of the stairwell.

Firing up her horn, Twilight burst open the doors in front of her, coming to a sudden stop within an empty, open place. "Wai... ait..." she panted, then paused as she steadily caught her breath, looking around in wonder. "What...?"

"Twi!" Rainbow shouted once more before skidding to a midair halt as she flew in after her, only calming down once she caught a glimpse of the familiar purple hue of her girlfriend's coat.

"Twi...?" A relieved smile grew across her face. "Thank Celestia." She landed beside her, the rustling of her wings as they folded by her sides managing to bring Twilight back to reality.

"I-I'm okay, Rainbow," she assured her, keeping her baffled gaze fixated on the empty space that was laid out before them. "I just... T-the magic, it just... disappeared."

Rainbow's head tilted in confusion. "Disappeared?"

Twilight's brow crinkled as she sniffed the air, the feeling of something around them grabbing her attention. "Does the air feel thicker to you, Rainbow—?" She turned slightly, and gasped upon seeing her girlfriend struggling to stand. "Rainbow!"

Rainbow winced, her forelegs continuing to buckle for a bit before giving out, forcing her to fall onto her side. She grunted, gazing up at Twilight apologetically. "Every inch of me feels numb, Twi. Almost like there's—"

"Magic in the air," Twilight softly realized, the weight of it beginning to set in on her as well. "I'm fighting it myself, Rainbow. Hang on." She crouched and leaned closer, firing up her horn... when her head jerked to her side suddenly, something attaching itself to her horn. "Wha...?"

She lifted a hoof to it, only to feel a slick secretion dripping down her horn, blocking her magic from getting out. Her heart began beating faster and she grimaced for a brief second before her eyes flew open. The same heavy, constricting feeling now enveloped her foreleg as another of whatever leeched onto her horn slapped around her foreleg like a wet rag.

With an audible gulp, she cast her terrified gaze down to her hooves where she saw another slithery thing wrapped securely around the base of her foreleg, melding into a translucent-blue, magical coating that couldn't be shaken off, no matter how fiercely she flailed it.

"Twi...?"

Rainbow glanced up at her girlfriend, seeing her try to shake off some substance from her foreleg, making sounds in disgust as she tried desperately.

The same fog from earlier began filling the room, rising up to Twilight's hooves and submerging half of her own body.

"Rainbow!" Twilight cried out to her. "S-something's got me! H-help—!" Another one jumped out of the fog sealing off her mouth.

She tripped as she stumbled backwards, pulling and clawing at the magical blob, her heart beating a mile a minute as dozens more emerged from deep within the fog. She saw the paths they cut, and wondered if Rainbow could see—or even feel them too... or if her eyes were even still open.

Another look at her told her they were, and as they looked hopelessly at one another, her own eyes began to water, her lungs running out of air. Is this... how it—?

Something in her head snapped, and her eyes flickered bright white as the magic over her mouth melted into a dark blue blotch—melding with the other splotches on her coat until she was concealed inside of a glossy, pale blue layer of magic.

Her shoulders and back slouched forward, her head bowing and facing the floor for a long moment.

The remaining creatures all disappeared back into the fog, becoming one with it.

Rainbow's eyes grew heavy, watching from where she lay in the fog in stunned silence. "Twi..." she simply uttered, under her breath.

Twilight's gaze rose to meet hers as she uttered her name.

"I... am... sorry for doing this to you and your friend, rainbow one," spoke a new voice, muffled from the magic, and taking advantage of Twilight's own vocal cords to speak.

Rainbow's heart skipped.

She couldn't believe what she was hearing, but somehow... she was. "Lu... Luna...!?"

Twilight's body stood up, stressing as she continued, "Thy nightmare stole everything from me. It stole my body, rainbow one. It left behind everything that it did not need. Everything that made controlling me more of a challenge." She took a few steps back, stepping into place atop a circular platform. "My memories, my heart." She raised a hoof, and gently placed it over her chest... where the magic seemingly reacted, and pulsated with a beat of its own. "And I would give anything to be whole again, pegasus. Even... betray my own sister a second time."

Rainbow had heard more than enough.

"You were a princess, Luna! Doesn't the safety of your subjects worry you?" She grit her teeth and struggled forward, inching closer to the platform with her shoulder acting as an anchor. Luna merely stared as she struggled. "Twilight, she... she respected you! Are you really about to tarnish her image of you by acting so reckless—?"

"My image is already tarnished, pegasus." Luna averted her stare, opting to sit back on her haunches. "I have no sister, nor subjects to return to. All I have left is what she stole from me... and I will have it back. I have been waiting centuries for the pony who would come to bare the mark, to one day enter this castle and make it so that I may, at long last, reunite with my body... in exchange I free the monster who possessed it."

Rainbow pressed on, thinking back on Cadance, and Twilight. "You have ponies who care about you. Celestia—!"

Luna ignored her, lying down upon the platform. "For the stars will aid in her escape."

"Celestia cares... so much about you, Luna. She sits up countless nights wanting nothing more than to help you, only... she has no idea how to on her own." Rainbow's gaze softened, and it fell to the floor, defeated. Unbeknownst to her, the eyes that Luna possessed grew a little bigger as well. "So she's counting on Twi to figure something out... and that's one of the many reasons why I won't allow you to hurt her."

Rainbow forced her hooves flat onto the stone pavement, fighting back against the heavy weight of Luna's magic.

She stood up tall, cracking her neck before glaring straight at her. "Now, let. Her. Go."

Luna sensed Rainbow about to take her first step, and snapped out of it, blinking her eyes a few times before firing up her horn.

Magical cuffs formed around Twilight's hooves as Luna's lingering self slowly started draining from most of her body, slowly culminating in a single spot on her body. Twilight breathed in a much-needed breath as her eyes returned to their familiar, purple irises. She looked around in a panic, noticing her chained-up hooves, and thrashed her forelegs in an attempt to free them. "R-Rainbow?" she called out, barely able to move her gaze.

Rainbow swallowed anxiously, snapping her gaze away from Luna's magic as it continued to conjugate in one particular spot, and instead called back to her. "I, I-I'm right here, Twi."

"W-what h-happened, Rainbow? W-why, why are m-my h-hooves shackled?"

"J-just relax, Twilight. I'm... going to get you out—!"

Luna's magic dug into Twilight's chest cavity; causing Twilight to writhe, screaming as the excess magic entered her veins.

"Twi!"

Twilight's scream died in her throat as a light bubbled up from within her, widening her mouth and shooting into the sky. Her eyes glowing a brilliant white, the beam pierced the clouds, shooting toward the moon.

Rainbow squinted, wishing for nothing more than to lift a foreleg before her eyes as fierce wind expelled from around Twilight. She braced herself as best she could, narrowly avoiding being sent flying across the room.

The beam disappeared beyond the exosphere, striking the moon and for a moment, there was nothing but silence before the magic exploded in a crackling spark, expelling outwards around the moon in a wavelike form, and dissipating in the cold vacuum of space.

The winds died down, and Rainbow pensively reopened her eyes.

Is... is it over—?

A second beam struck Twilight's body, shadowy and slithering as it slunk down to earth like a dark bolt of lightning. Every part of her crackled and sparked with coursing magic.

Rainbow's ears flopped, hearing Twilight scream like that... unable to even lift a hoof to block it out.

"Twilight!" she yelled once more as black bolts of lightning and wind whizzed past her. Her eyes squeezed shut as she bit her lip. Darn it!

Ethereal forelegs, pitch dark as the night itself, rose up out from the platform under Twilight's body. The hooves set down on the edges of the platform, slowly pulling the rest of itself out.

Rainbow's eyes winced as a bright white light hit her eyelids.

She opened them hesitantly and they were quick to widen as she came face-to-face with a burgeoning unicorn's head—without a discernible mouth or nostrils, but with unblinking white eyes... She kept eye contact even as her eyes began to squint, scared stiff as whatever it was rose the remainder of its way out of Twilight—stumbling at first as it gained its footing. Its hooves phased through Twilight's body as it now stood over her girlfriend. Is... this the monster?

It looked to the right at first, then to the left—slowly, as a pair of hidden wings unfurled from its sides, shaking loose dark feathers that disintegrated into nothingness before ever even touching the ground.

The creature turned suddenly, flapping its large wings and disappearing into the night as it flew out one of the castle's many windows.

And then, for several long moments... nothing. Not a single sound was heard.

Rainbow swallowed hard, waiting with baited anticipation to see if the monster would return.

Another couple of moments passed, and she let out the breath she had been holding in, closing her eyes briefly in reprieve before looking back to where Twilight lay... the unicorn slowly catching her own breath.

Though she couldn't see it, Twilight still writhed—the last of the light draining from her eyes—with her forelegs free and wrapped over her stomach in agony... a low groan escaping her lips.

That, Rainbow could hear.

"Twilight...?" Rainbow called out to her. "Twilight, can... can you hear me?"

"I c-can h-hear you, Rainbow... B-but..."

"But?" Rainbow asked apprehensively as she cautiously took step after step up to the platform where her girlfriend lay still.

"I-it b-burns, Rainbow." Rainbow could make out the writhing pain in her voice. "What h-happened?"

At last Rainbow could see her, and the sight made her stomach churn.

Twilight's teeth were slightly clenched—her jaw quivering—and her eyes were shut tight, as if on the verge of tears.

Her body trembled, and her face appeared flushed... her breaths coming out in shallow, trembling wafts, like she was barely holding it together.

Rainbow's brow creased in concern. She tenderly lifted a hoof to Twilight's nearest cheek, hoping to comfort her.

Instead, what Rainbow discovered made her heart drop into the farthest pit of her stomach. She's burning up, she solemnly realized.

"Wha... what h-happened, Rainbow?" Twilight repeated, struggling through the pain.

If you really want to know, Babe... Rainbow sighed. "A shadowy, pony-shaped creature... climbed out of you."

Despite the pain, Twilight's eyes slowly opened, and she gazed over at her girlfriend with a skeptical look.

Rainbow shrugged back at her, smiling softly. "You asked."

Twilight sighed and turned her head, staring back up at the ceiling. "Did it drag all of my magic out with it...? Urgh, I feel so lightheaded."

Rainbow averted her eyes, biting her bottom lip. "I don't know... Must've taken the magic in the air with it though," she remarked, looking around. "My body's already warming back up."

"Did it h-hurt you?" Twilight asked suddenly.

Rainbow looked back at her, amazed by the concern Twilight had for her, even now. If it weren't for all the pain, she was sure her fiancée would've had a look of worry on her face.

"N-no... no, I... I-it sort of just looked at me funny before hoofing it right out the window. Guess I scared it off."

"You? Scaring something off?" Rainbow's eyes narrowed playfully, however Twilight's expression remained grim.

"Tell me everything you saw, Rainbow. Something... may have just stolen my magic."

"Let's get you out of here first," Rainbow insisted, giving her wings a couple flaps, waking them up.

"A-alright," Twilight stammered, dreading the idea of being moved in the state she was in. "Can... c-can you fly?"

Rainbow nodded. "Feels like it," she said, bearing a proud look as she glanced over her shoulder at her wings, watching as they flapped powerfully in response.

"And when the beam came back down, it was all shadowy-like. It was when it struck you that you began screaming like crazy. Then it crawled out of you, spreading these massive wings...! Though, something about it seemed wrong... like it was... I dunno, weak or something." Rainbow shrugged. "It stumbled a little, and didn't even seem to know where it was."

"Maybe it didn't," Twilight theorized, listening intently as her girlfriend carried her from the castle, describing everything that had happened. "Before this creature... showed up... Something else happened to me. Something... seeped into my chest, remember? I do because it's the last thing I felt before my mind went blank."

Rainbow looked off solemnly. "I do, but... what's that got to do with the alicorn-looking thing?"

"Well maybe that... magic just... used me to... I don't know, give itself form?" Twilight shrugged halfheartedly.

"Twilight," Rainbow began, shaking her head incredulously. "Magic can't just..." She stopped herself.

What? Give itself form? You don't know that, she argued with herself. And are you seriously about to tell her that Luna was the cause of all this? That she freely brought a monster down to Earth just to be one with her body? I get that she'd be desperate to be whole again, but... putting all of Equestria at risk? Twi would be devastated—

"Magic can't just what, Rainbow?" Twilight asked, snapping her from her thoughts.

"O-oh! Um..." She scrambled to come up with something fast. "I was just going to ask if magic like that could really give itself form. Like, if it really could take the form of a pony, a-and have a mind of its own."

Well, it wasn't a total lie.

"Hypothetically, I... think so," replied Twilight. "B-but the magic would have to be residual, still bearing the caster's consciousness."

"Huh. So," asked Rainbow, playing along, "you really think that you were attacked by some kind of rogue magic then?"

Twilight snorted. "Maybe I really was possessed by the Pony of Shadows."

Rainbow let out an humorless laugh. "Y-yeah," she agreed. "Now wouldn't that be something..."

"So it's possible then," Twilight mused after a moment, Rainbow's smile dying on her lips. "Maybe what I was chasing earlier... really was Luna's residual magic—"

"No, Twilight!" Rainbow raised her voice suddenly, leaving Twilight shaken. "I... I'm sorry but... no." Her voice grew quieter, and her tone softened as Twilight's heart slowly sank. "Every part of Luna was sent with her to the moon, and... geez, I... I'm really sorry, Twi—"

"No," Twilight insisted in a weak voice. "No... it's, it's okay, Rainbow." Her lips formed a saddened smile. "I guess I needed that, I mean... what are the odds that it actually was Princess Luna?"

Rainbow averted her eyes, her ears flopping ashamedly as a sickening feeling grew in her gut.

"Though, I guess that begs the question," continued Twilight, "of whose magic it was."

"Well, whosever it was... it was sinister magic, that's for sure."

Rainbow looked off into the distance, to the trees, and rolling fog just outside as she entered the chamber with the pedestal and orbs from earlier. I feel sick for lying to her like this, she lamented, but... "Maybe it really was just magic, and... it stole some of yours to give itself shape. Hay," she suggested, "maybe it even modeled itself after you."

"So I created a monster..." She smiled bitterly and nodded expectantly, her voice lacking any sort of surprise. "Great."

"No, Twilight... you didn't, alright? You were taken advantage of, you... didn't have a choice in the matter."

Twilight said nothing, remaining unconvinced.

Rainbow sighed, putting the topic on hold for the time being, and focusing instead on just making it out safely.

"Hang on, Twi." Rainbow looked around warily, coming to a halt outside the caste doors. What's with this fog all of a sudden?

Twilight glanced up curiously as well, attempting to light her horn... but try as she might, could not muster the strength.

Her gaze sadly fell. "I can't even light a way for—"

Her sentence died in her throat as Rainbow wavered a bit, her wings straining to keep them aloft from within the dense fog.

She found herself with no choice but to slowly descend, setting both herself and Twilight down on the lowest step of the castle's stairs.

Twilight herself winced, her eyelids squeezing tightly together as her body folded a bit in Rainbow's lap.

"Twi, I... I'm... going to set you beside me... okay?" she heard her ask.

She wanted to shake her head no and refuse, but reluctantly nodded her head yes.

"Okay, um... I... really hope this doesn't hurt too much," Rainbow said, her hooves still wrapped behind her back, and under her hind legs.

Twilight merely groaned in dreaded anticipation before a sudden, searing pain made her lose all sense of the world around her. She clenched her teeth, and drew in a pained breath, her eyes once again squeezing shut.

And then, after an excruciatingly long moment, it was over.

Not the pain—that still lingered—but rather the cold, hard feeling of the stone stairs beneath her... and no longer the warmth of her girlfriend's forelegs wrapped around her.

Her gaze creeped open slowly, and she looked to her right with a few tears leaking from her eyes, to see Rainbow sitting there beside her with an outreaching hoof and look of concern on her face.

"A-are you...?" she began to ask.

Twilight gave a pained nod in response, raising a slight hoof of her own, assuring her that she was okay.

She breathed out, then leaned back carefully until she was laid out on the stone steps, gazing up at the starry night sky.

As uncomfortable as these steps were, she thought, looking on the bright side... at least she was no longer sitting up.

Rainbow meanwhile, stared down at her with a sorry look.

"Celestia, that hurt," Twilight cursed in a low murmur, Rainbow's ears folding flat against her mane regretfully.

"Sorry," she apologized out of the blue, grabbing her girlfriend's attention.

"N-no no, don't apologize!" she insisted. "You... you needed to set me down."

"Y-yeah, but... I'm just sorry, you know? About everything. Your possession, the state you're in..." Rainbow gave a halfhearted shrug. "Maybe I could have stopped it."

"You were numb with magic, Rainbow. I'm... not sure if anypony could have stopped this."

"I know, it just... really makes me feel awful, is all."

Silence set in between the two as Twilight's heart swelled. Rainbow... She averted her eyes to the side, mulling over what to say next.

"Weeeell... you feeling awful is making me feel even more awful than I already do, so..." Twilight smiled up at her affectionately. "Please don't."

I can't promise you that I won't, but... Rainbow returned the loving smile. "A-alright. Anything for you, Twi."

"Thank you, Rainbow."

With that, the two slunk back into silence for a few long moments, Rainbow reminiscing on what had caused them to set down in the first place.

"Looks like your feathers got a little damp from the fog," Twilight remarked, her attention shifting to Rainbow's wings.

Rainbow herself looked back down at her with a wry face.

Apparently she wasn't the only one wondering what had happened.

"Alright, so..." She sighed, shaking her head in dismay. "We're stuck here then, is what you're saying."

"For the moment, yes," Twilight solemnly agreed.

"And I doubt you feel strong enough to walk yet."

Twilight's lips pursed, and she shook her head.

"So that's a no." Rainbow looked off into the distance in thought. "How about you lie on my back then? That won't put too much pressure on your stomach, will it?"

She glanced back at Twilight, hopeful... only to find her staring up at her, exasperated.

"Right..." Rainbow meekly scratched the back of her head, shying her gaze away. "So, uh... how about we do the practical thing?"

"Sit around and wait for this fog to clear, my pain to subside, your wings to dry, or for the princess to maybe, hopefully find us both?" finished Twilight with a sheepish grin.

Rainbow laughed softly, getting to her hooves. "I'll start gathering the firewood."

She cantered off, and after a couple minutes spent watching her girlfriend doing exactly that... a subtle thought entered Twilight's head.

"Why do you suppose it chose the appearance of an alicorn?"

"Hm?" Rainbow threw down her collection of firewood near their seat on the stairs, gifting her girlfriend her full attention.

"Oh, the monster!" she exclaimed, as it dawned on her just what her girlfriend was getting at. "Right, well, um..."

She raked her mind for something to tell her while Twilight meanwhile, continued to muse, gazing up at the stars. "I suppose it makes sense," she supposed, arriving at the solution to her own question. "I mean, If you were given the chance to become an alicorn... wouldn't you take it?"

Rainbow smiled slightly. "I guess."

"Maybe it read my mind..." Twilight continued. "After all, it saw my fears... Maybe it saw into my memories... my dreams— Or, more realistically," she mused, the more cynical part of her mind taking precedence, "it's magic; and magic," she said with a heavy sigh, "exists in almost everything—wings and horns included. So it simply formed both."

"That's... certainly a theory," Rainbow replied, sitting back down beside her.

Twilight's voice took on a tone of urgency. "We have to warn Princess Celestia about this, Rainbow."

"Alright," Rainbow agreed. "Just... Let me be the one to tell her... okay?"

Twilight creased her brow. "Why—?"

"Because you can barely stand, Twilight. You need help, and... I'll be taking you to a hospital the moment we reach Ponyville. Once there, I'll... leave you to get some rest, then head to Canterlot to warn Celestia."

Twilight's lips parted to protest when Rainbow teasingly added, "Don't worry... I'll be back before you come to."

Around a half hour or so later, Rainbow had a warm fire burning by their hooves, and a large pile of berries gathered from the woods nearby, having used her sweatshirt as a bag to hold them all.

Twilight peered over at the pile in her girlfriend's lap, taking quick note of which were which.

"The blue ones are safe to eat. The red will, uhm..." Twilight made a slicing motion across her throat with her hoof.

"Oh, um..." Rainbow gulped. "G-good to know."

She breathed out—calming her nerves—and turned back to the pile, taking a blue one in between her teeth, and chomping down. A tangy, sweet juice filled her mouth. Mm...

She licked her lips, turning to face Twilight. "Sure you don't want any of these, Twi? They're super sweet."

Twilight smiled, thankful. "Thanks but no thanks, Rainbow. I'm pretty sure food's the last thing I need."

Rainbow's expression grew a little disappointed, but she nodded nevertheless. "If you say so."

She turned her attention back to the pile of berries, making quick work of them over the next few minutes.

"Ah..." She brushed the remaining red ones from the underbelly of her sweatshirt before tossing it back on, and lying back on the steps, using her forelegs to prop her back up a bit. "That was good."

Twilight chuckled. "I'm glad. You haven't eaten since the train ride here, after all."

"Yeah, and neither have you." Rainbow sighed, taking on a more serious tone. "I'm worried about you, Twi. I think, if those stomach pains don't go away within the next few hours... you really should try eating something—regardless of how much it hurts."

Twilight rolled her eyes, letting out a huff. "Okay, oh—"

A sudden thump—like that of muffled cannon fire—rumbled in the distance, cutting her off.

The thump was proceeded by another, then another, and another.

Steps, Rainbow and Twilight both concluded as they stared into one another's worrying expressions, apparently belonging to a creature large enough to shake the earth.

They simultaneously gulped.

Something big and blue—with fur that shimmered like the stars—traversed the ravine before them, raising the wooden bridge over its back as it passed underneath it.

The ropes suspending the bridge were pulled undone from the farthest poles, causing it to collapse and drop flat against the rocky surface of the opposite wall.

"An ursa..." Twilight murmured, staring awestruck at... what she could see of it. "It's nothing like I thought it'd be, it's... breathtaking."

"Yeah, and also a ginormous bear," remarked Rainbow teasingly, reminding her.

Twilight quickly grew a little flustered.

"Well... m-maybe it is a... deadly, a-and... ferocious animal, but from here... I've never seen a more... magnificent creature—"

Rainbow sat up, staring down at her indignantly. "Uh, hel-lo?" She pointed her hooves against her chest.

Twilight looked up at her, and smiled, humored. "Besides you, Sweetie," she teased.

Rainbow deadpanned, then gave her eyes a roll.

"I'm gonna grab a closer look," she said as she hopped to her hooves, galloping the short distance over to the ravine. The ground, all the while, shook beneath her with each step that the ursa took.

She reached the edge excitedly, and her heart immediately sunk—her breath catching in the back of her throat as her body slowly went numb at the sight of the enormous creature.

The beast trudged past her, never once taking note of her as she stared down at it... floored by its sheer size.

As it continued off into the distance, Rainbow snapped herself back to reality, hightailing it back to where her girlfriend lay waiting.

"That was awesome!" she gushed as she made her way back. "Though..." Her smile slowly fell from her face, her thoughts lingering on something specific that had stood out to her. She slipped into silence, cuing Twilight to speak up.

"Rainbow?" she urged, watching her worriedly.

"It was... pregnant, I think."

"Pregnant?" Twilight repeated, stupefied. Oookay... I wasn't expecting that.

Rainbow nodded. "Probably, I mean... its stomach did seem to bulge a bit."

"Huh..." Twilight thought it over, then smiled a coy smile. "I guess that would make its cub an ursa minor, huh Rainbow?"

She snorted, letting out a soft chortle at her own joke.

Rainbow stared back at her dryly, before the sound of a thousand tiny buzzing wings caused her ears to perk up. Wha...?

She looked to the surrounding treeline, the sound growing louder by the second, quickly capturing Twilight's attention as well.

Her brow furrowed, her eyes narrowing as she struggled to get a better look. "What in the...?"

Her eyes widened suddenly as she stumbled backwards—her heart nearly leaping from her chest. "Whoa!"

A swarm of round, winged creatures—appearing within the blink of an eye, in every color imaginable—flew out over both herself and Twilight.

Rainbow ducked instinctively, some still managing to brush past her mane as they whirled by the castle ruins, stirring up quite the breeze.

Rainbow raised her brow. "What are those?" she wondered, watching as they disappeared over the distant horizon.

Twilight was none the wiser.

"Insects, I... think," she replied, uncertain. "I never read anything about an animal or insect with that sort of appearance..." Her eyes narrowed in contemplative thought. "Where are they off to though, I wonder..."

"Twi?" Rainbow questioned, looking over at her.

"The ursa as well," she continued to ponder. "Why else would these animals just... up and leave this area, unless something was affecting..."

"Twi, come on..." Rainbow chuckled nervously. "You're sort of giving me the creeps here. Sort of, I mean—"

A branch snapped.

She immediately stiffened, a cold chill running down her spine.

A low growl proceeded the snap, and Rainbow, whose heart began beating faster, reluctantly looked over her shoulder towards the source of the sound.

Her pupils instantly shrunk.

"Oh, horseapples..."

A snarling beast, partly masked by the shadows of the castle, was staring her down.

It took a step forward and more of its features came into light.

It was a lion—bearing a maw capable of gobbling ponies up whole—with a pair of bat-like wings that rose sharply from its back, and a scorpion tail posed directly at her, ready to strike at any given moment.

A manticore... dreaded Twilight in realization.

Rainbow took a couple of slow steps backwards, coming within earshot of her girlfriend.

"Twilight," she gestured in a low murmur, staring ahead.

Twilight stared at her, too scared to make a move.

"Twilight," she repeated. "Can you teleport?"

"I-I..." She swallowed hard, feeling as though she had regained some magic... but even if she hadn't, what choice did she have but to try? "Y-yeah."

"Then telelport."

The two disappeared in a flash of purple, reemerging on the other side of the fallen bridge, Rainbow catching Twilight as she almost fell over.

She glanced back at the creature once before nudging Twilight up onto her back—Twilight wincing and sucking in a sharp breath as Rainbow dashed off, bolting into the forest.

"Sorry," she apologized with every step. "Sorry, sorry, sorry..."

The manticore lowered itself into a predatory stance, growling through its teeth before leaping the chasm—its wings spread as it made the leap. Its paws kicked up dust and pressed into the grass and dirt as it ran after them.

It let out a roar, letting them know it was on their trail.

"W-why's it a-acting s-so ferocious...?" Twilight stammered out through the pain, and the fear. "Manticore's... are supposed to be d-docile around ponies!"

"Really, Twi? Docile? A lion creature with bat wings and a scorpion tail is docile?!"

"W-well..." She timidly averted her eyes. "I-it was in a book I r-read—"

"Well the book's wrong!"

The manticore swiped at Rainbow's hooves, causing her to falter and fall. Their bodies tumbled downhill, Twilight getting knocked into a river ahead of them, submerging before she could scream.

She flailed her hooves, gasping for breath as her head emerged above the surface. Her head twisted all around her as her body remained afloat, droplets of water dripping from her mane and brow and stinging her eyes. "Rainbow!" she called out desperately, with no idea where she was or where she was headed.

Not knowing she was already being carried downstream.

"Twilight!" Rainbow yelled before being pounced upon by the manticore itself, the beast letting out a snarl in her face.

"Rainbow...?" Twilight turned toward the sound of her voice. "Rainbow, h-help!"

"Ngh... H-hang on!" Rainbow kicked off the manticore's chest, throwing herself out from underneath it. She stumbled before leaping into the air and diving headfirst into the river, one of the manticore's paws swiping loose a few hairs from her tail.

She came up for air a moment later, shaking her mane somewhat dry.

She kicked forward, pulling herself closer until she reached Twilight, pulling her close with her forelegs.

Twilight grew tense, letting out a little gasp at the embrace. "Rainbow?"

"I got you, Twi."

Twilight breathed out a sigh of relief, letting out a weak, terrified laugh. "I'm pretty certain pegasi aren't naturally-gifted swimmers."

Rainbow grinned warily. "Then I should count myself lucky."

A moment of silence passed between them before Twilight felt Rainbow's heart skip a beat.

Her smile fell.

"What's ahead of us, Rainbow? Rainbow—?"

Rainbow swam in front of her, and embraced her within both her wings and forelegs. She closed her eyes tightly as the two suddenly felt weightless, the wind building and whipping around them fiercely.

The two fell into a pool of murky-brown water, like a raindrop into a puddle of water.

The smell caused the two to desperately swim to the water's surface, taking a deep breath before pinching their muzzles shut—their free forelegs keeping them afloat.

"Where... where are we?" Rainbow asked, then groaned. "What is that smell?"

"I—I think we're in some kind of bog," Twilight replied. She shook some of the water from her face and mane at the same time as bubbles began surfacing in front of them. She gazed down at them, bemused. "Bubbles—?"

Twi!" Rainbow pushed her out of the way just as a saucer-like head shot up from underneath her, as brown as the water itself. Its neck towered over them as they were swept aside from the oncoming waves.

Twilight gulped, her pupils shrinking. "Oh Celestia..."

"Twi...?" Rainbow stared up at the enormous creature, frozen with fear.

"Celestia, no no no—!"

"Twilight!" Rainbow raised her own quivering voice, snapping her our of her current state. "What is that?"

"It's a... a-a—!"

The wind was knocked out of them, both mares falling onto their stomachs and holding onto whatever they could as something else rose up beneath them, accompanied with a low growl.

The object beneath them stopped moving, Rainbow and Twilight reluctantly opening their eyes to a sight that made their hearts drop and faces pale.

"—H-hyd-d-dra," Twilight uttered with a nervous swallow, her and Rainbow staring as its head stared straight at them intently... its green eyes piercing through the darkness.

Rainbow grew stiff, instinctively shutting her eyes as the hydra reared its head closer, its warm breath sending chills throughout her body. Twilight watched, deathly frozen and with bated breath, her heartbeat quickening to the point of nausea.

The tip of its tongue only just nudged Rainbow's side when the head they laid on rose up to stare at the other questioningly.

The other head cocked and motioned with its eyes to the top of the other's head where Twilight and Rainbow lay perfectly still.

The head housing the two ponies looked up before looking back in confusion.

Seizing the opportunity, Rainbow whispered cautiously to Twilight.

"Twilight?"

Twilight snapped back to reality, staring terrified into the eyes of her girlfriend.

"H-Hey. Twilight."

"R-Rainbow, a-are you—? I-I mean... okay?"

Rainbow huffed, nodding once. "I'm fine—"

"B-but the h-hydra almost—!"

Rainbow cut her off, shaking the fact from her thoughts. "Do you have enough in you for another teleport?"

"N-no..." Twilight sniffled, bowing her head in dismay. "I'm so scared, Rainbow," she uttered, her voice teary and strained.

"H-hey," Rainbow reassured her, "don't worry about that. I'm here with you, alright?" She softly smiled, bringing a hoof to Twilight's cheek, Twilight's gaze shifting to meet hers. "Now come on... we can figure a way out of this. We always do." She glanced over her shoulder, back at her wings, and frowned at the sight of them. "My wings are pretty soaked, but I might be able to keep us afloat for a few s—"

Their eyes widened as they were both thrown from the hydra's head—its other head butting into it in annoyed anger.

Rainbow grabbed Twilight's hoof in her own before she was completely flung off, grabbing with her other at one of the hydra's eyebrows, hanging right before one of its eyes.

And that's when it finally saw them.

Rainbow and Twilight simultaneously gulped as the hydra narrowed its eyes, letting out a low, guttural growl.

It threw its head back toward the sky, flinging the two of them high into the air as it did.

The hydra smirked, opening its mouth and waiting.

Rainbow grunted as the wind sped up around them—their hooves still interlinked as she pulled Twilight up against her, wrapping her free foreleg around her lower back before feverishly flapping her wings.

Twilight stared at her, completely taken aback. "Rainbow!?"

Rainbow scowled, her voice and face strained. "I'm not about to let either of us become food for some hydra!"

She flapped her wings, gaining a little distance until they gave out, and they fell... the wind around them picking back up.

Their hearts sunk, and they huddled together, shutting their eyes... until they were greeted by a scaly, slimy landing that knocked the wind out of them both. The hydra's nose scrunched up as the two landed on it directly before beginning their slippery descent downwards... Rainbow managing to grab hold of one of the spikes behind its head.

Twilight trembled and sniffled, burying her face in Rainbow's shoulder. "This isn't happening, this isn't happening, this isn't—!" She squeaked in terror as the hydra rocked its head back and forth, loosening Rainbow's grip on the spike.

"Twi, just... ngh... hold on!"

"What do you t-think I'm doing?!"

Rainbow looked all around her, catching the other head in her peripheral, giving its lips a lick as it loomed over them.

Rainbow took in a shaken breath, seeing only two ways out of this... and she didn't care for either of them.

She gulped and closed her eyes as she let go, slipping down the back of the hydra's neck. Keeping her wings outstretched at her sides for balance, she pulled back into the air at the last second, narrowly escaping the jaws of the hydra as it snapped at them so fiercely that it bit its other neck clean off.

It blinked, and sheepishly drew away as Rainbow and Twilight landed on its back with a heavy thud—coming to rest on either side of the spikes that traveled down its back.

Twilight nudged her head to her left, gazing over at Rainbow as they both caught their breaths... and extended her foreleg out to her, coming to rest between one of the gaps in the hydra's spikes.

Rainbow looked down at it, then back up into her girlfriend's quivering, sickly appearance. Her watery eyes, pale face, flushed cheeks, and profuse sweat... With a knot forming in her throat, she reached out her own hoof, meeting Twilight halfway and taking her hoof in hers, smiling gingerly.

Twilight returned an exhausted one of her own, silently applauding Rainbow's ingenuity. Though her eyes had been shut and buried in her shoulder the whole time... she could never have blocked out the crunching sound of that neck bite.

A hiss broke through their concentration, and they stared up in silent dread as three heads with peeved expressions all now stared down at them.

"Three heads," Rainbow murmured bitterly as her shoulders slumped, defeated. "Why are there three...?"

"B-because," Twilight explained, feeling like such a scatterbrain, "when a hydra loses its neck a-and head, it... grows back two more—!"

The hydra bucked its back, forcing the two to separate from the sudden jolt, and slip into the murky water below. "Well terrific!" Rainbow angrily yelled once she reemerged from under the water's surface.

Its tail splashed around in the water, collecting the two in its grip.

They squirmed and struggled before being flung back into the air—only at an angle this time around—directly into its widening mouth as if they were nothing more than a couple pieces of popcorn.

Rainbow glared and wound her hoof back. "When will you get it through your thick heads...?" she growled out, and clobbered the hydra right across its nose, causing it to wince and snap its jaw shut. Its head bowed a bit, allowing the two to land safety upon its head—stumbling for a second before collapsing in exhaustion. "We... aren't food..."

Rainbow... Twilight thought, at a loss for words as she simply stared in amazement.

Not wasting another second, the two breathed out a collective sigh, and climbed to their hooves... Twilight's insides burning and aching far worse than Rainbow. Still, she managed to move and dodge the second head as it snapped at them, jumping in time with Rainbow and setting hoof onto its head. They steadied themselves as their hooves struggled to find their footing.

All the while Twilight pushed past the pain, continuing to admire Rainbow's bravery and fortitude. Always charging headfirst into danger... and all just to protect me. She smiled, saddened, remembering what she had told Rainbow's father. Here I'm supposed to be the one to charge into danger headfirst, and yet... She, alongside Rainbow, leaped onto the nose of the third head, dodging it as well as it smacked into the other two. I've never felt so vulnerable... like a burden.

The hydra's eyes rolled around in their sockets, buying the two some time as the creature found itself dizzy from its heads knocking into one another.

Rainbow glanced all around her before spinning around, turning to face Twilight directly. "We're going to have to jump."

Twilight stared back at her, incredulous. "W-what do y-you mean jump?"

"We'll each jump backwards, and grab hold of one another around the hydra's neck. That should slow our trajectory before we let go and hit the water." Their hooves slipped and slid as she explained her plan, the head they were standing on continuing to wobble back and forth. "After that, we swim for the shore, and hopefully lose this thing in the trees."

Twilight's gaze sunk.

She bit her lip as her face bore a look of uncertainty. "I... I-I don't know, Rainbow."

Rainbow meanwhile, noticed that the other two heads had regained their senses, as she stared past Twilight... and once more had their sights fixated on them both.

Rainbow gulped, and Twilight didn't have to look behind her to know what her girlfriend was seeing.

Her face said it all.

Okay, so maybe her plan wasn't foolproof... but right now, she had but two options: to sink or to swim.

"Celestia, Rainbow," she begged. "Please catch me—"

"I will!"

Rainbow met her worried expression with a reassuring one as they each took a couple steps back, teetering on the edge of its head.

She nodded at Twilight as she began counting. "Three... t-two... one!"

They jumped backwards... watching as the head passed quickly before their eyes. Their stomachs upturned at the feeling of weightlessness, the rush of wind deafening their hearing, but still they were able catch a glimpse of one another, and that gave them all the confidence they needed.

They reached out, grabbing onto each other's forelegs, pulling the other closer. Tightening their combined hold, they slowed their descent down its neck, all the while the two remaining heads snaked around them, eyeing them intently.

"Nngh... Ready, Twi?"

Twilight gulped. "Ready as I-I'll ever be!"

Rainbow nodded and turned away, glancing up at where the heads were positioned as they closed in, preparing to strike... then down at the water. "Now!"

The two pushed away from one another, launching each other back into the water below... A couple chilling crunch sounds proceeding their rocky descent.

Sucking in deep breaths, they submerged deep below the surface of the bog, and their eyes soon widened as something heavy splashed down above them. They gasped before sealed lips, looking up before swimming frantically out of the way of the sinking hydra's head, and neck.

They swam up to the water's surface, breathing in deeply once they emerged.

Flicking her mane from her eyes, and wiping a quick foreleg across her face, Rainbow looked over to where Twilight sat floating... and wasted no time in swimming over to her.

She tentatively lifted a hoof as she asked, "Twi... are you alright?"

Twilight gulped, and nodded shakily... "Y-yeah, just... just get us to land, Rainbow." She coughed softly, her breathing strained and throat burning on the inside. "It... just lost its third head."

Gingerly, Rainbow placed her forelegs around her girlfriend's shoulders, and swam them to the nearest shoreline with her powerful hind legs. Twilight reached it first, practically hugging the spongy dirt as she fell forward into it, catching her breath.

Rainbow swam up beside her, gazing into the dirt and grass... when four lean, mean shadows cast themselves over both herself and Twilight... blotting out the pale moonlight. Rainbow glanced swiftly up behind her at what was now four silhouetted hydra heads that lit up visibly within a flash of lightning... and roared in time with a crack of thunder.

Rainbow gulped, her ears flopping and pupils shrinking as she scrambled onto the miry land. Turning back towards Twilight, she lowered her hoof. "Come on, Twi," she beckoned, urgently.

Twilight peered up at her, then at her hoof, swallowing hard before reaching out and taking it.

Rainbow pulled her to her hooves, and mustering what little strength they both still had, took off running down the wide dirt pathway stretched out before them. Behind them, the hydra's steps shook the earth beneath them, toppling the small trees in its path as it gave chase.

Darn it! Rainbow glanced around warily, seeing no immediate way out, no caves, or anywhere to hide... Just... gotta keep moving... but... She gazed back at Twilight who was lagging behind, and slowed her steps until she was right by her side.

"R-Rainbow?" Twilight looked at her, taken aback. "W-whut're you—?"

"Hop on my back, Twilight," Rainbow urged her, kneeling forward. "I can carry you."

"B-but I...!" Twilight attempted to argue, folding her ears and averting her gaze away in guilt. I'll only weigh you down...

The hydra's steps grew louder, worsening her already growing anxiety, and, as she looked behind her, gasped, desperately shouting out her girlfriend's name in fear.

Rainbow looked back herself just in time to see one of the hydra's heads closing in on her.

Twilight bit her lip, shutting her eyes tightly. This is all my fault, she lamented. If it weren't for me...

The hydra opened its crooked jaw, mere feet away from Rainbow who paled at the fearsome sight.

Is this really it—?

The wind was knocked from her lungs as Twilight threw herself into Rainbow's path... knocking her out of the hydra's.

Rainbow looked back to where she had been just in time to see the hydra's jaw snap shut around the pony she loved.

Her eyes slowly widened, watching as the hydra smirked, and rose back up into the air... about to gulp down her girlfriend. She didn't even notice as another one of its heads craned downwards, readying to snack on her too as she stood there, too shocked to move.

Her eyes only just began to grow teary when... her brow lifted in surprise, watching as the hydra winced.

Its eyes seemingly began to grow sleepy as several moments ticked by, the other three heads appearing the same as they too began to wobble.

Rainbow glanced between them with a growing, hopeful smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

The one that was about to lunge at her was the first to shut its eyes, the others following suit as its legs gave out... and it started to fall.

Rainbow's smile fell from her face, her eyes widening in panic before squeezing shut.

She threw her wings over her head as the heads and necks hit the space around her with a thunderous crash, brewing up dust and raking up her mane and hoodie as wind from the crash whipped past her.

The wind soon subsided after a couple long moments, and Rainbow cautiously lowered her wings back to her sides, hesitantly opening her eyes back up... only to be greeted with the sight of a downed hydra's head as more of the dust cleared to reveal its presence.

She stifled a shriek and took a few steps back in startlement... only for her body to go completely stiff as she backed up into up a second fallen head. The feeling of its slimy scales against her rump sent a shiver down her spine and she jumped away once more, taking a few calming breaths.

Rainbow walked out from between the two heads, setting hoof in front of the downed hydra.

"Twi...?" she called out tentatively, facing the head that had scooped her up.

She leaned in a little closer, taking another step. "Twilight—?"

Rainbow shielded her eyes as a bright flash of purple went off in front of her, Twilight stumbling towards her.

Her own heart skipped a beat as Twilight fell against her chest, shuddering at the cool, slimy feeling of the hydra's saliva on Twilight's shoulders, and on her forelegs... some of it dripping from her horn.

Twilight gazed up to meet Rainbow's surprised stare, her own eyes flickering between her normal, violet irises, and an intense white light.

Eventually, the last of it drained from her eyes.

"H-hey," she greeted her, sniffling before smiling sheepishly up at her. "S-sorry for the scare..."

"It..." Rainbow blinked before coming to her senses, shaking her head. "I-it's alright, t-though... you didn't have to... you know, do that."

"Yes, I did," she insisted lovingly. "I'd do anything for you, Rainbow. You should know that."

"Yeah," Rainbow snorted bitterly, gazing away. "Even if it means putting your life at risk, apparently," she murmured under her breath.

Twilight's smile fell. "You put your life at risk for me tonight too, you know," she noted, her tone becoming a little indignant.

Rainbow's ears raised, and her eyes slowly widened... realizing she was right.

She bit her lip, turning back to face her fiancée with a now heavy heart, her ears flopping as she looked her in her eyes ashamedly.

"Twi, I... I'm sorry I snapped for a second there, I—"

Twilight put a hoof to Rainbow's cheek as she kissed her lips, effectively shutting her up.

"It's okay, Rainbow," she whispered, pulling back. Her lips formed a smug smile. "I had the magic to escape anyway."

"Y-yeah, well... Speaking of that..." Rainbow's brow furrowed a little, and she brought a hoof to the back of her neck. "I thought your magic had been exhausted?"

"It had been. I guess I... was so overcome with fear right then, that my magic glands must have kicked into overdrive and produced whatever amount of magic was necessary to survive. Magic I didn't even know I had." She scuffed a hoof against the ground before looking up at her apprehensively. "I'll probably be feeling the results of that real soon, but um... w-what exactly did I um... do, while my eyes were like... you know."

Rainbow pointed past her with a nod of her head, getting her girlfriend to turn around and nearly scream, leaping out of her skin at the sight of the sleeping hydra.

"I... knocked it out...?" Twilight uttered, brow raised and hoof placed over her hammering heart. She shook her head in denial. "Sure this explains why we're here having this conversation and not currently running for our lives, but... I never imagined myself capable of something like this..."

"Guess you're more magical than you think you are."

Twilight chuckled humorlessly at that, turning back around to face her. "Magical enough to put a full-grown hydra to sleep and allow myself to become a conduit for some... thing. Yeah, I'm magical alright."

"Twi... Come on, that's not what I—"

"I... I know. Sorry, Rainbow. I... It's just..." Twilight breathed in deeply, then out before asking, "Doesn't it terrify you, what my magic can do?"

Rainbow pursed her lips, then shrugged. "Not really."

Twilight stared back at her for a single, long moment, her lips slowly parting in disbelief. "I'm a danger, Rainbow. I've hurt you before because I can't manage it. You were only safe because I was trapped in that thing's mouth, and had my magic not ran out so quickly... I cant bear to think what I would have done to you."

"I don't," Rainbow replied without a moment's hesitation, "because you didn't hurt it, Twilight. You could have, sure... but you knocked it unconscious instead." Twilight jumped to refute, Rainbow raising her voice before she could. "Haven't I told you to stop beating yourself up, Twilight? To try and forgive yourself?"

"I..." Twilight averted her eyes, running a hoof along her foreleg anxiously.

Rainbow's voice softened, and she smiled warmly at her. "I think you can control it, Twi... if you simply keep those closest to you always on your mind."

Twilight blinked, stupefied. Always on my mind, huh? She smiled at the thought. I suppose keeping her safe was the last thought on my mind...

"Alright," she agreed simply, much to her girlfriend's relief. "I'll keep my friends in mind... and count on all of you to help me keep it in check."

Rainbow chuckled. "Will do, Twi."

The two shared a smile, a calming moment of reprieve passing between them.

"Well," Twilight began with a sigh, "back to being exhausted. Only even more so now..." She blanched as she gave her coat a quick shake, ending with both her fur and mane becoming a little frizzled. "Blech..."

Meanwhile Rainbow watched from where she stood, utterly speechless.

How could she could be so okay after that, she wondered.

"Hm?" Twilight quit fussing over her coat and mane for a second, instead taking notice of Rainbow's puzzled stare. "Rainbow?"

"I almost lost you, Twi," she explained, stressing the seriousness of it.

Twilight smiled back at her reassuringly. "You didn't though."

"Well, yeah... yeah, I... I know, I— I-I mean, I... I guess I'm just, I don't know... shaken up?" She shrugged, staring at her bemused. "How are you so calm right now?"

"Oh, trust me, Rainbow, I won't be sleeping soundly for weeks."

"Not if I can help it." Rainbow replied with a soft grin.

Twilight stared back at her coyly, returning the smile.

A series of raindrops captured their attention as a gentle downpour began, thunder continuing to rumble throughout the growing storm clouds.

"Ah... Just what I needed." Twilight sat back, holding her forelegs out at her sides, closing her eyes and allowing the rainwater to work its magic.

The light drizzle soon turned into a torrential rainstorm, drenching her and Rainbow in water, chilling them both to the bone.

Twilight silently fumed, her eyes blinking open.

"Okaaaay..." She folded her forelegs, tucking them in at her sides. "Now it's too much."

She wasted no time in galloping over to some large, overhanging leaves by the side of the path to take shelter.

Rainbow, with a single thought still on her mind, hesitated calling after her, opting instead to take shelter beside her. No sense in catching a cold while we're stuck here, she figured.

She plopped down beside Twilight, and for a couple moments, they sat in silence, staring ahead... watching the rain water drizzle from the tips of the leaves, and listening to the calming plip-plops of the individual rain drops.

She soon broke the silence with a sigh.

"This is crazy, Twi," she said, piquing Twilight's curiosity as the unicorn turned to face her. "I mean... everything you've worked towards... a-and all the time you've spent achieving those things... building friendships—b-building our friendship, it... was all almost lost."

Twilight shook her head as she began to understand, and leaned over to nuzzle her own cheek against hers. "I didn't die, Rainbow—"

Rainbow pulled away suddenly, stressing, "But you could have!" Twilight stared back at her, stunned for a little bit, her ears folding against her mane.

Rainbow huffed, grabbing a quick look at Twilight from out of the corner of her eye, and all the anger instantly drained from her face.

"Twi, I... I'm sorry..." Rainbow looked back ahead. "It... It's just dumb, you know? What's the point of us working towards stuff, and spending years of our lives studying, when... I don't know... some creature comes along and sees them as nothing more than a potential snack, or..." She let out a shaky breath. "Some dumb apple-for-brains ends their life, and... all that pony ever worked for is gone, just like that." She turned to Twilight, distressed. "All that time they could have spent with loved ones becomes lost... just like that."

Twilight tentatively lifted one of her hooves, and brought it to rest over hers. "It's a risk some ponies are willing to take, Rainbow."

"But are you willing to?" Rainbow asked her, shrugging her hoof away. "Are you willing to risk leaving behind your parents, or your friends, or Spike, o-or me?"

"Of course not, Rainbow! I just, well..." Twilight looked away in thought, her voice softening. "I owe so much to Princess Celestia that I could never possibly turn down what she asks of me. Even if what she's asking of me is to save her long-lost sister—"

Rainbow scoffed. "Sister, right..." Like that backstabber deserves to be saved...

"Rainbow..." Twilight turned back to her with a look of concern. "What... happened back there? At the castle? Because..." She bit her lip, and let her gaze sink, murmuring in uncertainty, "I don't think I got the full story..."

Rainbow's heart skipped.

"N-nothing happened, Twi! I just... Luna willingly became a monster, so... maybe she doesn't even want to be saved—"

"Well... to be fair, Rainbow, we don't know for sure whether she willingly became one... And besides, Princess Celestia wants her to be saved—"

"Then she should be the one to do it!" Rainbow snapped suddenly, shutting Twilight up.

A moment later and her outburst sunk in.

Rainbow froze, swallowing hard and feeling like such like a featherbrain.

"Aw geez, Twi, I..." She turned to look at her girlfriend.

The look on her face was disheartened, but Twilight understood. "You've lost... a lot, Rainbow," she said. "Friendships, your memories—your old life! Your mom..."

Rainbow's heartbroken gaze lowered as Twilight listed off each and every loss. "It's more than anypony should lose... and now you almost lost me! Your fiancée, and, more importantly... your best friend. I know how devastating that must've felt, because I almost lost you too... and I know you don't share the sentiment, but I would gladly give my life so that you could live yours."

"But... " Rainbow sniffled. "What would I do without you?" she asked, glancing over at her girlfriend for the answer.

"Carry on," she said, "for our friends... and for me, because I'll always be there in your heart—like how your mom is... and how you'll always be with me in mine. So, if either of us did die..." She made a second attempt to assure her girlfriend of this, resting one of her hooves over hers. She formed a lukewarm smile, as Rainbow took her hoof in hers... this time not shrugging it away. "We would be in one another's hearts. We wouldn't be able to kiss, or sleep together, sure... but we'd have the memories of each other. We'd be thankful we were given the time together that we were."

"I don't want to look back on it though, Twilight," Rainbow uttered, her voice cracking under the weight of her tearful confession. "I just want it to, to last forever... you, you know? I, I mean... y-you should be the one who's allowed to live... n-not me. I-I'm just... some pony who showed up in your life, completely by accident! I was... a real loser then, and I've been... so fortunate to have been given a second chance because of you."

"Yeah, me—a pony who never had a social life until you. Also, Rainbow... you were never a loser." Rainbow snorted and glanced away. "I chose the life that I did, but you, Rainbow, you had it ripped from you... like life was just out to get you. A sweet pony like yourself..."

"And i-isn't life supposed to favor the bold?" she asked, cracking a soft grin.

"Which is why it's so puzzling that life would be anything but kind to you."

The two shared a laugh.

"Hey, look at that," Twilight remarked. "We're laughing."

"Y-yeah, it's... it's official," Rainbow replied while giggling, "we've lost our minds."

"W-well, hay. After tonight, it's... not so surprising."

A few weak chuckles passed their lips, lingering in the air before eventually, things grew quiet between the two of them.

"You know," Twilight spoke up. "Princess Celestia can't save Princess Luna, Rainbow, she... more than likely can't control the Elements anymore."

"And we can?" Rainbow turned skeptically towards her. "I don't want you risking your life for somepony who may not even appreciate it, Twi."

"We'll never know unless we try... And besides, we might be a little safer with those artifacts on our side, so, you know..."

Rainbow nodded begrudgingly. "Yeah, I know..."

"To try," continued Twilight. "I owe her that much..."

'Yeah, about that..." Rainbow's brow furrowed. "What exactly do you owe her?"

Twilight stared back at her, going through a mental checklist in her head. "Well, teaching me, for one, and... burgeoning my interest in magic."

"But why take an interest in magic in the first place?" Rainbow asked. "And, aren't your studies basically over at this point?"

"Some are," she replied, "some aren't. My studies in basic and intermediate magics, mathematics, literature, languages, astronomical sciences, physics, history..." Her rattling dwindled once she noticed her girlfriend begin to deadpan. "Are ah, done—b-but that's not what you're asking."

Twilight took a deep breath, beginning over. "She's giving me tasks to mold me into something special—somepony special. I've always wanted to feel like one..." She sighed, gazing down at her hooves. "To feel like somepony important. A princess, for example," she added with a shrug.

Rainbow nodded softly, looking back on ahead. "Cadance figured the same thing..."

Twilight looked up and over at her, her brow lifting in slight surprise. Cadance?

Rainbow shook her head, exhaling a little snort. "Twi... Have you ever thought that... you're already important? To me, and Spike, and so many others in Canterlot?" She smiled back at her. "You don't need some... powerful magic, or... fulfill some sort of task to be special."

"Princess Celestia is expecting so much of me though—!"

"And that's what she wants of you, Twilight... but what do you want?"

"What do I want...?" Twilight blinked, taken aback. "I've... never really thought about that..." She stared ahead in deep thought. "It's almost like... Princess Celestia, she... wants me to be a hero of some sort, but... all I really want is to protect you, a-and Spike, and... my friends, my... my family. The ones I care most about, you know?"

She turned worriedly towards Rainbow. "I'm sorry, does that make me selfish?"

"It makes you no worse than anypony else, looking out for their own," noted Rainbow, the rain coming to a slow trickle around them. She paused, debating what to say next. "You know, Twi... I'm loyal to Celestia because she means so much to you, and... I'm sorry if that makes me selfish because I care more about you than her, but... I'm not about to say yes to saving her family when I've got one of my own with you to think about." Twilight bit her lip, remaining steadfast.

"Twilight," Rainbow pressed. "It's alright to be loyal to the ones you love and respect, but... being sent on assignments to places like this that put our lives at stake just so the princess can see if you have what it takes to handle... whatever it is that she has in store for you? If you said no to that," she scoffed, "it's not like she'd banish you—that is if you both really are friends—"

"O-of course we are!" Twilight exclaimed, insistently. "It's just... I'm worried if I'm not the student she wants me to be, that she'll cut us off. No more income... no more shelter—"

Rainbow shook her head, leaning over and grabbing her by the shoulders. "Twi. She is your friend." Twilight nodded reluctantly, averting her eyes. "And even if she did do that, I earn enough bits from pushing clouds around, and... I'm sure we could find you something as well."

"Right—" Twilight rolled her eyes, letting out a snort as she turned her head away. "—like I could manage anything else. And like there's even a point to working if you're not working towards anything."

"How about a life with me?" Rainbow put forth.

Twilight froze, instantly regretting her words.

"Life's too short, Twi. Is this really what you want your life to be? Risking it every day for a princess, and a kingdom you think you owe, all so that you can continue getting new assignments for the purpose of proving you're somepony special... when you already are?"

Twilight unwittingly sniffled. "N-no," she stammered out, ears falling flat. "I just... want to be with you and the others, and... to live each day like it were its last. T-though... that still doesn't mean that I wouldn't fight to protect Equestria... if it depended on us."

Rainbow looked at her funnily.

Twilight blinked away a few tears, sniffling. "W-what point is there in living each day like it were its last if... there's no life to live? If I can save Equestria, then, well... that just gives us more time together, right? I mean, what about that... Pony of Shadows—?"

"The Pony of Shadows is Celestia's responsibility, not yours—"

"It has some of my magic, Rainbow!" Twilight exclaimed, taking Rainbow aback. "And... a-and what if it's too much for the princess? What if... what if she senses my magic in that, that thing, a-and holds me responsible?"

"She won't hold this against you—" Rainbow tried to say, only for Twilight to fret even more.

"But what if she does?"

"Twi. She trusts you completely... Alright?"

Twilight sniffled again, barely nodding. "I'm just... Why are you so against this though, Rainbow? I... I know you don't want me risking my life, but... it's my magic, and with the Elements of Harmony backing us up, I just think that... we'd stand a pretty good chance."

Rainbow's gaze slowly sunk. "I... I don't know, Twi. I guess I... just don't like the idea of you risking your life for a kingdom that's... never been all that kind to us to begin with."

"It's our home, Rainbow," Twilight reminded her, to which Rainbow nodded irritably.

Twilight's voice softened. "You know, I... sometimes think to myself what a brave pony like Rainbow Dash would do." She looked off, smiling at the thought. "It's... what crossed my mind right before I pushed you out of the hydra's path."

"A brave pony, huh?" Rainbow scoffed at the notion. "Rainbow Dash was a jerk to everypony and paid the price. She wasn't brave..."

"But you are now." Twilight elbowed her in the foreleg once, insistent. "I wish you'd stop pretending that isn't your name."

"It leaves a bitter taste on my tongue when I say it, and when I hear it. It... reminds me of how I behaved before I met you... before you gave me my new name—"

"Which was just half of your old name," Twilight remarked.

"Still," Rainbow remained adamant, "you gave it to me."

"Yeah, and your parents gave you the name Dash. Can't you appreciate both?"

"I don't know, Twi..."

"It really is dashing," Twilight murmured, sweet-talking her.

Rainbow groaned however, averting her eyes as Twilight's head came to rest beneath hers.

"I guess I... could give it a shot," she supposed, her face reddening.

Twilight smiled.

"Twi?"

"Hm?"

"The saliva in your mane's kinda rubbing off on me."

"Oh!" Twilight pulled away sheepishly. "S-sorry," she said, then cocked her head as her girlfriend rose to her hooves. "Rainbow?"

"We should keep moving," Rainbow said, glancing nervously in the direction of the toppled hydra. "I'd rather not be around when that thing wakes back up."

The rainstorm had gone back to being a slight drizzle as she took several steps out onto the road, before getting the feeling that she wasn't being followed.

She turned around questioningly, seeing Twilight staring back at her with a deadpan expression.

"What?"

"I can barely walk, Rainbow."

"Ah, right..." She walked closer, an embarrassed smile on her lips. "Sorry. Here," she said, lying flat beside her. "Climb on."

Twilight did as instructed, crawling over with slight groans until collapsing over her back, her head coming to rest over her shoulder.

"And up we go," Rainbow said, standing up. She grimaced as she got to her hooves however, hearing Twilight writhe as her back pressed up into the unicorn's stomach.

"Er, um... H-how're the stomach pains?" she tentatively asked, feeling deep down that she already knew the answer.

"B-better," Twilight replied, much to Rainbow's own surprise. "It, it's just... t-those ma-magical reserves I d-dug into, that I, I didn't even know I h-had? I told you I'd be feeling the effects of that, a-and..."

"You are," Rainbow finished for her, saving however much of the unicorn's strength that she could. "Got it. Just... try and rest now... alright?'

"And here I thought t-talking would actually be pref-f-ferable, what with k-keeping me conscious, a-and keeping you company."

"Well..." Rainbow stopped to consider the thought. "If it's not too much for you, I... would appreciate the company."

Twilight grinned warily, victorious.

A few moments went by as Rainbow trudged down the winding path, moving slowly for Twilight's sake.

She had almost forgotten what she had told Twilight moments prior when her girlfriend's weak voice broke her concentration with a question.

"Do you think we'll make it out of here?" she asked.

Rainbow gulped, not sure what to tell her for a long moment.

"Do... do you think we'll ever see Spike, o-or our friends again?"

"I..." Rainbow bit her bottom lip anxiously. What's with the macabre questions all of a sudden? I mean, of course we will, we... "We have to," she replied. "They're waiting for us. We just... have to think positive, alright? We're going to make it through this."

Twilight hesitated, then nodded her head.

"I just... Where do you think Princess Celestia is? I-I mean, I'm sure she's busy, o-or sleeping, but... you would think she would have seen my magic shoot into space like you described, a-and that she would have found us by now..."

Rainbow huffed. "Well she clearly hasn't," she remarked. "We're alone on this one, Twi. Sorry."

Twilight smiled saddened. "That's okay... I trust you'll find us a way out of this. You really are the bravest pony I know... Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow looked over her shoulder, back at her with a wry smile.

The two entered deeper into the forest, Rainbow looking around apprehensively at all of the fauna and thorn-covered vines surrounding them, seemingly closing in on them.

Rainbow winced and bit back her grunts as the thorns prodded and scraped against her sweatshirt. Daring wouldn't be having this problem, she mused bitterly, pushing ahead, past whatever plant life lay before her. She'd have a really sweet-looking machete and wouldn't have to force her way through any of this—

A hummingbird flew before Rainbow's muzzle suddenly, the pegasus jumping back in surprise. "Whoa!"

The bird buzzed around wildly before her eyes, Twilight remarking, "Maybe it knows a way out."

"Or maybe it's trying to get out," Rainbow supposed, the hummingbird flying on ahead. "We won't know until we follow it."

Rainbow navigated through the vines and leaves with a quickening spring in her step, until at last she emerged... stepping into an empty, circular clearing. Thick trees encircled the open clearing, patches of moonlight breaking through the treetops.

Their faces both lit up in relief.

"A clearing, finally!" Rainbow cheered.

Twilight looked around her, and her excitement started to dwindle.

"With no clear exit in sight," she groaned in dismay, eyes sullen.

The hummingbird flew in front of them once more, buzzing around before their eyes.

Rainbow, as well as Twilight, simply stared back at it dumbfounded.

It turned, and flew higher into the brush, looking back once before escaping into the night.

"I don't get it," Rainbow murmured, staring after it. "Does it want me to fly?" She frowned, glancing back at her side, at her wing. "'Cause I don't think I can ye—"

Twilight cut her off with a gasp, the unicorn shutting her eyelids tightly and burying her face in the back of her mane.

Her forelegs that laid wrapped over her shoulders and rested over her chest began to tremble.

Rainbow glanced back at her worriedly. "Twi?"

One of Twilight's hooves pointed shakily towards the bramble, drawing her attention.

She glanced back ahead and around the area, looking around for what had scared the living daylights out of her, when... she saw it. Barely at first, but its movements were unmistakable.

A monstrous fly trap, creeping through the thicket, some several feet away.

Rainbow slowly, without a sound, lifted a hoof, then another as she attempted to slowly back out of whatever they had just stumbled into.

A vine meanwhile, dangled silently from above, wrapping itself under and around Rainbow's body.

Before either could react, it yanked them both off the ground... into the thicket above where several more plant mouths emerged.

Rainbow and Twilight deadpanned. Oh ponyfeathers, they both thought.

The two struggled to no avail, Rainbow finding herself with only one option. She craned her neck around and bit through the vine, getting doused with a face full of strong, bitter gas.

The wind was knocked out of them as they hit the ground hard, her vision dizzying... and through her eyes, it seemed as if there were now several monstrous fly traps emerging from the trees.

"Heh... Tay... take that, Audrey Two," she said with a wary smile, blinking her eyes several times.

"Three... four... five, six..." She gulped, her eyes slowly widening as they cleared. My eyes weren't playing tricks on me...

Twilight coughed, having received a douse of that horrible gas as well. "We... we've w-wandered i-into their nest. That m-must've been what that bird was trying us to warn us about—"

"That's real great, Twi." Rainbow struggled to her hooves. "Come on!"

With Twilight on her back, she dashed through the one opening that revealed itself to her right then, never looking back, knowing that those monsters weren't far behind.

Her body rose in temperature and she couldn't sweat it out, like she was burning up from the inside.

She cleared her throat, feeling a scratchy feel beginning to form, and her whole body growing heavy.

What... was that stuff—? She lost her footing for a second as her legs grew numb.

She burst through the trees and bramble, Twilight loosening her grip on her.

Rainbow herself trembled, and struggled to grab her breath, feeling her consciousness slowly beginning to slip, but still felt Twilight's hold on her lessen.

"T... Twi—?"

Twilight slipped from her back, unconscious, into a bed of blue flowers that stretched on beneath them for as far as her eyes could see.

Rainbow breathed in and out, staring down at her girlfriend, too weak to even lift a hoof... her mind growing so hazy...

Her ear flicked at the sound of grass rustling, and... something creeping up behind her, parting the flowers as it moved.

She had a feeling she knew exactly what it was, and tried to move... when her forelegs and hind legs folded, giving out beneath her.

C-crud...

She collapsed on her side, unwillingly allowing her eyelids to close... falling unconscious beside Twilight.

"Nngh..." Rainbow stirred, slowly coming to.

Her eyes opened, wincing at first from the soft light coming from beside her.

She was in a bed—her bed?

A dream? she asked herself. Was this all just a bad—?

"You ponies gave me quite the fright, being out so late at night," came an accented voice from her bedside.

Rainbow blinked. What? she wondered, turning her gaze in the direction of the voice, to the figure standing beside her.

She stifled a gasp and jumped back against the wall beside her, her heart almost escaping her chest as she stared up at the ghostly, cloaked equine. Its yellow eyes shone brightly from underneath its hood.

"Little pony, do not jump in alarm." The pony figure removed its hood, revealing grey fur and black stripes, a thin, striped, elevated column of her mane extending to the back of her head... and a face that was most definitely feminine. Golden jewelry hung around her neck, earrings piercing both her ears.

She smiled softly down at Rainbow. "I mean you no harm."

Rainbow's breathing evened out, and she swallowed nervously. Where even was she?

She peered past her mysterious host, then up around at her surroundings. It was a hut of some sort, with a cauldron, bubbling concoctions... and weirdo masks lining some of the shelves.

"Where, w-where are we?" she stuttered out. "And... what a-are you? I mean, no offense, but..." She relaxed a bit. "You don't look like other mares I've seen. Like, I mean... your muzzle's... boxier, a-and I've never seen markings like those before."

Rainbow pointed a hoof slightly to the patterns visible on her face and neck.

The equine however, chuckled wholeheartedly.

"Pegasus, you were quick to make that observation. It's true, I've traveled here from another population. I am a zebra, little pony with amnesia."

Rainbow's brow lifted in surprise. "How'd you know about that?"

"I can see it in your eyes," she replied. "Empty and full of—"

"Despise? A pitiful demise?" Rainbow surmised, dryly. "See, I can do that too."

"I was going to say, now as I sigh... red eyes and unrequited goodbyes, a heavy heart always questioning why. Even if it weren't so apparent, a zebra's ability to sense an ailment is quite inherent."

Rainbow's look turned sour. "Can you not look inside my heart please? Thanks. Oh, and for your information... I used to have amnesia. I got my memories back just the other day, and I'm still not entirely used to them, so... that's probably what you're sensing." She sighed, deciding to change the topic. "What's your name, anyway?"

Being bitter over being shown up wasn't about to help anything, she supposed.

"Zecora is what they call me," her host replied.

Za... korra? Rainbow repeated, sounding it out within her head.

"What do they call you, my mysterious attendee?"

"A number of things," mused Rainbow, returning to reality. "You can call me Rainbow."

"A name that fits," Zecora remarked, then went on to explain; "I found you and your friend outside in the poison joke, warily submitting to it."

"Poison...?" Is that what that plant was— "Oh yeah!" she exclaimed as the thought came to her. "Where's Twi? She's the unicorn I was with!"

Zecora looked over her shoulder. "The unicorn is in the next room, suffering from a magical ailment, I assume."

"An ailment?" Rainbow questioned. "Was it this... plant?"

Zecora shook her head. "It was not something of this world, I'm sure. Whatever possessed her was not pure."

Not of this world...? Rainbow pondered. Maybe she means the moon? Either way... She sighed, and gave her a less-than-thrilled look. "Tell me about it," she grumbled

"If only that were the least of her trouble, it would seem the poison joke has made it double. Her horn has gone floppy, causing her use of magic to become quite sloppy."

Floppy? Rainbow dreaded, leaning forward. "S-she'll be alright though, right?" she asked. "I, I mean... She hasn't lost the ability to use her magic for good, has she—?"

Zecora held up a hoof, asking her to relax.

"It's lucky that you two you came this path," she said, then smiled assuredly. "You'll both be alright if you take a bubble bath."

Rainbow blinked, stupefied. "You're... you're kidding, right?"

The zebra shook her head.

"Well..." Rainbow breathed a sigh of relief, sitting back. "That's good news, and... Wait." Her eyes widened in realization. "W-what's wrong with me?"

Zecora opened her mouth to speak when a loud shriek—sounding all too familiar to Rainbow—cried out from deeper inside the hut.

"Your friend finally seems to be awake," Zecora remarked, glancing over her shoulder. "It would seem she has an irrational fear of a particular snake."

"Irrational—? You left her alone with snakes?"

"They wouldn't harm a fly," Zecora insisted, "as they usually only crawl up high. Though I did not know about her fear—it is one which I will be sure to rectify."

Before Rainbow could reply, Twilight ran from her room, darting right past them, and galloping to the exit of the hut in a mad dash.

Rainbow and Zecora exchanged looks with one another, Rainbow's being sheepish, while Zecora's was one of utter bewilderment.

"I'll, uh... go get her," Rainbow said, stripping the sheets from her body, and stepping down from the bed.

"Cautiousness is key, so please, tread carefully!" Zecora called out to her as she approached the front door. "The path ahead will lead you to safety, but be wary—" Rainbow stopped at the open door, looking back at her as she explained, "You're near timberwolf territory."

Rainbow gulped, looking back calmly on the outside and nodding her head, before continuing out the doorway.

In no time at all, Rainbow spotted Twilight not too far from the entrance of the hut, on the path leading out and with one of her forelegs propped up against the trunk of a tree.

"Twi!" she called out in relief, running up to the unicorn and successfully grabbing her attention. "Twilight, it's... it's okay! Listen, the snakes are gone, alright?" She set a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "They're gone."

Twilight looked back at her in uncertainty, her eyes on the verge of tears.

"Relax, okay?" Rainbow continued, reassuring her softly. "They're not going to bite you, or slither all over you, or whatever... alright?"

Twilight sniffled, tearing her gaze away.

A moment passed before she finally agreed, softly nodding her head.

Still, she looked no less shook up than when she had first come across her moments ago.

Rainbow rubbed a hoof along the back of her neck, averting her eyes to the ground as she murmured under her breath, "Sunshine, sunshine, er... ladybugs awake." She looked back up to face Twilight with a nervous smile, Twilight now staring back at her with a dumbfounded look on her face. "Uhm, clap your hooves, and, uh..." She spun around, crouching over and raising her rump into the air, sheepishly grinning back at Twilight as she did. "Do a little shake?"

A long, awkward silence filled the air between them, Twilight sniffling once more as she stared back at Rainbow, both a little speechless and taken aback. "What...?" she eventually managed to get out.

Rainbow sighed, straightening back up.

"Come on," she cursed, turning around in frustration. "Cadance told me that always cheered you up."

"Yeah, as a filly." A sudden giggle escaped her as an uncontrollable smile spread across her face. She wiped her eyes free of any lingering tears before smiling gratefully at her girlfriend.

"Well," Rainbow said, returning the smile, "it made you laugh, so I'm still considering it a success. And hey, if it makes you feel better..." She leaned in close, holding a hoof near her lips as she whispered, "I'm kind of, sorta afraid of snakes too. Just don't tell Spike or anypony."

Twilight giggled, nodding sincerely. "Sure thing."

Rainbow grinned back at her softly. Her gaze drifted, finding itself drawn to the top of Twilight's head, where her lips instantly began trembling, holding back the sudden urge to burst out laughing right then and there.

Twilight cocked her head slightly, staring back at her puzzled.

"So that's what she meant when she talked about a joke," Rainbow thought aloud to herself.

"What do you mean, Rainbow?"

"The shaman, or... whoever, that lives inside that tree hut," Rainbow explained, pointing back over her shoulder. "You were still asleep when she talked to me. Mentioned some kinda plant that we must have passed out in that I guess messed with your magic, and... something of mine."

"My magic?"

Rainbow raised her hooves, silently asking her not to overreact. "Now, don't freak out or anything, but..." She pointed one of her hooves up at her horn. "You have blue spots on your horn."

Twilight's eyes grew big.

"And it's kind of gone all saggy."

Twilight let out a panicked gasp.

Rainbow's eyelids lowered. "You're freaking out... I told you not to freak out."

"Ew..." Twilight pressed the base of her hoof against the sagging tip of her horn, feeling a cold shiver run through her as she did. "It is all saggy..."

"Twilight, listen—listen to me. She told me what the cure is, alright? We just have to take a bath, alright? So until then, just... chill."

Chill... Twilight breathed in, then exhaled deeply. "Right, okay... Wait." She cocked her head. "A Bath?"

Rainbow smiled, shrugging her shoulders.

"Huh." She nodded slowly before all of a sudden letting out another gasp and screaming, "Snake!"

"What?" Rainbow's eyes widened. "Where—?"

"There!"

She pointed a trembling hoof to the spot where its tail slithered into the bushes behind her girlfriend.

Rainbow spun around, ready to teach this snake a lesson despite her own nerves... when she eased up in relief.

"Chicken," she said.

Twilight grew a little indignant. "T-that's n-not very n-nice, Rainbow," she stammered out. "Not a-after what we just t-talked about!"

"No, I mean... there's a chicken in the bushes. See?" She pointed one of her hooves into the thicket. "You can see its eyes and beak through the leaves."

Its head poked out, staring at the two girls with curious eyes, and making little chicken noises.

"Well what do you know..." Twilight's brow crinkled in confusion. "I swear I saw a snake's tail... What's a chicken doing here anyway?"

"Maybe it escaped from one of Ponyville's farms," Rainbow suggested. "Hm?"

She looked down at her hooves, at the feeling of something wrapping itself around, and constricting her right foreleg. Something from the bushes, scaly and alive. "Eurgh!"

She jumped back, shaking her foreleg about frantically to free herself, but the creature held on, not letting up. "T-twi!" she shouted. "Some, s-something's got me! H-help! I... I can't shake it!"

Twilight stood completely still, immobilized with fear.

Her forelegs buckled, her stomach dropped... She felt sick, lightheaded. Why was all of this happening to them?

She chewed her bottom lip. Snakes... Why did it have to be snakes? Their sickening, unnatural movements... They were her Achilles Hoof.

Her whole body trembled, her eyes darted left to right.

Why didn't Rainbow just fly away?

Rainbow's hoof was pulled out from under her, throwing her onto her back as a result. "Twilight!" Rainbow yelled once more. "Remember what you told me? Sometimes it's okay to be afraid... so long as you have what it takes to face what you're afraid of!"

I, I remember... b-but... Her mouth went dry.

"And right now, I really need you to be courageous!"

I... I...! "I don't even have my magic!" she blurted out, finding her voice.

She stared down at Rainbow, desperate for an answer.

"It doesn't matter because you have something better! Your brain! A-and right now, I'm really counting on it to find us a way out of this!"

I... Twilight shut her eyes tight. She's... s-she's right. Just mare up and find a way out of this... She breathed in, clearing her mind of every thought, and every doubt plaguing it. I just need to—is that bawking?

Her eyes flew open in realization. The chicken! I would've realized it sooner if it hadn't seemed so implausible...

It bawked angrily, staring down at Rainbow, as if it were attempting to cast a spell on her.

Rainbow's attention however, was too focused on breaking free. She didn't even realize...

That whatever this was, was trying to drag her into the bushes.

Her fiancée.

A sudden fire ignited inside her.

Twilight breathed in sharply, gritting her teeth.

Everything has been trying to tear us apart tonight, and frankly...

She felt like Rainbow when she had punched the hydra right across its nose... I've had just about enough of this flyin' forest.

Mustering the strength, and fighting every cramp and ache that came with every step, grabbed the nearest stone, and flung it into the side of the monster's head.

Its head whipped to the side from the weight of the throw, and it instinctively turned and glared at Twilight, furrowing its beady red eyes.

She glared right back, feeling as cold as stone in that very moment.

Then the feeling passed, and her expression eased as Rainbow's hoof connected with its face, sending it sprawling to the ground, out cold.

"Hmph. Serves you right," Rainbow murmured, before turning to Twilight. "Nice going, Twi."

"N-no, I..." Twilight took in a calming breath, taking everything in. The monster's unconscious, she told herself. It... can't hurt us...

"Twi?"

Rainbow cocked her head.

Twilight walked over to her, keeping her gaze low. "I just did what I had to... to keep you safe, Rainbow."

"Yeah, and you did a pret-ty awesome job," Rainbow replied with a humored smile.

Twilight shook her head, startling her girlfriend by pulling her swiftly into her hooves.

"I should have acted sooner though. I should have realized that it wasn't a snake... and even if it had been, it shouldn't have mattered, b-because the fear of losing you i-is worse than any snake..."

Rainbow relaxed, and placed a foreleg around her girlfriend's withers.

"I'm just glad you overcame one of your fears, Twi," she remarked softly, giving Twilight's cheek a lengthy nuzzle before pulling away enough to see her eyes. "I seem to have a knack for helping with that," she added, allowing her eyelids to lower.

She steered in closer to Twilight's mouth, Twilight mirroring the notion as her own eyelids lowered... when they flew open in full alert, her ear twitching at the sound of a stick as it snapped.

"Did you hear that?" she whispered.

"What, that stick breaking?" Rainbow's brow furrowed, smiling as she looked back at her funnily. "Twi, it was probably just a squirrel or some—"

"Squirrels aren't heavy enough to snap sticks, branches, or even twigs, Rainbow," Twilight chided her.

Rainbow just scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"Twi... We've been stalked by practically everything tonight. What more could possibly be after... after..."

A sudden thought entered her mind.

"You're near timberwolf territory."

"Us..." Rainbow uttered as the words replayed in her head.

Twilight blinked, tilting her head. "Rainbow?"

Rainbow brought a hoof to her lips, asking her to be quiet.

A series of cracks proceeded the first, like sticks were being bent and contorted out of shape in a way that wasn't natural.

Leaves rustled, and the air grew thick.

Twilight swallowed hard as she glanced up all around her, into the darkness, and into the swaying leaves above.

Whatever this was, it wasn't the result of branches being stepped on, but rather, it was like... the forest itself was stepping towards them.

"Get behind me, Twilight," warned Rainbow.

Twilight gazed over at her indignantly.

"I've proven I can hold my own tonight, Rainbow—"

"You're without your magic, Twi, and you're still worn out. I can tell."

"Hmph." Twilight pursed her lips, watching as Rainbow removed her goggles from around her neck, placing them over her eyes.

She immediately heard Rainbow's breathing change.

"What... do you see?" she tentatively asked.

Rainbow ducked her head and neck beneath her girlfriend's hind legs and belly, scooping her up onto her back before breaking into a mad dash down the path.

Twilight wrapped her forelegs over Rainbow's shoulders, and held on for dear life as she was whisked down the road, wind whipping past her, and whistling as it brushed by her ears.

"R-Rainbow—!?"

"I saw eyes, Twilight. Glowing like some kind of magic."

"Eyes like magic?" Twilight repeated in disbelief. "Was it the Pony of Shadows—?"

A chilling howl cut her off.

Rainbow felt her girlfriend's heart skip against her back.

"Wolves..." Twilight murmured, her voice falling flat.

"I can outrun 'em, Twi," Rainbow assured her, Twilight however, remaining unconvinced.

"How many did you see?"

"I only saw one pair of eyes, Twilight. Don't—whoa!"

A muzzle shot out at her from the forest, to which Rainbow dove to her left, narrowly avoiding its teeth as it made a move for her throat.

The sound of paws kicking along the dirt path told her there wasn't just one.

Their snarling, and growling becoming more noticeable to them now, Rainbow pressed onward, when, to the left of the path, an animal too dark to see in its entirety, appeared out of the corner of her eye. It was covered in the silhouettes of leaves and sticks—like the forest itself had spontaneously sprung to life—and snapped its jaws at Rainbow who ducked and dodged, swerving just barely out of the way. Twilight stifled the urge to shriek, and glanced away to the right side, shutting her eyes... when the sound of something panting made her heart drop. Something... canine.

Twilight cautiously peeked out at the noise, and immediately wished she hadn't.

She was met with the leering gaze of a creature, running on all fours, and running alongside them. Whatever it was, seemed to be made up of bits of the forest. Its shimmering green eyes stood out to her the most, paralyzing her in a way she never felt before.

Its teeth dove forward, and she snapped out of it in time to draw her foreleg away... her heart sinking and a gasp passing her lips as its teeth instead, sunk into Rainbow's shoulder.

Her ears flopped at the sharp cry of pain her girlfriend let out.

Rainbow winced and grit her teeth as the creature's wooden teeth dug into her, little by little.

It sent a pang of guilt across Twilight's heart to know that it was her fault.

She lifted the same, trembling foreleg, and punched the creature across its muzzle.

"L-let... go of her!" she cried, retracting her hoof, and bringing it back full force to strike it over and over again until it relinquished.

"Let go, let go, let go!" Twilight shut her eyes tight, growing more and more frustrated by the second.

A feeling of hopelessness began to swell. Are... a-are my hooves e... even d-doing anything?

She sniffled, her jaw trembling as her teeth clenched together.

She prayed to Celestia before bringing her hoof down one final time with whatever energy she could muster... and as if Celestia herself had answered her prayers, the wolf responded with a yelp, stumbling as it veered back into the bramble.

Her eyes flew open at the cry, and at first she blinked in astonishment, before a wary smile spread across her face.

Then it immediately fell, and she began to panic, remembering the teeth marks on her girlfriend's shoulder, and scrambled to cover them.

She clenched the wound, feeling the underside of her hoof already growing somewhat slick.

Rainbow winced for a second time, letting out a small grunt as the bite caused her to stagger down the road, Twilight's hoof doing little to ease the sharp pain... other than adding some pressure, and keeping it warm.

"T-thanks, Twi."

Twilight cocked her head back, staring down at her funnily.

"I was the reason you were bit, Rainbow. If I hadn't moved my foreleg out of the way..."

"Hay, better me than you," Rainbow replied.

Twilight bit her lip, and choose not argue—not here... not while fighting for their lives. She instead averted her eyes, and settled her cheek on the back of Rainbow's neck, staring down saddened at her own hoof.

At the same time, Rainbow let out a breathless gasp.

More wolves jumped out from both sides of the path some yards ahead of her.

She gulped, seeing them now clearly for the first time as they stood beneath the moonlight.

Gonna have to... fly over them, she solemnly realized, and grit her teeth as she sucked in a sharp breath.

Her wings unfurled and began flapping, lifting her hooves narrowly above their snapping jaws, skipping over a few of them.

She breathed in and out faster, growing more ragged as her wings continued to carry her before giving out. She hit the ground, stumbling forward and almost falling on her side.

Twilight's eyelids slowly lowered. She sniffled, her free foreleg gripping her tighter. "Rainbow..."

Rainbow glanced over her shoulder at the sound of Twilight's voice... and the sound of paws once more hitting the road. She swallowed, biting her lip and scrunching her eyes up tight. She picked up the pace, running straight down the forest strip, the brisk night air cool against the moist sweat on her face.

Rainbow let out a ragged breath, and gazed up at the sky exhausted. Gotta... try again.

She stifled a grunt as she lifted into the air, her body burning just to keep altitude.

The snarls rang louder and louder in her ears, Rainbow scrunching her eyes tighter. Come on...! If I could just leap into...

"P-please... R-Rainbow..."

Twilight's desperate plea played in her ears, pushing her to want nothing more than to take off into the sky, Twi in her hooves... and strike it with so much power that she could pierce it.

Just gotta... Nngh... reach for it...!

"There's so much... I still want to experience with you, Rainbow... Please... don't give up!"

A warmth filled Rainbow's wound as sudden, shimmering, purple magic spread through her body: throughout every nerve, every vein... Her eyes widened at the new sensation... taking in the visible, patterned glow, before turning back toward the sky.

Twilight's hoof fell from her chest, completely spent, her body almost slipping from her own... when she grabbed Twilight's forelegs, securing them with her own.

She grinned, feeling so full of life, so renewed, so... warm.

The timberwolves had but a split second before a rainbow shot upwards, blowing past the surrounding trees, bowing them at the sheer ferocity.

The clatter of branches and logs littered the ground moments after the last of the rainbow colors dissipated in the air.

Rainbow looked back over her shoulder at the passed out mare she held onto dearly, before letting her eyes close.

She smiled as her wings slowed, their bodies slowing to a stop midair, silhouetted against the moon.

Rainbow looked back ahead as her eyes softly closed. Her content smile remained.

"We're... so awesome..."

The two fell back to earth, landing straight into a pile of hay—Rainbow landing on her stomach... Twilight coming to lie over her.

Day 332 - Putting the "Her" In Hero

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"Whew-ee!" Pinkie sat straight up, her mane and tail poofier and frizzier than usual. "Did anypony else feel that?"

She turned shakily towards Applejack, the two of them rattled to their cores by the sudden, cannon-like boom that exploded outside the apple family's farmhouse window. It was the middle of the night, and the two of them were well into their sleepover.

The apple family and pie family couldn't explain it... but they always had felt closer than most ponies—almost like family.

Almost.

"Ah reckon all of Ponyville did, why, a blast that big must'a woken the whole town up."

Applejack turned back to her friend, her brow instantly furrowing at the sight of the pink earth pony lost in concentration. Her mane and tail came alive with a mind of their own, wriggling and seemingly reacting to... something.

The farm pony cocked her head worriedly. "Er... Pinkie Pie—?"

"I recognize it!" she exclaimed suddenly, taking her friend aback. "There's a rainbow scent in the air, a-and the boom made my mane even poofier! Only... I don't feel happy." She slunk back to the floor, the smile on her face slowly disappearing. "This rainbow wasn't made out of happiness... but rather out of..." Her eyes narrowed. "Desperation."

Applejack snorted, cracking a smile. "What, no "Dun dun dun," this time?" she teased.

"This is no time for jokes, Applejack," Pinkie remarked, standing up from the bedroom floor. "Rainbow must be in some serious trouble!" Before Applejack could protest, Pinkie added, "Meet me at the hospital, AJ!" as she galloped off into the hallway. "I gotta let everypony else know! Chances are they all felt it too..."

Rainbow's eyes opened groggily... only to snap shut a moment later as she winced... sucking in a sharp breath as sharp bits of hay pricked the open wound on her shoulder at the slightest movement.

Her eyes slowly reopened as the memories of the night's events came rushing back to her.

She breathed out a slight huff from her muzzle, staring up warily into the sky. How am I still alive...?

Nudging her own body again, she forcibly rolled herself out from the haystack—pulling Twilight out as well with her injury-free foreleg—the sharp hay causing some blood to seep.

Exposure to the cool air stung her injury, forcing her eyelids shut as she lightly clenched her teeth.

The two landed with a flat thud, Rainbow lying beside Twilight in the grass and dirt, and letting in and out a few calming breaths.

Oh crud— She pushed Twilight from her body and rolled onto her side, throwing up in the nearby dirt.

With a few soft breaths, Rainbow stood up, her whole body shaking and trembling... her mind feeling so light right then. Her forehead and cheeks burned feverishly as she craned her neck towards the ground, nudging Twilight up, and eventually over her back.

She looked over her shoulder, softly grumbling, "I am so putting you on a diet..." before carrying on to find a hospital of some kind.

Underneath the nighttime sky, the interior of the Ponyville hospital was calm—not a single sound to be heard. The lobby was clear, save for one, pink-maned earth pony mare flipping through a magazine, her cheek resting on her free hoof.

Her hoof was about to turn the next page, when the door burst open suddenly, startling her.

Her attention turned to an out-of-breath, injured, and trembling pegasus... carrying another pony—a unicorn—upon her back.

She ran up to them instantly, Rainbow taking note of her concerned gaze.

"You," she wheezed out; "y-you're a doctor, aren't you?" She looked back over her shoulder, back at Twilight just as the nurse pony nodded slightly. "I have an emergency."

The earth pony blinked. "I..." She snapped out of her stupor, taking in everything about the scene before her. "I can see that. I-I'll go notify the staff," she said, hopping to her hooves before running off.

Moments passed, and Rainbow stood among the grueling silence, impatiently waiting.

She took another glance back at Twilight worriedly. "What is taking them—?"

Her question was met by the sound of frantic hoofsteps, coming from the hallway to her left.

A few of what she assumed were nurses approached her and Twilight... one of which being the very same pink-maned mare. They carted a stretcher with them, and wheeled it beside her, taking precaution when lifting Twilight from her back.

They lied her down, and wasted no time carting her away.

Rainbow attempted to follow, but her steps were cut short by the nurse she recognized.

"I'm sorry, but... you'll have to stay here for the time being while Doctor Horse and the others run some tests on your friend."

Rainbow looked back at her, looking completely exasperated for a moment before tearing her gaze away, letting out a small snort of frustration. "Unbelievable," she simply murmured, under her breath.

The nurse ignored the comment, continuing to be patient with her.

"It's how these sort of things work. Doctors need their space, and can't afford to be distracted."

Rainbow bit her lip as she nodded stubbornly, her ears folding. "I just... really want to be there for her..."

"You'll see her again when she wakes up, Rainbow Dash."

"What?" Rainbow perked back up immediately. 'You know my name?"

"Well, you were our most popular patient when you still lived here, Rainbow."

Rainbow blinked however, stupefied. "I was? Er, y-yeah!" She gave her head a quick shake. "I... suppose I did crash a lot, didn't I?"

She put on a sheepish front, the nurse smiling back at her, bemused.

"I remember you hated being here, because you'd have to give up training for a few days. You'd be back at it though the moment we gave the okay."

Rainbow's smile fell, and she stared back at the nurse with a look of surprise. "How come I didn't just read?"

"I didn't know you enjoyed anything other than flying, to be honest," the nurse replied, taken aback. Rainbow snorted at that.

Guess Twi really opened me up to a lot, she mused, smiling slightly.

"So perhaps you can tell me what happened to the two of you in the meantime. I heard you had moved to Canterlot—"

"I-I did, sorta. I mean, I still have a second home here, but... I met her, the unicorn I ran in with—she's a student of Celestia's, and I sort of live with her."

Living together? she thought, for a moment at a loss for words. "Are you...?"

"Engaged?" Rainbow gave a confident nod. "Totally."

"Oh, no no! I-I simply assumed the two of you were dating. I never would have thought—" Rainbow looked at her funny. "I-I mean, you both just look so young!" she added, a little flustered.

Rainbow's expression changed swiftly into one of understanding.

"I love her— er, Miss...?"

"Oh, um... Redheart," she replied. "I suppose it has been a while," she supposed, under her breath.

"Right... well, uhm... Nurse Redheart... Twi and me really love one another, and, well... why wait, you know?"

"Twi?" Redheart questioned.

"Sorry. Twi's just what I call her. Her name's Twilight."

"Ah, well... that's a nice name, and from what I saw, she's quite the catch. Well, nevertheless... I'm happy for you, Rainbow Dash."

Rainbow's mind blanked, staring back at Redheart in surprise. "You are? I-I mean, I just, well... I was such a pain back then... wasn't I?"

Redheart gave a solemn nod. "You were, I'll admit."

Rainbow sighed, her ears folding as her head slumped downwards. I figured as much...

"But," continued Redheart, smiling warmly at her, "that was then. You're a different pony now, I can tell."

Rainbow slowly lifted her head, staring back at Nurse Redheart in disbelief.

"Y-you think...?" she uttered simply.

Redheart nodded, causing her heart to swell. She averted her eyes as a soft smile grew, thinking back to all those months ago... "You know, my... my friend Pinkie Pie told me ponies would see a difference in me... Thank you."

"Yes, well... You can thank me, Rainbow... by telling me just what exactly you and your fiancée were doing to injure yourselves like this."

Rainbow's eyes widened, her face blushing lightly. "R-right... So, um... remember how I told you that Twi's a student of Celestia's?" Redheart nodded, so she continued. "Well, she sent us to research some strange magic in the Everfree, but..." She drifted off, hesitant to continue.

Redheart cocked her head.

"P-point is! We ran into more than our fair share of trouble. A lion-scorpion... thing, a, a hydra... killer plants!"

Redheart's lips slowly parted as Rainbow's voice rose with every word.

"Then, after fighting back a chicken... snake... We ran into a pack of... I dunno... wolves I think."

Redheart couldn't believe what she was hearing. "You poor things..." she softly uttered.

"We barely made it out with our lives... Twi saved me with her magic, I think—I can't really explain it, but... I think it's why she passed out."

"Well... let's just be thankful you both made it out in one piece. Now you can both rest easy." Rainbow nodded in agreement.

"Speaking of," Redheart continued. "It looks like you could use some bed rest yourself. You were out there as well, and..." Her eyes narrowed. "Are those bite marks on your shoulder?"

Rainbow looked to her shoulder, taken aback. Sure enough, she could make out indentations from the creatures' wooden teeth, and thin trails of dried blood that crusted her fur, and stained her sweatshirt.

She turned back to Nurse Redheart with an apathetic shrug.

"It's no biggie. I mean, it sorta stings when I walk, but... I really just need to take a breather."

Redheart simply stared back at her, having half-expected a response like that.

"I'm no stranger to your stubbornness, Rainbow Dash, but... we really should treat your shoulder as soon as possible."

"And what, with stitches and disinfectant?" Rainbow grimaced, feeling all the more nauseous at the thought. She placed a hoof over her wound, clasping tightly. "N-no... no thanks... Besides, I need to know that Twi will be alright, and... I wanna be there when she wakes up. My own problems can wait 'till then."

Redheart's stern expression softened at that, and she smiled reassuringly.

"I'm sure your fiancée wouldn't wish to see you in your current condition, Rainbow. She cares about your health too."

Rainbow laughed softly, maintaining her own smile as she continued. "Seriously though. I'm not sleeping until I know Twi's okay."

The smile fell from Redheart's face. She doesn't even know what she's saying... She looks like she's about to fall over...

"Very well. Come with me then."

She motioned the younger pony along, and soon the two were traversing the halls of the hospital.

As Rainbow limped alongside her, the older mare decided to strike up a small conversation with her.

"So is this Twilight's first time visiting Ponyville?"

"Mm? Oh, um... it sure is. I mean... she's yet to actually see any of it, but... I would like to show her around, if and when she makes a full recovery—a-and feels up to it, of course."

"I hope it doesn't end up underwhelming her. Ponyville is nothing like Canterlot."

"I know, but... Twi's a pretty modest mare, with surprisingly simple tastes." A small, confident smile formed across her lips. "I just know she'll love it here."

Nurse Redheart nodded, and after a moment more of walking, she stopped before an open door, which lead into an operating room.

Rainbow glanced up at her warily for a second before stepping hoof inside, and looking all around her for Twilight.

However, there seemed to be no sign of her.

From the hall, Redheart waved over a fellow nurse.

"What's going on?" Rainbow demanded, beginning to turn around. "Where's—?"

Her eyes widened just as she was hit from the doorway with a heavy dose of sleep magic. Her eyelids lowered instantly, and found herself struggling to stay on her hooves. "What...?" she only managed to utter out before falling unconscious.

An aura surrounded her, and caught her before she fell smack dab against the floor... floating her carefully on over to the empty bed.

"Twilight!"

Rainbow shot up from where she lay, immediately feeling and taking note of the weight of the sheets over her lower half, and the general atmosphere of the hospital room she found herself in.

She breathed in then out deeply, doing so for several straight moments as her nerves calmed... slowly relaxing as they became aware of their surroundings.

An annoying trickle worked its way down the side of her face—annoyingly, agonizingly, causing her to rub at the spot before running the length of her foreleg across her forehead. She grimaced slightly at the damp feeling, taking the blanket in her other hoof to dry it off, when a sudden, sharp pain shot through her foreleg, her dampened hoof reflectively grabbing at the sudden pain in her shoulder.

Her eyes squeezed shut, breathing in sharply through her muzzle.

The pain soon subsided, and she opened her eyes slightly, peering down at her shoulder that she found wrapped tightly in bandages.

She frowned at this, gazing back down at the sheets. "I told them that... that I wasn't going to sleep until..."

Her eyes widened.

"Twilight!"

Rainbow practically tripped out of her bed as she hobbled to the floor with her other three fore and hind legs, and proceeded to look around for... something: a clock, or a calendar... Anything she could use as an indication of the time passed.

Rainbow deadpanned. Of course there isn't... Well, she decided, turning her gaze to her room's door. Guess I'm just gonna have to—

Her thoughts were interrupted by the door handle turning, and the door opening, the same red-maned nurse pony she had met earlier now standing in the doorway.

"You!" Rainbow exclaimed. "You... y-you knocked me out!"

Redheart raised a hoof in defense. "A fellow nurse did, Rainbow Dash." She motioned to the top of her head. "No horn, see? And, please... allow me to explain."

Rainbow huffed, her eyes fixed into a glare. "Alright. I'm listening."

"You were refusing help, Rainbow Dash, asking that you be there when your fiancée woke up... but for all I knew, she might not have woken up for days!"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "Well... Has she awoken?"

"Unfortunately, no..."

Rainbow averted her eyes to the ground, her gaze growing sadder.

"Fortunately, however... she's stable, and will no doubt wake up soon, so..." Rainbow looked up again, this time with a glimmer of hope in her eyes, and a growing smile. "You're in luck. You'll still be there for her when she comes to."

"Thank Celestia..." Rainbow smiled softly before a sudden thought occurred to her, and she raised a hoof to scratch the back of her head. "So uh, guess I should say sorry then, for being sort of unreasonable, a-and ah, rash earlier..."

"It's nothing I'm not used to, Rainbow Dash. I'm just relieved that we were able to get you patched up, and that you're in much better health than when you first walked in. Your goggles are there on the nightstand," she noted, drawing the young pegasus's attention to them. "I'm sorry to say though, that we had to dispose of your sweatshirt. The doctors had to cut through it to avoid any further agitation to your shoulder, but they all decided that it shouldn't be an issue, seeing how tattered the whole thing was anyway."

Rainbow's gaze sunk at the news, replying with a humorless chuckle. "Right..."

"Though, you'll still have to take a bath at some point, to wash off that poison joke you were exposed to. We actually have bathtubs in each of our bathrooms specifically for patients who were exposed to poison joke."

"I take it ponies are exposed often?" Rainbow asked.

"You'd be surprised, Rainbow."

"Huh..."

Silence began to set in between the two.

"Hey, Red...? Got any pain relievers or anything? My shoulder's aching pret-ty badly."

"Your shoulder is only aching because of how much you're moving it. Please—" Redheart pointed past the younger pony. "—return to your bed, and try and rest for a moment—"

"Actually... I was going to go see Twilight, if that's alright with you."

"As a matter of fact, no, it isn't. Now please."

"If I may intervene in the matter," a third voice chimed in. "Might I recommend letting her see her friend?"

Rainbow peered over Redheart's shoulder, and Redheart herself turned around, only for both of their mouths to softly fall open at the sight of Celestia, in all her regality, standing in the doorway.

"Princess?" they both exclaimed.

"Hello to the both of you. Rainbow, it's... good to see y—"

"Where the hay were you?"

"Rainbow Dash!" Nurse Redheart scolded, turning to face her. "Remember who you're talking to."

"It is alright, Miss." Celestia lowered her gaze, glancing away in regret. "I was late, Rainbow, I admit. I saw Twilight's magic strike the moon, and knew then that the two of you were in danger... but the Everfree Forest is immense, and the two of you were constantly on the move...! Not to mention my duties to Canterlot, and the rest of Equestria kept me from dropping everything to come to your aid. Ponies depend on me day and night, and would have been in disarray without me there, so I had to inform Cadance of the danger you two were in... She didn't hesitate to take my place, however tired she may have been, on the grounds that I get to you and Twilight as quickly as possible. It took some searching, but then I felt the sonic boom you created, and it lead me here... to Ponyville."

"Then how come you're only just showing up now? Its been hours after all, right, Red?"

"W-well... it's pretty early in the morning now, yes."

"I had to cast a spell on the forest, to dispel the dark magic that had been unleashed upon it from my old castle."

"Yeah, speaking of... I have a few things I think you should know about this quote and quote dark magic..."

"And I have a feeling that I know exactly what they are... I'm not proud of whatever you discovered in that castle, Rainbow... Just know that I regret all of it, and... I'll answer any questions you may be having, but... only after we check up on Twilight. What do you say?"

Rainbow remained steadfast, her expression refusing to lighten up. "Lead the way... Your Highness," she eventually replied, albeit bitterly.

"Very well." Celestia let out a small sigh before turning to the nurse pony that stood beside them. "Miss...?"

"Oh, uhm... Redheart!" she hurriedly blurted out. "M-my name is Redheart, Your Majesty."

"Do you think you could point us in the direction of Twilight Sparkle's room?"

"O-h, well... T-though you are princess, i-it would be inadvisable, what with Rainbow Dash in her current state."

Rainbow opened her mouth to argue, but Celestia beat her to it.

"It'll only be for a little bit," she reasoned, "and she'll be under my watch. Besides..." She peered down at Rainbow with a knowing smile. "A few injuries have never kept these two apart for long."

Celestia turned the handle to Twilight's room with a touch of her magic, opening the door for both herself and Rainbow.

Rainbow herself ran in the moment she could squeeze through.

She cantered over to Twilight's bedside, and upon reaching it, set a hoof over the sleeping mare's.

She frowned, staring down at the peaceful look on her girlfriend's face, and the still-spotted horn that drooped down between her eyes.

"I'm here, Twilight," Rainbow told her, leaning down to nuzzle her cheek. "Everything'll be okay. You'll... wake up soon."

"I'm... glad to know that Twilight has somepony who cares for, and loves her as deeply as you do." Celestia took a couple steps closer and Rainbow tensed up. "That she has somepony to be there for her when she wakes—"

"Nightmare Moon has been the cause of everything... hasn't she?"

Celestia stopped where she stood, taken aback. "I... I don't—?"

Rainbow spun around, bearing an accusing glare. "The nightmares! The... the headaches, the fact that... that this is the second time in a week that she's fallen unconscious, and no matter how many times the staff at these places reassure me that she'll regain consciousness, I...!" Her shoulders fell, her voice quieting. "I can't help but feel like she won't..."

Second time...?

Celestia pondered the smaller pony's words for a moment, before putting the thought aside for the time being.

"You and I both know that she's a strong mare, Rainbow. She'll come back to you... She always will." Rainbow looked off begrudgingly, unconvinced. "As for whether or not Nightmare Moon is behind Twilight's ailments, I cannot say. She does have the power to cause nightmares here on Earth, but... the spell I cast on her mind should have kept her mind void of any and all danger..."

"Wait, wait, hold on..." Rainbow held a hoof up midway, beseeching her to slow down. Her brow furrowed. "You cast a spell on her mind?"

"To block out the dark forces that were attempting to weave their way into her mind, Rainbow."

"Dark forces?" Rainbow remarked, dubiously. "You mean Nightmare Moon?"

"I mean... that it wasn't magic I recognized, Rainbow... so I did what I could to keep it at bay."

"Well clearly it didn't last..." Rainbow sighed, turning her gaze away. "I take it that you never told Twi either... since, you know... you didn't bother to tell me that my own best friend, and future wife was being targeted by something dangerous!"

"In hindsight I should have, but at the time, I had believed that... there would no longer be any further incidents."

"But you knew that Luna had her sights set on her this whole time... didn't you?" Rainbow glared back at her.

"Luna...? Rainbow, I..." Celestia's expression turned crestfallen. "You know the truth now... about how she was possessed by Nightmare Moon, and... and how I had to banish her. So then, why would you suggest—?"

"Because, Princess. We ran into Luna's lingering spirit, or... whatever the hay it was, in your castle. Twi called it the Pony of Shadows."

The revelation gave the alicorn pause.

"How... can you be certain it was my sister's spirit?"

"Twilight was sure, and plus I... talked to her. She... said something about the stars setting Nightmare Moon free... and so she took control of Twi's mind, and opened a gateway for that monster... all so that she could be one with her body again. It even climbed out from the spot where she laid, passing right through her all shadowy like, with no features except for its two white eyes and long, crooked wings... I... I think it even drained Twi of most her magic when it passed through her..."

Celestia remained at a loss for words, after a moment softly uttering, "I don't believe it... A-all this time, Luna... was still here, in Equestria..." A small smile tugged at her lips. "The kind-hearted, sensible side of her that I used to know..."

"Uh, hel-lo? Did you miss what I said about her taking over Twi's mind just to be whole again?"

"Who knows the toll centuries of separation from her physical body, and isolation in that castle has had on her mind... If I had only known, perhaps I could have reasoned with her..."

"Yeah," Rainbow scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Well... she's one with Nightmare Moon now... and no longer trapped on the moon."

Celestia's expression grew contemplative, as she brought a hoof to her chin. "But... that doesn't add up. For starters, Nightmare Moon is incapable of absorbing ponies' magic into herself. Unless she has learned a trick that I am unaware of... the only creature I can think of with such a power, was a certain centaur that plagued Equestria in its past. The second thing is... you said it had no discernible features, and yet... Nightmare Moon has several..."

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. "So are you saying I'm lying?"

"I am saying that... the stars that the prophecy refers to... are not the ones on Twilight's flank. It would seem that both my sister, and Nightmare Moon were mislead by this being you speak of, because those stars... are merely a sign that she's destined."

Destined...? Rainbow tilted her head. "Destined for what?"

"You see, Rainbow... Twilight has the power to unite these stars... and to see them for what they really are—you, her friends... the sparks."

Rainbow's ears flopped, and she shook her head hopelessly. "I'm not sure I understand..."

"The stars are what she sees when she sees only the best in another pony... when she realizes what makes a friendship... truly magical—such as loyalty."

Rainbow however, remained no less confused.

"So... I'm one of these... stars?" she asked.

"I saw it the moment I met you, Rainbow. How quickly you were growing attached to Twilight, I mean."

"Y-yeah... Hey, so wait... Is that why you pushed for Twi and me to live together, and for her to look after me while I recovered?"

"I needed the two of you to grow as friends and for Twilight to see how important you were to her. Of course I couldn't have predicted that the two of you would fall in love, but... I'm happy you did."

A moment of silence set in between the two as Rainbow scratched the back of her head, still mulling over everything she had been told.

"So, uhm... exactly how many of these stars are there?"

"Six, including yourself and Twilight."

"Ooohkay, so..." Rainbow thought it over in her head. "If I'm loyalty... then who's Twilight? Magic?"

She smiled at the thought, however... Celestia remained straight-faced.

The smile slowly slipped from Rainbow's face.

"You're serious."

"Magic completes it, Rainbow," Celestia explained simply, and in turn, Rainbow turned away, incredulous.

"This is way too much to accept, I mean... Twi and me... along with four others, are, like... prophesied to be the ones to save your sister?"

"And whatever threats may plague Equestria in its future."

"But why us?" Rainbow swiftly turned back around. "I mean... you're like, the strongest pony in Equestria! Why can't you defend it?"

"I used to, and I still do what I can, but more often than not magic is not enough when it comes to foes like Nightmare Moon. I know from the first time I fought her... I had no choice but to use the Elements of Harmony, and as a result... the act severed my connection with them."

"So you've been searching for a suitable replacement... One with the power to unite others, and you found Twilight, and Twi found me; and together... our friendship has what it takes to restore balance... Maaan," Rainbow sighed out, turning and walking back to Twilight's bedside. She gazed down at the sleeping unicorn. "Twi suspected you wanted us to wield these... elements, but... I wasn't so thrilled. I mean... I didn't ask to be some hero!"

"Sometimes we are thrust into lives we never asked for, Rainbow."

"Did you ask to be a princess?"

"Well, my role as princess was more of an inheritance, as Luna and I come from a long lineage of royalty—"

"But did you ask to be immortal? Or to raise the sun and moon every single day, or...! Or..." Her voice softly trailed off.

"Honestly, Rainbow? No. I was against it at first, I mean... me?" Celestia held a hoof over her heart. "In charge of the sun? I was overwhelmed; and that's putting it lightly!"

"But you did it anyway, because the world depended on you, didn't it?"

"The needs of everyone I knew and cared about, in and outside of Equestria... outweighed my own."

Rainbow nodded slightly, pursing her lips. "You gave up your shot at a normal life..."

"If I hadn't, the world would have fallen into disarray, Rainbow. Nighttime would reign supreme, and life would be nothing but chaos and war..." Rainbow bit her lip and averted her gaze to the bed.

"In the end, I don't feel like I gave up a chance at being happy... because I found happiness in knowing of the safety and joy I bring my subjects."

Celestia stared down at Rainbow for a moment more as the smaller pony said nothing, nor moved an inch. Her gaze then faltered, turning downtrodden. "If I have any regrets... it's the mistakes I've made, the ponies I've lost... The ponies I weren't truthful with..."

"No, it's... okay," insisted Rainbow, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean... I forgive you. What kinda pony would I be if I didn't? I mean... I'm sure if you had told us, Twi would have freaked out and spent all her time trying to find these ponies, or would have stressed out about her destiny or something."

She brought a slight, humored smile to her lips, which she then shone in Celestia's direction.

One that Celestia herself was quick to reciprocate.

"I wanted things to play out," the alicorn princess continued to explain, "and for your friendships to blossom naturally... rather than forcefully."

"Thanks for that."

A moment passed between them before Celestia spoke up once more.

"I want you to know, Rainbow... that I would like you to choose."

"Choose?" Rainbow cocked her head.

"Your own destiny."

"But... I don't understand, I mean... Equestria's depending on me to defend it, isn't it? So..."

"I never had a say in the matter, Rainbow. Although I would have chosen to serve Equestria... my own destiny had already been laid out for me. We both know the path life has chosen for you... but friends don't force things upon one another, so... You may choose a quiet life with Twilight, or risk your life... fighting alongside her. Whatever choice you make however... I want you to know, Rainbow, that I'll support it, and I alone... will be the one to deal with Nightmare Moon—"

"No," Rainbow stated plainly, "you won't."

Celestia stared back at the younger pony, incredulous. "I want you to have your say, Rainbow."

"Yeah," Rainbow retaliated with a determined grin, "and I'm saying that... you won't have to face her alone."

"I... don't understand. I put both of your lives in danger by sending you to that castle... all because I saw Twilight as somepony who could unite the elements... who could undo my mistakes... And now that we, if what you said is true, may be facing a new threat, along with my sister's impending return, I... cannot force this upon either of you. I-it's far too dangerous."

"Hey, well... Danger's my middle name, you know. And besides..." Rainbow turned and walked back over to where Twilight lay asleep. "Nightmare Moon, and whoever, or whatever she had allied herself with made a big mistake by coming after my mare, and hay! They even manipulated your sister's ghost! Talk about uncool."

"Rainbow... Think about what you'd be giving up."

"I'm thinking about how miserable our lives will be if I don't. You know, Twi, she... told me that... she'd still defend Equestria, if it depended on her... I, I tried talking her out of it. I told her that she already was special, but... I just know that this is who she wants to be. And I just know she'd be peeved at me for not fighting alongside her, or supporting her... I hate how much it puts her life at risk, but... she's always supported my choices, so... it'd be kind of uncool of me not to support her here, and besides... it's like she said—if we're fighting together, then we can watch each other's backs, so..." She cracked a soft smile. "It's funny. Apparently I was always this... high-flying hotshot, but after meeting Twi, I've really learned to take things in stride. On the other hoof, I feel like Twi's become so much more outgoing since meeting me—like we've switched lives or something... and now I'm the one telling her to take it slow. It's easier said than done though, I know."

The whole while, Celestia listened intently.

"Perhaps your influence on her has made her more adventurous, but... Rainbow... Would you prefer she stay cooped up forever? I understand that you love her—and if I am to be honest, it's been ages since I felt a love as pure and strong as the the one the two of you share with one another. However... confined to a city for her entire life, never witnessing anything outside of the books she has read... is no way for anypony to live."

"I guess you're right... Hay, maybe being a hero will show ponies the good I'm capable of..."

Celestia's expression took on a look of worry. "I'm afraid I don't...? Do ponies perceive you in a negative way?"

"Hm?" Rainbow looked over her shoulder slightly. "Um, sorta, I mean... It's something I've been wanting to clear up for a while, and... I think that... being a hero to them, and Equestria, will do just that."

'I hope so too, Rainbow."

Silence set back in between them.

"Tell me, does... does Twilight hold any resentment towards Luna, for what she did?"

"Resent...?" Rainbow began to ponder. "Oh! Um... right." She turned back around fully, bearing an embarrassed look. "She, uh... has no memory of her possession, and still believes it was some sort of... evil magic that took control of her mind, and stole away most of her magic."

"Then you didn't tell her?"

"Twi totally admires both you and Luna so much that I couldn't bring myself to."

"So then... I take it you'll keep my actions, and lies... a secret as well?"

Rainbow crossed a hoof across her chest, nodding solemnly. "Cross my heart, hope to fly... stick a cupcake in my eye."

She finished her promise by holding her hoof over her eye, leaving Celestia speechless, a puzzled look on her face.

"Why would you...?"

"It's just something my friend Pinkie Pie likes to say." Rainbow smiled assuredly, waving it off. "She's random, I know."

"I see, well... I don't mean to make you lie to her, Rainbow, so you know."

"Hey, it's like you said. You want things to play out naturally, so... the less she knows, the better."

"I only hope she'll understand..."

"Twi can be pretty level-headed—er, most of the time. She'll understand, Princess," Rainbow replied, walking back to Twilight's bedside. "You know... looking down at her like this, I can't help but feel like she's some fairy tale princess, who was cursed by the evil queen, and put into a deep sleep—but hay, if that were the case... all I'd need to do is kiss her and she'd come back to me... Too bad this is the real world, huh?"

"Rainbow, I—"

At that moment, the door to their room opened partway, with Nurse Redheart looking in at the two of them.

"I'm sorry," she swiftly apologized. "Am I interrupting?"

"Actually..." Celestia glanced back at Rainbow for a moment, and the look on the young pegasus's face told her they were both thinking the same thing. "Your timing is impeccable. Miss Redheart."

"You're here to ask us to leave... aren't you, Red?"

"Well, actually Rainbow... Some ponies have come to see you. They're waiting for you in the lobby—if you'd like, I can tell them that you're unavailable."

"Er, no, no no, it's fine, I just... Did they say who they were?"

"Rainbow Dash! You're okay!"

Pinkie wrapped her forelegs around her, effectively lifting her up off the ground in a bone-crushing embrace, their faces pressed cheek to cheek as she nuzzled her deeply.

"Y-yeah, Pinkie, I, I-I am," Rainbow stammered in response, blushing out of sheer embarrassment, and wincing slightly from the pain her shoulder was beginning to cause. "Uh, Pinks? Think you could set me down? I-I'm sorta still in pain, you know?"

"Oh." Pinkie froze on the spot, her friend's words slowly dawning on her. "Whoops."

She let go of Rainbow, dropping her to the cold, hard floor without an ounce of self-awareness... the other three wincing as Rainbow herself sucked in a sharp breath, bringing a hoof to her flanks.

"And, uh, what about... um, what's-her-name?" Pinkie asked as she looked off, tapping a hoof against her chin in thought.

"S-she's fine too, Pinkie," Rainbow replied assuredly, turning her attention towards the others stood by the entrance.

Fluttershy... she thought, taking note of her first, and... Her gaze shifted to the orange earth pony and alabaster unicorn. Who are they again...?

She slowly got to her hooves, putting on a nonchalant front. "So, uh... what brings you all here?"

"You, Dashie!" Pinkie proclaimed, pointing a hoof into her chest. Her cheery demeanor faded, instead taking on a more concerned look. "Ponies saw you in the streets, all injured and carrying another pony on your back. They tried reaching out to you, but you didn't respond..."

Rainbow blinked, staring back at her dumbstruck. "I didn't notice anypony in the street. I must've been more out of it than I thought... Then again," she supposed, "I was bleeding out pretty profusely..."

The mare in the cowpony hat was the first to speak up, first letting out a nervous chuckle. "Right... W-well, we ourselves didn't notice right away. It was initially Pinkie Pie who—"

As if on cue, Pinkie sprung out in front of her. "Felt the intensity, and smelled the scent of that rainboom you made! It made my tail go all stiff, and my mane go all frizzle frazzle!"

"Er..." Rainbow's head tilted. "Rainboom?"

"A sonic one!" she exclaimed. "Only... this one gave me chills..." She proceeded to wrap her forelegs around herself as she continued to explain, "I was already with Applejack, so I went and grabbed Rarity and Fluttershy, and together we all came here to check on you!"

Right... mused Rainbow, that was their names...

She turned back to the four with a puzzled expression.

"Why?" she simply asked.

The question caught the group by surprise.

Pinkie's brow crinkled slightly, her smile wavering. "Why? What do you mean why?"

"I mean, I get you and Fluttershy. You guys have always been my friends, through thick and thin. What I don't get is why you two care."

Both Rarity and Applejack's expressions grew a little guilty, taken aback by her bluntness.

Noting the hurt looks on their faces, Rainbow hurriedly added, "S-sorry... I didn't mean it like that, I just..." She breathed out, calming her nerves. "I-I was a real blockhead when I lived here, and I know how most ponies in Ponyville feel about me..."

Her ears fell limp as her gaze sunk to the floor. "You guys have every right to hate me—"

"Now, hold yer horses, Rainbow Dash. While you may have been a hoofful, and a troublemaker, and a thief... a braggart—"

Rarity set a hoof on her friend's shoulder, stepping forward.

"What Applejack is trying to say, Dear, is that the past is the past. True, we may not have been friends, and we didn't exactly fancy your company... but we certainly never hated you, Rainbow Dash."

"Why, we all knew you had some baggage. Fluttershy once mentioned your fillyhood to us, and Ah think it made us all understand you a bit more. Me especially..."

Pinkie nodded sorrowfully. "It made life on a rock farm sound fun..."

"We wanted to reach out to you, Rainbow Dash—figuring all you needed were friends... but you never made it easy. We all held out hope that you would change, but you just kept... pushing us all away, and treating everypony poorly... Until one day you, well..."

"You left," Fluttershy said, timidly speaking up.

The others all nodded softly, in agreement.

"...And then one day," Applejack went on to recount, "Pinkie Pie arrived with you in town. We knew she went lookin' for ya, but we never thought she'd actually succeed in bringing you back."

"It came as a surprise to all of us," Rarity continued. "We knew Pinkie would just laugh it off, and that... Fluttershy would be too kind to not forgive you. The rest of us though... couldn't be certain if you truly were a changed mare, or if... you were ever going to change."

"Because of this, I guess we were less than thrilled to see ya... an' honestly, Ah do feel awful about it." Applejack looked at her with a sorrowful expression. "We should have given you the benefit of the doubt."

All the while Rainbow felt her heart swell, her chest growing tighter with every word as even her eyes began tearing up.

Guys...

Rainbow blinked away whatever tears had gathered in her eyes, and unwittingly let out a sniffle.

"It... i-it's okay, Applejack," she assured them all quickly, holding back her tears as her voice trembled with every word. "All this time I-I thought that... that none of you wanted anything to do with me... when, in reality, y-you always wanted to be my friends..." She looked between them all with a growing, grateful smile, letting out a weak laugh. "Now I get why Pinkie Pie brought you all here..."

"Aw, Dashie..." Pinkie sprang forward, embracing her friend before motioning back for the other three to join in.

"Everypony!" she exclaimed. "Group hug!"

The others all followed suit without hesitation, wrapping their hooves around one another, and providing a bit more comfort to the downtrodden pony that they could now, without any doubts... safely call their friend.

Rainbow herself, cried freely, no longer attempting to hold back her tears. After all, they were her friends... and she basked in the warmth and comfort that they provided her.

She felt safe around them, and felt like... she could show them her true colors.

Something she normally only ever felt comfortable doing around Twilight.

After a few moments, the four of them broke off the embrace, stepping back to give their pegasus friend some space, and unsure of what to say to one another next.

"S-so, um..." Rainbow scuffed a hoof along the floor, deciding to be the first to break the silence. "I really pulled off a, uh... sonic rainboom, huh?" she asked, reminded of a memory as it flashed through the forefront of her mind.

"A sonic rainboom! We're so very proud of you, Honey."

That's right... The memory of her mom's words echoed in her head, serving as a much-needed reminder.

"S-sorry..." She quickly put on a sheepish expression, meekly scratching the back of her head. "I-it's just been ages since I last did one. I, ah... sorta forgot what it felt like."

Well, it wasn't a complete lie.

Fluttershy remained silent, seeing through her little lie.

Oh, Rainbow...

Pinkie sprang up into the air, exclaiming, "Mhm! You sure did! I'd recognize the feeling from a mile away. Literally!" she added with a wink.

Rainbow stared back at her, stunned.

"W-well," she replied after a moment, "it's not like I did it on purpose or anything..." She grew silent, thinking back. "I think a different kind of magic of hers must've affected me or something... I mean, I just did what I could to save her," she admitted with an honest shrug.

"And I'm ever so grateful you did."

Rainbow looked behind her with a friendly smile at the voice she recognized, coming face-to-face with Princess Celestia.

She looked back ahead, only to find that all eyes were on her, staring bewilderingly back at her, before switching to Celestia.

"Princess?" the four all gasped at once, their mouths agape before snapping back to reality, kneeling down toward the ground.

"It's alright, guys. You don't have to do that whole kneeling thing, really. Me and the princess, we're cool." With a small grin, Rainbow swiftly spun around and raised her good hoof, reaching out towards Celestia.

Celestia gazed down at it simply, bearing a slight, bemused smile.

Rainbow's grin began to falter, "Come on, Princess," she murmured.

"I do not follow."

"I want you to bump hooves with me."

Celestia mouthed a silent "Oh," before nodding, their hooves lightly clacking together as they connected briefly.

"See?" said Rainbow, spinning back around, and noting their awed expressions. "Totally cool."

"You may rise, my little ponies," Celestia spoke up from behind her, and with that, the four stood back up.

Rainbow merely stared at her friends in disbelief.

"What the hay, guys?" she exclaimed. "You really needed to wait until she gave the order?"

"She is the princess of Equestria, Rainbow Dash," remarked Rarity, still in awe of the regal pony stood before them.

"Well Ah'll be... Rainbow Dash, friends with the princess of Equestria."

Rainbow blushed bashfully at the compliment, waving it off. "I-it's no big deal, guys, really—"

"No big deal?" Pinkie sprang forward, blurting into her face, "You never told me that you were friends with the princess, of all ponies!"

Rainbow blinked back at her, before smiling nervously, averting her eyes. "It... never crossed my mind, Pinkie... sorry. I... I, I don't really see her as an idol like so many others do, but rather... as another pony—a-and I've made friends with a bunch of ponies in Canterlot over the past year."

"Then I suppose a year away from Ponyville... has been good for you, Rainbow," Fluttershy remarked softly, drawing her attention.

Flutters...

Her look saddened, a pang of guilt being sent across her heart at the solemn tone in her friend's voice.

"Listen, I—"

"Huh."

Before she could get in another word, Applejack cut her off with her own response.

"And here Ah thought Canterlot was full of inconsiderate snobs."

"I believe you mean absolutely chic and couture, Applejack. La crème de la crème."

Applejack gave her friend a humored look. "Uh... you do know those words mean nothing to me... don't ya, Rarity?"

Rarity deadpanned back at her.

Rainbow turned back to the two of them.

"No, Applejack's right, Rarity. Canterlot is full of snobs."

"Told you so," the earth pony chided, Rarity rolling her eyes.

"But the city also has its good ponies, and even the snobs have their soft sides. Really, if you only get to know a pony, you see a whole new side to them... good or bad." She smiled fondly as she began to reminisce. "Twi and I learned that from the time we spent together that first week..."

"Twi?" Rarity inquired. "Is she by any chance the pony you rescued from the Everfree?"

Rainbow nodded as her mind began to wander. "She is..."

She glanced back over her shoulder for a brief moment. "Speaking of... I should really go check on her." She turned back to face the other four with an apologetic smile, already beginning to back out of the lobby. "Sorry, guys... I'll be back in a jiff, okay?"

"Rainbow—!"

Applejack started after her, only for Celestia to hold out her foreleg.

"Rainbow will be back soon, do not worry." She smiled assuredly, looking off, back to where Rainbow had darted off to. "She's just worried, for you see... this pony is someone very important to her."

"I was hoping you'd be awake, but..."

Rainbow's heart sank at the sight of her girlfriend, still unconscious.

I guess you need more rest... she supposed glumly, gingerly placing a hoof on her head, and leaning down to lightly kiss her forehead.

"I don't know if you can somehow hear this, but... I just made a couple of more friends. Turns out... I'm not as hated as I thought. Pretty cool, huh, Twi?" Her lips lifted into a brief smile. "I think they'd all like to meet you. Maybe when you wake, if you're feeling up to it... I'll introduce you. How's that sound?"

She gazed down at her fiancée, receiving no answer.

"Right..." She sighed, turning to walk away. "Rest easy, Twilight... When you wake up, I'll be right here beside you... I promise."

She took one last glance over her shoulder, before softly shutting the door, and heading back out into the hall.

With heavy hooves, Rainbow walked out into the front lobby, half-expecting her friends to be waiting there for her. To her surprise, however... the whole room was empty.

Her gaze saddened, her heart slowly sinking. Guess they had better things to do...

She let out a half-heartened sigh, looking off. May as well take a bath for the time being...

And she proceeded to do just that, stepping back out of her own hospital room's bathroom some time later, towel slung over the back of her neck. She let out a rejuvenated sigh, feeling so fresh and renewed. Especially after the night we had, she mused, drying her mane briefly before tossing the towel onto her hospital bed, and heading back out the door.

As she walked back out into the lobby, she failed to notice a certain filly approaching her, her steps hesitant.

"Rainbow Dash...?" the young filly asked in a nervous tone.

Rainbow's ears perked up at the soft voice—raspy like her own—as it struck a familiar cord.

Who...?

She raised her saddened gaze to meet an orange-coated filly, sporting a messy, purple mane... and an expression riddled with uncertainty.

Rainbow cocked her head, furrowing her brow. "Um... hi—"

"I'm really sorry!"

The exclamation startled Rainbow out of her skin. "Y-you're...?"

"Sorry," she repeated in a huff. "There, I said it. I acted poorly, and I'm sorry..." She bowed her head, peering off regretfully. "I don't expect you to forgive me, I just... really had to get that off my chest."

Rainbow stood unflinching, remaining no less confounded.

"Get... what—?" she started to ask, when, right then, her mind flashed back to her first visit. That's right... I remember now... Pinkie had been giving her that tour around town, when she had begun doubting herself... and in that moment of weakness, Pinkie had brought along a filly—an apparent admirer of hers.

"I just... couldn't stand the thought of you leaving!" the little filly continued to explain. "But after you saved that pony..." She looked up at her with a look of uncertainty in her eyes. "She would've died had you not been there... right?"

"Uh..." Rainbow stared into her worried expression, at a loss for words.

"R-right..." was all she could eventually muster, ears flopping as her gaze veered off.

The filly nodded begrudgingly, gazing back down. "Then I guess moving really was for the best..."

The two slipped in silence for a moment, unsure of what to say next.

"Kid... I don't get it. You've always looked up to me... but why?" Rainbow's brow crinkled in slight confusion as she professed. "I mean, I was a pretty big jerk, wasn't I?"

She turned back to the younger pony, only to find her staring back at her with a look of shock.

"Jerk?" she repeated, then shook her head insistently. "N-not to me, Rainbow Dash! And I most certainly never saw you being one."

The eyes of a child, I suppose, mused Rainbow, forming a soft smile.

"Come here, Kid," she said, pulling her in for an embrace with a foreleg.

The act took the filly by surprise.

"You... y-you don't hate me?" she uttered.

Rainbow shook her head, leaning down to nuzzle the filly's head.

"Never," she replied in a soft voice.

The young filly blinked, slowly taking in her words as a smile fastly grew, and she returned the hug, wrapping a foreleg around the older mare's.

"You know," Rainbow began, as the two separated, "earlier today... I swore I hardly had a single friend in this town."

"Are you kidding?" the filly once again exclaimed. "Tons of ponies adore you, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow smiled at that, rolling her eyes and passing it off as more of her naivety. "Hey, Kid? Did... did you happen to see Princess Celestia anywhere? Or for that matter, four ponies named Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Rarity?"

"Hm? Yeah, I think I saw them mixed in with the crowd outside."

Rainbow furrowed her brow slightly.

"Crowd?"

"C'mon," the filly replied, tugging at her foreleg, and urging her along. "I'll show ya!"

"What? H-hey!"

Rainbow tried to protest, but the younger pony refused to let up.

What am I getting myself into...? she internally groaned, dreading whatever awaited her on the other side of the hospital's doors.

As they opened, and she stepped outside, she was greeted immediately by strong sunlight hitting her in her face. She instinctively winced, raising a foreleg just above her eyes. Guess I'm not quite used to—

"There she is!" Pinkie's voice rang out.

There she...?

Rainbow's thought trailed off, her lips parting and eyes slowly widening at the sight of seemingly dozens of ponies lined around the front of the hospital before her.

Festivities were in full swing, with picnic tables full of food and decorations in her honor everywhere. Banners with... somewhat crude drawings of her face, and balloons in every color of the rainbow.

What in the...?

Pinkie pronked up to her from out of the blue, bearing a giddy expression.

"It's the least I could do on such short notice!" she explained, stopping excitedly before her. "Well, be honest. What do you think?"

Rainbow snapped out of her awe, looking around with a growing smile. "Pinkie... this is... amazing, I just..." Her smile faltered at the memory, her ears flopping as she turned back to face her friend. "The last time you threw a party in my name, it didn't go so well..."

Pinkie's own smile faltered, and she gazed down regretfully, brushing a hoof of her own along her other foreleg. "I remember... and I'm sorry about that... Buuuut," she supposed, perking right back up, "that was then, and this is now! C'mon, Dashie!" She sprung forward, looking back at her with a wide grin, waving her forward. "Don't you wanna meet everypony?"

"I..." Rainbow stared back at her, as several questions still lingered in the back of her mind. "How'd you convince them all to come, Pinkie?"

"Oh, I didn't. A lot of them witnessed what you did in person, and have been waiting for a chance to talk with you, and congratulate you! You're a hero to them now, Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow's doubt and confusion were swiftly replaced with a skeptical look of cynicism.

"So I did something selfless, and now the whole town wants to be my friend?" She scoffed, looking off. "Right..."

"It's more than that, Rainbow Dash," Pinkie began to insist, stepping back on over.

"Pinkie Pie's right, Darling," remarked Rarity, as she, Applejack and Fluttershy all came up to her.

"Like with us, they saw a brand new side to you," added in Applejack.

"They're willing to give you a second chance, Rainbow Dash," said Fluttershy lastly, as she walked up beside her oldest friend, resting a gentle hoof over her left foreleg.

Rainbow looked between each of her friends, her gaze coming to rest upon Fluttershy in particular.

"Then I guess I should probably let them, huh?" she asked with a meek smile.

The scene was too much for Pinkie, who literally began shaking with excitement.

"Three cheers for Rainbow Dash!" she exclaimed, throwing her forelegs around the four of them, and pulling them in for a second group hug.

Celestia watched the group from afar with a content smile.

"Princess?" A gray-maned, brown-coated mare approached her tentatively, switching between the princess herself, and the festivities in the distance. "Beg my pardon, but... what are you doing here?"

"Do not worry, Mayor. I'm simply here for a student of mine. She was carrying out field research for me in the Everfree Forest... when she was gravely injured."

"Oh my word."

Celestia turned to her assuredly. "Is it alright. She's expected to make a full recovery."

"Oh, well... that's good. So, then... why is Pinkie Pie throwing another one of her parties? This time so close to the hospital?"

"To celebrate a friend of hers," Celestia replied simply, the mayor's face turning skeptical.

"Who, that rainbow delinquent?" She snorted, turning her scrutinizing gaze towards the crowd. "Whatever for?"

Celestia grew silent for a moment, the memory of her friend's words playing out in her head.

"I'm afraid I don't...? Do ponies perceive you in a negative way?"

"Hm?" Rainbow looked over her shoulder slightly. "Um, sorta, I mean... It's something I've been wanting to clear up for a while, and... I think that... being a hero to them, and Equestria, will do just that."

"That rainbow delinquent," she finally replied, "is the one who saved my student."

At that, Mayor Mare backpedaled, stammering as she tried to explain, "O-oh I, I... I, did-didn't—! W-what I meant was...!"

Finding herself at a loss for words, found herself with no other choice but to bow her head in shame.

Celestia turned her attention back to the ponies, watching as Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy walked together, before Rainbow swooped down to greet them, and Pinkie hopped up alongside them.

Right then, her eyes sparked with realization, and her expression saddened into a content look.

She won't be needing me anymore...

She sighed softly, raising a hoof to her chin in contemplative thought.

Later that night, after the festivities at long last began to die down... Rainbow crept away long enough for a chance to check back in on Twilight once more.

Along the way, she noticed Nurse Redheart in the hall that lead to Twilight's room.

Rainbow reached out to her, grabbing her attention as she asked, "How is she?"

Redheart replied with a less-than-enthusiastic sigh.

"Well, her injuries have healed... but she has yet to awaken."

Rainbow frowned, lowering her gaze disappointingly. "I see..."

She bit her lip, hesitating before then asking, "Uhm, c-can I—?"

Redheart nodded before she could finish, suspecting what she was going to ask. "Maybe you being there for her will be just what she needs," she mused, carrying on... and leaving the pegasus alone with her thoughts.

"Maybe..."

Softly, she stepped into Twilight's room, closing the door before walking over to her bedside.

Moonlight filtered in through the blinds, and illuminating the content look on her girlfriend's face.

Twilight... Rainbow stroked a hoof along her head. "I wish I could see... what's going on inside your head..."

Day 71

Dead leaves were swept through the streets by a light Autumn breeze. Fillies and colts dressed in various costumes roamed the streets excitedly, paying different households a visit in search of candy and sweets.

Nightmare Night was in full swing, and Twilight and Rainbow's residence was no exception.

"Have a happy Nightmare Night, everypony! Stay safe!" Twilight called out after a group of ponies as they left down the stairs. She closed the doors and walked back inside, setting the candy bowl aside.

"Rainbow! Spike! You two almost ready to head out?"

"Heh, sure am, Twi!" exclaimed Rainbow, voice rising in volume as she flew up out from the stairwell. She landed before Twilight, dressed as a character from some low-budget horror flick. A sleek, black wig concealed her rainbow head of hair, while her body was dressed within a red undershirt, and a black cloak of sorts... with two large, red hoofprints adorning the insides.

"Well?" She formed a lopsided grin. "What do you think, Twi?"

Twilight smiled back at her wryly. "Do you want my honest opinion, or...?"

"Don't forget about me, guys!"

Spike hurried down the stairs, coming up beside them in what Twilight could only describe as a raggedy old prospector, sporting a cane with a hoof-shaped ornament adorning the tip.

Spike cracked a soft grin. "I'm the master's faithful servant, Torgo!"

Twilight stared dryly at the two, before bringing a hoof to her forehead. "Ugh, you guys... Couldn't you have at least chosen a good horror movie?"

"Aw, what are you talking about, Twi? It's so bad that it's good!"

She rolled her eyes at her girlfriend's coy remark, relinquishing a soft sigh.

"Alright, well anyway... you two better get a move on."

"You don't need to tell me twice!" exclaimed Spike, hurrying towards the front doors. "Oh boy, my very first Nightmare Night...!"

Twilight watched him for a moment with a warm smile, before turning back to face her girlfriend, and planting a swift kiss on her cheek. "Thanks again for taking Spike out for treats tonight," she whispered sweetly as she pulled back.

Rainbow looked hopefully into her eyes.

"Sure you can't come with us?" she asked.

"You know I would love to, Rainbow... but one of us has to stay behind and hand out candy. Besides... I'll only be without you guys for a few hours. Now go, Master—have fun."

Rainbow chuckled at that. "We'll be back before you know it, Twi, okay? Stay safe!" she added, before galloping off towards the opened doorway.

Twilight waved them both goodbye until the doors to their tower closed, leaving her alone in the heavy silence.

The night carried on as normal for the next hour or so, with visitors coming and going sparingly.

Twilight sighed, shutting the door, and walking over to her cushy window seat, plopping herself down to resume her novel, Somepony Wicked This Way Trots. A bit of light reading, she had decided, looking for something to fit the mood of the season.

A small shudder ran through Twilight as the wind picked up for a moment, producing a chilling howl.

She pictured in the back of her mind just how chilly it must have been out there.

Hope it's not too cold out there, she mused, softly biting her lip in worry.

A sudden and loud bang sounded out against the front door, snapping her from her thoughts, causing her to jump up from her comfy position.

Her heart pounded at the jolt it gave her. Was that the...? N-no, it couldn't have been the wind...

Her heartbeat steadily calmed as her mind began to rationalize.

She shook her head hopelessly. Kids...

She got to her hooves, hurrying over to the doors, and encompassing them in her magic.

"Okay, everypony, here you—!" Her eyes widened, her smile dropping and sentence dying on her lips as a small chill ran down her spine. "Go..."

Where she had expected a group of ponies to be stood eagerly... instead found herself staring back at nothing.

She cracked a nervous smile. Guess it really was the wind...

She closed the door, and had only managed to walk a few feet when another loud bang rang out... her heart skipping a beat in startlement.

Oh, I get it... Somepony's playing a prank on me, she reasoned, remembering how popular pranks were this time of the year. I see how it is... Play a prank on the studious little bookworm...

She turned, igniting her horn, and cast an intangibility spell on the doors.

She then waited... readying herself to charge the doors.

As soon as the third bang sounded from somewhere outside, Twilight smirked. Got you, she thought, and galloped through the doors... only to run straight out into the night air... not a pony in sight.

Her brow slowly lifted, as she looked around in befuddlement. "What in the...?"

The street below lay still, and she took note quickly of the fact that the wind had died down considerably.

Before her, off in the distance... the whole city of Canterlot was eerily silent.

Her brow furrowed in wonderment. "Where... is everypony—?"

"That was some trick you just did, Sparkle..."

Twilight turned and gasped, coming face-to-face with a ghostly apparition of a pony, stepping towards her through the door... their face concealed behind a Nightmare Moon mask. Whoever they were, their voice sounded distinctly like a mare's, only airier, and spoken with a sneer—as though each word were being spoken spitefully, with nothing but contempt for the pony before her.

The masked figure took another step forward, and with it, spread a puddle of black goo that proceeded to widen out, quickly encompassing the space around them.

Twilight in turn, scrambled backwards instinctively.

"W-who are...?" she stammered. The figure opposite her cocked their head.

"...you don't remember?"

Twilight remained too spooked to utter another word.

"I see..." the shadowy figure quietly mused. "This really is a dream of yours... A dream my dark nature has already begun to infect... And I'm talking with a figment of that dream... A memory."

Twilight shook her head, desperately wishing to understand.

"What are you talking about? Am I... asleep?" She slipped into thought, looking up all around her, up at the night sky. "W-when did I...?"

The masked pony snorted. "It's no surprise that our minds would become linked like this... If memories and dreams truly are tightly linked... Then I wonder, in this dreamscape... just how much I can alter your memory."

Before Twilight could do so much as react, the strange pony stomped their other hoof, shaking the tower to its very foundation.

Drywall crumbled down from the ceiling as the resulting shockwave rocked all the furnishings and shelving back and forth. Twilight herself let out a startled breath, bracing herself as the sounds of forming cracks and splintering wooden beams filled her ears.

"So I can forever tarnish the way you remember something..." the masked pony observed, peering up as well at the crumbling interior of the Ivory Tower. "Turn a happy memory into a nightmare... or erase it completely so that it never happened in the first place." They directed their gaze back at Twilight, cocking their head. "When you wake, this day will be the way I've made you remember it."

More of the tower crumbled away as Twilight lost her footing... the stairwell itself beginning to crumble, and steepen.

She grit her teeth and lifted her head, glaring angrily at her mysterious foe.

"At least I'll remember who's responsible!" she yelled, and lunged at the pony... only to phase right through them.

The shadowy figure glanced over their shoulder, back at Twilight who fell to the blackened floor of the tower foyer, reeling in pain. They removed their mask as they did—a byproduct of the dream as it faded away into nothingness, and revealed a pair of stark, white eyes.

Twilight all the while grasped her head, pain wracking her brain as she lay steeped in the darkness that continued enveloping the rest of her world within a black void.

"I told you that our minds are linked, Twilight," her assailant continued to explain, eyes peering out from the shadows, and piercing the thick blanket of darkness. "I see everything you see... feel everything you feel. So it stands to reason... that the same would happen if you were to touch me."

A tear fell from her eye as her body trembled, her muzzle sniffling.

"It... i-it's horrible..."

"It's made me stronger. Your sugary sweet dreams of friendship, they... do nothing but make you weaker! And now they're bleeding into me... filling me with so much contempt for you, Twilight. Your memories are nothing more than a distraction to me! Making... making me long to be whole again, to be... more than just... anger, a-and hate!"

Through the pain and her attacker's condemning words, came a faint voice from somewhere in the distance.

She couldn't quite pinpoint it, but knew it was there.

"...gotta... up, Twilight!"

Twilight's brow crinkled in confusion. Wh...w-what...?

"And it infuriates me!" the stranger stomped their hoof as their voice raised in volume. "You're pathetic, Twilight Sparkle. You refuse to give in to your anger, to your... inner darkness, and instead spend all day dreaming of being somepony's bride. How you're ever supposed to grow into the savior of this world is beyond me..."

Sa...vior—?

She felt a sudden weight on her shoulders—like a couple of hooves—as her body sunk deeper into the dark void.

"Well... I may be unable to end your life, here in this realm of dreams... but make no mistake, I will come for you. You and this world's princesses!"

"...open... eyes, Twilight!"

There's that voice again... Twilight realized, slowly doing as the voice instructed, the words filling her with warmth. It feels so... familiar...

"In the meantime," her enemy's voice sneered, "I'll go through and blacken your precious memories, one by one. I'll remove your closest friends from each and every—!"

A light blossomed forth, emanating from all around Twilight, and absolving the darkness that ensnared her.

"Ngh..." The figure recoiled, scowling as they brought a foreleg to shield their own face. "Meddlesome pest!"

A look of realization washed over Twilight as her eyes slowly grew bigger.

Rainbow...

"Ray... R-Rain..."

Twilight sat up suddenly from the mattress, basked in a cold sweat.

"Rainbow!"

"I'm here, Twilight!" Rainbow reached out reassuringly, after having stepped back in surprise. "I'm here..."

Twilight breathed steadily... her heart hammering away inside her chest.

"Twilight...?" Rainbow questioned worriedly. Twilight turned to look up at her with a frightened look in her eyes. "What is—?"

Her girlfriend lurched forward, shutting her eyes and wrapping her forelegs tightly around Rainbow's withers, Rainbow herself startled as she found herself all of a sudden being pulled down a bit.

She sniffled, squeezing her eyelids tighter, and coming to rest her head in the crook of her girlfriend's neck.

Rainbow could only blink her eyes, slightly taken aback by the actions of her girlfriend... and, after a moment of standing completely still, closed her eyes, and lowered her head against Twilight's mane, wrapping her own forelegs securely around her back.

And the two stayed like that, for several moments before Twilight ended up being the first to break the long silence.

"This is real..." Twilight murmured eventually, causing Rainbow to frown.

"Twi... What exactly was it you saw while you were dreaming?"

"I was... dreaming about... all of the days we've spent together, Rainbow. You, me... Spike—" She pulled back from Rainbow in a panic, holding her hooves against the pegasus's chest. "I forgot all about Spike! H-how long has it been—?"

"O-only a day or so," Rainbow answered swiftly, and assuredly. She set a comforting hoof over Twilight's own left hoof, watching as the panic slowly faded from her girlfriend's face. "It's pret-ty late in the evening right now... probably around the same time we first entered the forest."

"Then we need to get back to Canterlot ASAP, Rainbow." Twilight turned away from her, grabbing the sheets and blanket that covered her lower half, and pulling them back.

"Whoa whoa whoa, hey!" Rainbow stepped in front of her, setting a hoof on her shoulder, and keeping her from moving another inch. "Where do you think you're going, Twi?"

"Everypony must be so worried... a-and not to mention Celestia—!"

"Celestia's already here, Twilight," Rainbow explained, giving her girlfriend pause. "She really did come looking for us after all."

"She... You mean... she's here, in this...?" She took a moment to look around for the first time since coming to. "Are we in a hospital?"

Rainbow nodded, placing a bit of pressure on her girlfriend's shoulder, urging her to lie back.

Twilight took the hint, begrudgingly easing back into bed.

Looks like we may be heading back to Canterlot sooner than I had hoped, thought Rainbow with a sigh, disappointment creeping in. "Anyway," she continued, putting the thought aside, "we can talk about everything in a bit, but , before we do... Could you tell me more about the nightmare, Twi? You looked so distressed earlier, and... I tried shaking you out of it, but..." Her ears flopped ashamedly as she averted her gaze to the floor.

"I see..."

Twilight set her head back onto the pillow, staring up at the ceiling in thought. "So those were your hooves I felt..." Rainbow turned back to her questioningly. "Rainbow, I..."

Her voice took on a grave tone. "I think the Pony of Shadows visited me in my sleep."

Rainbow's eyes instantly widened.

"What... makes you think that?" she asked, as hesitation crept into her voice.

Twilight continued to stare up at the ceiling, oblivious to her girlfriend's body language.

"She talked to me as if I knew her, and seemed surprised when I didn't recognize her... At least, I think they were female... Their figure and voice seemed to suggest a mare..."

Rainbow silently gulped. It couldn't have been Luna, or Nightmare Moon for that matter! No, it... Could it have been the pony Nightmare Moon's aligned herself with?

"There was something else though," Twilight continued as she slipped deeper into thought. "She... she said that... she would come for me... M-me and the princesses..."

Rainbow's brow lifted as she turned to face her, visibly shaken.

"After you? W-why!? It already stripped away most of your magic! Was... w-wasn't that enough?"

Twilight shrugged, her defeated gaze sinking to her chest. "Apparently our minds became connected due to what happened in the Everfree... and now my memories and feelings of you are keeping her distracted, so... s-she tried to change the way I remember them, a-and even erase you a-and Spike from them! I... I think she may even have succeeded..."

Twi...

Rainbow gazed longingly at her, seeing her girlfriend so distressed, and yearning for nothing more than to find something she could do to help...

"How?" she eventually asked. "I mean, you still remember me, right? So, I don't see how—?"

"It was the memory of our first Nightmare Night... I dunno, maybe she was drawn to that one specifically, but... no matter how hard I try... I just can't seem to remember it the way it really happened..."

"You can't...?"

Rainbow's head dipped, mane concealing her crestfallen gaze. Inside, an anger began to boil.

"S-she... stole away one of our memories—?"

Her gaze snapped back to Twilight—her nerves reassured suddenly from the feeling of her girlfriend's hoof being placed over her own. Twilight herself had sat back up, and was looking her directly in the eyes.

"It's not just my memory, Rainbow—it's yours too. So... even if I do forget... you, you'll be there to remember for me... won't you?"

Twilight finished with a soft smile that put her girlfriend's nerves at ease, and the anger she felt to diminish completely.

"I..." Rainbow gazed hopelessly into Twilight's eyes, her resolve weakening. "O-of course I will, Twilight, I just... don't ever want it to have to come to that! I, I-I mean... if she erases me from your memories... how am I ever gonna convince you that we're—?"

"That's simple, Rainbow," Twilight replied, in a determined voice. "I just won't fall asleep."

"You won't...?" Rainbow stared at her stupefied. "Twilight... Spike told me about the last time you attempted something like that. It can't be good for you."

"As opposed to...?" Twilight's gaze soured, and she crossed her forelegs a little indignantly. "Rainbow, it'll only be from now until tomorrow evening."

"Ooohkay..." Rainbow cocked her head, playing along. "And then what?"

"We stop this Pony of Shadows for good."

How'd I know she was going to say that...

Rainbow sighed, having half-expected an answer like that.

"Riiiiiight... Twi, you do realize that your magic's still, well..."

Twilight peered up at her droopy horn, then back at Rainbow, garnishing a sheepish smile.

"Okay, so... I may have forgotten about that."

"Twi..."

"B-but it's like you said! All I need to do is take a bath, right? So... no biggie."

"Uh, yes biggie! Twi... we have no clue what we're even up against, what her strengths are, or... where we should even start looking for her."

"...I do," Twilight admitted, after a long pause.

"You... do? Why?" Rainbow asked warily. "Twi... What's tomorrow evening?"

A small, confident smirk adorned Twilight's lips.

"The Grand Galloping Gala."

Rainbow paused, looking at her skeptically.

"The... Grand Galloping Gala... Twi..." she began, giving her head a shake. "Isn't that supposed to be some stuffy banquet for the rich and entitled members of high society? And also!" she added before her girlfriend could get an argument in edgewise, "If I'm not mistaken, don't I distinctly remember you expressing distaste in going when I asked about it?"

"W-well...!" Twilight huffed, nodding begrudgingly. "I may have, yes... b-but I was thinking! She said she would come after the princesses, right? Well, there's only one place Celestia and Cadance will both be, and that's—"

"The Gala," Rainbow stated plainly.

"The Gala, exactly!" Twilight's face broke out into a dire expression. "Think about it... Everypony in Canterlot will be there. It'd be easy for her to blend in, perhaps even disguise herself using my magic. Rainbow," she stated, grabbing her girlfriend by the shoulders. "This 'Pony of Shadows' has been inside my head. It no doubt knows that that's where they're both going to be!"

"Twi... even if that's the case... Shouldn't we just leave this up to the princesses then? I mean, believe me, I want to hurt her for what she did to you, and is doing to you, but... if she attacks the gala, then wouldn't the princesses—not to mention their guards—be better equipped to handle the situation? They're like, leagues more powerful than we are, anyway."

Twilight stared back into the eyes of her girlfriend, the disappointment on her face quickly becoming evident. "We could, Rainbow..." she agreed with a shrug of her shoulders, lowering her gaze. "Hay, maybe they'd even succeed too! But... the Pony of Shadows is partially my responsibility, and... she has my magic. Magic she'll no doubt use to hurt ponies... hurt me..." She lifted a gentle hoof to the side of her girlfriend's face, as she looked directly into her eyes with an air of determination. "I know you don't want me putting myself in harm's way, but... what if the princesses don't succeed? You said it yourself, Rainbow. We don't know how strong this foe of ours is, and I want to protect everypony close to me, no matter what... but I just... can't spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder for my sake and yours. We... need to stop this before it begins."

"So... we're going to take her on then, in... what?" Rainbow's brow furled. "The middle of a gala, with hundreds of innocent ponies standing around?"

Twilight shook her head. "Mm mm. We just wait for her to reveal herself; and the moment they do, we do our best to try and isolate her from the rest of the crowd."

"So we become vigilantes?" Rainbow gave her girlfriend a worried look that urged her to reconsider. "Twi, I love heroes as much as the next pony, but I just—"

"Not vigilantes, Rainbow—we won't take the law into our own hooves, we'll enforce Celestia's, and fight the battles she and Equestria are unable to."

"Uh huh..." Rainbow remained no less skeptical. "And what makes you think that we'll be able to?"

Twilight looked back at her, for a moment, unsure of how to put it into words. "...When we're together, I just feel like... there's nothing that we can't accomplish." A soft smile crept upon her lips, her confidence in her plan growing with every word. "We'd die for one another... right, Rainbow? That's how we braved the Everfree—we were pushed to the very brink."

"We narrowly survived, Twilight!" Rainbow exclaimed, exasperated. Twilight flinched, her girlfriend's outburst taking her aback. Her face dimmed as her heart sunk, ears flopping as she peered off.

The sight made her pause, and rethink her words.

"But..." she continued, Twilight's ears perking back up as she tentatively turned back to her face her... a small, hopeful look burgeoning within her eyes. She internally sighed at the sight. Looks like Celestia was right...

She feigned a soft smile. "I suppose there really is nothing that the two of us can't overcome... is there?"

Twilight's own smile slowly grew. "We really do make a great team." She lowered her eyelids, leaning forward all of a sudden to lovingly embrace her girlfriend. Rainbow herself blinked, left speechless by the whole thing.

Twi...

Rainbow's surprise faded, and her expression eased into a content smile. She started to close her own eyes as she returned the gesture, tenderly wrapping her own forelegs around her girlfriend's back.

"I... I know you don't exactly like the idea of fighting to protect all of Equestria..." Twilight murmured, her face buried in Rainbow's shoulder.

"Hey, well... it's like you said, Twi—it is our home, and..." Rainbow shrugged, softly nuzzling Twilight's head in turn. "I guess I sorta realized there's a lot more to protect than just you, Spike, and the girls."

"What happened to you while I was asleep?"

Rainbow grinned softly.

"...Am I interrupting?"

The two of them turned to see Celestia, stepping partway through the entrance into their room.

"P-Princess!" Twilight stammered in surprise, pulling away from Rainbow, and swiftly making herself more presentable.

Celestia greeted them both with a kind smile as she proceeded to turn on the light switch. "It's good to see you are awake, Twilight."

"I-it feels good to be awake, Princess," she replied, laughing softly in agreement. "I, uhm... R-Rainbow informed me you were here, but... it's uh, still a relief to see you." Her smile softened, her gaze falling to the bedsheets. "To know you really did come looking for us..."

"Of course. After all, you're both two of my closest friends."

She nodded, her face growing more serious. "Princess, I... I know why you taught me about the Elements of Harmony."

"You...?" Celestia's stared back at her dumbfounded, her lips softly parting. She looked to Rainbow, who appeared no less surprised by her student's confession.

Don't look at me, she mouthed. I didn't tell her anything.

Twilight turned to Rainbow, whose attention snapped back to her the moment she reached over, taking her closest hoof in hers. "You want Rainbow and me to wield them... don't you? T-to save your sister?"

"I... should have known a mind as sharp as yours would catch on sooner than later. I am sorry... I shouldn't have kept this from you, Twilight."

"Truth be told, Princess... I only put it together once I stumbled upon your old journal in the castle library... I didn't mean to peek! It was Rainbow who—"

"Gee, thanks, Twi," Rainbow grumbled sourly, glancing over at her girlfriend.

"I'm only being honest, Rainbow," Twilight replied, Rainbow rolling her eyes.

"I see..." Celestia brought a hoof to her chin. "So that's where its been all this time..."

"Princess?" Twilight's brow furled in slight worry, tilting her head.

Celestia snapped from her thoughts as the sound of her student's worried tone, swiftly putting on a pleasant smile. "It is nothing, I assure you. It is true, however, that I have made many mistakes... as I have told you once, long before. Banishing Luna to the moon was just another one of them, and when I met you... I thought maybe you'd be the one to save her. I still do."

"Then please," pleaded Twilight, urgency creeping into her voice, "give them to us. R-Rainbow and I... we'll wield them! We'll... w-we'll save Princess Luna!"

"And I'll be eternally grateful. But, Twilight... I cannot simply give the two of you the elements. You must both be chosen by them first." Twilight remained there distressed, not about to take no for an answer. That was, until her mentor spoke back up. "Do not worry, my little ponies. I believe the two of you already are chosen."

Twilight paused, her frustration melding into a look of confusion.

"We... are?" she asked bewilderingly, looking towards Rainbow for an explanation, then back again towards her mentor with her head cocked.

Celestia nodded. "You needn't worry. The elements will reveal themselves to you in due time, and I do believe the time will be soon. For the time being, however... focus on the relationships you hold near and dear with one another, and with those around you. You do have a wedding coming up soon, after all... do you not?"

That's right... Twilight's eyes widened as both she and Rainbow looked at one another, seemingly thinking the same thing. We...

"We do," they each answered softly.

"So, in the meantime... please leave these threats to me."

Twilight reacted instantly, about to argue when Celestia ushered her with a hoof. "So long as I am alive... no harm will come to you or your friends, is that clear? Do not stress over what destiny has in store for you... and simply enjoy the time you still have with your friends."

"I...!"

Twilight's resolve weakened, and she nodded simply. "Okay."

Rainbow looked up at her, dumbstruck. There's no way she really means that, I mean... Nightmare Moon maybe, but... we just talked about stopping the Pony of Shadows together...

Celestia breathed out a sigh. "Well, that's a relief..."

"Well, it's like you said, Princess," replied Twilight with a convincing smile, "we do have a wedding coming up."

She smiled back at the two of them. "Now then, if you are feeling up to it... why don't you get cleaned up? The water should return your horn to normal, and then we can all travel back to Canterlot together in the early morning, if you'd like."

"Sounds good to me," Twilight agreed, grabbing and removing the sheets and blanket from her lower half. Rainbow stepped aside to make room for her fiancée as she now sat on the side of the hospital bed.

As she was about to step down, Celestia's voice captured both their attention.

"You know... I, um..."

Both Twilight and Rainbow's brows raised in surprise of their princess, who, for the first time since meeting her, now appeared semi-anxious.

Princess...? they both wondered, exchanging befuddled glances.

"I really do feel awful about this whole ordeal," Celestia confessed, bearing a regretful look. "I-is there any way I can make it up to the two of you? I was hoping to be able to ask the two of you once you were both together, and now that you're awake, Twilight... Is there anything I can possibly do? Anything at all?

Twilight couldn't believe her ears as a sly smile tugged at the corner of her lips. "A-actually, Princess—"

"Ooh, how about this! I know this is a small start, but, if you'd like... The Grand Galloping Gala is tomorrow evening. I realize that it isn't the most... lively of social gatherings, but I think perhaps that it's exactly what the two of you could use after the night you've both had. It'll be safe, and quiet... Cadance will be there, as I'm sure so will your brother, being captain after all... So what do you say, Twilight? Rainbow? It would mean a lot to me if you accepted—and that way, if any threats did come our way, I'd be there to shield you both from any and all of them."

Twilight and Rainbow stared back at the older pony who had seemingly read both their minds, mouths slowly falling open.

"Um..." they both started, all the while thinking, Well that was easy.

They looked at each other quickly as their jaws snapped shut, putting on nonchalant fronts.

"We'd be happy to!" they replied, almost simultaneously.

Celestia smiled happily. "I'm glad to hear it. Now, then, if you'll excuse me. I... suppose I should give the both of you some privacy."

"Well," Rainbow began with a heavy sigh, a couple moments after Celestia had shut the door behind her, "that went better than expec—"

"Hay yeah it did!" agreed her girlfriend in a hushed whisper. "We're in now, and one step closer to stopping this Pony of Shadows for good."

"Aren't you worried though, Twi? I mean, you heard what the princess said. Cadance, your brother, and who knows how many other ponies are all going to be there. Doesn't that make you worried?"

Her words gave Twilight pause. She slipped into silence, the smile falling from her face.

"Of course it does, Rainbow. But, with you at my side..." She squeezed her hoof tightly. "I'm not afraid, because the two of us? We can do anything, so long as we're together. It's like Princess Celestia said, Rainbow—we're chosen, which means that our strength comes from the bond that we share."

"I just... don't know how we're supposed to beat her, you know?" Rainbow replied with a defeated shrug. "I mean, I like to think that I can kick serious flank, but..."

Twilight solemnly nodded. "I know, Rainbow... Well, look at it like this. We still have a whole day to come up with a plan. Hay, Moon Dancer is not only a technician, but also an O&O strategist. Maybe she'll be able to help us..."

"Seriously, Twi?" Rainbow deadpanned. "Ogres and Oubliettes? We're sorta talking about life and death here!"

"Yeeaah, I know, but... you know Spike and Moon Dancer, Rainbow. They treat it like it's a matter of life and death!"

Rainbow gave her eyes an exasperated roll, Twilight giggling as she stepped down from the side of her bed, stopping to nuzzle her girlfriend as she passed by her. "I won't be long," she noted lovingly.

Rainbow smiled warmly, returning the nuzzle.

"I know you won't, Twi," she whispered, relishing in the warmth and tenderness of her girlfriend's soft touch.

Minutes ticked passed as Rainbow laid back on the hospital bed, hind legs dangling off the side of the bed, and forehooves resting on her belly. Her eyes were half-lidded as she stared up at the ceiling. It wouldn't be long she said, she grumbled in thought. I really wanna show her—oh!

Her ears twitched at the sound of the door handle turning, and the bathroom door clicking open.

She sat up intently, her face beaming proudly.

"You look better already, Twi," she remarked, her eyes singling in on her girlfriend's now-spot free horn, looking just the way she remembered.

"I feel better too," Twilight replied with a soft smile. "Feels good to just... wash away everything that happened in that forest."

"I hear ya..."

Twilight walked over to her bed as Rainbow hopped down from it. She watched for a moment as her girlfriend pulled back the layers of sheets before preparing to hop in.

Rainbow reached out and grabbed her closest hoof before she could.

"Hey... come with me," she said. Twilight stared back at her inquisitively.

"What do you mean, come with me? I'm in no shape, Rainbow—"

"You look fine to me," Rainbow replied, triggering her face to lightly redden, finding herself without words right then and there.

"Now come on... play hooky with me, if only for a little bit." She put on a charming grin. "Didn't you say you wanted to see Ponyville?"

"I did, but..." Twilight averted her eyes, her ears flopping. "How do you plan on getting us outside? The staff here—not to mention Princess Celestia—more than likely don't want me to just... up and leave yet, so the front door's a no go."

Rainbow pondered the idea for a bit, pursing her lips and looking around. Her eyes passed by the window, and a mischievous smile of hers quickly grew, a lightbulb going off above her head.

She flew over, and opened it with a hoof, looking back over her shoulder at Twilight.

Twilight looked back at her with a coy smile.

"They really outta stop putting windows in hospital rooms, I mean, isn't that how a lot of break-ins and assassinations happen in fiction?" She glided out the open window as Twilight walked over, and hovered just outside. "Or break-outs in our case." Twilight giggled at Rainbow's wordplay, accepting the hoof that she held out for her.

Only a few steps away, Twilight whispered in hushed excitement, "This is so exhilarating, Rainbow."

Rainbow looked over at her, raising an eyebrow. "If you say so, Twi," she replied with a bit of a laugh, when a sudden shot of pain cut her off.

Twilight's expression instantly took on a look of worry. "What is it?"

"My shoulder," Rainbow explained, looking down at it worriedly, "w-where one of the wolves tore into me. They stitched it up, but it still..."

"Stings?" Twilight surmised. "It must be the nighttime air. Here—" She lowered her head and helped her fiancée raise her foreleg as quickly, and painlessly as possible up and over her shoulders. "—you can lean on me."

She raised her head, garnishing a lopsided smile back at her... and after a couple of moments, the pain began to fade away.

Rainbow smiled gratefully, and leaned in to thank her cheek with a nuzzle, Twilight happily returning the gesture.

"After all," she continued. "It's the least that I can do for you, after saving my flank earlier."

"Yeah, we wouldn't want to lose that," Rainbow agreed with a laugh. Twilight chuckled in agreement. "Besides," she added, "if it hadn't been for your magic, I'm not sure we would've made it out."

"Sure... but, it was your wings—"

"H-How about we just agree that we both helped each other," suggested Rainbow, knowing that, if she didn't, they'd be at this all night.

Twilight looked back at her, momentarily taken aback, before nodding. "That works," she agreed, with a content smile.

The two slipped into a comfortable silence, Twilight in particular looking up and around her in awe of her surroundings. For Rainbow, the buildings and general feel of the town were nothing new, nor special... but to Twilight...

She took in every detail of the town and its denizens with wide-eyed wonderment and curiosity. Although it was dark and hard to make out every detail—the only sources of light being those of the ones resonating from the insides of ponies' homes and businesses, and the very moon itself—that didn't stop her from eagerly taking in every little detail about the quaint little town.

It was homely, and rustic—with a welcoming sort of vibe to it. Simple, two-story homes with straw rooftops, fertile dirt roads, windmills, and even a river that ran through the center of town—not unlike her own secret getaway in Canterlot.

The sounds of nightlife softly grew louder, the casual conversation of ponies slowly growing closer.

As they approached the center of town, several ponies caught Rainbow's attention. Some she recognized, while others wore unfamiliar faces. She instinctively tensed, feeling their eyes on her as she and Twilight entered the scene... but knew that she could also breath easy around them now, and focused on guiding Twilight towards the location she had planned on taking her.

Alright... It shouldn't be much farther— Her movements stopped, and her thought ceased at the sight of a certain pony—one she hadn't seen since first coming here.

Ditsy waved at her from across the street, accompanied by a brown-coated, earth stallion.

A little surprised at first, Rainbow waved back... unsure of what else to do.

"Friends of yours?" Twilight's teasing tone brought her attention back to her girlfriend.

"I... I think so, yeah."

"That's good." Twilight smiled, raising her head a bit to nuzzle Rainbow's jawline.

"See?" she whispered. "Ponies like you."

Rainbow stared ahead at them, unable to find the words for a brief moment. "Yeah, I... guess they do."

The two continued walking towards their destination... Rainbow's mind stewing over the fact.

"Were you exaggerating to me, Rainbow? Ponyville seems so nice."

"It was pretty rough when I first visited," Rainbow confessed. Her ears flopped ashamedly, peering off.

"Well... time has passed, Rainbow. Maybe they've changed, like you've changed." Twilight placed a hoof gingerly over her chest. "Maybe they see what I see in you."

Rainbow bit her lip and shook her head, turning to face her. "They only see that because of you, Twi. They're only treating me like a hero—"

"You are a hero."

Rainbow chuckled, smiling thankfully towards her. "—because of you. You really brought out the good in me, Twi."

"Aw, stop... You're spoiling me, Rainbow."

Rainbow's one shoulder dropped exasperatedly at her tease. "Come on Twi, I'm trying to be serious with you."

"Then quit saying such sappy things," she argued simply.

Rainbow blinked, taken aback. "What is happening right now...? Did you cast a role reversal spell or something?"

Twilight pumped the air with her foreleg as her eyes sparked to life. "Totally, man!"

At that, Rainbow turned away, letting out an embarrassed groan... her fiancée's laughter filling her ears.

"Seriously though—" Twilight continued before Rainbow cut her off, turning back to face her.

"Oh, now you want to be serious."

Twilight shied away, scuffing a hoof along the dirt road. "Do you think we'll be in trouble for, well... checking out early?"

"I'm pretty sure Celestia will cover for us," Rainbow figured, shrugging off her girlfriend's worry.

Meanwhile, back inside the hospital... Nurse Redheart ran up to the princess after briefly entering Twilight's room, panic written all over her face.

"Princess, the two of them, they're... well, t-they're gone!"

To her surprise however, Celestia didn't didn't seem the least bit phased. Instead, she simply lifted a hoof to her chin. "Considering Rainbow, that isn't too surprising. The two of them have a sort of disdain for hospitals—Rainbow especially. Do not worry," she assured her. "They'll both be back before too long."

"Ah... such a nice night to be out." Bon Bon sighed out contently, leaning her head back and closing her eyelids, relishing in the cool, nighttime breeze. "With my best friend, that is."

She reopened her eyes, and turned back to the pony she was with, giving her a sly wink.

"Best-est friend," Lyra corrected, in turn nuzzling Bon Bon's cheek.

A couple ponies passed by them, and the topic of their conversation just so happened to catch Bon Bon's attention, giving her pause.

"Who would'a thought that pony had it in her to do something so selfless."

"Right?" his mare companion agreed. "I actually got a chance to talk with her earlier. She's like, a whole new pony!"

Bon Bon shook her head in disbelief.

"Isn't it crazy, Lyres? Everypony's talking about that Rainbow Dash like she's some sort of hero."

"That's because she is a hero, Bonnie," Lyra insisted, her friend remaining less than convinced.

"I fail to see how," Bon Bon admitted. "She saves one pony—who I guess means a lot to the princess... and suddenly the whole town seems to forget about all her past misdeeds."

She huffed out, as Lyra stared back at her in stunned silence.

The mint-green unicorn turned her gaze away, muttering, "That pony means something to me too..."

Now it was Bon Bon's turn to look surprised, as she turned her stunned gaze towards her closest friend.

"She's a friend from Canterlot," Lyra went on to explain. "Name's Twilight. She's what gave me the courage to return here in the first place."

Bon Bon lowered her gaze, contemplating her friend's words. I see... She softly bit her lip. "Even so..."

"Come on, Bonnie," Lyra urged playfully, "give Rainbow Dash a chance. She's really not such a bad pony once you get to know her."

Bon Bon nodded begrudgingly. "I doubt she'd want me anywhere near her after the way I talked to her last time," she confessed, looking off with a saddened sigh.

"I'm sure if you forgive her misdeeds, she'll forgive yours," remarked Lyra, to which Bon Bon nodded once more knowingly.

"Alright," she finally gave in. "Alright, fine. If I ever even see her again. Where do you suppose that mare is?"

"With Twilight probably."

"They're really that close, huh?"

"Mhm! Closer than we are!" exclaimed Lyra, throwing her forelegs around, and hugging the earth pony around her shoulders, pressing her cheek to hers.

Bon Bon chuckled. "That's pretty close," she agreed, closing her eyes and nuzzling her friend back. "What happened to them in the Everfree anyway?"

"Hm?" Lyra blinked, for a moment taken aback by the question. She stepped back from her friend, articulating with her hooves, "Word is they were ambushed, then attacked by some kind of monster!"

Bon Bon's breath froze in the back of her throat, her heart skipping a beat at the news.

"Apparently this monster drained Twilight's magic, and might even be on its way to Canterlot to attack the princess!"

Bon Bon's right eye twitched.

"Of course the princess is here in Ponyville at the moment, not that the monster knows this—" Lyra gasped. "Maybe the monster does know this, and it's on its way here right now! Not that it's any match for the princess, of course—"

"Lyra," Bon Bon interrupted, placing a hoof to her excited friend's lips. "Stop talking."

Lyra's smile fell as she stared back into the serious look within her friend's eyes, and nodded compliantly.

"Did either of them say anything about it being a... bugbear?"

Lyra cocked her head as Bon Bon withdrew her hoof. "Bug-what now? Mm... no, I don't think so..."

Bon Bon sighed internally. Well that's a relief... For a second, I thought it might have escaped Tartarus... But wait... if it isn't the bugbear, then... "What did attack them, Lyra? Any idea?"

Lyra pursed her lips, scratching the back of her mane. "Not sure... Some kind of shadow creature I think..."

Shadow creature? Now that's odd... I don't remember there being anything in the monster-hunting archives about shadow creatures...

Lyra shrugged her shoulders before continuing to walk on ahead. "Or something dark and mysterious anyway. Eh, not like it matters. Celestia will stop it with a sunbeam straight to the face!"

Bon Bon watched as her friend continued on unknowingly without her, so sure of herself... Celestia was strong, sure, but this was precisely why she had established their monster-hunting agency to begin with. Some monsters were strong... and their princess, well... she wasn't invulnerable—

"Bonnie?"

Lyra's voice snapped her from her thoughts, and she looked to see her friend staring inquisitively back at her, a few yards ahead of her.

"You coming?"

Bon Bon feigned a quick, reassuring smile.

"Of course, Lyres."

She cantered up to rejoin her friend, and soon the two resumed their walk, but her thoughts only continued to worsen with every step.

Rainbow Dash, I... I know that we've never seen eye to eye, but... She peered up worriedly into the night sky. I do hope you know what you're doing, for both our sakes...

"Weeell?" Rainbow drew out the word excitedly in anticipation as she continuously looked between it, and her girlfriend with a growing grin. "It's pretty cool, huh?"

"It's a treehouse," Twilight deadpanned, gazing up at the sight before her.

Rainbow's shoulders dropped in dismay. "It's not just a treehouse, Twi. Didn't you notice the sign back there with the image of a book on it?" "Here," she said, "let's go inside."

They continued forward, Rainbow opening the door for the two of them, and once inside, Twilight's mouth fell open the moment her girlfriend hit the light switch.

"Wow..." she uttered breathlessly.

Her eyes marveled at the sight of rows of books upon books, stored within cubbyholes carved out of the tree's walls themselves, and storing untold knowledge—knowledge, as well as stories, that she had yet to either read, or were privy only to Ponyville's citizens.

"Told you it wasn't just a treehouse," Rainbow remarked teasingly, Twilight rolling her eyes at the comment, but otherwise remaining too entranced by all of the books to really pay her comment much mind.

"This is incredible, Rainbow. I-I mean, it's not as impressive as Canterlot's libraries—" Rainbow's ears sank a little at the words. "—but they're not as homely as, well... this. P-plus there's books that... I don't think I've ever even heard of, a-and ones that I think are only exclusive to Ponyville." She turned away from the wall of books in favor of her fiancée, brandishing a loving smile in her direction. "Thank you, Rainbow."

Rainbow blushed, rubbing a hoof along the back of her neck. "Heh, well... you know... Figured you could use something to take the edge off after the night we had... and the night that we're going to have, I guess," she murmured with a solemn shrug.

"You're right," supposed Twilight, her gaze lowering. "This is the proverbial calm before the storm, isn't it? The last night we'll have to just... relax before..." Her words trailed off, leaving behind a heavy silence.

"Twi..." Rainbow bit her lip, averting her eyes for a second in hesitation, before reaching out reassuringly. "We can still leave this up to Celestia. She said it herself that she wouldn't let any harm come to us."

Twilight contemplated her girlfriend's words, giving them some serious thought as she nodded her head begrudgingly.

"I know we can, Rainbow... and it's not like I don't have faith in Celestia either, I just... She doesn't know about the Pony of Shadows' involvement in all this... does she? What she's capable of..."

"Well, ah... n-not entirely, no..."

Twilight gripped her hoof, holding it close to her heart. "I'd never forgive myself if I let something bad happen—to the princesses or you."

"Twi... Haven't I told you to quit being so hard on yourself? To stop beating yourself up? I mean, this Pony of Shadows isn't your fault."

"Isn't she though? She used me like a blueprint, Rainbow, using me to give herself form—!"

"Which wasn't your fault, Twilight!"

Twilight stared up at her hopelessly.

"I..." Her resolve slowly weakened the more she continued to stare into Rainbow's eyes, and managed to smile slightly.

"Y-you're right, Rainbow, I just.." She breathed in, then out deeply. "I just feel like... everypony is really counting on me to be a hero like you, Rainbow. You know, somepony worthy of being an element bearer..."

"And you will, Twilight. I know you will, Celestia knows you will, and if everypony else knew, they'd say that they know you will too. Being taken advantage of the way that you were makes you no less worthy, I mean... hay—" She grinned meekly, in a way that melted her girlfriend's heart. "—look at all the things I've done, and I'm still no less worth—!"

Twilight leaned forward, embracing her and holding her closely against her.

Rainbow simply blinked, as she stared dumbfounded over her girlfriend's shoulder.

"Thank you," murmured Twilight, her voice muffled somewhat by the pegasus's own fur.

Rainbow's expression slowly softened up in understanding. A warm smile formed on her lips as she nuzzled her back.

"You have nothing to prove, Twilight," she whispered to her. "Heck, you wanting to protect everypony just proves that you're already a hero! Now all you have to do is not let 'em down."

Twilight pulled back enough to meet her gaze, chuckling softly. "I'll do my best, so long as... you're always there to have my back?" She looked hopefully into her girlfriend's eyes.

"Always and forever. Twilight," Rainbow replied reassuringly, grinning softly, and bringing a hoof up to cover her right eye.

Twilight smiled at her girlfriend's words, and at the action that sent her heart aflutter. A pinkie promise, huh... The realization made her blush as she moved her head forward, and in one swift motion, kissed her gingerly, bringing a hoof to cup her cheek.

Rainbow's eyes widened briefly, but she didn't protest, instead returning the gesture as she wrapped her hooves around her comfortingly.

The two soon parted, Rainbow asking under her breath, "What... was that for?"

"Do I need a reason to kiss my girlfriend?" Twilight smiled coyly as she draped a hoof of hers along fiancée's chest, and that's when it struck her that something felt off.

No fabric, she realized. Only fur...

Her smile was swiftly replaced with a puzzled expression as she stepped back a bit, looking her once over.

Rainbow could only smile somewhat nervously, as she stared back at Twilight.

"Er... everything okay, Twi?" she asked worriedly. Twilight shook her head.

"Your hoodie," she pointed out. "I hadn't really noticed until now, but... you're not wearing it."

Rainbow's lip parted, but no words came out, finding herself caught off guard by her words.

"Erm, y-yeah... I, uh... About that..."

She rubbed a hoof along the back of her neck, averting her eyes as the room fell back into silence.

Twilight tilted her head inquisitively. "They... had to throw it out, didn't they?" she asked in an understanding tone.

Rainbow nodded, biting her inner lip. "That thing was trashed anyway, I mean... it had all these stains and tears in it... At least the goggles survived, though... even those I think took a few hits..."

Her ears flopped as she turned back to Twilight ashamedly.

To her surprise however, her girlfriend didn't seem the least bit upset.

"That's alright," she simply said. "I can always buy you another, whenever the Wonderbolts decide to put on another show, that is. Although..."

She reconsidered, playfully adding, "I forgot how good you look without any clothes on."

Rainbow's face immediately turned beet red, her eyes widening. "T-Twi!"

Twilight giggled, shaking her head softly as she continued. "Seriously though, Rainbow... don't worry about it. It's just a sweatshirt, one that I bought on a whim for you, to conceal your injuries because I was too embarrassed to be out in public with a featherbrain like yourself... Now though..." She stepped closer once more, closing her eyes, and nuzzling her fiancée's cheek so tenderly. "I want to be everywhere with you Rainbow Dash... and for everypony to see us together. I want to have your back, as you have mine, and walk by your side forever and always... and nopony, not even Nightmare Moon, nor this Pony of Shadows are going to get in the way of me cherishing the rest of my days with you... or us fulfilling out destinies together."

A proud smile adorned Rainbow's lips. "That sounds more like the Twilight I know."

Twilight pulled back enough to meet her gaze, and for Rainbow to see the happy smile on her face, and teary sheen in her eyes.

"Now, since we've got some time, and are sorta surrounded by books..." A determined grin parted Rainbow's lips. "What's say we start finding ways of restoring your memory?"

All was quiet in the Castle of the Two Sisters, save for the occasional creaking of wooden beams, or the slight whistling of wind as it slipped through the cracks that were present throughout the stone walls.

That was, until the door to the castle's library crept open, Princess Celestia stepping cautiously into the room.

A small light emanated from the very tip of her horn, casting away the shadows that engulfed the room, and lighting her way through the darkened, and treacherous remnants of her old castle.

"Luna?" she called out tentatively. "Are you... still here?"

She waited with baited breath for several long moments, looking all around her warily for any hints of another pony's presence.

"It's me, Luna, your sister! 'Tia..." Her gaze slowly became crestfallen. "Please... if you can hear me... won't you please just... give me a sign?"

Several more seconds passed, and with each passing second, her heart sunk further and further.

The sixth room, she lamented, and not a single sign of life...

She breathed out in disappointment. I suppose Rainbow really was telling me the truth. I just had to confirm it for myself... but it would seem that Luna's mind really has rejoined with her body.

Celestia continued on deeper into the library, soon coming up to a long wooden table, and found herself peering down at the tattered old journal that lay on its surface.

She set a hoof on the cover, and smiled softly, as the sight of it carried with it a wave of nostalgic memories. So this is the journal the two of them stumbled upon... I must've been in such a hurry to leave that day, that I forgot to safeguard this...

She set her hoof over the back of the chair nearest to her, and tilted it back, causing the whole room to rumble for but a moment before the bookshelves to her right started moving in opposite directions... revealing a hidden room.

Still safe, she thought in relief, before scooping the journal up in her magic, and proceeding forward.

The interior of the hidden room had a cozy feel to it as she stepped inside. Pillows were strewn across the room, a single, smaller bookshelf stood against the wall to her left, chock full of her favorite stories from when she was younger... and two orange and blue stained glass panels, displaying both abstract portraits of the daytime and nighttime respectively, stood proudly against the back wall. A lounge seat perfect for reading positioned itself against the far wall, and in the center of it all, was a lone lectern.

As Celestia stepped closer, she was all of a sudden struck with the memory of a time she had long since forgotten... the memory playing itself out before her very eyes.

"'Tia!" Luna's voice rung out excitedly.

She remembered the scene as though it had taken place just the other day, and stared wistfully at her younger self as she lay sprawled out on one of the large pillows, reading contently.

'Tia?" Luna's voice repeated itself.

The sound of the bookshelves parting caused her younger self to flinch, then sigh dramatically, slowly lowering the book from her face.

"Luna..." her younger self grumbled, snapping the book shut.

"I had a feeling you'd be here, 'Tia!" She ran up to her as her younger self sat up fully from one of the pillows.

"Well, it is sorta my private chamber, Luna," she had replied sarcastically, with a roll of her eyes. "You know? The place I go for a few extra hours of shuteye, or for some me time?"

"Oh, I know, 'Tia, but... I was thinking... since moving here... We haven't really spent a whole lot of time together, and, well, what with how big and maze-like this castle is..."

Her younger self let out a irritable groan. "Cut to the chase, Luna."

Luna flinched, averting her eyes to the floor as she timidly traced circles with her hoof, searching for the right words.

"I-I was thinking maybe we could have a slumber party or something! Y-you know, like the civilian ponies do!"

Her younger self raised an eyebrow, peering down at her sister skeptically. "A... slumber party... Urgh, Lulu..." She stared down at her incredulously. "Those are typically held during the night—"

"I know, Sister, but... the night basically is daytime for me! Plus, I... rarely ever get to see you, and... after Starswirl disappeared... I feel like you're the only friend I really have..."

"What about your nighttime forays into the unknown, or your gallivanting through the dreamscape?"

"The guards I travel with, they... I don't know, I... get the sense that they're somewhat afraid of me, o-or at the very least intimidated by my presence... I don't know..." She shrugged her shoulders as her younger self got up and stretched her limbs, then turned and returned her book back to it proper place on the shelf where it belonged.

"Uh huh, uh huh, go on," she had said. "I'm listening."

"R-right, well, um... t-the dreamscape doesn't fare much better. To tell the truth... it would seem that a lot of the ponies dream of you, dear sister."

Celestia's younger self snorted at that. "No surprise there. After all, I do have a way of lighting up their life, so to speak."

Luna chuckled humorously in agreement.

"So, ah, a-anyways... I was hoping that maybe today, the two of us could spend the day togeth—"

"Yeeeaah, no," her younger self was quick to cut her off. "You know that our duties don't allow us to just... goof off like normal ponies, okay? Because we aren't normal ponies, Luna. We just aren't..." She passed her younger self without a sparing glance, all the while muttering, "If you're looking for something to do, why not ride down the castle slide for the umpteen time? I know how much you enjoy doing so. Now, if you'll excuse me, Sister... I have to fulfill my duty of raising the sun."

Her sister's voice lost its enthusiasm, taking on a more dejected tone-of-voice.

"Okay," she replied, scuffing a hoof along the floor as her older sister's past self exited her hideaway.

"I'll just be here then... if you ever change your mind."

A few tears dripped onto the cover of her old journal, as it now rested on the lectern.

Oh, Luna... she openly wept. You... y-you really were waiting here all this time. Wai-wait-ting f-for me... for me to find you, w-weren't you?

She clenched her jaw to stop it from trembling as more and more tears continued to roll freely down her cheeks.

I've s-stayed up countless nights, if only to... to make it up to you. To make up for failing you as a sister, a-and, and as a friend, like I had promised I would start b-being to you, but... but I got caught up in my obligations as ruler, a-and instead Nightmare Moon was able to get to you first all the way back then, a-and even now. W-well...

She sniffled unwittingly as she regained her composure. She rubbed a foreleg back and forth across her eyes, drying them as a flame slowly ignited from deep within her heart. One that burned brighter, and hotter with each passing moment.

I-I... I swear I'll save you, Luna. I swear I'll find some way to bring you back.

She glared up at the stained glass panels, feeling more determined than ever before. Somehow, someway... I swear I'll make it up to you.

Day 333 - The Grand Galloping Gala

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"The Pony of Shadows..." Moon Dancer put a hoof to her chin, setting down her bluegrass and wild flower sandwich with her magic. "Huh."

"That's what we're calling it, anyway. It did something to Twi's brain, messed with her ability to perform magic," remarked Rainbow, swallowing down a mouthful of her smoothie.

"It was terrible," Twilight added, staring down silently at the tabletop below her. "I felt weak, drained of my energy... I couldn't move a muscle, and my mind felt all jumbled—and not just my magical lobe, but my entire limbic system."

Moon Dancer nodded slowly in fascination, while Rainbow simply blinked, raising a slow hoof as if to ask a question.

Twilight noticed out of the corner of her eye, and let out a sigh. "The part of our brains that process memory, Rainbow."

"Ah, right. Was wondering if you were gonna mention that..." Rainbow smiled and chuckled sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. "Y'know, I... I-I'm pretty sure mine had stopped working ages ago."

Twilight rolled her eyes, knowing full well that it was an attempt at lightening the mood, and shouldn't even begin to point out everything wrong with her little joke.

Still, it didn't do much to take her mind off of her own troubling thoughts.

After the morning chariot ride back—and reassuring Spike that the two of them were indeed alright—the three then decided on taking a short, walk throughout the mid-morning city thoroughfare for a place to have some breakfast and discuss their plans for the night... when along the way they bumped into Moon Dancer, and decided on joining her for breakfast instead.

And even still, as Twilight sat eating her orange and parsley salad, she couldn't stop her mind from fretting over the memories of what had happened in the Everfree...

The Pony of Shadows confronting her in her dreams...

The memory she had lost.

"Though, it was weird," Rainbow continued, glancing over at Moon Dancer. "I mean... We barely made it out alive—and not because of the Pony of Shadows, but because of timberwolves." She shrugged her gaze away. "I felt like that was it for us, back at the castle. The way it looked at me... I could've sworn we were goners..." Her brow furrowed in contemplation. "And yet it didn't attack... as if, for a moment... it recognized me."

Twilight rolled her eyes, before glancing over at her from the corner of her eye. "I doubt that's likely, Rainbow. The Pony of Shadows is ultimately somepony's rogue magic, right? The odds of it being magic familiar to either one of us are like, a million to one, so... if they gave pause... it was probably because of the feelings I hold for you, Rainbow. Hmph," she mused as an afterthought, "no wonder she said they were becoming a distraction..."

"Not necessarily, Twilight," Moon Dancer chimed in, pushing her glasses up her muzzle a bit with her hoof, before beginning to gesture with her hooves. "What you claim to be rogue magic, could have, at one point, been an actual pony or some other sentient being—a dragon even."

Moon Dancer paused, blushing as she smiled meekly at Spike from across the table. "N-not that I mean anything by that, Spike—it's just an example." Spike rolled his eyes knowingly, before nodding and smiling back at her reassuringly.

Grinning, Moon Dancer turned back to Twilight and Rainbow, continuing from where she left off. "You guys said how Nightmare Moon was real, a-and banished to the moon, right? Well... this revelation opens up a whole new world of possibilities!"

Both Rainbow and Twilight looked at one another, sharing a look of skepticism.

"It... does?" they both asked.

"Mhm! See, you said this rogue magic took control of you, and that your magic shot off into space, right? Striking the moon? Well what if what actually happened is that a gateway opened!"

"Gateway?"

"Yeah, like the Bifröst, but from here to the moon, and you were used to open it!"

"Er... Bifröst?" asked Rainbow.

"It's something from Scandineighvian mythology," Twilight replied.

"And comics," Spike chipped in.

"See, the Pony of Shadows from pony lore was originally Luna's lingering spirit, right?"

"Right..." Twilight agreed, playing along.

"So then, this entity could have come from a whole other universe, who used its magic to manipulate you into opening a doorway for it, but arrived in some weakened state; or perhaps was a pony that became a spooky smoke monster, that was then banished to its own moon—" She gasped. "Maybe even a Nightmare Moon from... some parallel earth!"

Moon Dancer finished, finding herself greeted with strange looks from both Twilight and Rainbow.

Twilight was the first one to speak up.

"What makes you think any of this?" she asked incredulously.

"Storytelling 101," replied Moon Dancer, smiling confidently. "This so-called Pony of Shadows maybe recognizing you? A moment of weakness as it remembers the good times you, or a pony who resembles you, once shared—"

Rainbow blinked as her mind mulled over the possibility. Could that be it? she wondered. Somepony I knew turned evil, or worse? Was it because of some other me...?

"But it quickly snaps out of it, not about to let the memory deter itself from its duty," Moon Dancer continued, leaving Twilight without words, her mouth slightly agape.

She shook her head, placing a hoof against her forehead, her elbow resting on the table's surface. "Do you hear yourself?" Her voice raised, her eyes peering over at her friend irritably. "This isn't some work of fiction, Moon Dancer. It didn't spare Rainbow Dash because my memories were affecting her... okay?"

Moon Dancer, for a moment, was taken aback. "Well, okay, but... w-what about understanding what this thing is?"

"It siphons magic, and it's a threat," Twilight remarked. "I don't think there's anything else to understand."

She sighed, lowering her gaze. "All that matters is that it might be on its way here, after the princesses even..."

Twilight felt a hoof rest gently upon her shoulder.

"We'll stop it, Twi," Rainbow assured her, brandishing a thoughtful smile. "Not to mention the Royal Guard will—"

"The Royal Guard won't stand a chance, Rainbow," Twilight murmured, dismissing the notion. "Not against that."

Rainbow's smile slowly fell as she pulled her hoof away. "Way to undermine your own brother."

Twilight sat up, staring at Rainbow in annoyance. "That's not what I—!" She rolled her eyes, letting out a groan. "My brother's not some super hero, Rainbow."

Moon Dancer's eyes lit up at the remark.

"My brother, parents, Princess Celestia, Cadance, you guys... This entire city is in harm's way, and what can I possibly do to help it...?" Her ears fell, her head lying face first in her folded forelegs. "I'm not at all strong, and not to mention my magical reserves are mostly still in shock—"

She was interrupted by the sound of a chair sliding backwards and Moon Dancer announcing, "Come with me, Girls."

Spike's eyes blinked, then slowly widened in realization.

"Moon?" he asked, keeping his voice low as he ran up to her. "You're not really going to show them—?"

"Yes I am, Spike," Moon Dancer declared, looking up at the other two. "After all, Twilight wants the power to save those dearest to her—" Twilight's right ear twitched at Moon Dancer's words. She peered up slightly from behind her folded forelegs to see the unicorn bearing a confidant grin. "—and I'm pret-ty sure I have the tools that will help her do just that."

Several minutes later, after a short walk—and being asked to hold their questions until the very end, Twilight and Rainbow, along with Spike were all eventually lead to a modestly-sized two story building, with spires and balconies atop it. Stars and wave formations decorated the roof.

It was a place all too familiar to Twilight.

She raised an eyebrow. Why here, of all places...?

"So... what is this place?" asked Rainbow, looking up at the building in wonderment.

"This is my old school, Rainbow," Twilight told her, Rainbow turning her gaze away from the building, back to her. "Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns..." She smiled a little as she peered into the darkened, empty classroom, a hoof on the glass. "It really does feel like just yesterday we were aspiring young fillies seated behind those desks..."

Moon Dancer pushed open one of the front doors. "Hm, seems like she's already here. Well, either that or the janitor ponies are still cleaning up." She shrugged, looking back at Twilight and Rainbow, motioning for the two to follow.

Twilight followed after her and Spike first, asking in curiosity, "She?"

Moon Dancer smiled back at Twilight in anticipation as she continued to lead them. "Come on, this way."

She lead them down another hall, the four of them entering a dimly-lit corridor with a couple doors on either side of them, with Twilight in particular musing aloud, "I don't remember ever seeing this part of the school before."

"This area's reserved mostly for teachers and staff," Moon Dancer explained, looking on ahead. "Remember the lab I told you about, back on Hearth's Warming Eve?"

Twilight gasped excitedly. "I do, yes! This is what you're showing us?"

"Sort of," Moon Dancer replied, the four of them coming to a stop in front of a closed door, with a sign labeled, Our Town.

"We like to think of it as our own little slice of Canterlot," Moon Dancer went on to explain, looking back at them briefly before pushing the door open.

"We—?" Twilight began to ask, before bringing a hoof to her eyes as they squinted, shielding them somewhat from the bright white interior of the room. As her eyes adjusted, she saw what looked like a more-advanced looking workshop, with long, white workbenches in the center, upper cabinets, and sinks against the opposite wall. Beakers, flasks, textbooks, and scattered papers laid strewn across the many workbenches.

"Moon Dancer?" a faraway, feminine voice asked from inside the lab. Stepping down a short set of stairs, Twilight saw the voice belonged to an orchid-coated unicorn mare, sporting a dark purple mane—decorated with streaks of light purple and aquamarine—who had seemingly been engrossed in a book, and working on carving... something out of wood before they interrupted her. A staff of sorts, if she had to guess.

"Nice to see—" she continued on pleasantly before pausing, noting the other two mares who accompanied her lab partner, and her voice immediately grew bothered. "W-what are they doing here?" she demanded, pointing a hoof at the two of them, keeping her gazed fixed accusingly on Moon Dancer. Spike, she had no problem with, but... "Moon Dancer, I've told you before that this is not a place for you and your friends to hang out."

Moon Dancer rolled her eyes. "Nice to see you too, Starlight, but for the record, we are not here to hang out."

She raised a hoof, enunciating the last couple words with an air quote before stopping in front of a large, metallic cabinet. She looked over at her, and smiled triumphantly. "We're here to save Equestria!"

Starlight blinked before closing her eyes in frustration and letting out a sigh. "Oh Celestia, not this again..." She put a hoof to her temple before reopening her eyes, throwing an exasperated hoof out at the mare. "Moon Dancer, it's bad enough you tried this before with those other three girls," —Rainbow and Twilight exchanged intrigued looks— "but now you're trying this whole costumed thing all over again."

Moon Dancer shook her head, looking back ahead confidently. "The others didn't understand, but Twilight and Rainbow—er, Rainbow?" she questioned, finding the pegasus's attention drawn to an aquarium of a deep blue, gel-like substance sat on her lab table.

Her eyes widened, standing up on her hind legs as she teleported before Rainbow, her forelegs held out at her sides. "Don't!"

Rainbow's own hoof retracted in surprise. "S-sorry!"

Moon Dancer sighed, then shook her head. "No no, I... I'm sorry, it's just..." She fell back on all fours, turning to look into the vat. "These are unstable molecules, cultivated from the poison joke plant. Very volatile to the touch without certain protection."

"Poison joke?" Rainbow looked over her shoulder at Twilight briefly. "Yeah, they uh... already played a pretty nasty joke on me and Twi, back in the Everfree," she explained, turning back around. "It affected Twi's horn, and my wings—a part of the reason why we barely escaped with our lives."

Moon Dancer nodded softly. "Fascinating..." She brought a hoof to her chin. "I had no clue poison joke could affect wings and horns... Makes a mare wonder what else these can affect... Hair? Vocal cords? The only effect I've ever observed was shrinkage."

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

Rainbow's breath froze in the back of her throat as she glanced around at her hooves, all of a sudden finding herself too scared to move.

Starlight simply rolled her eyes at the display before returning to her carving.

"Re-lax." Moon Dancer nudged her side, smiling at her reassuringly. "Everything I tested these on grew back to full size eventually, I... think... Anyway!" Rainbow gulped, her eyes trailing Moon Dancer as she trotted past her, Twilight, and Spike, taking a stand before the large cabinet and standing triumphantly. "I trust you two will understand what I've brought you both here to see."

Twilight's head tilted a little in confusion. "Understand what, Moon Dancer?"

Moon Dancer raised her hoof to a red panel on the left metallic door, a combination of square buttons briefly lighting up green as she quickly pressed her hoof against several of them. "This."

The sounds of metal clicks and hatches unlocking became heard, air steaming out as the internal gears turned, slowly opening the heavy steel doors. Both Rainbow and Twilight's eyes squinted a bit as they both raised a foreleg over their eyes, only lowering them once their eyes saw past their forelegs. Their eyes slowly widened, both their mouths falling open.

Colorful armor and suits lay vertically on display, both within the main cabinet and insides of the open doors.

Spike watched in awe, sighing in amazement, balling up his hands and raising them to his chin. "It's just as cool as the first time you showed me..."

Twilight blinked, her mouth snapping shut as she came out of her stupor, looking up at him suspiciously. "You knew about all this, Spike?"

Spike looked down at Twilight. "She showed me months ago," he told her before averting his eyes, his voice becoming a little harsher. "Of course it's all Marevel inspired—"

Moon Dancer turned to him indignantly. "I'm getting around to designing some EC suits too, Spike."

"Uh-huh," Spike murmured, doubtful.

"Hmph." Moon Dancer rolled her eyes, her attention soon being grabbed by Twilight as she stepped forward, shaking her head in disbelief.

"I'm at a loss, Moon Dancer. I'm not sure whether I should be in utter amazement that you made all of this," she remarked, throwing a hoof out at the cabinet behind her. "Or disturbed that you made all of this."

Moon Dancer recoiled as Twilight's voice raised. "This is crazy, Moon Dancer. I mean, bringing these super hero outfits, a-and weaponry to life? Who does that?"

Rainbow raised her hoof to interject, about to open her mouth before being cut off by another voice.

"Finally, another sensible, logical pony," Starlight said as she walked over, holding out her hoof with a friendly smile once she stopped. "Starlight Glimmer."

Twilight put her feelings aside for a moment to shake the mare's hoof, wincing for a brief second at the mare's strong grip. "Twilight Sparkle."

Rainbow's brow lifted, bearing a slight look of surprise as she looked between the two unicorns, then back at Moon Dancer and Spike. "Does anypony else see the glaring parallel here, or is it just me?"

The others looked back at her, and shrugged.

Starlight looked Twilight over, from her hooves to her horn. "Intuitive, modest... no sense of self-righteousness, or accomplishment... I think you and I will get along just fine, Twilight."

Twilight smiled a bit bashfully. "I hope so. I'd hate to make an enemy out of you, Starlight." She began to turn away, lifting her hoof in a goodbye wave. "It was nice meeting you, Starlight, but... I think I'll be leaving."

Moon Dancer's eyes widened, and she ignited her horn, grabbing hold of Twilight's tail.

"B-but w-what about The Elements of Harmony!"

Twilight froze for a moment before looking over her shoulder... wearing a stunned expression. "Or the fact that there's supposedly t-this... super secret monster hunting agency beneath Canterlot—! Something big is going down, Twilight; a-and with the arrival of this... otherworldly monster, well... This could be exactly what we need—!"

"Moon Dancer!" Twilight cut her off, shutting the mare up immediately. "How..." Her brow furrowed. "How do you know about the Elements of Harmony?"

Moon Dancer blinked, taken aback by the sudden, serious tone in her voice.

"I, uh... w-well..." She quickly gathered her composure, scrambling for an answer. "I... wouldn't say I know about them, per see. I... hear things... and take note of things when I'm in the school, w-when I'm around Celestia."

"Like... what exactly?" Twilight asked, her voice softening.

"That there were six of them, and supposedly, they protected Equestria for centuries... with the role being passed down from generation to generation. Twilight..." She threw a foreleg behind her, pointing it back at the open cabinet. "I have what we need so that we could be this generation's heroes—!"

"What, enchanted armor so you can live out your fantasy of being a super hero?" Twilight shook her head in disbelief. "If the princess knew what you were doing—in her own school, no less... She'd say you were nuts, Moon Dancer."

Moon Dancer broke out into a grin, letting out a sudden chuckle at Twilight's wordplay. "Okay, now you're just over exaggerating. I mean, the princess would never be so informal, Twilight—"

"Yes," Twilight replied simply, "she would. In this particular case, she would." She stepped forward and put a hoof over Moon Dancer's shoulder. "Why don't you consider an enchanted comic instead?"

Moon Dancer narrowed her eyes at that, removing her hoof from her shoulder. "Look," she began. "All I know is that Princess Celestia is looking for these... 'Elements of Harmony,' and with what I've built, we can be exactly that—"

"The Elements are not ponies, Moon Dancer. They're some kind of... artifacts, and they're inherited by a select few, okay? Believe me..." Twilight averted her eyes, her voice growing softer to soften the blow to Moon Dancer's heart. "The princess wanted me to research them."

Moon Dancer swallowed hard, feeling her heart grow all the heavier at her friend's words. "Y-yeah?" She searched her mind for a swift response. "W-well... y'know what some artifacts are? Lost. Destroyed. Forgotten. Hay, there's no proof these things even still exist."

Twilight glanced down at the floor, a moment of silence passing between them.

"I believe they do," she spoke up once more, in a quiet reply. "Because as unbelievable as it sounds... Celestia believes Rainbow and me... have already been chosen by them."

Moon Dancer's lip parted in disbelief, her glasses beginning to slip down her muzzle.

"You... you're kidding." She snapped out of her amazement, exclaiming, "That's incredible—er, wait. Do you have them with you, or...?"

"Princess Celestia said they'll reveal themselves to us soon."

"So... neither of you actually have these weapons?"

"Nope," they simultaneously replied.

"Ngh..." Moon Dancer's hoof slid down her face, the unicorn letting out a muffled groan. "Look. Didn't you tag along because you wanted a way to save everypony?"

"I do, but..." Twilight bit her lip.

"I don't see what the big deal is," Rainbow cut in. "I mean, we've cosplayed before, and I... kinda dig the suits."

Twilight blinked, staring at her girlfriend dumbfounded. "Rainbow...?"

"I mean, you are looking for a way to keep us all safe from the Pony of Shadows, right? Well, these suits can offer us protection, a-and protect you too, Twi—hay, they can maybe even give us the power to potentially fight back."

"I know they can, Rainbow, but... aren't you worried about all of the collateral damage that may occur from us wearing this enhanced armor? I know we talked about fighting the Pony of Shadows, and... I know things may get out of hoof, but... but I don't want this devolving into an all-out war! I mean..." She looked away at the floor, clutching her foreleg with her free hoof. "I've never liked violence, Moon Dancer. I'll fight to protect my friends and family, but... what you're doing... is indulging in it—like you're itching to get into a fight. That just... feels like no way to achieve harmony..."

"It really isn't," Starlight spoke up. "Now equality on the other hoof..."

Moon Dancer shot her a look that screamed for her to stay out of it.

"Hey, I'm just saying," Starlight replied before turning, walking back to resume her own work.

Moon Dancer let out a deep breath, turning back to Twilight who remained uncertain. "Okay, so maybe you don't like the idea of having to fight, or dress up in a from-your-point-of-view silly costume, but! At least allow these to give you all the protection you'll need in case this night goes south. That's what this armor is for after all: to protect us and those around us. We'll only kick flank if it becomes absolutely necessary. Otherwise we will fight solely to defend and detain."

Twilight barely nodded. "Can you promise me though," she started to ask, after a long pause, "that... if tonight does go poorly... not a single one of us will... you know."

"I can't promise that, Twilight... but if we wear these suits, we can try our darnedest to prevent that." A lopsided smile adorned Moon Dancer's face.

"Then I guess we're going to need some help picking out the right ones."

Twilight looked right back at her with a smile of her own, a look that made Moon Dancer's eyes widen and her own smile drop.

Then came a silent gasp as a giddy smile adorned her face.

She turned swiftly, the others following behind her as she cantered back to the cabinet that housed her suits.

"Okay, ah... f-for you, Rainbow, we'll need a suit that can fly— Ah ah, the Iron Mare armor's mine," Moon Dancer remarked with a cocky smile, catching Rainbow staring up at the suit. "Now let's see..." She turned back ahead, going through her mental checklist as she motioned to each. "There's the Eagle armor, the Supernova armor, the—"

"How about this one?" Rainbow pointed to the one that Moon Dancer was about to address herself: a long-sleeved, red and black flight suit, with a hooded cowl that slid over her face, and left space for her pony's mane to hang out and breath.

"The... Miss Mare-vell suit." Moon Dancer's hoof slunk back to the ground and she raised an eyebrow in Rainbow's direction. "Really?"

Rainbow shrugged, meeting her surprised stare. "Well... yeah. Why not?"

"I just... didn't think it'd be your style," she confessed, turning back to look at the suit just as Rainbow did.

"Are you kidding? It has a lightning bolt insignia on its chest, the design is pretty rad, and plus, I..." She looked back at Moon Dancer sheepishly, cocking her head with a slight smile. "Kinda dig the scarf."

"I always had a feeling that somepony would," Moon Dancer gushed, sharing Rainbow's enthusiasm.

On the far end of the other door, Spike stood with Twilight in order to help her decide.

"You should go with this one, Twilight. It's pretty awesome if you ask me. Its got these sweet..." Twilight slowly zoned out as she drew her attention to what Spike had pointed out to her. A steel-plated suit of armor, the mask and back of its head a simple grey, the eye lenses a dark red... "The outer plating and forelegs decked out in a sweet burgundy red."

She snapped back to reality just as Spike finished speaking... her ears flopping against her head and her body shrinking back, apprehensive. "I don't know, Spike. It looks a little... alien? Though... if it keeps everypony safe." Twilight considered it, then bravely stood up tall. "I suppose I'll—!"

"Ah, the Starlicorn armor!" Twilight and Spike turned to find Moon Dancer and Rainbow approaching them, Rainbow already geared up and in costume. "Somehow I knew you'd go for it, Twilight."

Moon Dancer's words were lost on the young unicorn however, as Twilight was memorized by Rainbow's appearance, and by how fast she got into it. Who else but Rainbow, she supposed, smiling fondly at how excited Rainbow seemed to be.

"What do you think, Twi?" Rainbow spoke out to her, brimming with pride. "Now the Hero of Ponyville actually looks like one, doesn't she?"

Twilight giggled, a little humored. "You've looked like one for a long time already, Dash," she insisted, causing Rainbow's smile to fall from her face and a faint blush to stain her cerulean fur.

"So..." Moon Dancer spoke up, stepping between them. "Ready to try them out?"

"For real?" Rainbow asked. "Sweet!"

Twilight nodded. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt..." She gazed back at the suit she chose, and went to grab it when its form suddenly retracted into the shape of a saddle.

Twilight gasped and dispersed her magic, taking a couple of startled steps backwards as the saddle fell to the floor with a heavy clank.

Twilight swallowed nervously, reluctantly turning to face the others, who were all deadpanning back at her. "Um... Sorry?"

"You didn't have to drop it, Twilight," Moon Dancer remarked.

"I didn't know what it was doing!"

She sighed, stepping forward. "It's fine, it's... fine. It changed shape because this suit is compact, the metal malleable. You basically wear it like a saddle and it grows around you, fitting your form. Here—" She set the armor over her back, sensing Twilight tense up a little as she did. "Don't panic."

The armor connected with her, molding around her with a series of quick clanks, the lenses over her eyes becoming bright red, the suit's ventilation kicking in once it closed over her lips.

Twilight breathed in deeply, feeling her nerves start to relax. She blinked several times, looking around... now seeing things in a whole new light. "Whoa..."

"Rad, huh?" Moon Dancer threw a foreleg around each of their shoulders, unable to suppress her grin any longer, a small squee escaping. Her horn sparked to life as she exclaimed, "Now let's cue the training montage!"

"Now, the suit has fine, thin-layered plating with a special, heat-dampening fiber, and rocket propulsion in all four of your hooves—designed mostly for stealth, with the ability to get yourself out of any sticky situation." The two stood facing the other in a forest just outside the city. "The key is to press forward into the ground as if you were about to leap high into the sky."

Moon Dancer knelt forward, then leaped high into the air in demonstration. "Now you," she said as she came back down.

Twilight's lips tightened as she gazed down at her hooves. She pressed forward into the grass, jump-starting the thrusters, and she leaned back, her hooves hurdling her into the trunk of a tree in a quick second... a groaning pain coming from behind her helmet.

Some leaves floated down as Moon Dancer ran up to her.

Twilight huffed as her helmet retracted to her neckline, gazing up at Moon Dancer unamused.

Moon Dancer herself shrunk back, smiling apologetically.

"I'll... just go see how Rainbow's doing."

"I'm ready to go, Moon Dancer!" Rainbow exclaimed, standing in the center of a clearing just outside the forest, just before a cliff. The pegasus stood up on her hind legs, taking a few jabs at the air. "Come on, I can handle anything you can throw at me—ow!" Rainbow fell back on all fours and rubbed her left cheek as the feeling of the light magical blast from Moon Dancer's horn caused it to go numb.

"What the heck, Moon Dancer?" she scowled.

Moon Dancer readjusted her glasses as she went on to explain, "Your suit has the ability to enhance your strength, durability, reflexes—even your speed—" A smile started to spread across Moon Dancer's face, quickly becoming an excited grin. "—allowing you to go up to three times your base level!"

Rainbow's face quickly came to match Moon Dancer's. "Awesome!"

"I know, right?"

"Now... what the heck, Moon Dancer?"

Moon Dancer backtracked, shying away and meekly bringing a hoof to her cheek. "Right... Well... t-the best part of all this is your goggles, as they have built-in precognition." She paused, then went on to explain upon seeing Rainbow's puzzled expression, "The ability to see things coming just as they're about to happen."

Rainbow's face lit back up. "Like foresight!"

Moon Dancer nodded. "Exactly! Now, the enemy may be adept at magic, or projectile usage. Your specialty being flight, you must be able to see these attacks coming, then be quick enough to dodge them."

"Alright, I get what you're saying." Rainbow grinned confidently, reentering her fighting stance. "Ready when you are!"

"If you say so..." Moon Dancer took on a stance of her own, crouching forward before firing off several rounds of magic in Rainbow's direction.

A couple moments passed after the final shot, and Moon Dancer simply stared, flabbergasted at her friend, now lying completely immobilized on the ground from her magic.

She walked up to Rainbow, shaking her head in disbelief. "Didn't you see a single one of those coming?"

"I did for a sec," Rainbow replied weakly, then paused. "I can't feel a thing..."

"Hm, must be a glitch in the goggles, making it come and go at random." She fired up her horn, lifting the goggles from her face, and looking them over. "I'll see if I can have it fixed real quick—"

"Check it out, Moon Dancer!" exclaimed a voice from the woods. "I think I got the hang of this flying mechanic!"

Twilight burst forth from the treeline doing a little spin as she rose higher into the air, when the thrusters in her hooves all of a sudden puttered out. Twilight's smile fell, as she felt gravity start to weigh in. "Oh horseapples."

Moon Dancer leaped back, narrowly dodging Twilight as she landed right on top of Rainbow.

She groaned, retracting the armor past her neck, and looking down to see what she had landed on. Whatever it was, it felt like... "R-Rainbow...?"

Her eyes grew big, finding herself lying on top of her girlfriend in heavy, potentially bone-crushing armor.

"Twi...?" Rainbow replied weakly, peering up at her. "Man... I didn't even feel that."

Twilight gasped. "Oh my gosh, this suit... I didn't... did I?"

"Urgh..." Moon Dancer's hoof slid down her face.

"So now that we understand that neither I nor you crippled Rainbow, let's continue." Moon Dancer paused, brandishing a sheepish, yet hopeful smile as she looked her in the eyes. "No hard feelings for causing you panic?"

Twilight said nothing, her eyes simply narrowing back at her.

"Right..." She chuckled awkwardly, deciding to just move forward. "Your armor comes equipped with some surveillance capabilities—including the ability to detect and evaluate threats, yadayada—but of course, to compliment this, the suit has its fair share of offensive capabilities as well, such as miniature blasters built into your foreleg sleeves which shoot heavily-condensed magical bursts— Think of them like having multiple horns. You just focus your magic through them and..." Moon Dancer's hoof slowly pulled away from her own horn, mimicking a small explosion. "Boosh."

Her hoof lowered to the ground, her lips forming a proud smile. "Stun magic, sleep magic, elemental magic—whatever spell you want to cast, this suit will multiply and amplify. Here, try them out on these."

Out from the bushes sprang crudely-drawn cardboard standups of timberwolves.

At least they were drawn well enough that she could tell they were timberwolves.

She engaged her armor, dislodging the blaster from her right sleeve with a flick of her foreleg, pointed it in the direction of the cutouts... then shot Moon Dancer in the head with a blast of knockout magic. Her forelegs wobbled for a moment before giving out, the mare falling onto her side in an instant.

"Hmph." Twilight retracted her blaster back into her sleeve.

"You're forgiven, Moon Dancer."

Moon Dancer let out a heavy sigh, gently massaging the side of her head as she stood before Rainbow. "Okay... for the sake of your fiancée not hitting me with another spell, please try and not get hit this time around."

"I'm ready this time, Moon Dancer!" Rainbow exclaimed. "Last time you caught me off guard, but not this time—whoa!" She barely had enough time to crane her neck to the left as a blast of magic whirled past the right side of her face, grazing her cheek. "Geez!"

"Enemies won't just announce when they're ready to go, Rainbow." Moon Dancer fired off a few more rounds, and like before, Rainbow dodged each one with expert precision. "I see the goggles are a lot more functional this time around," she remarked happily, igniting her horn.

She crouched forward with a daring smirk, before firing off a flurry of shots, each one proceeding the other.

Rainbow gulped.

I, I got this! she psyched herself up, and swerved her body around the incoming projectiles: left, then right... as if she were dancing around them. She ducked her head right as one grazed the top of her mane, then performed a somersault high up into the air... feeling the shots whiz past her as she gazed into the sun, unable to help but smile.

This... is so... aweso—!

Her eyes widened and her heart sunk, realizing the sun growing further and further away.

She hit the ground with a startled cry, her back left wing tingling all over.

"Almost, Rainbow. Don't try anything fancy, or you'll leave yourself open," chided Moon Dancer, coming up beside her. "You gotta keep your eyes peeled, understand?"

Rainbow groaned out in response, shutting her eyes, and banging her head against the grass in frustration.

Targets within her specs pinpointed every cardboard cutout stationed before her. Twilight smiled warily from behind her mask, dislodging both her blasters from her foreleg sockets and shooting out a wave of fireballs, nailing each timberwolf in its center. "Hmph. All four neutralized, or... at least as neutralized as cardboard can get," she mused aloud just as one sprung up beside her. She scrambled back, letting out a startled gasp and spraying out an unfocused burst of fire from her foreleg, roasting the cutout in its place.

It was then, as her heartbeat and breathing calmed, that she noticed it was a drawing of a pony.

"Twilight," Moon Dancer remarked, shaking her head as she chose to step in. "You have to watch what you're firing at."

Twilight glanced down in shame. "I know, I know, I..." She let out a sigh. "I got scared. It won't happen again."

The cutout disintegrated, reduced to a pile of ash.

Twilight stared down at the pile for a moment, then back up at Moon Dancer. "Was that a drawing of Lemon Hearts?"

"Nngh..."

"So Rainbow, since you've yet to test the flight aspects of your suit, and Twilight still needs a lot of practice in that field, I suggest the two of you fly together for a bit."

"Sounds good to me." Rainbow smiled over at Twilight.

Twilight nodded back at her, letting out a breath to calm her nerves.

She pushed into the ground before throwing herself forward... accidentally launching right into Rainbow.

They fell to the ground in a cluster, Moon Dancer staring at them with her mouth agape.

"Really, Guys?"

Rainbow was the first to speak, letting out a pained moan. "Okay... that hurt."

Twilight's helmet retracted, and she smiled apologetically down at Rainbow.

I can see each shot coming, and I feel lighter on my hooves... like I'm getting faster the more I move... Each moment's precise, perfect... She jumped into the air with an elated grin, her wings doing a little flutter. "Awesome!"

"Don't get too cocky, Rainbow," warned Moon Dancer, her horn charging up. Rainbow grinned in confidence, readying her stance as one single shot was fired at her directly.

Rainbow swerved to the side, but the magic stayed on her trail no matter the number of times she leaped backwards or to the sides of her. Crud! I... I can't shake it!

She looked to the sky for an easy way out, and darted into the air, the projectile chasing after her at an angle. She zoomed into the woods, flying up and over tree branches, and glanced back over her shoulder in time to see the projectile dissipate as it smacked into one of the branches.

Ha ha, yes!

Rainbow's face lit up gleefully as she turned to look back ahead.

She barely had time to react as she flew right into a large tree branch, it sending her spiraling to the ground below.

"Urgh..." She peered up with a pained expression, just as Moon Dancer came running over.

"That magic's a little more difficult to shake. You kept an eye on the projectile. Now you just need to keep an eye on your environment."

Rainbow gave her eyes a roll, before falling onto her back with a heavy sigh in defeat, forelegs sprawled out at her sides.

Moon Dancer meanwhile, stared down at her with a wry look.

Looks like I'm gonna have to rethink this...

"So!" —Moon Dancer clapped her hooves together— "Twilight, Rainbow... I think maybe I've been examining this all wrong. The two of you are always going to be by each other's side, right?"

"Right."

"Totally!"

Moon Dancer chuckled. "Then, in that case... Rainbow here has had some trouble watching both her back and the environment—"

"More like a teensy amount of trouble," she whispered to Twilight, who giggled softly in response.

"And you, Twilight," she continued, grabbing the unicorn's attention, "could really use somepony to remind her when and when not to shoot."

She gulped, shrinking back and let out a humorless chuckle. "Y-yeah, I... I guess..."

"So I thought, since the two of you will be fighting together anyway, why not have the two of you watch each other's backs!"

The two blinked slowly, then turned to face one another. sharing a nod in agreement.

"Let's give it a try!"

"Twi! Two o'clock!"

Twilight turned to face the direction, firing a beam squarely into one of the cutouts.

"Three more on your left!"

She turned her attention swiftly to the cardboard timberwolves, then leaped back into the air as she activated her boots, and fired three simultaneous shots, both from her horn and blasters.

She touched down wearily, heart beating wildly when she heard her girlfriend's panicked voice.

"Behind you, Twilight! Two more timberwolves closing in on an innocent pony!"

Twilight grit her teeth and whirled around, firing at both sides of the cutout.

Smoke simmered from the charred spots, before each fell over on either side of the pony figure.

"Nice!" Rainbow cheered.

Twilight breathed, forming a slight smile at the compliment.

"Not bad indeed, Twilight," Moon Dancer acknowledged from the shadows; "but let's see how well you improvise..."

A dozen more sprung up from under the surrounding leaves, forming a circle around her.

Twilight looked around her in a panic, her heartbeat quickening.

"W-what do I do, Rainbow? I can't begin to take them on without leaving myself exposed to the others!"

"Then you'll need to take them all out at once, Twi! Just wind up, and let loose!"

"What do you...?" It then dawned on her, and she smiled confidently. I get it...

She wound her body up, then rocketed into the air, unwinding and twirling her body around, releasing a flurry of shots that nailed every one of her targets.

She landed back on her hooves, each of her targets falling flat against the ground.

Rainbow galloped up to her, sporting a look of amazement. "Twi... that was amazing!"

"Truth be told..." Twilight smiled, feeling a little lightheaded as she stumbled back and forth dizzily. "It felt amazing."

"Well how about that..." Moon Dancer murmured, her eyes wide in astonishment. A growing smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. "We might just stand a chance after all..."

Rainbow dodged each incoming shot with pinpoint precision. The last shot passed over her muzzle as she fell back, using a foreleg to catch herself from falling flat on her back. She launched herself back up onto all fours, gazing back at Moon Dancer with a determined grin.

"How'd you like that?"

"Impressive, just like before, Rainbow Dash," Moon Dancer applauded. "Prepare yourself though, for now comes the homing shots."

"Then this is where you come in, Twi!" Rainbow turned to her with a trusting look.

"On it!" Twilight replied, springing into action. Luckily I've prepared just the spell...

Moon Dancer fired three consecutive shots at Rainbow, who shot off into the sky.

Twilight focused her magic. "Fool me once," she recited under breath. "Fool me twice."

Two translucent copies of Rainbow Dash appeared side by side of the real one—diverting Moon Dancer's magic, with two of the shots locking onto, and following the decoy pegasi.

I see... mused Moon Dancer, in slight awe; Twilight's freeing up Rainbow's concentration...

While the real Rainbow Dash continued her ascent upwards, the two copies steered off in opposite directions, eventually looping around, and heading towards one another on a collision course.

Rainbow herself smirked, slowing her descent before twisting herself around and diving back down at incredible speed, swerving past Moon Dancer's magic, which remained locked on to her rainbow trail.

She darted between her two lookalikes a second before the spell wore off and they faded into one another, all three of the projectiles colliding into the other, exploding like one great big firework.

Rainbow swooped down to the cliff side, planting her hooves firmly in the grass as she skidded to a halt.

She stood still for a moment as she collected her breath, all the while smiling triumphantly.

"That was awesome!"

Rainbow blinked—dumbfounded—believing she had just heard herself speak. She looked over at her girlfriend just in time to be greeted with a face full of purple, Twilight having run over and thrown her forelegs around her.

She pulled back, coming muzzle to muzzle with her, and grinning broadly.

"You were incredible up there, Rainbow!"

"Heh, well..." Rainbow averted her eyes bashfully, "Only because of you, Twi. Thanks for having my back." She looked back into her eyes, her cheeks sporting a faint red tinge.

"Anytime, Rainbow." Twilight smiled back at her sweetly.

Moon Dancer shifted her gaze away as the two closed in for a kiss, her mind slipping into thought.

Looks like there really isn't anything the two of them can't accomplish when they're working together...

"...See, it's all about balance, Twi. Like, how I need both of my wings to stay afloat, you'll need all four of your hooves to stay airborne."

"I understand that, Rainbow Dash. What I still don't entirely understand is how to move."

She wavered—like she were standing on ice—and flew forward suddenly, right into her girlfriend's chest... Rainbow catching her in her forelegs.

"I got you, Twi. Hay, at least you avoided knocking us both to the ground this time." She chuckled sheepishly, Twilight drawing her head back, and looking back at her unamused.

"Heh... R-right, well... don't worry, Twi. Flying's hard. Nopony's going to get the hang of it right away. Even I didn't, probably..." She looked off as her smile slowly fell, thinking back to her fillyhood.

"Rainbow—"

"But hey!" she exclaimed cheerily, getting back on track, "I'll be there to catch you when you fall, and besides... you'll be fighting from the ground anyway, right? For you, flying will only be a way out if you get surrounded."

"Well, I'd still like to get the hang of it, Rainbow."

"And you will! Luckily for you, you couldn't have asked for a better coach." She winked down at her.

Twilight giggled at that. "All right then, Coach... lead away."

"Cool! 'Kay, so... first thing's first, I'm gonna have to let go of you."

Rainbow went to do so, only to find herself stuck in place. "Mm?"

She looked down, and immediately deadpanned, realizing that her girlfriend's forelegs remained firmly wrapped around her own withers.

She turned back to Twilight, Twilight letting out a meek laugh in response. "R-right..."

Rainbow smiled, rolling her eyes before flying back several feet. "Just stay focused on your hooves, Twi! Then just think about which direction you wanna move in! If there's anypony who can multitask, it's you!"

Twilight swallowed nervously before nodding, breathing out to calm her nerves.

She closed her eyes and cleared her mind of everything but staying in the air, and after a couple moments, she felt as though she were actually walking on air.

"Great!" she heard Rainbow exclaim. "Now try moving. Just lift your left hooves to move right, and right hooves to move left. Lift a hind hoof to fly forward, and a front hoof to push yourself back."

Twilight did as she instructed, lifting her right hooves slowly, and guiding herself through the air. It, it's working... I can actually feel myself moving where I want... I—!

"Twi!"

Twilight's eyes blinked open right before smacking her side into the trunk of a tree, disrupting her concentration. Her rockets puttered out, and she fell to the ground with a panicked yell.

Rainbow winced, lowering herself to the ground before she and Moon Dancer ran up to check on her.

"Are you alright, Twi?"

Twilight in response, let out a groan, rolling over onto her back, and staring up at her two friends with a dry expression.

"Uh... maybe next time, try keeping your eyes open, Twi," Rainbow suggested. "It's only one more thing to keep track of."

Twilight pursed her lips, rolling her eyes in response.

Okay... Now I've got this...

Twilight swerved left, then right, keeping her eyes locked on her environment while at the same time, focusing on keeping herself afloat. She breathed out shakily, directing her attention towards her girlfriend, who nodded approvingly, as she hovered off the ground a ways away from her.

"You're doing awesome, Twi!" Rainbow called out to her. "Now try flying over to me, and I think we can call it quits for today!"

Twilight bit her lip, nodding her head softly as she pointed all four of her hooves behind her. Pouring all of her concentration into her hooves, she propelled herself forward.

"Whoa!"

Rainbow narrowly moved out of the way as she zipped past her, Twilight throwing her front hooves out in front of herself and leaning her body back, pulling back enough that the rockets came to a standstill.

She turned back around slowly, and smiled sheepishly at the other two before descending, setting her hooves back on the ground. Rainbow flew down right in front of her.

"Eh... good enough," she remarked with a teasing smile.

Twilight glared back at her playfully.

"I'd have to agree."

Twilight's expression softened up as both her and Rainbow's attention turned towards Moon Dancer as she walked up to congratulate the two.

"I'd say the two of you are as ready as you'll ever be."

A little bashful, Rainbow held a hoof behind her own head, while Twilight scratched her cheek meekly.

"You, you think?" she asked, averting her eyes for a second before straightening up, meeting Moon Dancer's gaze with an appreciative smile. "Thank you, Moon Dancer. At least now I feel a little better about this whole 'doom on the horizon' feeling."

Moon Dancer garnished a coy look. "Would you say you're... hooked on a feeling?"

Twilight dipped her head. "Urgh..."

Moon Dancer giggled behind closed lips, holding a hoof over them.

"In all the times I've dreamed of flying... I never imagined it'd be like this."

Twilight gazed down at her hooves.

"Really?" Rainbow teased, taking a light jab at her side. "You never factored in rocket boots?"

Twilight rolled her eyes. "I never fathomed technology like this could exist in our lifetime... Besides—" She shot Rainbow a sheepish look. "I always imagined I'd be using magic to fly."

"Well in some ways, you are. It's like Moon Dancer said: these outfits enhance our magic, so..." Rainbow looked back ahead. "I never imagined I'd be able to fly that fast..."

Silence set in between the two, with Twilight averting her eyes in thought, pursing her lips before shimmying closer to Rainbow. She brushed up against the pegasus, causing her to jump ever so slightly.

Rainbow looked swiftly to her right, in time to be greeted with her girlfriend's indigo mane, Twilight nuzzling up the side of her neck.

"I love you," she spoke sweetly.

"Uh..." Rainbow looked to her left, then to her right. "What?" she finally remarked, drawing Twilight's attention. "I mean, I love you too, Twi, but... what?"

Rainbow gazed down at her, bemused, causing her face to redden as she peered back at her innocently.

"I-I just feel like... I dunno, after everything that happened in the Everfree Forest, and finding out that everypony I know and love may be in danger, I... I guess I just feel like... like I've become a little too distracted—from you in particular. I mean, we're getting married in less than a month for Celestia's sake!" Twilight gazed down in shame, breathing out a sigh. She bit her lip. "I know it seems like I'm obsessing over all this, I mean... what if the Pony of Shadows doesn't show up, and Princess Celestia's head doesn't end up on a stake?"

"You were so sure she would show up though, Twi," replied Rainbow. "You were so eager to take her on—"

"Yeah... yeah, I know, I just... I guess that was all the adrenaline talking... To be honest with you, Rainbow, I'm... sort of dreading tonight."

"I can't blame you there, Twi... I think we all are, er—except maybe Moon Dancer. I think she's been itching for the opportunity to play hero."

Twilight lowered her gaze to her hooves.

"I just wish we could enjoy tonight... as a couple, you know?"

"I know, Twi... but if we don't stop her tonight, what's to stop her from going after more of your memories?" Rainbow gently lifted her chin with a hoof. "Don't worry, Twi... we just spent a couple hours training, and you'll be with me and Moon Dancer! We'll stop the Pony of Shadows... and who knows? We might even have time for a dance afterwards."

Twilight chuckled at that.

"I know we will, I just..." She smiled sheepishly back at Rainbow. "I worry, Rainbow. Maybe a little too much."

"No way, Twi! Thinking things through is good, and you have the most on the line, so..." She shrugged. "You can't always wing it like I do."

"Don't sell yourself short, Rainbow. Some of your best moments came from you just... winging it. You're right though... I'd probably just end up injuring myself way more often."

"Gee, thanks, Twi."

The two laughed as they turned back on ahead, gazing into the horizon.

Their smiles softened, as they reflected back on their day together.

"All this and it's still only midday," Twilight mused aloud. "We still have time to pick out dresses for tonight, and whatever else we'll need to get ready."

"Speaking of, guess we should probably get around to that, huh?"

Twilight sighed, nodding softly before looking off towards the city. "I'll go withdraw some bits from the bank." She paused, looking down at herself. "After I slip out of this armor," she added, meekly.

Rainbow smiled back at her, humored.

"Good idea."

"How's this?"

Rainbow grabbed a hanger between her teeth, removing it from the row of dresses they were currently browsing.

"Too gaudy," Twilight decided, with barely a glace.

"Okay..." A little perturbed, Rainbow put it back in favor of another. "How about this one?"

Twilight pursed her lips.

"Too expensive," she replied, this time giving it a little more thought as the dress was simpler, and seemed to compliment her girlfriend... until she noticed the price tag.

Rainbow's shoulders slumped as she stared back at her fiancée, exasperated.

"I mean," she continued in justification, "you're probably just gonna rip right out of it anyway the moment the first sign of danger rears its ugly face."

"You don't know that—"

"Yes, Rainbow... I do." Twilight sighed, and found one both beautiful, and cost efficient. "Why don't you go with this?"

Rainbow put the dress back, and turned with a raised brow to the dress Twilight now held suspended in her magic.

It was a simple dress, with a flared bottom, and a white sash around its middle. It was deep blue—only a bit darker than her ow cerulean-colored coat, and sported small, white sleeves.

"What can I say, Twi? I think I kinda like it!" A smile quickly grew across her face. "I mean, you're right; I probably am just going to... rip right out of it when the time comes, but ah... I'll feel kinda bad about it now."

She looked back at Twilight with a meek smile, her ears flattening.

Twilight returned the look with one of understanding, baring a warm smile. "Well, hay," she replied; "it's a small price to pay for saving Equestria. Maybe Princess Celestia will even reward you with a new one after the day is saved," she added with a sly wink.

"Maybe! Hey, so... What about you, Twi?"

"I think I'll just go with this," Twilight replied, holding up a red-layered dress, with orange and yellow-layered sleeves, a couple buttons down the middle. "What do you think?"

"Simple," she replied. "It suits you, a-and I mean that in the best possible way!"

She grinned sheepishly, Twilight slowly deadpanning back at her.

"Nice finds, girls!"

Moon Dancer marveled over their dresses, Twilight having laid them out before her on one the many lab tables. "I would say you cut it kinda close buying these hours before the main event, but hey! Better late than never!"

"It wasn't our fault, Moon Dancer—" Twilight started to explain.

"Yeah, I mean... we've sorta been busy planning a wedding," cut in Rainbow.

"No need to be so indignant, Rainbow," Twilight reminded her, "But she's right. Not to mention Princess Celestia sending us to investigate the Everfree Forest without a second's notice."

"Y-you're right." Moon Dancer flashed them both an apologetic smile. "S-sorry, Twilight, Rainbow... I, I wasn't thinking..."

"Oh, it's no big deal," Twilight replied, waving off her concern. "So, ah... May we see your dress, Moon Dancer?"

"Oh, you don't want to see that dumb old thing," Moon Dancer insisted, feigning a smile.

"If I didn't want to see it, I wouldn't have asked, Moon—"

Moon Dancer's smile fell.

"Urgh, fine! Here." She rolled her eyes, turning and using her magic to remove a sleek, short black dress, with a single shoulder strap, and flowing skirt from the labcoat closet. The dress itself was pristine, still kept in a translucent bag from the store. "Sorry, it's just... I don't get what the big deal is. Mom's all like, "You should wear something nice to the Gala," and I'm all like, "It's not going to matter what I wear," but of course you guys haven't met my mother. She's like, this huge fashionista and wants me to make an impression, but I was just like, "That's not who I am inside, Mom." I mean, I'm a scientist for Celestia's sake, not some royal snob." She sighed in exasperation, before noting the bemused looks on her friends' faces.

"Sorry..." She shied back, quickly coming to bear an embarrassed look. "I've never really gotten along with my parents. My sister is like, the only one who really gets me."

Rainbow turned her gaze away, exhaling a little snort at Moon Dancer's words.

"Hay, at least you have a mom," she remarked, the twinge of annoyance in her voice taking the other two aback.

"Rainbow..." Twilight's expression softened and her ears drooped, the unicorn reaching a hoof out for Rainbow's closest foreleg. "Moon Dancer didn't mean to suggest—"

Rainbow's eyes slowly widened as it dawned on her what she had just said.

She bit her bottom lip and tore her gaze away, feeling a sudden pang run across her heart.

"I... I-I know. I guess, I mean..." She began to turn halfway. "I-I'll be outside, Twi, sorry."

Before either had the chance to protest, Rainbow dashed out in the blink of an eye, leaving a rainbow trail and a few strewn papers, their manes blowing slightly in the residual gust of wind.

"W-what... did I...?" Moon Dancer blinked, turning to look at Twilight with a guilty conscious. "I said something wrong again, didn't I?"

"What?" Twilight's brow lifted. "N-no! No, you didn't, Moon Dancer, I..." She sighed, starting over a little more clearly. "It's just that... Rainbow's mother, she, ah... died... when she was just a filly."

"Died?" Moon Dancer only mouthed, regaining her voice long enough to stammer, "G-geez, I... w-why?" she asked. "I don't—?"

"Understand?" Twilight surmised, letting out a sigh. "I know. It... didn't make much sense to us either," she lamented.

"W-well..." Moon Dancer gulped, then paused as she thought it over. "There must have been a reason."

"There was," Twilight remarked. "It... just wasn't anything good, I'd bet."

Moon Dancer pushed her slipping glasses back up her muzzle. "Celestia..." she uttered under her breath.

"Yeah..." Twilight's gaze turned crestfallen. "Rainbow moved to Ponyville not long after, propping herself up so high that her past would never drag her back down again." She chuckled, gazing back up, and capturing Moon Dancer's eyes who took a step back, shaking her head.

"I... h-honestly didn't mean to suggest that I don't appreciate my mom, I just—"

"I know, Moon Dancer, and..." Twilight raised one of her hooves reassuringly. "I understand. Like... I appreciate and love the fact I have two parents, but my brother is the only one I've ever really felt completely comfortable around too." She cocked a dorky grin back at Moon Dancer, who smiled softly in return.

"Thanks, Twilight, though..." She looked past her. I feel like... like I should say something, she thought as her horn began to glow, before looking sheepishly back into Twilight's eyes. "I have something I need to take care of real fast."

Before Twilight could blink, she disappeared in a flash of light, reappearing outside the school with a stumble... and after a quick glance to her left, beamed, spotting Rainbow sitting on a nearby street bench.

She wasted no time galloping over to her friend, who remained lost in thought, mulling over something.

Rainbow heard the clip clop of hooves approaching her, and removed herself from her thoughts, glancing up curiously. "Moon—?"

Moon Dancer cut her off, clumsily rearing up on her hind legs, and pulling her forward and down a bit, embracing Rainbow around the back of her neck... leaving her with her chin resting over the unicorn's shoulder.

Rainbow's eyes darted left, then to her right a little uneasily... the embrace lasting an unbearable couple of moments in silence.

Rainbow had to break it.

"Um... why are you—?"

"Because nopony should have to go through what you did. That's why."

Rainbow's eyes widened a little. "O-oh, uhm..." That was why. She snapped back to reality, swallowing and blinking away a quiver that was beginning in her eyes. "T-Twi told you... huh?"

"Well, somepony had to explain why you left so suddenly." Moon Dancer nuzzled her dearly. "I'm really sorry, Rainbow."

"Hey, it's... I mean, you know... It's okay. It's in the past, right?" Moon Dancer pulled away, lowering herself back onto all fours. "So I shouldn't be dwelling on it."

Rainbow hopped down before Moon Dancer, soon finding her attention being drawn to Twilight's voice as she trotted up beside the two of them.

"Oh, I don't know, Rainbow," she said. "I think it's okay to dwell—so long as our pasts don't drag us down, that is." Twilight walked closer, catching Rainbow by surprise and leaving her breathless as she nuzzled the underside of her chin. "We learn from them, learn what it takes to avoid the same mistakes from happening again."

She pulled back, leaving her girlfriend stiff, her cheeks reddened, and turned to face Moon Dancer. "After all, that's a part of why we're doing this, isn't it? To make sure that a threat like this... Pony of Shadows... never arises ever again."

Moon Dancer nodded, smiling in determination. "True that. So then, we'll all reconvene at the gala, suited up, with our dresses serving as our disguises."

"Sounds like a plan!" Rainbow exclaimed, chiming in excitedly. "Aw yeah... The three of us, the... the Guardians of Harmony, ready to protect the good folk of Equestria from the... forces that, uh, lurk... in... the, ah... shadows?"

Rainbow grinned meekly as she finished, the other two staring back at her dryly.

Twilight brandished a sympathetic smile. "It could use some work, Sweetie," she said, reaching out, and setting a hoof on her foreleg.

"Hey, well..." Rainbow grinned back at her. "We're not exactly the Elements of Harmony yet... are we, Twi?"

"So, Spike, we'll be home late tonight—if the world doesn't end, that is."

Twilight stood with Rainbow by the front entrance to their tower foyer, fidgeting with her earring as she spoke, each of them outfitted in their disguises. It was later that day as Spike stood ready to see them off, the sun having only begun to dip over the horizon.

"Do you think it will?" Spike asked suddenly. "I-I mean, I know the armor's a precaution and all, but..." He bit his lip, holding his other arm as he averted his eyes in uncertainty.

"Don't worry, Spike. We won't let a thing happen to you." Twilight reassured him with a smile, combing a hoof across the spikes on his head. "Besides, if a Pony of Shadows does show up... me, Rainbow, Moon Dancer, the Royal Guard ponies, and Princess Celestia should be more than enough to circumvent a catastrophe. Though... we're hoping that none of them will have to get involved."

"Yeah, Spike!" Rainbow chimed up, hoping to cheer him up. "Come on, show a little faith! This whole thing will be over before it begins!"

Spike's lips tightened, his expression remaining less than convinced. "I don't know... I mean, I know you guys are strong and all... and I've even seen Moon Dancer in her Iron Mare armor a couple of times, but..."

"But what, Spike?"

"This Pony of Shadows... is targeting your memories, along with everything else... isn't she, Twilight? You mentioned it earlier, at breakfast... I didn't know what to say at the time, but... I don't want you losing your memories either, Twilight! I mean... what if you forget me?"

Rainbow and Twilight looked at one another, for a moment unsure of how to respond.

Spike... thought Twilight, turning back to her, and forming a tender smile. "I could never forget you, Spike... and if I somehow did, well... Rainbow would be there to remember for me. Right, Rainbow?"

Rainbow nodded assuredly. "Totally—!"

"It won't be the same!" Spike blurted, unconvinced. "Even... even if Rainbow tells you who I am... all you'll ever see is a dragon. You, Rainbow, Moon Dancer..." he continued with shaky breaths, "you're some of the only ponies to ever look at me like I'm one of you, and... if something happens to you guys... what'll happen to me? Where will I go? Who will I have? Y-you guys... you're my family! With... without you... I, I don't..."

Rainbow and Twilight's expressions slowly sunk at their friend's heartfelt confession.

"Oh, Spike..." murmured Twilight, cantering over to hug him, and even as she did, Spike continued to voice his concerns, becoming a little teary-eyed himself.

"A-and... and what if Rainbow forgets? Or, or w-worse? What if you—? You... could lose so much more than your memories, Twilight!"

Twilight nodded knowingly, her voice softening. "I know, Spike," she whispered, "and... I'm not sure if there's anything either of us can say to ease your nerves, but this... Pony of Shadows... said she'd come after the princesses, a-and everypony near and dear to me... and something about her, tells me that she very much will... It's unfortunate, Spike," she continued Spike nodding begrudgingly, "and we wish we could leave it to Princess Celestia, Cadance, and their guards, but if there's a chance they could fail, then... the Pony of Shadows will surely come for us next."

"It's like you said, Spike," added Rainbow, stepping forward. "We're a family, and we'd do anything to keep you safe... alright? We're not just fighting for Equestria, or for each other... but for you too."

"Rainbow's right, Spike... a-and besides! When I'm with my friends... I feel like there's nothing we can't accomplish."

"Then let me tag along!" Spike pulled back out of the embrace, insisting stubbornly, "I've said it before, Twilight! I'm not a kid anymore, and, a-and Moon even designed real-life fistigons for me that I could totally use to—!"

"How about this, Spike," Twilight proposed. "If things get out of hoof... we'll reach out to you... alright?" She smiled reassuringly. "You can be our contingency plan, if all else fails."

Spike smiled weakly back at her. "As long as I can be of use." He sniffled unwittingly. "I just hate standing by while the three of you risk it all for me... It makes me feel so helpless, so... so weak, knowing my closest friends are fighting a battle they might not return from, and it's all because of me..."

"Please don't blame yourself, Spike."

"You know... you can come with us, Spike," Rainbow suggested, much to Twilight's own ire.

"Rainbow... I really don't know if that's—"

"A good idea?" Spike surmised. "Probably not. If it'll end up being as dangerous as you say, then it's probably best I stay out of harm's way unless absolutely necessary—l-like you said, Twilight. I mean, I would like to go with you guys, but not if it means looking over my shoulder at all times."

Twilight chuckled softly, nodding in agreement. "Maybe next year?" she asked, hopefulness creeping into her voice.

"Oh, next year for sure. We can spend the whole night together even, so long as... you know." He smiled meekly.

"No cataclysms happen." Twilight smiled softly, her gaze shying away. "Right..."

The Gala was in full swing by the time Rainbow, Twilight and Moon Dancer arrived on the scene. Rows of ponies stood uniform to one another along the red carpet that lead to the castle, just waiting to get in.

The thunderous booms and crackle of fireworks sounded as they lit up the sky, and on the ground, festive lights adorned the trees. Roaming spotlights shone across the castle walls, and enormous pathway, making the Gala feel more like a fashion show, with the three of them feeling more like they were on the catwalk.

Twilight and Rainbow's eyes both lit up at the sight.

"This... looks... awesome!"

"If only we could enjoy it..."

The disappointment in her voice captured her girlfriend's attention, causing her to frown, and her ears to flop.

"Twi..."

She began to reach out to comfort her, when Moon Dancer spoke up.

"It's not exactly as fun as you'd think... just a bunch of socialites discussing politics, and classical music and fancy shmancy food. Take it from a pony who's been forced to come here year after year." She grimaced at the memory.

"Um, I like classical music," Twilight remarked, looking over at her a bit riled.

Moon Dancer rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, but when it's the only thing they play—!"

"H-hey, would you look at that! The line's moving pretty quick." Rainbow let out a nervous laugh. "So, uh... how 'bout we discuss our plans once we head inside."

Moon Dancer nodded. "Good thinking, Rainbow. I think I'll keep an eye on Princess Celestia—"

Twilight opened her mouth to interject just as Moon Dancer went on to explain, "She usually spends the first hour or so of the Gala at the top of the stairs, greeting ponies. A position like that, so close to the entrance... will no doubt leave her open to attack, I mean... our attacker could be in this very line!"

"Then we should stick together if that's the case," Twilight argued.

Moon Dancer shook her head. "The castle gate isn't the only way in, Twilight, and if we all stick together, then a lot of ground is going to go uncovered."

"Moon Dancer's right, Twi. I mean, she's way more experienced than either of us are, and the more ground we cover, the more likely we are to notice something strange."

Twilight looked between the two, her resolve weakening. "Okay... okay, I trust you'll keep the princess safe, Moon Dancer. I guess in the meantime, Rainbow and I will cover the ballroom, and outer gardens."

"And at the first signs of danger, we'll reconvene with each other as soon as possible."

"Sounds like a plan," they replied.

The three stepped hoof past the enormous castle doors, and into the entrance hall where the group's attention was immediately drawn to Princess Celestia, standing at the top of the stairs in all her radiance.

Moon Dancer brought a hoof to the side of her mouth, leaning in close to Rainbow and mentioning in a hushed voice, "You guys go greet Celestia. I'll hang out down here, keeping an eye out."

"Sure you don't want to greet her as well?" Twilight whispered back.

"I'm good. Remember, Twilight... I've been to this before. Besides, who's going to watch our backs, if we're all looking the same way?"

"Er, good point."

"Well then... I guess this is where we part ways, Moon Dancer," said Rainbow.

"For now, anyways," Moon Dancer agreed, and as she began to turn away, paused, looking back over her shoulder at them. "Remember, Girls, first sign of danger and we come looking for one another. Alright?"

Rainbow and Twilight nodded. "Right."

The two looked ahead of themselves, and continued moving as the line advanced.

Rainbow herself glanced around anxiously.

"I think Moon Dancer might have been on to something, Twi," she muttered softly, leaning closer to her girlfriend. "This place seems full of stiffs, I mean... where's the entertainment?"

"I think it's up to the guests themselves to make the most of their night here, and sort of find enjoyment in what they came here to accomplish."

Princess Celestia's eyes caught a glimpse of the two in line, and immediately grew a little excited, her mood brightening considerably. She waved goodbye to the last couple of ponies, then directed her attention to her two friends.

"Rainbow, Twilight!" the princess greeted cheerfully, "I'm so happy to see the two of you made it." She lowered her head to their level, telling them in a quieter tone, "Between the three of us, these galas are always so dry and dull."

Twilight's brow raised in surprise, while Rainbow simply snickered.

"I hope, now that you're both here, you'll be able to liven things up a little," she continued.

"Oh, n-no worries, Princess." Twilight shook out of her stupor, and with a determined look, replied, "We plan to."

A long, silent pause filled the gap between the three of them.

"Right, ah, well..." Celestia lifted her head, a bit puzzled. "If that's the case, then I'll have to send the two of you tickets to next year's as well."

"I don't know if I could handle more than one of these," Rainbow grumbled under her breath, before receiving a light jab to her side.

"What?" She turned to face her fiancée, a little sourly. "This seriously is a whole lot more elegant than I think either you or I thought it'd be. Like, I was seriously hoping, no matter how unlikely, for like, an indoor carnival or something."

Twilight's ears lowered, and her gaze switched between her and Celestia, cheeks reddening. "Rainbow..."

"Now there's an idea," Princess Celestia remarked, then reconsidered, putting a hoof to her chin. "I doubt the committee would ever agree to that though."

Twilight blinked, dumbfounded by her mentor's reaction. She was sure Celestia would have taken offense to the idea, but here she was, agreeing with her girlfriend.

She sighed and gave in, turning to face Rainbow with an apologetic look. "You're right, Rainbow... and I'm sorry. I was about to chastise you for being rude, but... we're all friends, after all, and... it's okay to speak your mind when you're with your friends." She leaned in and nuzzled Rainbow, cheek to cheek. "So long as it's not something horribly offensive. Then I'd have to chastise you."

Rainbow smirked, Celestia letting out a soft chuckle at the two.

"Well I'm glad to see that you're still learning from one another." Twilight and Rainbow pulled away from the other, nodding in affirmation. "And don't you two worry about... our friend from the Everfree. I have guards stationed at every outpost around the castle, and a dome around the city to sense, and keep out any irregular magic."

"What about my magic?" Twilight asked, out of the blue. She bit her lip and turned her gaze away. "I mean... It no doubt has some of my magic, and... it, it could use that to bypass its way through—!"

Celestia raised a hoof to her student's chin reassuringly, lifting her gaze to meet hers. "Your magic combined with this rogue magic is already sort of irregular... wouldn't you say, Twilight?"

Twilight smiled meekly back at her. "I... suppose it is, yes."

"Why, the only way it could get through would be if it... somehow burrowed its way beneath this very castle."

Celestia giggled at the implausibility, Rainbow and Twilight sharing a chuckle as well.

"Well, we're grateful for the precautions, Princess, really," said Twilight. "Though, I think we're already more than safe as is." Celestia raised an eyebrow at that, parting her lips to question why, when her student continued. "Well, I... I think Rainbow and I should get a move on. You have many more ponies to greet and we're only holding up the line. Come along, Rainbow," she beckoned, turning to her girlfriend, who cocked her head in response.

She nodded slowly, and the two continued on past where Celestia stood, Twilight looking over her shoulder for a brief moment, and raising one of her hooves midway in a goodbye wave before continuing into the castle.

Celestia looked back as well, before Twilight waved... shooting a suspicious glance their way.

Flash Sentry opened the door to his private corridors before slowly trudging his way inside. He removed his helmet and set it down at the edge of his bed, staring down at it in frustration.

He breathed out a heavy sigh, turning his gaze to his bedroom window.

So many ponies from all over come here hoping to make this their best night ever... and here I am, stuck on guard duty... I don't get it... Security was never this tight before. It's like Celestia knows something we don't... but what? A changeling invasion? An army of dragons? Man... I can't imagine...

He shook his head, deep in thought.

I should be down there, trying to find the one mare who's right for me... like that one purple mare... I wonder if she's even down there... He snorted. Probably not... Sure, he continued to lament, Shining Armor gets the night off, more than likely because he's dating Celestia's niece... The rest of us, though... I mean, it's not like we have a—

His room grew darker suddenly as the light that poured in from the hall became blocked by somepony, or something.

Flash spun around swiftly, confronting the figure.

"W-who's...?"

He eased up as he locked eyes with them, recognizing them as they took a step closer, their features becoming prevalent.

"You... you're her..."

"I sensed your ... resentment," the pony figure stating, coming closer.

His brow furrowed. "My... h-how—? Wait. Did, are, are you... reading my mind?"

"I simply felt what you were feeling," she replied matter-of-factly.

"I'm not sure I follow, but... if you can feel what I'm feeling..." He swallowed hard, heart beating faster. "C-can you feel what I'm feeling right now?"

"Confusion... apprehension... curiosity..." The mare didn't miss a beat, as she continued to list off the symptoms she felt. "More than anything, however... an unwavering attraction towards... me."

A faint blush filled Flash's cheeks as he steered his gaze away, stuttering, "Y-yeah... Hey, well... what can I say? I've never seen a pony like you before."

"It's those feelings that drew me to you, if I am to be honest."

"So you're saying...?" A hopeful hint crept into his voice.

"Do you want me?"

The sudden question sent his mind spiraling into a thickening fog. Feeling his consciousness slipping away, he struggled to stay focused on the question.

"D-do I...?"

A couple of hearts began to fill his eyes.

"Do you need me?"

"I... y-yes," he confessed longingly, falling head over heels for the mare.

She smirked.

"Then do exactly as I say..."

"Nothing yet..." Rainbow mused, glancing warily around the ballroom. "Hey, Twi?" She turned to face her. "You sure we're really in danger?"

"I'm certain of it," Twilight replied without hesitation, then turned to her girlfriend out of curiosity. "Why do you ask, Rainbow?"

"N-no reason, just... You heard Celestia back there. She said she had the whole place on high alert, and a dome around the whole city to keep out any irregular magic... I was thinking maybe Celestia really could handle the Pony of Shadows on her own."

"I would love to think so, Rainbow, but... this is the same entity that wormed its way into my dreams. If she could somehow do that, I don't think there's a place on Earth she couldn't break into."

"Right..." Rainbow's gaze sunk solemnly. "I guess we forgot to mention that to Celestia..."

"Hey, come on... It's like you said, Rainbow: this whole thing will be over before it begins. We'll be sharing that dance and drinking the night away before you know it."

Rainbow's head lifted, her gaze meeting Twilight's as her lips garnished a soft smile.

"Twily, hey!"

Twilight blinked, dumbstruck... her smile falling fast from her face as her ear twitched at the sound of the familiar voice. Shiny? was her first thought as she and Rainbow turned away from one another to confront the voice.

Her face lit up instantly.

"Shining!"

Her brother was dressed in his finest black suit as he walked up to them. "I never imagined that I'd be meeting you here, Sis."

Twilight blushed, shying away.

"How's my favorite little sister doing?"

She smiled, scuffing a hoof along the floor. "She's doing great. A little anxious, but..." Her gaze found itself drifting past Shining, looking over his shoulder to a second pony—this time to an approaching mare.

Her eyes twinkled, an excited grin parted her lips, and she let out a breathless gasp at who it was.

"Cadance!" she exclaimed, a little unsure of what to even say. "Oh wow, it, i-it's really you!"

Cadance lifted a hoof to her lips, giggling at the younger mare's excitement.

"It's nice to see you again too, Twilight," she replied.

Rainbow and Shining meanwhile, watched their respected partners without saying a word, happy for them.

"I... thought we'd never actually see each other again it's been so long," Twilight admitted, being the first to embrace her old friend.

"Right? It's like we've been trying to avoid each other."

"Well, I can assure you that that's not the case." She winked back assuredly.

As their dates continued to catch up, Shining looked away, drawing his attention to the rainbow-maned mare that currently stood beside his sister.

"You're that pony..."

His voice caught Rainbow's attention, and she turned to face him.

"And you're her... brother."

Twilight's ear twitched, and her brow lifted as she looked over her shoulder, silently cursing herself for being so forgetful. "Shining!" she exclaimed, taking a few steps back to stand beside Rainbow. "This is Rainbow Dash! She's... my, uh... g-girlfriend, and, ah..." She glanced away, sucking in a nervous breath and rubbing the back of her neck. "B-bride-to-be."

Shining had no reaction.

For a couple moments, Twilight waited with bated breath, but all she got from him was a single blink.

She bit her lip, fearing, as silly as it was, that the reveal had somehow short-circuited his brain.

"You're...?"

Shining's utterance snapped her from her thoughts, and she looked up at him in surprise.

"You're getting married." He raised a hoof slightly, pointing it towards Rainbow. "To her?"

Twilight sighed, bowing her head. "Yes, Brother, and... I know you never quite approved of this sort of lifestyle, but... Rainbow makes me happy. She's..." She searched around for the right words. "She's the rainbow that came and replaced the storm cloud that was once my life—"

A sudden, soft bout of laughter from beside her cut her off, Rainbow doing her best to stifle it. "Seriously." She shook her head, looking over at Twilight with a humored expression. "How do you come up with cheesy stuff like that?"

Twilight narrowed her eyes in response. "You're not helping. A-and you're cheesy too, Rainbow, don't forget."

Rainbow ruffled her feathers in slight embarrassment. "I was sorta trying to, actually," she whispered back a little sourly.

Twilight breathed out, turning back to face her brother.

"I love her, Brother, and... I want you to be happy for us. To accept us, and welcome us in as a part of your life."

"Awww..."

From beside Shining, Cadance sniffled, her eyes growing a little teary at the confession.

"I'm sorry, everypony, I just... get really emotional about this kind of stuff," she explained, fanning a hoof near her eyes.

Shining brought a hoof to the back of his neck, his gaze falling to the ground. "Well... you're my little sister, Twilight, so you're kind of backing me into a corner here. I mean, what kind of older brother would I be if I didn't accept your seemingly innocent, harmless way of life?" He smiled anxiously, glancing back up at her, whose own brow slowly lifted in surprise.

"I was wrong to have told you what I did when you were young, Twily," he continued, cocking his head and smiling at her, before looking fondly over at Cadance. "It helps being such amazing friends with a certain princess of love."

"As good of friends as you and Rainbow are, in fact," Cadance added with another wink, before leaning in and nuzzling his neck, working up to his cheekbone. "We've really learned a lot from one another."

Shining blushed, swallowing down a nervous lump in his throat. "Aw, come on, Cady..." His eyes darted back and forth in embarrassment, Twilight giggling softly at the affectionate display. "Not in front of my sister..."

"Big Brother always did get embarrassed pret-ty easily," teased Twilight, furthering the blush on his face.

Rainbow gave her girlfriend a bemused look.

"I'm not so sure he's the only one, Twi," she noted with a small laugh, triggering her girlfriend to tense up rigidly, finding it now her turn to get all red in the face.

The line into the gala progressed as normal, with the last of the ponies from all over Canterlot and beyond, filing their way into the castle.

Moon Dancer kept a careful eye on them as each of them eventually proceeded up the stairs to formally greet Celestia, as she watched inconspicuously from a short distance away, idly drinking a glass of punch.

C'mon... She impatiently tapped a hoof, downing the last of her drink, before setting it back on a passing waiter's tray. Why haven't they shown themsel—?

"Moon Dancer?"

Moon Dancer froze, recognizing the voice as she turned towards the source with a growing smile.

"Sis!"

Her older sister stood opposite her, dressed in a peach-colored dress, and wearing her auburn mane to one side, as opposed to the bun she usually kept it in.

They wasted no time in cantering over to, and embracing the other.

"I wasn't sure you were going to attend this year... but I'm so relieved you're here!"

Moon Dancer smiled, nuzzling her sister. "Same here, Morning Roast."

The two pulled away, taking a couple steps back from one another.

"So let me guess. Mom and Dad dragged you along, didn't they?"

Morning Roast shrugged. "Eh, they might have." She lightly elbowed her sister's chest, bearing a reassuring look. "Don't worry, I won't mention you're here."

"Urgh, thank you. I mean, you know I love them, I just... can't really stomach having to mingle with any more socialites. Tonight, especially..." Moon Dancer added quietly as an afterthought.

"I understand, but then... Why are you here, Sis? I mean, no offense, I just..."

Moon Dancer waved her hoof assuredly. "No no, I, I uh... came here with some friends, so..."

Her sister cocked her head. "You mean those ponies from Celestia's school?"

"Who? You mean Lemon, Minuette and Twinkle?"

"If they're the ones with pink and blue manes, then yes." Morning Roast put on a sheepish expression. "Sorry, you just... never really mention your friends."

"Y-yeah," Moon Dance agreed, letting out a humorless chuckle. "That's sorta my fault..." She anxiously rubbed the back of her neck. "No, I ah, came here with a couple of other ponies, actually."

Her sister's face instantly lit up in interest. "You made other friends?"

"Er... y-yea—"

"Oh, Moon! I'm so happy for you!" She came forward, squeezing her in a tight embrace. "They're good ponies, right? They didn't leave you here all by yourself, did they?" She pulled back, her face bearing a concerned look. "You must introduce me, and not just because it would kill some time!"

Moon Dancer chuckled at that, wriggling her way out of her sister's embrace, and taking a second to adjust her glasses.

"They're good ponies, Morning—and no, they didn't leave me high and dry. I've, uh... actually been waiting for the chance to ask our princess something," she informed her, turning her attention back to the top of the stairs, where her eyes suddenly widened.

Celestia was waving goodbye to the last couple of ponies before turning away, proceeding down the corridor to her right, and disappearing further into the castle.

"Really?" Morning Roast turned her gaze suspiciously, looking where her sister was. "Well it looks like you may have just missed your only opportunity—unless you can somehow talk to her in private, that is." Softly shaking her head, she turned her inquisitive gaze back towards her sister. "I don't understand it, Moon. Why didn't you just ask what you wanted when you were in li...?"

"Sorry, Sis!"

She heard her sister's voice call to her, and turned to see her now running off towards the stairs. "It was great seeing you again, but I gotta catch up with Celestia before it's too late!"

Morning Roast reached a foreleg out after her sister, but it was too late.

Her younger sister was already halfway up the stairs.

She pursed her lips as she drew back her foreleg, staring bewilderingly up at her sister.

What are you up to, Moon...?

Cadance lifted a hoof, waving them goodbye. "We'll be around if you need us, or if you'd like to talk some more."

Twilight nodded, returning a smile before turning and walking away with Rainbow in tow.

"You know, we should tell her," Cadance remarked, only for Shining to shake his head.

"We should, but..." He turned to her with a reassuring smile. "Tonight is their night, and... we shouldn't make it about us." He closed his eyes and softly nuzzled her cheek. "We'll tell her about our engagement when the time is right."

The sound of music filled the ears of everypony in the ballroom, capturing Twilight's attention in particular. As she and Rainbow approached the punch table, she mused aloud, "Looks like the gala's officially starting..."

"Looks like it," Rainbow replied, her mind focused elsewhere. "Do you think this place has cider?"

Twilight rolled her eyes, turning to deadpan at her fiancée.

Rainbow stared back, shrugging her shoulders innocently. "What?"

"We're in danger, and you're talking about getting drunk?"

"N-not drunk, just... y'know, enough to take the edge off."

"Then try this." Twilight nodded towards the punch bowl, drawing her girlfriend's attention. She took the reigns, pouring the pegasus a glass with her magic, before levitating it over to her. "Pretty sure this isn't ordinary fruit punch."

"Heh..." Rainbow flashed her a quick, appreciative smile, taking the glass in her hooves. "Thanks, Twi."

Twilight nodded, proceeding to watch her girlfriend gulp down the drink and quickly finding herself caving in. "Hay... who am I kidding?" She quickly downed a glass herself, then set it down with a shaky sigh.

Rainbow raised an eyebrow back at her.

"Twi, are... are you alright?"

"I'm good," she assured, "I'm good... You're not the only one who could use some liquid courage right about now..."

Rainbow nodded softly in understanding, her expression becoming pensive. "Like, the gala's already begun. Everypony's here, and if that includes the Pony of Shadows, then... why the hay hasn't she shown herself?"

"Not to mention we haven't seen Moon Dancer since we went our separate ways..."

Twilight looked off in the direction of the entrance hall in thought. "Wonder what she's up to..."

I hate having to lie to my sister, but if she knew what we were up to... what we were trying to stop... Moon Dancer thought it over in her head. Well, even I'm not all that sure... The death of Celestia? The destruction of Equestria? The loss of my friends' memories? Whatever it is... Morning would probably say I'm in over my head. She'd tell Mom and Dad out of fear for my safety, and they'd probably try and confiscate my armor, my inventions...

She ducked beside a wooden cabinet, peering out from behind it with a narrowed gaze.

She'd tell me to leave everything to the guard ponies, and that this isn't my problem... but that's not what friends do! Twilight and Rainbow, they... came to me, they're... actually counting on me! They believe in me... and maybe after tonight, so will Celestia...

Celestia reached the end of the hall, and turned the corner, cuing Moon Dancer to leave her hiding spot and give chase after her when two guards all of a sudden rounded the corner.

Moon Dancer froze in her tracks, her heart skipping a beat.

C-crud! she feared. Nowhere to hide!

The guards approached her as she clumsily stepped out of their way, thinking up an excuse on the fly.

"B-boys! Am I glad to see you! Like, it's my first time here in this, like, totally dank cit-ay," —She allowed her voice to drone on in a drawn-out, nasally tone— "and I'm just like, so totally clueless as to where..."

The two guard ponies walked by her... leaving her at a loss for words.

Oddly, they didn't even so much as glance in her direction, instead carrying on as if under some sort of spell.

"Um, okay...?"

She furrowed her brow, tilting her head back at them.

Maybe they're on lookout as well, she supposed. Which reminds me... She whisked her head around as the realization struck her. Celestia!

She put her thoughts of the guards aside, and spun back around, continuing after Celestia.

Creeping around the corner, she backed up onto her hind legs, hiding behind an alabaster pillar and craning her head far enough forward to catch a glimpse of her old teacher proceeding down the hallway, completely unharmed.

She smiled softly, relieved by the sight.

She dropped onto all fours, and lifted a hoof to take a step forward out from the pillar... when she felt somepony's presence creep up behind her.

A presence that sent a chill down her spine.

She turned her head partway. "Wha—?"

Before she could properly react, a blow to the back of her head sent her reeling to the ground. She collapsed, barely able to keep her eyes open, feeling her consciousness starting to fade.

"I'm sorry," her attacker said, in a voice so hauntingly familiar, yet distant at the same time. "But I can't have you getting in my way."

Her body was coated in a crimson aura, and lifted from the ground.

The last thing Moon Dancer heard before falling unconscious was the sound of a door clicking open, and her body gently being set down, before the door then clicked shut.

"Well, isn't a surprise!"

Twilight jumped at the voice, turning rigidly to greet her parents as they walked up to both herself and Rainbow.

"M-Mother!" she exclaimed, sporting a painfully-forced smile. "F-Father!"

Her panicked gaze switched between the two. "Wh-what're the two of you doing here?"

Rainbow walked up beside her girlfriend, completely oblivious to her distress.

"We've been coming here for the past several years, Honey. Sorry we never told you this, but we just figured it wasn't really your thing."

"Well, I know it isn't my thing," joked Rainbow. "Hey, Twi's folks. It's good to see you."

Twilight shot Rainbow an exasperated look, going unnoticed as her parents switched their focus over to her girlfriend.

"Same goes for you, Rainbow Dash," Night Light said. "Yeah, we figured as much when we saw Twilight earlier, walking by herself—"

Wait... Twilight blinked, paling at her dad's words. W-what...?

"—We tried calling out to you, Twilight, but I guess you didn't hear us. We turned to look at each other for a second, and when we turned back, you were gone!"

Rainbow's smile quickly fell, and she turned worriedly towards Twilight, feeling a chill run down her spine.

"But I've been by her side this whole time..."

"Really? That's strange... Eh." Twilight Velvet shrugged it off. "The important thing is that we're all together n—"

"I'm sorry, Mom... Rainbow and I need to go."

She turned away without another word, leaving Rainbow looking over her shoulder, trailing her for a moment before turning back to address her girlfriend's parents.

"Sorry, Guys. Twi just remembered there's someplace we need to be, and—"

Twilight's aura lit up around her, dragging her along.

"If you see somepony who looks like Twilight, d-don't go near her!"

She disappeared into the crowd along with their daughter, leaving the two of them dumbfounded.

They shared a look, both thinking the same thing.

"Well that was strange..."

Twilight stepped out into the pleasantly cool nighttime air, followed closely by her girlfriend. She stood visibly shaken, her mind in a million different places at once.

Rainbow ears flopped as she watched the pony she cared for so dearly in so much distress.

Okay, so the Pony of Shadows really was here, disguised as her girlfriend no less, and skulking about... They had prepared for that, or so Rainbow had thought.

"Twi...?" she tentatively spoke, cautiously walking up beside her. "Are you...? I mean, is everything...?"

Twilight clutched her foreleg and shook her head.

"My parents are here, Rainbow."

At this, Rainbow broke out into a soft grin. "Yeah, I know. We kinda just—"

"That isn't what I...!" Twilight huffed angrily. "My parents are here... and so is the Pony of Shadows."

"And you're worried that they might get caught in the crossfire... I see."

Twilight chewed her lip, averting her eyes.

"I mean, my brother, and Cadance... they can hold their own. Princess Celestia herself said that they were probably going to be here anyway. But, my parents..."

Rainbow came up beside her, putting her foreleg around her, nuzzling her tenderly. "They'll be okay, Twilight. We'll stop the Pony of Shadows before she can—"

Twilight pulled away from her. "She's disguised as me, Rainbow!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "My parents almost fell for that disguise! She's using my image to get to those closest to me!" Her shoulders drooped hopelessly, her girlfriend's spirits lowering with every word. "Maybe even the princesses," she lamented, turning woefully towards the castle exterior. "Oh, where is Moon Dancer? Has she not noticed anything out of the ordinary?"

"Maybe she's looking for us," Rainbow supposed. "Can you try sending out a signal—maybe some sort of beacon, o-or firework?"

"It's no good if she isn't near a window, or out on some balcony..." Twilight tched as she shook her head sorrowfully. Her heart sunk as her voice steadily grew quieter. "If Moon Dancer, or Princess Celestia are in danger, because of some being wearing my face no less... I'll never forgive myself so long as I remember."

Rainbow rolled her eyes.

"It isn't your fault, Twilight." Her voice took on a more serious tone. "Something grabbed you, manipulated you, and took advantage of your magic. Now it's our job to teach 'em that you're not one to be messed with. Now, come on." She tapped her fiancée on the foreleg, flashing her a determined grin. "Let's look for them together!"

Celestia stepped out from her room, shutting the door behind her with a dreadful sigh.

I wish I didn't have to go back out there... I wish I could just... sneak away and spend the night in Sombra's world... Oh, but the committee would wonder where I went, and I'd never hear the end of it...

She shook her head, averting her gaze as she began walking, slipping deeper into thought.

Can't tonight be the one night where we forget politics... and just have fun? It's already enough that we have Luna's impending return on the horizon, but now this new threat that has us all looking over our shoulder, plotting who knows what...

Celestia rounded a corner, narrowly avoiding walking into her faithful student as she came towards her, seemingly from out of nowhere.

She stumbled backwards in surprise, smiling in relief once she realized who it was.

"T-Twilight! Hello! I take it you and Rainbow are enjoying yourselves?" Her head cocked. "What happened to your dress?"

Twilight peered down at herself, then back up at her mentor.

"Your feelings lead me to you," she replied, then bowed her head, bangs obscuring her eyes. "After all this time," she murmured, horn sparking to life.

Caution set in as Celestia furrowed her brow, tentatively leaning in closer, down to her student's level. "Is something the matter, Twilig—?"

A sudden weight on her heart cut her off, her eyes only widening before wincing as her forelegs trembled.

"You're n-not... T-twili-ight."

"Really?" The impostor grinned. "What was your first hint?"

Celestia's legs gave out, and she collapsed on her side, her breaths growing shorter... her insides feeling more and more inflamed by the second.

She cringed at the feeling of the unicorn's magic crawling around inside of her veins, slowly but surely impeding her own healing magic.

"W-what... i-is this...?"

"The Crystal Heart spell, combined with my very own dark magic."

"T-the... the Crystal H-Heart spell? That only re-reveals itself—"

"When a future leader realizes what their biggest challenge will be? Well, traitor... my biggest challenge was revealed to me a long time ago, and now this spell is helping me only to overcome that challenge."

Celestia grimaced before glancing up at the young unicorn warily, weakly muttering, "W-who are—?"

Her attacker sneered down at her, bearing the most evil expression.

"Your guests will be expecting you soon... I guess I will greet them in your steed, as their new, true empress of this land. But first... there's still a pony whom I must defame first."

"If you're referring to Twilight...! You'll have to do so... over my dead—!"

"That won't take very long—"

"You there!" came a male voice. "Halt!"

Twilight's impersonator glanced up, picking up on the voice and slinking quickly into a smoke cloud that slunk down the hall.

"Princess!"

A young pegasus guard knelt down beside her, taking in her weakened state, before lifting one of his princess's forelegs up over his shoulder, and assisting her to her hooves.

Princess Celestia peered over at the guard pony through a pained expression, her gaze squinted. "Fl... Flash...?"

The young stallion nodded, looking on ahead with an unflinching gaze. "It is alright, Princess. The castle infirmary is not far from this hall. We'll get you the help you need." A pink gleam shone across his half-lidded eyes. "You won't die tonight... not on my watch."

"Uh, Twi...?"

Twilight turned to see her girlfriend sporting a puzzled expression, pointing her foreleg in the direction of a couple approaching guardsponies.

Whoever they were, they were walking right towards herself and Rainbow.

"Um..." Twilight stepped forward, furrowing her brow as she maintained a polite smile. "Can I help yo—"

One of the two unicorn guards withdrew his weapon—a spear—with his aura, and turned it on her.

Twilight let out a startled gasp, stumbling backwards, eyes wide as the weapon narrowly avoided her, instead cutting one of the buttons on her dress loose.

Rainbow was shocked by the action herself for but a moment before darting in front of Twilight and taking a defensive stance.

She glared at the two, but bewilderingly, they seemed to stare right through her, their focus locked on her girlfriend.

Rainbow's wings ruffled. "What in the hay is wrong with you guys?"

"She is the spark that will unite the six," they recited in unison. "She must be captured, so says our future empress."

Rainbow eased up for a moment, taken aback. "Are they talking about—?"

"The Elements of Harmony..." Twilight murmured in realization.

She shook free from her thoughts, telling Rainbow, "The Pony of Shadows must have them under her spell! We can't hurt them—!"

The other stallion's horn ignited, and a pair of cuffs materialized around her front hooves all of a sudden, cutting her off mid-sentence.

"R-Rainbow!"

Rainbow looked back at her in worry. "Twi!"

She tched, turning back around and staring daggers into the two guards. The one directly opposite her wound his spear back, before drawing it forward again, in a swiping motion.

Sorry, Twi.

As Twilight worked to undo the spell with her own magic, Rainbow splintered the guard's spear with one swift kick, before grabbing half of it in her hoof and using it to sweep the guards off their hooves.

"Rainbow!" Twilight cried out, grabbing her girlfriend's shoulder.

"Twi?"

"I said not to hurt them."

"Yeah, hay, well... I'm sorry, but they were gonna—"

Twilight's brow lifted, watching as the two guards regained their footing.

Her armor expanded, traveling down her foreleg and around her hoof.

She lifted it quickly, and shot a beam at the two, knocking them both out cold.

As they fell to the ground in a heap, Rainbow shook out of her stupor and turned back to look at Twilight... her startled expression quickly turning wry.

Her eyebrow piqued.

"You were saying?"

Twilight shrunk back, letting out a meek laugh as she retracted her hoof.

"Well, they are royal guards. I'm sure they'll walk it off... And just in case they get up again..." Twilight fired up her horn, conjuring up a net over them, and pinning it to the ground. "That should last for at least a couple hours... Now then..."

She and Rainbow looked at each other, when it suddenly dawned on them.

"The princess!" they both explained.

"If the guards are under the Pony of Shadow's control," fretted Twilight, "then that must mean Moon Dancer and Princess Celestia really are in danger!"

"Then what are we waiting for?"

Rainbow grabbed at her dress with her teeth, about to tear into it, when she felt a sudden tug on her back, and cocked her head curiously to see Twilight's magic undoing the back of her dress. She winced in displeasure as it was then pulled over her head, and was forced to raise her hooves up off the ground as it was then pulled down her forelegs and free of her body, before being draped over the railing of the garden terrace where they currently stood.

Twilight then slipped out of her own dress, causing Rainbow to pause and deadpan.

"Really? Our friends are in danger, and you're—?"

"What? We're going to need something to wear once we're all said and done. You promised me a dance after all!" she remarked, nudging her girlfriend's side and smiling at her briefly before blasting off, her armor expanding up to her neckline.

Rainbow watched as her girlfriend flew off in the direction of the nearest castle doors, and smiled before crouching forward and dashing up into the air, catching up with her in no time.

They set down in front of the large castle doors, and rearing up on their hind legs, placed their front hooves against the two doors.

"Ngh... come on..." The two continued to push and push, but either door refused to budge an inch.

"Rrgh... It's no use!" Twilight grit her teeth, slamming her hooves one final time into the door, a loud metal clunk reverberating through the air.

As she fumed out, her ears twitched at the reverberating, metal sound, and as she set down on all fours, lifted her right hoof... all of a sudden feeling like such a scatterbrain.

"I'm wearing magically-enhanced armor equipped with blasters," she muttered under her breath. "Right..."

"Twi?" Rainbow turned to her quizzically, tilting her head. "Did you say something?"

"N-nothing!" She replied innocently, before adding in a low murmur, "Just berating myself..."

Before Rainbow could question her any further, Twilight leaped into the air, aiming both her forelegs at the door.

"You may wish to get clear, Rainbow," she warned, closing her eyes and bowing her head as she ignited her horn.

Rainbow gulped, nodding her head before hightailing it into the air just as the doors were blown wide open.

Rainbow merely stared, mouth agape as the smoke cleared. Twilight, who hovered beside her, opened her eyes, and stared wide-eyed at the doorway.

"Whoa..." they both uttered.

Twilight looked over at Rainbow. "Think Princess Celestia will understand?"

Rainbow stared back at her dryly, eyes narrowing. "I think we should make sure she's still alive, Twi."

"Heh." Twilight shrunk back, smiling meekly. "R-right..."

"Did you guys feel that?" Lemon Hearts asked as she turned to her fellow friends, all of whom shrugged it off.

"It was probably just a tremor," Twinkleshine suggested, thinking nothing of it. "We get those, right?"

"Beats me," Minuette remarked with a simple shrug, when the sight of somepony stole her attention. "Is that the princess?"

"It is!" Lemon agreed. "Guess it's about time she made her grand appearance."

Her brow crinkled in slight worry. "Is it just me though, or does something seem off about her?"

Her friends nodded softly, supposing she had a point. The princess did indeed seem beside herself—like something was troubling her mind. Whatever the case, Twinkleshine's brow furrowed in scrutiny.

"It... sorta looks like she's trying to grab everypony's attention—"

"Would everypony listen to me!"

The music stopped abruptly, the booming voice echoing throughout the massive chamber. The exclamation stirred a few gasps and made a few ponies jump from their skin as every head in the room turned to face their enraged princess.

"Celestia...?" Shining questioned, exchanging a worried look with Cadance.

"Princess?" Twilight Velvet wondered, still reeling from her ruler's sudden outburst. "What in the world...?"

"I knew our daughter was prone to losing her temper," her husband uttered in disbelief. "But..."

Minuette's ears flopped. "That didn't sound very princess-like..."

"Ah-hem... Now that I have your attention..." Celestia straightened up, announcing grimly to her crowd of loyal subjects, "An attack on my life was made tonight... and my student Twilight Sparkle is unfortunately the one to blame."

The room went deathly silent for a long moment before hushed whispers and questions once again began filling the air.

"Twilight? Twilight Sparkle? But she's the princess's prized student, is she not? How could she commit such a treasonous act?"

"There's no way one of the princess's own students would ever try something like that... would they?"

"Has she not been captured? I-is one of us going to be next?"

"W-what's going to happen now?"

From the opposite side of the room, Cadance watched with tearful eyes, bringing a hoof to her mouth in horror.

"I... I can't believe..."

"That isn't Celestia, Cady. It just... can't be..."

"I know, Shiny... but... whoever that is... d-do... do you really think—?"

Shining shook his head, keeping a sharp eye on their supposed princess.

"I don't think even Twilight is strong enough to take on your aunt. Still... this impostor must have incapacitated her or something, because otherwise... where else would she be?" He glanced around warily, noticing guard ponies filing in, seemingly positioning themselves at every entry point, and lining the walls of the ballroom. "Cady, I... I think whoever that is has the guards under their control. When the opportunity presents itself, I want you to go find her."

"What? B-but, there's no way you can take on all of these—!"

"Ponies, ponies, please... I see you're all distressed. I too, am heartbroken, for it would seem that over the past year, my pupil had grown to resent me, and has secretly been planning to overthrow me... She had grown sick of my teachings, and figured she could do a better job at ruling Equestria. Why else do you all suppose she would make friends with that uncouth pegasus?"

"But, Twilight, she... never seemed like the resentful type..."

"And... Rainbow, was it? She never seemed like the type to lead somepony astray..."

"Guess it goes to show that you never truly know somepony?"

"This pony corrupted my student's mind, spurring her to experiment with dark magic, and twisting her thoughts and resentment towards me into a sinister plot. The darkness has too great of a hold on her now, and I'm afraid that her mind is just too far gone at this point... I-I'm sorry, I..." She sniffled, stopping for a moment to dry her eyes.

"G-Guards!" one gentlecolt demanded, turning to those nearest to him. "Find and arrest those traitors this instant!"

Not a single guard budged from their positions however, instead standing around as if in a trance.

"Did you hear me? I said—"

"They answer to me, I'm afraid," Celestia informed him in a rather grim tone as she regained her composure. "They've agreed to work with me to root out these... traitors, and until we do, have agreed to keep this entire room on lockdown—"

"Enough lies!"

Celestia's eyes slowly widened. That voice...

One brave pony, Twilight's very own father, stepped forth from the crowd to confront her.

"My daughter, nor Rainbow Dash would ever try and take a life. Especially the life of somepony whom she's adored and looked up to her whole life. She's never once held any ill will towards the pony you claim to be!"

"And since when has my daughter ever been the jealous type?" his wife added, coming to stand beside him. "Maybe Twilight has always wanted something more, but she's never been the type to try and rip it away from others!"

"And how do we know what you said about Rainbow and Twilight is even true?" Cadance chimed in angrily, before her supposed aunt could get a word in edgewise. "You've shown us no actual proof, a-and Twilight and Rainbow are some of my dearest friends, and... and I trust them with my life! I have complete faith that that those two would never conspire against my aunt, and if none of you believe me, then... t-then you'll just have to lock me up as well!"

"That goes for me too" Shining declared, taking a stand beside his fiancée. He smiled over at her reassuringly, taking her hoof in his.

Celestia's expression grew serious, as she glared back at her niece. "The guardponies can back me up—"

"Then why won't they speak?" Shining shot back. "Why won't they confirm what you're telling us, and instead stand around like they're under your spell?"

Murmurs of agreement traveled through the crowd.

"It's true that you may never know what a pony is truly like, but over this past year, Twilight has been nothing but kind, and a friend to everypony!"

"She's wanted nothing more than to be accepted!"

"She's always been happy for others!"

"She'd never take another life, no matter how much she resented somepony!"

"Speaking of... If Twilight and Rainbow Dash really are innocent, then where the hay are they? Surely Rainbow would attest to that!"

"We're right here!"

Celestia glowered in the direction the raspy voice had originated from. Where there had once stood guards, now stood Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle, fully suited up with a couple of guards passed out at their hooves. Twilight smirked, holding an outstretched hoof towards her supposed mentor, while Rainbow craned her neck to the side, grinning cockily.

"Sorry we're late," she spoke. "We ran into a bit of resistance along the way."

I knew it, thought Night Light and Twilight Velvet watching as their daughter and daughter-in-law stepped into view, relief seeping over them.

"Yes!" Minuette cheered, pumping her hoof. "I just knew my friends weren't evil!"

Twinkleshine and Lemon Hearts deadpanned back at her.

"What?" Minuette met their dry expressions with a blank stare. She shrugged her shoulders. "I meant Twilight and Rainbow! Not you guys."

Tch... Celestia back up a bit, gritting her teeth.

"Twilight! Rainbow!"

Shining and Cadance ran up to them, their expressions a mix of relief and curiosity as they noticed their... unique outfits. "What are the two of you—?"

"Never mind that!" Twilight stared ahead, unflinching... her gaze fixated into a glare. "What's important, is that that isn't Princess Celestia!"

"Rrgh... Guards! Seize those tw—"

"That's enough out of you," Twilight growled out, and fired a beam directly through her mentor's chest, leaving a gaping hole in her chest cavity, with her wafting, smoky innards exposed for the whole room to see.

Some ponies gasped, some all of a sudden felt nauseous, and others were left too stunned for words.

Celestia's impostor glanced down at the hole itself as it quickly filled back in, then back at the crowd with a slight look of annoyance. She pursed her lips. "Well, that's unfortunate."

Twilight, Rainbow, Shining and Cadance all readied themselves, preparing for her to attack.

"I had hoped to usurp Celestia's throne, and rule over this world peacefully... but that no longer seems like it's going to be possible." She lowered her head in dismay, letting out a dreary sigh. "Very well... Guards," she commanded, in a voice lacking any sort of emotion, "restrain everypony here. If anypony tries to resist arrest, kill them."

At their princess's behest, the guards all sprung to life, brandishing their weapons and moving in the direction of those nearest to them.

The Pony of Shadows lifted her evil gaze, smirking back at the four, who all proceeded to look around them warily, guards approaching them from every angle.

"Shining... e-everypony..." uttered Cadance, ears lowered as the four of them slowly backed into the other. "What do we do?"

Shining mulled over their options. "Looks we don't have any other option but to fight," he admitted gravely.

Cadance nodded unenthusiastically, half-expecting that to be the answer.

"Don't worry, Cadance," she heard Twilight say. "A fight like this is precisely what Rainbow and I prepared for."

Before she could question what her friend meant by that, she added, "We'll be fine here. Go tend to Princess Celestia. Please... keep her alive."

"I..."

She stopped herself. Now was not the time to argue... and who was she to argue against one of Twilight's plans?

"A-alright..." she stammered, swallowing nervously before flying high up into the air, and soaring over the ensuing chaos below.

If only they all had wings too... Cadance forced her gaze away, and in determination, flew deeper into the castle, honing in on traces of Celestia's magical signature—like a heartbeat of sorts, growing fainter by the second.

Hang on, Celestia... for just a little while longer!

Shining watched her fly off out of the corner of his eye. Please be careful, Cady—

A guard thrust their spear at him, bringing him back to the present moment as he narrowly grabbed the wooden staff between his hooves, fighting against the forceful might of his fellow soldier.

He forced it into the ground beside him, before then bashing the guard's head into the blunt end of the staff.

The guard fell to the ground, unconscious, granting Shining only a brief moment of reprieve before turning his attention to his little sister and her girlfriend.

"Are you two hanging in there?"

"Nngh... We're... certainly trying!" Twilight grunted in response, firing off another couple of shots. She stood back-to-back with Rainbow as they stared down the encroaching guardsponies. "But we need to focus on subduing these guys quickly before—!"

Rainbow gasped, catching the briefest glimpse of something dark slithering towards them from out of the corner of her eye.

"Twilight!"

Twilight's ears raised in alert, and her eyes widened not a second before being thrust up off the ground by a cloud of smoke.

What—?

The Pony of Shadow's voice sneered, "I still have some questions for you, Twilight Sparkle."

Shining and Rainbow reacted in kind, raising a hoof out after her, yelling out her name.

Shining cursed under his breath, turning quickly to address Rainbow.

"Rainbow, do you think you can—?"

Rainbow nodded, thinking the same thing. "I'll go rescue Twi! You stay here and try and keep this whole situation under control!"

She spread her wings and crouched forward, before taking off in the direction of the fleeting smoke.

The Pony of Shadows entered the grand entrance hall, flying out the wide open doors, and out into the night sky. "Be careful when creating a monster, Sparkle..." her voice hissed as she gripped Twilight by the neck in a shackle of smoke, carrying her higher and higher until the air around them began to grow thinner.

"It may just turn on you."

(The Evening of) Day 333 - The Best Night Ever, Part 1

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"That... wasn't Twilight."

Celestia winced as she limped into the castle infirmary, Flash propping her up as he helped her to one of the many beds. A dim light from the window was the only light in the room, as he neglected to switch on the ceiling light.

He stared ahead blankly, even as Celestia lifted her foreleg from his shoulders, and lied down with a harsh intake of breath on the bed.

He began working on a bedside machine to monitor her vitals, and preparing a liquid to counteract the effects of the magic crystallizing her from the inside out.

Flash slowly turned his head to his right where she lay, his gaze staring down at her, unblinking.

"I can feel its residual magic still... in my veins, re-reducing my heart to... to crystal." Celestia peered down in pain at her chest, placing a hoof of hers over it. "Its magic is... not of this world, and yet... it brings back memories to the time when... Luna a-and I stopped this world's Sombra..."

Flash said nothing.

"And then, when Luna—!" Celestia shut her eyes, and grit her teeth, breathing in sharply.

"Princess," he said, in an unnervingly soft voice; "please do try and keep still."

Celestia snorted, before smiling up at him apologetically.

Looking into his eyes made her smile falter for a quick second. "I've never been particularly good with doctor visits," she explained.

"I'm afraid you must be," Flash said in a monotonous response. "Your heart is crystallizing at an alarming rate." He motioned to a clear bag, and the liquid inside which would soon be fed into her. "This will counteract the magic, and reverse its effects."

"Really?" Celestia questioned. "Because it looks like that's... a compound used to nullify magic."

Flash froze, standing completely still.

"Surely that would drain my magic," she continued, "and make it so that the crystallization would overtake me."

He remained still, attempting to formulate an explanation when she asked... hoping to reason with him, "Why? Why ally yourself with that... monster?"

The word 'monster' seemed to have struck a cord with him as he turned swiftly towards her with an icy glare.

"She is no monster, has-been," he snapped. "She is the love of my life, and the one who will rule this land after you're disposed of."

"You're under her spell, Flash Sentry." Her eyes narrowed as she deadpanned. The love of his life? The one who will rule this land? I've heard it all before.

"She is quite spellbinding, isn't she? Now, don't fight this, Princess." He stepped closer to her, taking her right foreleg in one of his hooves. "She has shown me the future. Equestria's in better hooves—"

"No!"

A bright yellow sphere expanded from all around her in a quick second, repelling him, and flinging him against the far wall.

She wished she hadn't done that.

Her horn stung and throbbed in pain from the crippling black crystals now growing from it.

Flash sneered, slowly getting to his hooves. "It's futile, Princess," he said. "You cannot stop what is coming—!"

The door swung open, and the two of them turned their gazes to find Cadance standing in the doorway.

She was trembling with anger, gritting her teeth, and leering at Flash in particular.

Unfortunately for him, she had heard everything from the hallway.

"You...! Trying... to hurt my aunt...!" Her eyes went pure white. "I'll have you banished to the frozen north for this!"

"Be careful when creating a monster, Sparkle..." The words echoed inside Twilight's head as she was grabbed around the throat, and hoisted high into the night. "It may just turn on you."

Twilight flailed her forelegs, struggling against the cloud of black smoke to no avail.

Little by little, she could feel the air leaving her lungs, and strength leaving her body. She was sure she couldn't even lift a hoof to fire off a shot, and what good would it have done... were she to? What she was wresting with was intangible—a gaseous mass with a menacing voice.

A spell may have done something, but she was vaguely aware of where she even was at this point, as she struggled to keep consciousness.

Twilight winced, feeling the monster's magic tighten around her neck. "The Elements of Harmony, Twilight Sparkle," she hissed. "Where are the others? Why aren't they with you?"

"Wh... what...?"

Twilight's brow creased ever so slightly in confusion.

She felt cold...

How high up were they now, anyway? Though it could have been her imagination... she swore she had seen clouds.

Were they leaving the atmosphere...?

"The Elements," the monster, the... Pony of Shadows repeated harshly. The magic around her neck gripped her even tighter, and she swore her throat was being crushed...

"Call them here!"

Twilight winced.

"Ngh... Let... let go," she wheezed out.

"Better do what I say," the Pony of Shadows taunted. "You don't seem to have a whole lot of time left—"

Rippling currents, as compact as a punch to the gut, cut her off suddenly, as they ripped a hole clean through her.

"The lady said let go."

The faceless black mass turned, seemingly anyway, to come face-to-face with Rainbow Dash.

"Atmospheric manipulation, huh? The ability to punch the air?"

Rainbow got the sense that her enemy was smirking as she spoke those words.

She glanced to her girlfriend, and to her dismay, noticed the frosted ice on her muzzle and ears.

A fire ignited inside of her, and she readied her hooves into a battle-ready stance.

"Let her go!"

Her opponent retorted with a single, "Hmph," then as per Rainbow's instruction, let Twilight go.

Rainbow remained where she was.

The Pony of Shadows took on a more elaborate form—that of an alicorn mare with eerie white eyes. Her coat bore the slightest outline of purple, and sparkled like diamond dust... but was otherwise as dark as the night itself as she practically blended in with it.

Rainbow recognized her from that night in the Everfree...

"That's a new look, Rainbow Dash."

The statement snapped Rainbow from her thoughts.

Her brow lifted, her forelegs slowly falling back to her sides."You know my name?"

She hovered there in stunned silence, trying as she may to rationalize the situation. She's been inside Twi's mind, altered her memories... Of course she'd know who I am...

Still, a part of her remained unconvinced.

Her suspicion was only furthered fueled by her assailant's puzzling words.

"I know more about you... than even you know, Rainbow Dash! How... how you betray those closest to you in the end, even now!"

Rainbow cocked her head at the accusation.

"I mean, are you really going to let Twilight Sparkle fall?" She raised a hoof to her temple. "Celestia, this world is so upside down... it was in dire need of somepony like me!"

"So it's like Moon Dancer theorized... You really are from another world..."

The Pony of Shadows lowered her foreleg and looked at her mockingly, before dissipating once more into a cloud of smoke—smoke that rushed over to her in the blink of an eye, and wrangled her neck with a pair of powerful tendrils.

"Before I wring the life from you, maybe you can better accommodate me." A face began to manifest itself from the cloud, bearing down on her directly. "The Elements, Dash. Summon them."

Rainbow winced, the pressure on her throat making it almost impossible to even respond to her attacker, much less comprehend what she was asking.

"Wh... w-what...?"

"The Elements of Harmony!" The tendrils thrust her downwards, back towards the city below. "You and Twilight Sparkle are bonded with them, and only those who see the spark can summon them!"

"Nngh... Ce-Celestia s-said..."

The Pony of Shadows tightened her hold, her gaseous form further solidifying. "I don't care what Celestia said! Either you summon them now, or...!"

"That's the thing though."

What?! The Pony of Shadow's face reappeared behind herself to face the familiar voice.

To her awe, Twilight hovered behind her, forelegs poised directly at her, and lights brimming from her blasters.

Her armor now completely concealed her face, red orbs now replacing her violet eyes.

"Princess Celestia said... that the Elements will reveal themselves to us when the time is right."

The Pony of Shadows had but a second to react before being knocked backwards through the air, crashing eventually into the wall of a a castle tower.

Twilight smirked from behind her mask, her focus shifting to that of her girlfriend. Rainbow herself hovered in place, breathing in and out slowly, a hoof softly massaging her jugular.

"Rainbow?" Her brow furrowed in concern, tentatively raising a foreleg out towards her. "Are you...? She didn't hurt you too badly... did she?"

Rainbow shook her head, turning swiftly to face her, and flashing her a cocky grin.

"Nothing I can't fly off." She puffed out her chest, cuing an eye roll from her girlfriend.

Not that she could see it.

Joining up by her side, the two flew back towards the ground, and cautiously towards the gaping hole in the tower's side.

"Feeling any warmer?" Rainbow asked, to which Twilight nodded.

"Mhm."

She smiled in relief. "Well, that's—"

Rainbow didn't get the chance to finish as chunks of concrete flung outwards from the tower, some of which narrowly missing them.

They each turned their attention back at the emerging figure in fright, and nervously gulped.

"Awesome..."

"Armor?" The Pony of Shadow's voice bellowed in anger.

She stood tall, up out from the interior and surrounding rubble of the tower wall.

Rainbow's expression turned dry. "Oh this is gonna blow."

Their enemy scowled.

"You better pray that will be enough!"

While the war waged on outside the castle walls... the situation inside the castle was just beginning.

Seemingly for the second time this night... a door was blown from its hinges.

It slammed against the wall opposite, splintering in half... and from the doorway, stepped out one seething little pony.

"Alright..." Her armor backtracked back up her forelegs, compacting itself into her saddle. Her once beautiful dress was now torn to ribbons from her armor expanding out from under it during her brief escape from the supply closet, and she wasted no time in ripping what remained from her body.

"Where is the pony who—?"

The sounds of chaos and terrified yells resonated from deeper within the castle, stopping her mid-sentence.

Her ear twitched at the sound, and she eased up, thinking to herself, "How long have I been out...?"

The thought however, didn't last as more pressing matters dawned on her.

"Rainbow! Twilight!"

Panic set in quickly for her, and she bit her lip, dreading the worst.

Man...! They were counting on me, and I... The princess! A reminder in the form of a light bulb went off above her head. Where is...? Don't tell me... Did she...? Her ears flattened in dismay for a moment before setting the thought aside.

No! Don't think like that, Moon! The princess has to be okay! She just has to be! That racket... It has to my friends... fighting alongside Princess Celestia and her guardponies... It just has to be...

With that in mind, she rushed down the hall, the ensuing noise only growing louder and louder.

She burst onto the scene, and stopped immediately... letting out a breathless gasp at the scene before her.

Ponies fighting for their lives, using their magic to fend off those attacking them.

Those being Celestia's very own Royal Guard ponies.

The scene left her at a loss, her mind struggling to come up with an explanation.

They must be under some sort of mind control spell... That would explain why those two seemed oblivious to me earlier! But then... where's Celestia, a-and my friends? Her eyes widened. My family! Oh...! Please be okay, please be okay, please be—!

A stallion, sporting a blue mane and mustache, fell to the floor before her. She jumped in startlement, taking a few quick steps as her heart beat frantically from inside her chest. As she placed a hoof over it, the pony's identity dawned on her.

Fancy Pants!

Her eyes darted then to his attacker, a guard with his spear aimed and poised over him, ready to strike.

So she struck first, aiming her hoof at him and blasting him into a nearby table that cracked in half at his weight.

She stared, stunned at what she just did, before her gaze then drifted to her outstretched foreleg.

Smoke trailed listlessly from the end of her armored hoof as it trembled slightly.

She swallowed nervously.

I must've practiced shooting targets at least a dozen times, and yet... I still can't believe I really just did that...

"My word, I say... that was simply too close." He got to his hooves, all the while gathering his bearings. "That was some maneuver there, young miss." He smiled gratefully at her, but Moon Dancer's mind remained elsewhere, her gaze lingering on her still-raised foreleg.

"Erm... Miss?"

He tentatively waved a hoof before her eyes, snapping her from her thoughts.

"Oh, uh..." Her face turned beet red. "S-sorry!"

Fancy Pants chuckled, waving it off.

"You needn't apologize, Miss!" he replied jollily. "Why, I owe you my life! This armor of yours... is magitek, is it not? Simply amazing!"

"T-thanks..." She cocked her head, deciding to just skip to the matter at hoof. "You're not hurt... are you, Fancy?"

"Oh I'm alright. A little tattered, but I'm..." He stopped, looking at her curiously. "I'm sorry, have we met before? Come to think of it..." He placed a hoof under his chin. "You do look familiar."

"Y-yeah, I... w-we've met before... Now, ah... you should really get someplace safe—and please, can you keep this whole 'seeing my face' thing a secret? I really don't want anypony finding out that I'm masquerading as a super hero."

"Your identity is safe with me, Miss, but as for retreating to safety... I am afraid that I cannot—neigh—will not abandon these fine folk in this, our darkest hour."

Geez, melodramatic much? Moon Dancer, deadpanning. She put the thought aside, stressing, "You almost got yourself killed, Fancy! Please, leave this to me. I'm equipped to handle this."

"No can do. I do apologize—I may not be much of a warrior, but I simply will not abandon my friends."

"Urgh, fine." Moon Dancer tore her gaze away from Fancy Pants, the faceplate of her armor shutting over her face. Two rectangular slits lit up in a blue light where her eyes had been. I've already wasted enough time as is, I... "I have to locate my own friends and family, and quick!" She crouched forward, her voice deeper and mechanized as it funneled itself through her suit. "They're no doubt going to need my help."

She took off into the air, hovering in place as she scanned the ballroom. The sooner I can put an end to all this, the less likely Fancy Pants or anypony else are to get themselves... Oh my Celestia...

The whole room was in a frenzy, with strewn decorations, and food, shattered ice sculptures, fallen banisters, and ponies hiding under tables—and behind upturned ones. Other, more courageous guests, wrested with the remaining guardponies, wrangling their weapons with their magic, or resorting to their hooves... or whatever they could get their hooves on.

Come on, Mom, Dad... Morning Roast... She bit her lip anxiously, activating her thermal vision. Where are...? Her thought ceased, her brow raising as she laid her sights on a trio of ponies, huddled behind a table in the far left corner, acting as a shield against a couple of guards, mindlessly chipping away at the impromptu barricade.

She wasted no time in flying down to their level.

We may not always see to eye-to-eye, but... She grabbed the guards' heads in her magic, and bashed them against one another. I will not allow anypony... to hurt my family.

She moved past the unconscious duo, and stopped before the table, giving it a mighty heave with her magic.

Despite the strain it placed on her horn... the table gave way, and she immediately picked up on her family's scared voices.

"Here they come!"

"You and Morning make a run for it! I'll try and hold them off for as long as I—!"

"There's no way that we're leaving y—!"

The table was lobbed to the right of them, leaving them face-to-face with their attacker... or so they thought.

Moon Dancer raised one of her hooves just as her dad lit up his own horn in panic.

"Wait wait wait!" she beckoned. "I-I'm not the enemy!"

Her eyelids squeezed shut as she braced for the inevitable misunderstanding... but it never came.

"You're not?" came her dad's voice, apprehensive in tone.

"They certainly aren't military, that's for sure. Why, they look more like a super hero from our daughter's comic books..."

"Like Iron Mare..." Morning Roast mused.

Moon Dancer, picking up on her sister's suspicion, began panicking internally.

"Uh, y-yep!" She grinned nervously from behind her faceplate. "I was inspired by her actually... Now, uh... s-stay here, and stay safe!" She turned away from them, kneeling forward as she prepared to blast off. "I gotta go save everypony else—!"

"Wait!"

She froze, recognizing her sister's voice once again, and looked back over her shoulder to see Morning with her foreleg outstretched towards her.

"M-my sister, Moon Dancer! She's here too, and—!"

"Moon Dancer is here?" her parents both exclaimed, her mother adding in dismay, "Oh my poor baby girl..."

Moon Dancer's eye twitched.

I really hate it when she calls me that, she groaned internally.

"How could you keep this from us, Morning?" her father scolded, eyes bearing down on the older sister. "Moon could be in some serious danger right about—!"

"S-she's not! Your daughter is safe and sound, back at home," she assured, calming her father's ire.

"She is? H-how do you know?"

"I ran in to her on the way here, and helped her to safety. She told me before running off that she'd run straight home, and asked if I could save her family. She said that if I found you guys, to tell you that... she was really sorry about having her sister lie on her behalf." Moon Dancer's face saddened as she gazed back at her family with an apologetic smile. "She seemed... really sorry about that..."

"I see... Sorry I raised my voice there, Morning..."

"But then... why would Moon not want us knowing she was here?"

"Uhm, if I may... I think maybe that's a question you should ask her yourself, once this whole ordeal is done and over with. Speaking of..."

Moon Dancer turned back around and rocketed off, leaving her family momentarily stunned.

Morning watched as the iron-clad hero flew off, thinking to herself, No... it couldn't be... Moon?

Firing at a couple of guards from above, Moon Dancer landed in the center of the foray, spotting a couple more targets and rearing back on her hind legs, aiming her hooves in their direction.

She fired, moving swiftly on her hooves as she made quick work of the guards that she could see.

Heavy steps coming from behind her alerted her to one guard, and as she spun around, dropping on to all fours, narrowly avoided being stabbed.

Sparks flew as the guard's spear grazed her raised forelegs.

"Nngh..." She winced, his weight bearing down on her. "Would you kindly... back off!?"

The circle on her chestplate began to glow, growing hotter with powerful repulsion magic. It fired off, flinging them across the room.

Moon Dancer took a few wary steps back, breathing out in relief. "Take that, you... you..."

Her rump brushed up against somepony else—somepony she quickly assumed to be another guard, and she turned, frantic... her foreleg raised.

From behind her mask, she saw the form of an... unfamiliar unicorn stallion. He wasn't particularly dressed like the other guardponies, but that didn't stop her from firing first... and asking questions later.

Shining found himself speechless at the sight of an unknown pony, their identity concealed within an unusual suit of armor.

Not unlike the ones his sister and her fiancée had been dressed in earlier.

The first thought that ran through his head as his nerves eased was that this was Iron Mare, the comic book character. Another second later, and he shook the thought from his head, reminding himself, Iron Mare isn't real, Shining. This must be another one of that impostor's tricks!

His suspicion seemed to be true as the pony lifted their right foreleg, aiming it at him directly... the surface of their hoof brimming with energy.

C-crud! he panicked. Gotta think fast!

The shot fired, and Shining hoisted a metal tray with his magic to his chest, one he had been using previously, both defensively and offensively.

The blast ricocheted off the reflective surface, shooting upwards into the ceiling, bits of drywall coming loose as a result.

The blast had also sent Shining reeling, forcing him back several feet.

"Tch..." He winced, gritting his teeth and swiping the tray at his foe as he ran back towards them.

Moon Dancer gasped, ducking her head and narrowly avoiding getting knocked to the floor. Before she could recover however, Shining lowered himself, swinging his back hind leg forward, and knocking her off her hooves with a startled cry.

This guy's good... She smiled, her adrenaline pumping... her heart beating wildly against her chest.

"You're good, better than the others. What are you, their leader?"

The question gave Shining pause.

"Leader?" he repeated, exasperated. His brow furrowed. "I-I'm not one of them! Er, well... I am their captain... b-but I'm not hypnotized! I've been down here holding them off this whole time!"

The revelation now gave her pause.

"Oh," was all she said, in a timid voice.

"Now, who the hay are you?"

"N-not obligated to say!"

"Oh, terrific. So I'm just supposed to accept that you're some... what? Costumed hero, here to save the day?"

"Yes?"

Shining deadpanned.

"I don't have time for this. There's still ponies that need saving—"

"T-then let me help you!" Moon Dancer scrambled to her hooves, running up to him. "We can take 'em down faster if we team up!"

"What are you—?"

"I mean, you're pretty handy with a shield, right?"

"Well, I..." Shining blinked, stupefied, staring down at the tray he held in his telekinetic grip in contemplation.

"I suppose..."

"All we gotta do is spot their reflection in the tray, and by angling it juuust right... a few well-aimed shots should take 'em all out!"

"If you accidentally hit anypony else..."

"I-I won't! I'm sort of a genius."

Shining stared back at her dryly. Now's not the time, he thought, raising the tray. "Alright. Give it your best shot then."

"Alright... I see one there..." Shining moved with her as she began to circle around him, getting a good glimpse into the crowd. "There, and... there! Now to do some quick calculations, aaaand..." Three shots rang out in quick succession, successfully nailing each of her targets squarely in the back of the head, the concussive blows knocking them to the floor, out cold.

"Booyah!" Moon Dancer cheered. "Yes!"

She raised her hoof up high, expecting him to bump hooves with her, but instead he just stared back at her.

"You know you seem to be enjoying this a little too much," he remarked.

Moon Dancer pursed her lips at that, stepping back and staring back at him indignantly.

"Uh, excuse me for celebrating the fact that we just stopped a whole platoon of—"

"This was my platoon," he snapped at her, shutting her up.

He breathed in deeply, then out, easing his rattled nerves. All around them, ponies came out from their hiding places, cautiously... surveying the scene, and tending to one another.

Moon Dancer placed a hoof behind her neck anxiously, feeling things quickly growing awkward between them. "Uhm... I, I-I didn't hurt them too badly—"

"It isn't that—it's this night." Shining let out a sigh. "It's not enough that my men turned on me, or that I haven't seen hide nor hair of my fiancée after she went searching for Princess Celestia... but now some... thing—I don't know what—tried to impersonate Celestia, and incriminate my little sister before then attacking both her and her fiancée..." Moon Dancer's brow raised, and she lifted her head in surprise.

"I haven't seen her since," Shining continued to lament, with a hopeless shrug. "I-I have no idea if either of them are okay or—"

"Excuse me, but... did you say sister?"

"Er, yeah?" he replied, dumbfounded. "So?"

"Sir, um... by any chance... is her name Twilight Sparkle?"

"You know my sister?"

Moon Dancer's face beamed from behind her faceplate. "I knew your cutie mark looked familiar!" Her excitement piped down as her surroundings reminded her that now wasn't exactly the time. "Er, yeah... yeah I do. I, um..."

"You built those costumes for my sister and her friend," Shining muttered, the realization dawning on him.

"Well, I didn't build them for Twilight and Rainbow per se, but... basically, yeah. Also, they're much more than just costumes, seeing as they're equipped with offensive weapons and magical enhancers."

"I don't understand..." He gave his head a shake. "Why?"

"They came to me, distraught that something might go down tonight. Looks like they were right."

"That monster, you mean."

"Twilight said it came to her in a dream, saying how it was going to destroy the princesses, herself, and everypony close to her."

"And she didn't tell me?"

"She didn't want to get you involved. She figured that herself, along with Rainbow would be enough, and, y'know, I figured I'd help them because why not? Beats standing around, making... small talk... Uhm..." She tilted her head at him in confusion, watching as he stripped the guard nearest to them of his armor. "What're you...?"

"Gearing up," he told her, taking the guard's helmet and placing it over his head. "There's no way I'm about to just stand by while something both sets its sights on my little sister, and puts the life of my fiancée in danger."

"Uhm..." Moon Dancer cocked her head. "Who is that anyway, if you don't mind me asking."

"Princess Cadance."

"Wait..." Moon Dancer's jaw fell open as she did a double take. "Princess Cadance is your fiancée?!"

Shining nodded. "She sure is, and I'm not about to lose her." He turned back to her, having taken one of the guard's shields, and buckled it to his own foreleg. "You said I was good with shields, right?"

"Y-yeah!" Moon Dancer snapped out of her amazement. "Total—!"

"Moon?"

The sudden, hesitant sound of her name being said caused her whole body to tense up suddenly.

"Is that y—?"

She spun around, coming face-to-face with the three girls.

"G-girls!" she exclaimed in a panicked tone as she ushered them closer. "Shh, quiet! You're gonna give away my secret identity!"

The three of them looked at one another, eyebrows piqued.

"Um, sorry?" Minuette was the first to apologize, though... still not entirely sure at to why.

"We had no idea you were trying to keep your identity a secret in the first place," Lemon Hearts added in.

Moon Dancer let out an awkward laugh. "Yeah... it's uh, sort of complicated."

"Oh..."

The three of them averted their eyes, guiltily, as if longing to tell her something—something that Moon Dancer was quick to pick up on.

"Girls?"

Twinkleshine fidgeted a little in place before peering up anxiously at her armored friend. "Sorry we said that your creations were weird," she began.

"And that we sorta laughed when you started going on about some supposed monster agency, and how all of Equestria was in grave danger," Minuette added.

Moon Dancer blinked, completely taken aback. "Oh, w-well... that was actually entirely unrelated—"

"Is there any way that we can make amends, Moon—er, Iron Mare?" Lemon Hearts asked, cutting to the point. "We'd love to help out any way we can."

"Uh, w-well..."

Moon Dancer struggled to find the right words, finding herself, once again, at a loss for words.

"C-come with me, Girls," she eventually said before turning back around to address Twilight's brother, blinking all the while to clear her vision. "Go help your fiancée. We'll go tend to your sister and Rainbow Dash."

"Okay, first of all," Shining warned her, "don't give me orders. Secondly...!" He smiled back at her in relief. "Thank you. Seriously."

Moon Dancer nodded. "No problemo! Okay, team—" She lifted a hoof over her head before aiming it forward. "—Move out!"

She and the others took a step in the direction of the castle foyer, when a section of the ceiling above them came crashing down, chunks of floor and a particular pegasus in guard armor falling between them. Shining and the four mares with him all looked up in shock at the hole made in the ceiling, seeing only Cadance staring down at the guard, teeth clenched and eyes encompassing a white light for a moment before snapping back to her normal, purple irises.

Cadance looked around at the floor she had caused to cave in before peering down at the mess below, and the shocked looks on their faces.

She blinked in confusion, a sheepish smile quickly spreading across her lips.

She lifted a hoof to wave at the four. "S-sorry about the mess." The same hoof then went behind her head, as she scratched it meekly. "I guess I lost it when I saw him try and hurt my aunt."

The pegasus guard's eyes blinked open, his irises glowing pink. He hopped to his hooves, surprising everypony else around him as he glared up at the princess of love. "You're gonna have to do better than that if you want to stop us, Princes—"

A blunt strike from a vase shattering over his head knocked him to the ground in an instant.

The others all turned their attention towards Twinkleshine, Twinkleshine herself looking between them in puzzlement. "What?" she asked simply, shrugging her shoulders. "He was trying to hurt both of our princesses." She glowered down at him. "To think I used to find him hot."

"Um, Girls?" Cadance called down to them. "Don't be too harsh; he's clearly under some sort of mind control spell."

Flash's eyes opened warily after a moment. "Wha...?" His eyes glanced around the ballroom in a daze, a residual fog still clouding his mind. "Where... am I—?"

"Quiet, evil dooer!" Lemon Hearts snapped.

"Those are quite the friends you have," Shining remarked, watching the display from off to the side before glancing to his right, where Moon Dancer herself stood.

From behind her armor, Moon Dancer's eyes had slowly widened at the display. "Y-yeah," she stammered out. I had no idea they could ever be so willing to... fight back.

Moon Dancer shook the thought from her head, peering once again towards the exit of the castle.

Celestia let us be enough...

"Um, Girls?" Cadance called down to them. "Don't be too harsh; he's clearly under some sort of mind control spell."

She sighed, watching solemnly as they disregarded her advice.

"Ca... Cadance..."

Cadance's ears twitched at the sound of her name being uttered.

She raised her brow as she hurriedly turned her attention back to her aunt.

"Celestia! Oh, I'm so so so sorry I—!"

She rushed over to her aunt's side. "Tell me what I must do to help you. T-there must be something that I—!"

"There... there is," she said, her breaths shortening. "You, you must perform the... C-Crystal Heart s-spell..."

"The Crystal Heart spell?" Cadance repeated in disbelief. "Auntie Celestia... You mean to tell me that our enemy knows—?"

Celestia answered her suspicion with a nod.

"B-but... how is that possible? The Crystal Heart spell only reveals itself to, to future leaders, and only exists to help them overcome—!"

"I know, Cadance... I know..."

"Then how...? I thought ponies who were chosen had to be pure of heart?"

"This hasn't... a-always been the... the case... Cadance, please... the longer we dally, the... the weaker my magic be... becomes. You must perform the spell now."

"But I...!" Cadance bit her lip in uncertainty, averting her eyes. What if I can't overpower their will? What if...? No... No what ifs. I can, I... I must, for the sake of my aunt. For this kingdom, for my family, my friends. Her horn ignited as her eyelids closed in concentration. Her head bowed, and she lowered her horn, pointing it directly at her aunt's chest.

They're all counting on me, they... they're all depending on me! Shining... Twilight, Rainbow... t-they all believe in me. It's their faith in me, their friendship... that makes my future shine brightest!

Celestia breathed in a much-needed breath as the crystallization suddenly lessened, feeling the blockage in her veins melt away. She sat forward, breathing in and out softly, gathering her bearings as her niece took a couple steps back to give her some space.

Celestia brandished a slight smile in her niece's direction. "I knew your will was stronger."

Cadance blushed at that, shying her gaze away for a moment before remembering the present danger.

"Celestia—!"

Celestia nodded. "I know. Tell me, are Twilight and Rainbow...?"

"I don't know. They showed up in the ballroom dressed in costumes that looked like they were ripped straight from the pages of a comic book."

Celestia stared back at her.

"Seriously?"

"Yes!" Cadance exclaimed, direly.

Celestia sighed, deciding to just... skip to the point of contention.

"Where are they now, and... are they in any danger?"

"Outside, and... m-maybe—b-but have a little faith! You know those two! They're inseparable, which makes them unstoppable, I... think... Wait—"

Celestia shook her head, deciding that she had heard enough. She stepped out of bed, much to her niece's worry. "I must get a letter to them then, posthaste!"

"Er, letter?" Cadance cocked her head. "Won't that just get sent to Spike?"

"He'll deliver it to them. I believe that he'll be able to."

"If you say so... I just..." Cadance lowered her ears as she gazed away worriedly, softly chewing her lip. "What could be so important that you need to send a letter?"

"A warning."

A... a-a warning?" she stammered questioningly, taken aback by her aunt's response.

Celestia nodded. "I recognized our foe's magic from a prior incident some months ago, when the same magic tried taking control of Twilight—"

"What?! Auntie Celestia, I mean no disrespect, but... why didn't you tell me Twilight had been attacked?"

"Because I thought I had dealt with the problem... and that it would never ail her again. Looks as though, like tonight... I was wrong."

"So Twilight was being targeted all this time..."

"It's no wonder Twilight and Rainbow would go through the trouble of procuring specialized armor... They must have been so terrified, and I...! I decided to go ahead anyway and throw a banquet... Tch, I should have known that the entity would try and attack here tonight, but me and my arrogance... I thought a few guards and a magic detector would be enough... never once suspecting that it would use my own men against me..."

"Nopony could have predicted that," Cadance tried to assure her. Celestia however, remained less than convinced.

"Twilight and Rainbow both knew something bad would happen tonight. Now, all of a sudden, my student's comment earlier makes much sense." She let out a frustrated grunt. "I should have taken them more seriously, I should have... listened more when Rainbow suspected Nightmare Moon's involvement..."

Cadance's eyes widened. "N-Nightmare Moon? S-she's... real?"

"And right now, I have a sinking feeling that this foe of ours, and Nightmare Moon have more in common than we know." Celestia lit up her horn, and in a bright flash of light, teleported a roll of parchment to herself. "I am deeply sorry for keeping all this from you, my niece, and I will be sure to share everything with you after tonight... but for now, we must focus on saving Twilight and Rainbow."

"R-right..."

As Celestia began jotting down words, Cadance—amidst the silence—posed another question. "What exactly... are you warning them about?"

"I sensed more than Nightmare Moon's magic in our mysterious assailant. I fear we may be up against something far stronger than any one of us. Something... Luna and I have not faced in millennia... Cadance... I think we may be up against an umbrum."

"U-umbrum...?"

Celestia nodded, her expression turning grim.

"A shadow pony."

Spike's head lifted up from the pages of the comic he was reading, looking around for the source of the sudden disturbance that shook the tower to its very foundation.

"Huh." He shrugged, flopping back upon his bed.

He was only just beginning to get comfortable again when a second crash shook the tower, causing him to nearly jump from his scales.

Spike sat up straight, looking around frantically. "What in the—?" A heat rose up inside him, expelling out his mouth in the form of an uncontrollable green flame; and from within the fire appeared... A letter?

He reached out and clumsily grabbed it, letting out a sigh of relief as he began to unravel it.

His eyes widened at its contents.

Aw man... Why oh why does the palace have to be so far away? he thought, running down the outer spiral of stairs surrounding their tower. I couldn't have wings like Rainbow, or teleportation magic like Twilight, oh no, that would be asking too much—!

He only just hit the road when he jumped back in fright, a pegasus crashing into the street inches before him.

He put a hand to his heart, quickly taking notice of her cerulean blue feathers and rainbow mane. "Rainbow?" he tentatively asked, getting down to his knees, and placing a claw on her shoulder. "Rainbow, are you alright?"

She met his question with a wary groan, as she craned her neck to face him. "H-hey, Spike. Urgh..." She lifted a hoof to her head. "Even with these goggles, it was impossible to see a hit like that coming." She flashed him a sheepish smile. "Sorry if I woke you."

"You, ah... y-you didn't. You didn't," Spike assured her. "I, uh... was actually on my way to see you." He bit his lip and backed up, allowing her some room to breath. "I seriously hoped that Moon Dancer was just being overly-paranoid... that giving you guys magically-enhanced armor was just a precaution..."

Rainbow paused, picking up on the disappointment in his voice, and straightened up, placing a comforting hoof against his arm.

"We'll keep you, and everypony in this city safe, Spike. Don't you worry." She puffed out her chest, making him chuckle softly, before then springing to her hooves, and motioning to their tower stairwell. "Now run back inside the tower, and find a safe place to hide before—"

"Spike!"

Rainbow's eyes slowly widened as her ear twitched at the sound of her girlfriend crying out the dragon's name in desperation. Below them, shadows loomed, growing larger in size... and she knew that could only mean one thing.

She threw herself into him as heavy pieces of debris hit the ground and cracked as they hit the spot where they had both just been standing with a deafening crash.

She gazed up, noticing the outside of their tower had been grazed with magic, knocking loose the rubble that almost crushed them.

She gulped, tearing her eyes away from the sight as Spike grabbed her attention... his own trembling arms lowering from his face.

"That's just it though!" he exclaimed from beneath her. "The princess sent me a letter!"

Rainbow had little time to process his words however, flinching as Twilight's voice once again rang out from the skies above.

"Dash!" her voice yelled out. "I could really use your help!"

Rainbow tched, winding her foreleg up, and, anticipating the moment their foe turned solid, punched the air, rippling the atmosphere and knocking them away long enough for Twilight to take aim.

"Thank you!" Twilight exclaimed kindly, then blasted their foe into a nearby tower.

The earth yet again shook as Rainbow turned her attention back to Spike... her own brow furrowing. "A letter?" she questioned. "From the princess? About what?"

"She says that she's... she's sorry about... letting the two of you down, and—" A thunderous crash sounded, cutting him off as more rubble came raining to the ground, Rainbow instinctively unfurling her wings over Spike. "A-any idea what she's talking about?!" he continued frantically.

"Nngh... No idea!" Rainbow folded her wings and stepped back, allowing him to stand. "Anything else?"

"Y-yeah!" he stammered out, legs trembling. "She, um, said that you're both, ah... outmatched, a-and that... you should both return to the castle ASAP."

Rainbow's gaze slowly fell, her ears flopping at the news.

"But Twi and me... We were supposed to handle this so that nopony else got hurt..."

"I know, Rainbow, but... that was before... I mean, do you really call all this destruction handling it?"

"I...! Okay, maybe we are outmatched... but what else are we supposed to do? Does Celestia seriously expect us to turn tail and head towards the castle with that thing in tow?!"

"Yes!"

Rainbow was taken aback by Spike's answer as she found herself simply staring back at him stunned.

"What...?"

"I mean... that you and Twilight aren't alone in this fight! You don't have to take on everything by yourself; you have friends! Moon Dancer, Princess Celestia, Princess Cadance, Shining Armor... Me even... We're all willing to fight alongside you."

"But, the danger—!"

"Forget about the danger, Rainbow. Friends accept the risk, I mean... do you really think they'd be calling you and Twilight back to the castle if they hadn't? Or that Moon would have agreed to tag along?"

"No..." she replied begrudgingly, her shoulders slumping in defeat. "Who am I kidding? This fight isn't going the way either of us had hoped, and, well... if it keeps Twi safe..." She gazed up at her girlfriend with a sorrowful expression, as she tangled with their enemy. "I just hope she'll understand..."

Twilight rocketed out of the cloud of magic she was wresting with, holding out her forelegs and spraying a cold blast of icy-cold magic, slowly freezing the Pony of Shadows in her smoke form completely solid.

Twilight grinned warily from behind her mask, when her smile fell as she stared back in awe of her foe's magic moving freely within the freezing ice.

Shards of ice flew past her and scraped her armor as she broke free, resuming her alicorn form.

Twilight gulped.

"Come on, Spike." Rainbow knelt forward, allowing Spike to climb up onto her back... Spike himself bemused by the act. "It's like you said. We have to meet up with Celestia and the others! First though, we need to let Twilight know."

Spike eyes lit up, a small, hopeful smile forming. "You mean it's really okay if I tag along?"

Rainbow sighed then nodded briefly. "You coming with us, as insane as this is gonna sound... is probably a whole lot safer than leaving you here. This area's too battered, and besides, you have fire! If push comes to shove, you can defend—!"

Rainbow was cut off as Twilight was thrown into her, hitting her body and flinging her onto her back. The sheer force caused her to skid down the road as she managed to wrap her forelegs protectively around the unicorn.

Spike meanwhile, leaped from his skin the moment Twilight was thrust into Rainbow. He watched as the ponies closest to him came to a slow, agonizing stop... and came to rest in a mangled heap.

"G-guys!" he exclaimed, only just beginning to run to them when he froze in place at the sound of something plummeting to the ground behind him. He gulped, turning and begging Celestia it wasn't what he thought it was. "Please don't be, please don't be, please don't—"

His prayers were ignored as he came face-to-face with the monstrous being that was attacking Twilight, now standing a few feet away, its hooves indenting the pavement from its powerful descent from the sky.

Finding the strength to react, he inhaled deeply. Looks like push has just come to shove, he thought, breathing out and creating a wall of green flame between the two of them.

"Yes!" he exclaimed under his breath, pumping his fist down at his side before turning, forcing his quaking legs to move, and ran over to his friends.

Rainbow, meanwhile, only just began to gather her bearings.

"Are... are you okay, Twi?" she asked, sitting up slightly with a pained expression, and gazing down at her girlfriend that she still held tightly in her forelegs.

Twilight responded with a groan.

"Even with this suit... That really stung."

"Well hay, how do you think I feel? Your armor's not exactly light, Twi."

Twilight peered up her, bearing an apologetic smile from behind her mask. "Sorry..."

Spike knelt down beside them, drawing Twilight's attention.

Spike... Spike recoiled slightly in surprise as Twilight brought a gentle hoof to his cheek. "Spike, are you alright?"

"I... I'm fine, Twilight." He set a palm over her hoof reassuringly. "I'm a little shaken... but alright."

"I'm sorry, I... Rainbow and I never meant to bring this fight so close to home, it just..."

"Got out of control?" he surmised. "Yeah, about that..."

Twilight cocked her head just as Rainbow cut in, finishing for him.

"We have to head for the castle, Twilight."

"The castle?" Twilight exclaimed, incredulous. She gave her head a defiant shake. "No no no, we can't! Everypony's there! We can't just—!"

"Um, Guys?" Spike interrupted, his gaze switching anxiously between them and the wall of fire. "Maybe now's not the time to argue? My firewall's not going to hold forever—"

Spike and Rainbow winced as searing green embers blew past them, his wall of fire reduced to smoldering ash and smoke in an instant.

The Pony of Shadows folded her wings at her sides, taking a step forward.

"Now—" Their horn lit up, grabbing a hold of one of Rainbow's back hooves, and pulling it forward. "—Would you kindly... summon the Elements of Harmony!" Rainbow's eyes widened as she was dragged closer, her breaths quickening, and her heartbeat racing. Her body thrashed in a frantic attempt to break free from the rogue magic.

Twilight gulped, watching fearfully before shutting her eyes and focusing her thoughts, imagining the three of them teleporting to safety a ways down the road. Hay, she thought, her horn sparking to life. Now's not the time...

She and Rainbow materialized in the air with a stumble before flying off down the road towards the castle, Spike seated upon Rainbow's back.

Twilight herself turned her gaze worriedly towards Rainbow.

"Please tell me you've at least got a plan for when we get there!"

"W-we do! But, um... You're probably not gonna like it..."

She could feel Twilight's eyes staring at her in confusion from behind her armor's piercing red specs, and tore her own gaze away ashamedly. "We're going to meet up with all of our friends, Twi!" she explained, shouting over the whipping winds. "We're going to fight alongside them, okay? Princess's orders."

"But I...!" Twilight bit her tongue, averting her eyes in dismay. "I didn't want anypony else to get involved..."

Sorry, Twi... Rainbow gazed back ahead, Twilight's reaction sending a pang of guilt across her heart. I know you wanted us to handle this ourselves, but... this really is for the best...

Back at the towers, the Pony of Shadows reared up on her hind legs as she screamed out in frustration, before bringing her forehooves down upon the street and uprooting the cobblestone... creating a crease that traveled quickly down the road after them.

Rainbow's ears perked up at the incoming, crumbling sound and glanced behind her, letting out a gasp—her gasp grabbing both Spike and Twilight's attention, and the three swerved out of the way, retreating higher up into the safety of the night sky.

The road flicked up as it reached its end, falling back upon the brittle earth the city had been built on, collapsing into a series of caverns underneath the city.

Now high above the city streets, the three stared in awe at the destruction.

"Geez..." Rainbow rubbed the back of her neck, exchanging a quick, fearful glance with Twilight.

"They have the power... to move the earth," Spike uttered.

Twilight was the first to snap free of her astonishment, swallowing her pride as she admitted, "M-maybe a little help isn't such a bad idea..."

Rainbow and Spike both turned to look at her, sharing the same, deadpan expression.

"You think?"

"Shining!"

Shining glanced up a little ways from the main castle doors just as Twilight drew back on the thrusters in her hooves, landing safely before him. Rainbow, still carrying Spike, swooped down beside her.

"Sis?"

Her helmet retracted down to her neckline, and she smiled, assuring him it really was her.

"Brother, why aren't you inside the castle? And where'd you get the armor? Not that it doesn't suit you."

"Off one of the guards; and I came out here looking for you, Twily." Her formed a soft smile of his own. "Same goes for your armor."

"Shining, we have to get inside. The princess wants us all to stick together, and fight as one."

"I know. I talked with her after checking up on Cadance," he replied. "They explained how they think you're all in danger."

"We were," Twilight replied in a hurry; "and uh, s-still are... but it's okay though because we're all together now. Now come on." she beckoned, moving past him.

"Hold on." Shining reached out, grabbing his little sister firmly by the shoulder. "Twilight, I don't like the idea of you endangering yourself."

Twilight fumed, glaring accusingly as she spun back around to face him. "I'm capable of handling myself out there, Brother. It's you and the others I'm worried about!"

Rainbow glanced around uneasily as the two siblings continued to bicker, on the lookout as her eyes scanned the sky.

"Guys?"

"I'm a soldier, Twilight. My job is to fight against threats like that—"

"They're too powerful for you to fight alone!"

A chill ran down the back of Rainbow's neck, feeling the air around them thicken and warm, becoming uncomfortably muggy.

She and Spike exchanged a look of worry before repeating herself a little louder, and more clearly, "Guys."

"I have to try," Shining insisted. "I can't put you in harm's way, I just..."

Twilight eased up, garnishing a look of understanding. "With the help of my friends... I'll be alright, Shining, because there's no problem you can't solve with friendship—" The wind whipped around her, and in an instant, Twilight, Shining, and Spike found themselves in the main castle foyer.

What just—? Twilight looked around her, her heart sinking once she looked straight ahead and saw Rainbow about to close the castle doors on them. "Rainbow!" she cried, running up to her, all the while thinking, Did she...?

"It's like the princess said, Twi. You need to barricade yourselves in here, and look out for one another." Rainbow flashed her a wary smile, further closing the gap between them.

"Wait!" Twilight reached out, grabbing Rainbow's hoof in her own. "You don't have to do this on your own, Rainbow! That's why we have these suits! S-so that we can look out for, and fight alongside one another, remember?"

"That's just it though, Twi; there is no fighting that thing! At least not traditionally! We need to use its own strength against it."

"And how are we supposed to—?"

"I was thinking that maybe you and Celestia could put your heads together and figure that out." Twilight bit her lip, gazing down in uncertainty. Rainbow glanced over her shoulder at the encroaching clouds of darkness, before focusing back on Twilight. "Come on, babe; chin up. I just know you can figure out something." She grinned encouragingly, placing a hoof under her girlfriend's chin, and lifting her gaze to meet her own. "I'll keep it busy until you do."

Twilight nodded shakily, her lips forming a slight smile. "Just don't let it catch you... alright?"

"Aw come on, Twi. You know there's no stopping me—!"

Shadowy tendrils snaked around her body, shoulders, and hind legs before latching around them tightly and thrusting her back into the darkness.

"Twi!"

"Rainbow!"

Twilight reached out for her hoof, narrowly missing hers. No! She panicked, igniting her horn. No no no no—!

She screamed as heavy winds came rushing through the open doors, launching her through the air before she landed on her back by the stairs. Spike ran over to check on her just as smoke began billowing in through the front entrance.

"Twilight, what's...?"

Twilight winced, propping herself up on a foreleg, watching as the smoke manifested itself into the neck and head of... She gulped, feeling her heart sink and skin begin to pale. A hydra...

She shrunk back, shutting her eyelids tightly... bracing herself as the monster loomed over her, about to ensnare her in its jaws.

Her body trembled uncontrollably, instinctively curling up tighter... when the hissing sound of evaporating smoke filled her ears. Her eyes blinked open and her heartbeat relaxed as she glanced around, breathing softly.

Her brother stood by the doors, his aura keeping them shut.

He glanced back at her. "Any chance you have something in that suit of yours you could use to—" He grunted, the creatures on the other side of the doors throwing themselves against them. "To keep these things out?"

Twilight nodded, still trembling. She breathed in deeply, closing her eyes and drowning out everything around her as she raised a hoof.

A narrow blast of searing magic melded the tip of the doors together, her brother stepping out of the way once she had most of them melded.

Her shoulders dropped in relief, and she scrambled to her hooves, running up to her brother.

Shining himself turned incredulously towards his sister as the pounding sounds persisted from the other side of the castle doors.

"Smoke monsters, Twilight? Really?"

"I-I think they're magical constructs, actually. The magic just makes them appear as though they're made of smoke, and..." She sheepishly stretched out the syllable, averting her eyes. "You don't really care about that—"

"What exactly are we dealing with here?"

His voice startled her, and she rushed to explain, "I-I honestly don't know... but Celestia will. Come on, Spike, Shining!" Twilight turned towards the central staircase. "We have to reach her and Cadance so that they can help us devise a way to defeat it."

"But... what about Rainbow?" Spike glanced back over his shoulder in worry. "Shouldn't we...?"

Twilight shook her head.

"She bought us this opportunity, Spike. We shouldn't squander it. Right now she's out there, fighting to keep all of us on the inside safe... and besides..." Twilight looked towards the doors with a confident look. "She's a survivor, Spike... and the bravest pony I know."

"Twi!"

Rainbow reached out, the tip of her hoof brushing Twilight's before being yanked away. The last thing she saw before darkness enveloped her surroundings was Twilight reaching out after her, terrified.

She hit the ground hard, and as she looked up, found the Pony of Shadows with her back to her, watching as the castle doors slammed shut.

"Hmph. If they think for a moment that they're safe..."

Rainbow's eyes widened, watching as creatures, cloaked in shadow, rushed the doors. What are...?

"I call them my Nightmare Knights," replied the Pony of Shadows, having seemingly read her thoughts.

"Nightmare... Knights...?"

"A peculiar side effect of my dark powers. Creatures of instinct, and driven by hatred, they can take the shape of one's own deepest fears and insecurities..." The Pony of Shadows snorted, before turning to look over her shoulder. "You do realize that your pitiful attempt to buy them time was futile. Sooner or later my Nightmare Knights will find them."

Rainbow glanced once more to the castle entrance where she saw the creatures now slinking into the shadows of the night, and slipping under the door. Her heartbeat quickened at the sight, but she kept her head level, and put on a calm demeanor.

"So what if they do?" She grinned cockily. "Twi and the others will handle them. The important thing is that I kept you from coming after them."

"How noble of you." Rainbow leaped to her hooves just as her opponent conjured three more pony-like figures from the murky smoke surrounding her. These ones were different, bearing more of an eerie resemblance to the Wonderbolts, with darker flight suits, gleaming yellow eyes, and blue, slicked back manes.

The Pony of Shadows sneered at her, as she presided over them. "Then I'll be sure to make your death as quick, and painful as possible!"

Twilight, Spike, and Shining Armor hurried down the grand corridor on their way to the castle infirmary.

"It shouldn't be much further," Shining exclaimed. "Cadance and Celestia should be waiting for us just around the corner!"

"Then that's where we're—" Twilight gasped as one of the shadowy assailants jumped out at her from the shadow of a column, its narrow slit of an eye leering into her.

Twilight grimaced, and activated the propulsion in her front hooves. The miniature jets knocked the monster back against one of the hallway columns seconds before she shot a blast through its head, painting the column black.

She turned to face Spike and Shining, who both wore startled expressions.

"A-A magical construct?" Spike questioned.

"I thought we had locked them all outside," remarked Shining.

"They must have slipped between the cracks." Twilight replied, then readied herself as more pony-like figured emerged around them from the shadows. "Here they come!"

The three proceeded to fight them off—Shining using his shield and magic to fend them off, while Spike and Twilight relied more on their flame breath and magic gauntlets respectively. As their foes were pushed back, or set aflame, something strange began to stick out to Twilight, notably as the enemy before her seemingly melted into black sludge after receiving a laser blast to the face.

What is...? Magic doesn't usually stick to things. It evaporates, dissipating into the air around us... She stared conspicuously at the sticky blotches, sticking to the walls and floor, when she all of a sudden paled at the sight of the blotches beginning to spread.

She let out a startled breath, clumsily taking a few panicked steps backwards.

"Guys, I... I-I don't believe it myself, but... I-I think these things are the result of a magical curse."

"Curse?"

Spike looked away from the spreading darkness, and instead to Twilight with a dubious look.

"Inknorance, Spike," Twilight replied. "I learned about it once. It's a curse that is unleashed when a certain spell is cast before the Autumn Equine-nox!"

"Okay?" He titled her head, remaining no less confused. "Do you remember the name of this spell?"

Twilight blinked. "I... um..." She paused for a long moment, closing her eyelids as she wracked her brain, thinking back to the moment she had first heard the term. "Y-yes!" Her eyes flew open, a proud smile briefly adorning her lips. "The Shield of Wisdom, used to protect knowledge that...! One holds dear..."

She peered off, slipping back into deep thought.

Her brother turned to her with a look of worriment. "Twily?"

She shook her head, her thoughts drowning out his concern.

"I don't understand," she lamented. "All this time, I thought we were facing somepony's rogue magic that had been given a shape, and identity all her own thanks in part to my own doing. Hence the Pony of Shadows nickname... Now, however... I'm not so sure. I mean... What knowledge could magic possibly hold dear? Unless..."

Spike furrowed his brow at her. "Unless...?"

"Unless the pony who's responsible for the Pony of Shadows... is the same one who also tried casting the Shield of Wisdom, and cast out the cursed magic before it had the chance to affect anything! That would explain why it attacked Rainbow and me, a-and tried to blacken my memories—!"

Twilight gasped as the revelation suddenly struck her.

"Do you know what this means?"

Spike shook his head no.

Twilight rolled her eyes, before stressing, "It means that the memory I lost can be restored! All we have to do is wait until this year's Autumn Equine-nox, where I'll then be able to cast the Shield of Wisdom, and do away with the inknorance! The only question now though is who cast this spell in the first place... and why in a such a hurry?" She put a hoof to her chin in thought. And why would they have such malicious intent? After all, their intention would have to have been carried over into the Pony of Shadows, because otherwise... where else would she have gotten her drive from—?

"Uh, Twily? I have so many questions right now, and I guess I'm glad that you've come to realize some stuff, but I really think we should get a move on!"

Twilight snapped out of her thoughts at the urgency in her brother's voice, and looked around to see what was causing him so much panic.

What she saw caused her pupils to shrink, and ears to lower in fear.

The inknorance was enveloping their surroundings at a rapid pace, quicker than it had been moments before, and was now quickly snuffing out the light around them.

"It's spreading," Twilight murmured under her breath. "Blackening out everything..." She swallowed hard, feeling her stomach drop. "I-it should go away once we defeat the Pony of Shadows, but for now we need to stay ahead of the inknorance! Quick everypony, don't let it—!"

"Twilight!"

"Sis!"

Twilight looked back over her shoulder in panic. "Guys!" She hurriedly reached out her hoof out towards them. "Grab a hold of one another! Don't let it...!" Shining being closest to her, lifted his hoof and attempted to grab hers, when darkness swooped in like a curtain, separating him from her. "Separate us..."

Twilight's gaze turned downcast, her ears falling flat. She ventured forth slowly, one step at a time.

Spiiiiiiiiiiiiiiike!

She froze, touching a hoof to her lips. Silence, she realized.

Shining?

Her voice rang out again, this time a tad more apprehensive, and still... nothing.

Fear set in quickly for the young pony as she continued carefully onward into the vast emptiness. If Inknorance is said to blot out the text within books, then it's no wonder that the curse would have a different effect on living, breathing creatures...

She moved cautiously, careful not to walk into a wall, or onto a flight of stairs.

I guess it comes as no surprise, she lamented, looking around wearily. Seeing as how its name sounds an awful lot like ignorance in the first place...

She bit her bottom lip, closing her eyes for a second as she focused on igniting her horn... only to no avail.

Her horn burned brightly and yet... the scenery around her remained just as dark as it had been before ever even trying.

Figures, she grumbled, lowering her gaze in disappointment... her heart aching at the thought of her family, lost in the dark, just as scared and alone as... As I am...

She sat back on her haunches, taking in the reality of the situation as her own thoughts grew gloomier. It's because of me that this happened... Oh, if only Rainbow were here, she'd be telling me to be brave... b-but how am I supposed to be w-without any of my... She breathed out shakily, her eyelids blinking away forming tears. M-my sense—?

A foreleg stepped out from the curtain of darkness, proceeded by a chest as more of the stranger came into view. Twilight jumped, a small, startled gasp slipping out.

T-Twilight?

Shining stumbled back, almost having walked into his little sister.

Twilight hurried to her hooves, running up to him and hugging him tightly, her head resting against the crook of his neck. Oh, Shining... I thought I...!

Her eyes widened as she remembered that... he couldn't hear her.

Twilight, he mouthed. Twilight, what's...? Why can't I hear anything? And why... His horn lit up faintly, only because she was so close to him. Otherwise, Twilight figured, she wouldn't have been able to see it. Why isn't my magic affecting anything?

Twilight stared back at him, unsure of what to say. I'm not the best lip reader, but... It's the inknorance, she mouthed back, keeping it simple while placing emphasis on each of the syllables.

The... Shining looked away from her, gazing instead around the vast space. Inknorance? he asked. So it's really this powerful... he mused.

Brother, please... Twilight reached out a hoof to grab his attention. Spike? she mouthed simply. Have you seen Spike?

Spike? he questioned in response. You mean, you haven't...? His expression grew dour, and he solemnly shook his head.

Twilight's heart broke in two, her chest tightening sickeningly with fear.

Shining sighed, peering up at her, about to apologize when his brow lifted in surprise. A light—blue in color—shone from down the hall, illuminating the interior of a room, and the face of a mare very familiar to him.

A soft smile formed and he nudged Twilight on the shoulder, drawing her attention down the hall with a nod of his head.

They took a single look at one another and shared a knowing look, taking hold of one another's hooves, and proceeded in the direction of the light.

Cadance tapped her hoof impatiently, glancing toward the infirmary room door for the umpteenth time since Shining had left to track down Twilight and Rainbow.

"They'll make it," Celestia spoke up, spooking Cadance who had been deep in thought... sensing her apprehension.

She turned to face her. "Y-you think?" Hair had fallen between her eyes, showcasing to her aunt just how distressed she had truly become.

Poor thing... Celestia stepped over to her, taking a seat beside her on the bed, looking down at her.

Her niece sat with her hooves in her lap, anxiously twiddling them.

Cadance... Her thoughts flashed back to earlier, hours before the Gala had officially begun.

"Oh, I simply can't believe it! Shining actually proposed to me!" Cadance turned from the beauty station to face her aunt, her hair braided and adorned with flowers. "I mean, I always had a feeling he would, but... I sorta still can't believe it actually happened..."

"I don't," Celestia replied gingerly. "Any stallion would be lucky to have you as their wife, my niece."

"G-gosh... I, I really wish I felt the same... I'm so very fortunate and yet... I feel like I don't even deserve half of what I have. I mean, look at me. I'm an alicorn princess, engaged to a captain, a-and your niece!"

"None of which are things to be particularly ashamed of," her aunt reminded her.

"No... but to an orphan who was left abandoned in the woods..."

"Cadance... That's no way to think. You are a very special pony." She smiled warmly, leaning down to nuzzle her. "Not just anypony can master the Crystal Heart spell, or have a heart as full of love as yours."

"I guess..." A soft smile of her own formed, as she returned her aunt's affection. "Thank you, Celestia."

"Don't ever doubt yourself, Cadance. You deserve all that you have, and more..." Cadance nodded back at her in agreement. "Now then, what say we finish getting ready? We've got a long night ahead of us."

"That we do. Hey, um..." Cadance tentatively spoke; "a-are Twilight and Rainbow still attending? I cannot wait to see them both again. To tell you the truth, it... feels like it's been ages." Her expression turned sheepish. "Between getting to spend the night with my fiancé, and two of my favorite ponies... tonight looks like it's really shaping up to be the best night ever."

"Really?" Celestia turned to face her, a bit surprised by her niece's choice of words. "Don't you find these events to be a bit... boring?"

Cadance shrugged, pursing her lips in thought. "Maybe a little," she admitted; "but getting to see my friends again makes it all worthwhile."

Celestia nodded softly in understanding, as the two of them slipped back into comfortable silence for a moment.

"Celestia? Thank you again for allowing Shining the night off."

Hm? Her aunt smiled back at her politely. "Anything for my niece," she replied simply.

"Um... if I may ask... I know tonight is an important night and all, but... is all this added security really necessary?"

"It's just a precaution, Cadance." Celestia turned to look out the window, towards the horizon. "Just a precaution..."

The memory ended, and Celestia found herself back in the present moment, peering down sorrowfully at her niece.

You have always seen yourself as unworthy, my niece... and now you feel as though all that you hold dear is being stripped away, little by little... Celestia averted her gaze from her niece, steeped in contemplative thought. This was supposed to be a night for her to remember, and now her friends, family, and her very own well-being are being threatened by the same species responsible for Queen Amore's demise, as if history were now repeating itself... I cannot allow her to put herself at risk—

Cadance sat up suddenly. "M-maybe I'll just take a look out the door," she said, walking over to the infirmary exit.

"Er, Cadance..." Celestia looked up, watching as her niece opened the door. "Perhaps you—"

A startled gasp cut her off, and in a moment her expression too had changed to a look of horror at the blackened hallway, and the eerie feeling of dark magic already beginning to creep its way into the room... latching onto and wrapping itself around the door frame.

Cadance stumbled backwards in fright. "What is—?"

"Stand back, Cadance! Whatever this is, don't let it near you!" Celestia stood tall, her horn flaring to life. "I'll prepare a barrier—"

"W-wait! I... I think I hear some—!"

"...dance!"

Shining burst into the room in a frenzy right before her very eyes, with Twilight trailing right behind him just as Celestia cast a barrier over the doorway.

Good, thought Twilight, noting that Cadance wasn't the only alicorn in the room as she stopped to catch her breath. Celestia's here too. She looked back over her shoulder worriedly, back at the looming darkness. Now we just need to—

Shining stopped, eyes widening at the sound of his own voice once again becoming audible.

"S-Shining?! T-Twilight?!" stammered Cadance in shock. She couldn't believe her own eyes... Slight tears dotted the corners of her eyes as she became overjoyed at the sight of them. "You're... you're both okay!"

"We... we are—" Shining found himself cut off by Cadance embracing him tightly, relieved to know he was really there. He blinked, stunned before finally reacting, returning the gesture and placing a hoof over the back of her head, holding her gingerly.

"I'm... sorry I kept you waiting..." Cadance nodded softly before easing her embrace, and leaning back to look him in the eyes. "I brought Twilight like you asked," he explained. "We, uh, ran into a bit of trouble, er... Are you alright? You look a little..." He brought a gentle hoof to her cheek.

Cadance smiled, and placed a hoof of hers over his own, reassuring him.

"I'm fine, Dear, just... a little on edge." Her gaze drifted past him, to the young mare poised behind him, clad in armor. "I'm relieved to see that you're still in one piece too, Twilight. Uhm..." Her brow furrowed in concern. "Where's Rainbow, a-and Spike...?"

Twilight's ear twitched, and her heart skipped a beat at the mention of their names.

"R-Rainbow's outside," she confessed, her voice trembling slightly as he turned her attention back around to address her old foalsitter. "W-with... with our enemy."

"What!?" exclaimed both Cadance and Celestia, baffled by the revelation.

Twilight continued, hurriedly explaining, "S-she did so to buy us time, so that we could formulate a plan."

"I don't know..." Cadance looked back at her aunt with a look of uncertainty. "I know she's strong, but..."

"We can only hope that she knows what she is doing. If she stayed behind deliberately, then she must have something up her sleeve. And besides... Rainbow isn't one to give up easily whenever the ones she loves are in danger."

"Then we shall hold out hope that she'll be alright..."

"A-as for Spike," Twilight continued, biting her lip. "I... was hoping he'd be here with you."

"No, I... I'm afraid neither of us have seen him. I had only just opened the door when the two of you came barreling in. Why?" Cadance asked, looking between Shining and her worriedly. "What happened?"

"When we were out there... we couldn't hear one another... and could barely see—o-our magic was rendered practically useless!" Shining bowed his head in disgrace. "We think we lost Spike in the darkness."

Twilight brought a hoof to her chest, as fear gripped her aching heart. Oh, Spike...

"Then we have to do something!"

"But what can we do?" Shining put forth. "Without a light, we won't be able to see a thing!"

"I think I may be able to help with that," Celestia intervened, drawing their attention. Her horn emanated brightly with an intense magic, before then causing Shining's very own armor to glow with the same intensity. "I've enchanted your armor with a guiding light," she went on to explain. "Strong enough to repel even the strongest darkness. It'll light your way, and hopefully... lead you to Spike's whereabouts."

"Wow..." he uttered, breathless as he gazed down at himself.

Cadance couldn't help but smile softly, a funny thought popping into her head at the sight of him, illuminating the way he was. "Now you really are... a knight in shining armor," she playfully teased.

He rolled his eyes, smiling slightly at the pun.

"Oh, ha ha, Cadance."

Cadance shied back, brandishing an apologetic smile. "I know, I'm sorry... Just trying to... add a bit of levity, I guess." She leaned in closer, nuzzling him dearly. "Please make it back safely," she whispered, kissing the fur of his cheek before pulling away.

"I wouldn't dream of anything less," he promised, staring back at her lovingly for a moment, before forcing his gaze away, deciding it was time to get a move on.

He turned to Twilight, flashing her a confident smile. "I'll find him, Twily. Don't you worry."

Twilight barely nodded, looking up at him and returning his smile with a brief one of her own, before slipping back into worry as she averted her eyes away.

Turning his attention away from his little sister, Shining proceeded through Celestia's barrier, and out into the blackened hallway... leaving the three to debate what to do next.

"Twilight, do... do you have any idea what that stuff is?"

"I believe it's inknorance," she relayed.

"Inknorance?" Cadance shared a bewildered look with her aunt, Celestia herself remarking, "I thought inknorance was a curse that only afflicted books and other texts."

"I know, I... I thought so too. I theorized though, that our foe was cursed with the affliction upon her creation, and now said affliction is being spread via her shadowy underlings."

"W-well... i-is there any way to stop it?"

"Only if we stop the Pony of Shadows," Twilight replied.

"Uh... Pony of Shadows?"

"Right..." Twilight berated herself under her breath. "I never..." She put the thought aside, deciding now was not the time. "I-it's the name I gave to the enemy we currently face."

"Oookay, but... how do we stop them?"

"That's something I've been considering."

"Celestia?"

Cadance, as well as Twilight, turned their attention towards her.

Celestia furled her brow in contemplation. "I believe it's no coincidence that this Pony of Shadows has only now shown itself twice, both of which being once the sun sets. Call it a hunch, but I believe that our enemy has an aversion to my sunlight..."

"Then, if that's true... all we have to do is have you raise the sun, and that should weaken it then! At the very least, right?"

"In theory..." Celestia nodded softly.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Twilight urged them both to get a move on. "Come on, the sooner we make it to the roof, the sooner we can save all of our friends!"

"Twilight... I'm sorry, but it'll have to wait."

Twilight froze where she stood, her ear twitching at the sound of her mentor's voice, before turning back to her with an exasperated look. "Why? My friends... Spike... My brother, and even my own fiancée are all in danger, and every second we waste—!"

"I know, Twilight; but this darkness is spreading throughout this very castle, and below us too as we speak, to potentially hundreds of terrified citizens. "I'm sorry Twilight, but until we contain the spread of this curse—"

"Then let me," Cadance offered, cutting in. Celestia stared back at her niece, a bit taken aback.

"Let you... what, Cadance?"

"Let me raise the sun," she stated clearly. Twilight brow raised in amazement.

"But... there's no way that you—"

"You said it yourself, Auntie Celestia. I'm a very special pony."

"Well, yes... b-but I didn't mean—"

"I'm also an alicorn," she continued. "My magic may not be on the same level as yours... but I'm still strong."

"But you'll be in danger—!"

"We're all in danger if we don't do something!"

"That isn't what I—!" Celestia bit her tongue. She shook her head in frustration, stressing desperately, "I don't want to lose you too!"

A moment of silence fell between them as Cadance stared back at her aunt, a little unsure of what to say.

"Me... too? What are you talking about?"

"I...!" Celestia lowered her gaze, changing her tone as she sorrowfully confessed. "Cannot say..."

"I see," her niece lamented. "More secrets..."

She turned tail, unfurling her wings. "Well, you can tell me when I get back, because you are not going to lose me."

Celestia bit her lip, nodding begrudgingly.

"Well... I see it's now you and I, Twi—" She looked to where her student had been standing. "—light...?"

"I'm sorry, Princess," Twilight said, now hovering some feet above her, having rocketed into the air. "I'll... understand if you expel me for this, but... I'm not about to let Cadance go in alone!"

"Wait!" Celestia tried calling out, extending a hoof out after her, but her student had already dived down into the hole after her.

Tch... Celestia tore her gaze away, focusing instead on containing the further spread of inknorance. She grit her teeth before mustering up the strength to teleport around to different key locations around the castle, leading to and from the ballroom. Each time she teleported in, she cast a barrier with a shimmering, golden hue across the blackened space, halting the spread. It's not just me, but my kingdom, my student, her friends... Whoever this being is, or what their connection to Nightmare Moon was, I cannot be certain... But if it's revenge this Pony of Shadows wants, I'm all theirs. Let us settle this.

As she cast the final barrier, her magic began to take its toll, having still not fully recovered from her earlier incident. She winced, bringing a hoof to her head. What a horrible night to have a curse...

Shining galloped down the hall, his armor illuminating the path on all sides of him.

"Spike! Spiiiiike!"

He threw open every door, looking frantically inside every room he came across.

Slam!

One after another, he carried on... a worsening feeling stirring in the pit of his stomach with each empty room. I'll find him, he reassured himself. I promised Twilight I would. He... has to be around here somewhere!

After a couple more moments of searching, he noticed something to his right that caught his curiosity. An arched door frame, he noted, raising an eyebrow. But leading... where?

He trotted cautiously into the open room, the light from his armor refracting against various gem-encrusted crowns, tiaras and scepters.

As he looked around, it finally dawned on him.

This is where the crown jewels are kept...

A display stand in front of him rocked suddenly as something brushed by it in the darkness. He jumped, taking a couple steps back and looked to where the noise had come from, only to catch a brief glance of something slithering across the floor.

What was...?

Before he could give it any more thought, a deep, guttural growl sent a cold chill down his spine. He winced, his ears folding as the piercing sound of nails grazing atop the glass case sounded. Large claws slowly proceeded the sound as they emerged from the darkness, coming to rest over the case.

N-no way... he stammered in thought, shrinking back in disbelief; it c-can't be...

A monstrous-looking face revealed itself, coming forth from the darkness... his teeth barred as he leered down at Shining, and snarled.

The creature's eyes singled in on his armor, lighting up at the sight.

Shining gulped. "S-Spike...?"

Spike let loose a mighty roar before lifting his other arm and raising his hand high over Shining's head... Shining's heart sinking in dread before coming to his senses, and hightailing it out of there.

Spike's hand closed around where he had been, then clenched tighter, scowling as she watched the sparkling pony run out the room.

Slamming his hand down, he once again let out a mighty roar before scurrying after the dying light.

Okay... Rainbow threw her forelegs up, and blocked a punch thrown by one of the Nightmare Knights, the blow forcing her back a bit. She grunted, looking over her shoulder for the others, when her eyes widened at the sight of another punch coming at her. She tched, swerving her head as the hoof came whooshing past her cheek.

She glared back at the pony-like figure.

That does it.

She grit her teeth and grabbed the foreleg by her head, heaving her attacker over her shoulder into the one before her.

They collided with one another, exploding into puddles of black goo.

Alright... Rainbow breathed out, glancing around. Where's the—?

The third and final Wonderbolt lookalike dove at her from above, and she had but a moment's notice to dodge out of the way before she spun her body around, and kicked the creature's head clean off... its body reducing to the same, familiar inky substance.

She huffed, her face somewhat flushed. I hope that's the last time I ever see you guys again...

"Not bad, Dash," the Pony of Shadows called out to her condescendingly from a distance. "I see you're becoming exhausted."

"Who, me? Nah..." Rainbow crouched forward, forming a wary smirk. "I'm just getting warmed up is all."

"You never did know when to give up... to admit defeat... When will you realize Rainbow Dash... that you're in over your head!"

The Pony of Shadows hovered into the air, holding her forelegs out at her sides. The night sky seemed to twist and distort around her, as if becoming one with it.

"Let's see you take on the very night itself!"

Her foe continued to dissolve, prompting Rainbow to move. "Wait!"

She flew straight at her... only to fly through her. She blinked, dumbfounded, turning around to find the Pony of Shadows gone completely.

"Wha—?"

A punch from some invisible force collided with the left side of her face, sending her spiraling. Thinking fast, she caught herself before slamming into the ground... sticking a foreleg out against the pavement, and vaulting backwards into the air.

She resumed her fighting stance, regaining her composure. She glared straight ahead, her left cheek stinging with pain.

Alright... where are—?

Her head cocked to the right, and she was knocked back by a second blow to her chest seconds after the first. She winced as the brutal beating continued. The invisible punches seemed to be coming from all around her, bearing so much anger behind them.

"You are nothing, you hear me!" the words seethed with vitriol, and with a rush of wind, a savage blow connected with her jaw, sending her reeling.

"You are nothing!"

Something yanked her mane, forcing her head back suddenly, and continued to pull... lobbing her into a nearby rooftop where she came to rest in a heap, among several dislodged rooftop shingles.

"Just give up. You're an embarrassment."

Rainbow grimaced, her breaths coming out short and raged before she grit her teeth in determination. Slowly, she propped herself up in an attempt to regain her footing... her whole body trembling, and aching all over.

"You always let those closest to you down."

Rainbow froze, eyes widening. That time it... sounded like a whisper. Like it was... whispered directly into my ear...

She smirked, realizing what she had to do, and took off further into the city.

"Oh, running away again?"

As Rainbow had predicted, the voice was once again yelling, coming from further behind her.

"How very typical of you... Dash!"

Rainbow once more shook the thoughts and questions she had of why her foe talked like she and her had history from her head, and instead focused on the task at hoof. Staying ahead of the Pony of Shadows, and building up speed.

Probably just trying to get inside my head, anyway... using Twi's memories of me...

She drowned out her foe's continual taunts as her thoughts drifted back to something Moon Dancer had told her during their training...

She had pulled her aside just as their training neared its end, and Twilight stood a ways away with Spike cheering her on as she continued to perfect her aim.

"Now, Rainbow... there's one more thing that I'd like to mention."

"Hm? What's up?"

"Well, it's... it's about your suit."

"There's not something wrong with it, is there—?"

"No no, of course not," she quickly assured. "It's just... if the three of us end up becoming separated, and you're left to take on this foe of ours all by yourself... If being the keyword—" She gave a brief, nervous laugh.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Yeah...?"

"R-right, well... answer me this, Rainbow. What is faster than the speed of sound?"

"Er... light?"

"Okay, what I should have asked was... what's the next fastest thing?"

Rainbow remained no less confused.

"Light...?"

"Lightning, Rainbow!" Moon Dancer exclaimed, then sighed, her shoulders slumping. "Look, pegasi have a connection with the weather, don't they?"

"Well, according to what Twi has told me before... Yeah, we do."

"And you're pretty much able to manipulate clouds, and even the atmosphere to give you the desired weather pattern, whether it be rain, snow, or lightning, right?"

"Where are you going with any of this, Moon?"

"What if you utilized some of that pegasi magic on the electricity in your body! With enough speed, you could generate electricity all over yourself—which my suit will conduct into itself—before then unleashing it upon our unsuspecting friend! You'll already be moving faster than sound, only now you'll be hitting with the force of a lightning bolt!"

"A living lightning bolt..." Rainbow cracked a soft grin. "I like the sound of that."

"I know, right?" Moon Dancer gushed.

"So should I give it a try, or...?"

"What?" Moon Dancer jumped in front of her, halting her as she held out a hoof against her chest. "N-no no, you can't! Not here, anyway... It's too dangerous." She sighed, taking a step back and clarifying, "Rainbow, listen to me. This maneuver is more of a 'what if' scenario. Like I said earlier, if you end up becoming separated from us, or end up having to fight the Pony of Shadows on your own." She directed her gaze back towards Spike and Twilight. "Hopefully though, with how things are going, you shouldn't have to worry about that."

Who were we kidding... Rainbow scoffed at the memory as she continued to pick up speed. We were so naive...

Her trail soon lead her to the very edge of the mountain, and she found herself soon flying back up and around, swerving past towers and over residential rooftops, never once losing her speed.

"You cannot run from me forever, Rainbow Dash!"

She flew towards the castle, ducking and weaving in and between its many towers and spires as her suit began to crackle and ripple, sparking with electricity.

Gotta time this perfectly...

Extending her hoof, she grabbed hold of a flag pole, and ricocheted herself back around... heading directly towards her adversary.

"You... cannot outrun the—!"

Rainbow pulled her other hoof back before thrusting it forward... dislodging a bolt of lightning that soared right past her invisible foe, vanishing deep into the clouds.

Night... The Pony of Shadows slowed to a stop, staring back over her shoulder, mystified... before turning back around with a smug smirk. Behind them, the sky lit up her true form.

Rainbow grit her teeth, winding back her right hoof.

"You miss—"

Rainbow screamed out, sending her hoof careening across their face... just as a deafening crackle of thunder rang out.

Twilight hurried up the winding stairs beside Cadance, her anxieties worsening with each step. Not for her safety, but for Spike, her brother... and her girlfriend, who—at that moment—was fighting to buy her precious seconds.

Soon they would reach the top of this spire, and soon they would be in a position to raise the sun... but would they be too late? Darkness was spreading, and Rainbow was all alone against some immeasurable threat... Soon they too would be on the outside. Surely the Pony of Shadows would notice them too...

These thoughts continued to cloud her mind until the entire sky all of a sudden lit up in a lingering display outside the stairwell windows. "Lightning?" Twilight wondered, not believing what her eyes were seeing.

"It must be Rainbow," Cadance remarked, then set a hoof on her shoulder. "You know pegasi have a way with weather."

"Well, yes... but I—!" She looked back at Cadance worriedly.

"She's a tough mare, Twilight; remember that." Cadance smiled warmly as she stroked a comforting hoof down the back of the young unicorn's head. "Right now though, she's out there, fighting to keep us all safe, and buy us all the time we need. So you can't waver, Twilight, not while she's still counting on you to return her favor."

Twilight gulped, and through her nervousness, nodded. She raised her gaze to smile thankfully up at Cadance, when something out of her peripheral caught her eye.

A body, gone limp... and plummeting from the sky.

She couldn't see it, but could only assume it hit the ground, somewhere in the city.

Was it Rainbow? Twilight bit her lip, then blinked in realization, her eyes widening. No, she thought, having caught sight of what looked like light refracting off of a reflective surface, from the now fading lightning strike. It was her. The Pony of Shadows...

Celestia's musings had proven true. Light... is the answer. Rainbow had succeeded in lighting up the sky, but it was only temporary. They still needed to reach the balcony, and fast.

Shining ran through the castle at a frantic pace, Spike not far behind. The large beast that was once his friend now scurried behind him, slamming into the castle walls clumsily in pursuit of the gleaming light in the endless sea of darkness.

Just a little further, Shining... he told himself, reaching the foyer staircase. Not wasting a moment, he jumped, then slid down the rail, hopping off and stumbling towards the door. He stood up against it, pushing with all his might... when something in his mind clicked.

Crud... We melded them shut!

The sound of Spike's roar filled the air, and soon the dragon came barreling into the entrance hall, spotting the light in front of him. He smiled, his precious treasure finally within his grasp. His tongue snaked out in anticipation, and as he made his first step... his hand slipped on the stairs, forcing him to tumble forward uncontrollably.

Shining's heart sunk, and he dove out of the way just as Spike's body forced open the doors, and staggered out into the night.

The collision was tremendous, shaking the castle to its very foundation for a couple of moments before everything settled, and Shining peaked out from under his foreleg. He scrambled to his hooves as he hurriedly looked behind himself... relief washing over him for but a brief moment. I can't believe that really worked...

Moonlight poured in from the outdoors as he walked over. Looking outside, Spike's enormous body slumped over stood out to him first and foremost, the dragon's mind seemingly in a daze.

Now to figure out what to do about this... Shining let out a sigh, mulling over his options. Not to mention that I'm all the way down here now... I can't just return to them empty-hoofed... As he walked further out, treading carefully around Spike's body... he looked back over his shoulder, to the top of the castle with a sorrowful stare. I guess the only thing I can do... is wait, and try to keep things under control down here... Speaking of which... Rainbow! He glanced up, and all around the sky for any sign of the pegaus's familiar rainbow trail.

Where is she?

The dust clouded the air around the spot the Pony of Shadows had landed—that spot being the middle of a wide, open intersection... The shadowy aura seemed to waft from her body as the dark veil once thought to be her true form had been stripped away, revealing her actual body, encased in a sort of crystal suit of armor. The translucent face of their suit, and several smaller spots of their crystalline armor sported cracks from the heavy landing.

Rainbow landed swiftly before her enemy—catching her breath as she did—her body still rippling with residual electricity.

She smiled warily, giving her goggles a slight adjustment. "So that's what you really look like when you're not using your dark powers, huh? Weird... I have so many questions, I mean... like, why crystal? And how were you able to move so fast wearing that? I mean, you came from space, right? The moon? If you're some kind of alien, do you have some sort of anti-gravity—?"

"Shut up," her real voice growled out from behind her chipped flaceplate. "Just shut up. You are so infuriating!"

"So I've been told." Rainbow smirked, cocking her head. "So, do you have a real name, or...?"

The Pony of Shadows gave a snort in response. "You can call me your queen," she said, getting to her hooves, As she did, more of her armor chipped away, clattering against the cobblestone. "The future empress of this...!"

She staggered forward, narrowly falling back to the ground.

Rainbow smiled back at her, humored.

"I'd stay down if I were you," she advised. "I mean... You sorta just lost."

"Lo... l-lost?" Her adversary chuckled, the slightest hint of a crooked grin behind her cracked armor. Rainbow's smile fell, and her brow raised as she watched in awe of the Pony of Shadow's armor, the cracked areas of which were now rematerializing. "Why, Dash, it... it's only just beginning!"

The earth shook behind Rainbow, then again... each tremor coming from somewhere nearby.

What in the...? She turned around, searching for the source.

The Pony of Shadows meanwhile, soundlessly got to her hooves. Smoke gathered at her hooves, slithering up her forelegs as she slowly began to recover her dark powers.

"You may have out sped the night, Rainbow Dash. You may have managed to... light up the sky, and even leave me injured for several seconds... but tell me, Dash! Can you handle a raging beast one hundred times your size? A creature whose instincts are fueled... entirely by greed?"

"What are you talking...?" A resounding crash cut her off, coming from... what sounded like the castle. "About..."

A dark figure rose high above the buildings before her, making her heart drop into the deepest pit of her stomach at its sheer size. Whatever it was, had an elongated head, and the silhouettes of... spikes going down its back.

"Take note, Dash!" her foe's voice rang in her ears. "Here you stand on the brink... on the precipice of disaster!"

A horrible roar filled the silence of the night air, leaving Rainbow's hooves quaking.

It turned in her direction, and some moonlight illuminated its face somewhat.

Rainbow gulped.

S-Spike...?

"It's me or him, Rainbow Dash!" Rainbow's ears perked up. "Will you save your friend, or, keyword, try and stop me?"

She spun around, staring daggers into the face of her enemy.

"How did he get like that?" she demanded. "What did you do to him?"

"You really don't know? Dragons grow the greedier they get! All it took was a bit of coaxing." She cackled softly, as she faded back into the night. "I just had my Nightmare Knights lie in wait to ambush your friends at precisely the right momen—!"

A sudden, powerful beam of light encompassed her, expelling through her and down the street, and stripping the dark smog from her crystalline form.

The blast sent her flying backwards, leaving her completely stunned.

"Booyah!" a voice cheered, a few feet to the side of where Rainbow herself stood, bemused. The pegasus's own ears still ringing from the sharp sound that the beam had produced. She turned to see Moon Dancer descending to the ground beside her, smoke stemming from the circular chest piece on her armor. "Repulsor technology for, the, win. That's a quadrillion watts of pure oomph you were just hit with, and I gotta say, it was so satisfying using that on an actual bad guy."

Moon Dancer turned to face Rainbow, who stood awestruck, mouth slightly agape.

"I see you remembered what I told you," she rattled on, oblivious. "Though I was expecting you to cloak yourself in lightning... lighting up the sky like that was still smart thinking!"

"I..." Rainbow turned to look at her, slowly coming out of her stupor. "I needed to. They had turned themselves invisible, it... was the only way to see them."

"I see..." Moon Dancer sighed, lifting a hoof to the back of her head ashamedly. "Look, I... I'm sorry that you and Twilight have had to fight by yourselves so far—"

"Yeah, speaking of... Where the hay have you been, Moon Dancer? I thought we were in this together!"

"W-we are!" Moon Dancer assured her, raising a hoof defensively. "I just got sidetracked at the castle after getting ambushed and locked inside of a closet!"

Rainbow raised an eyebrow back at her.

"A-also, I..." Her voice softened, and she smiled sheepishly from behind her faceplate. "Needed to grab super suits for a few of my friends."

Rainbow stared back at her, exasperated. "Who?" she asked, becoming a little peeved. "Who else would possibly agree—?"

"Um... Hi, Rainbow."

Rainbow looked up and immediately deadpanned, because behind Moon Dancer came three familiar ponies, wearing similar-looking armor. They hovered close to the ground, their jet boots flickering off once they set hoof on the street.

"What are you three doing here?" Rainbow cried. "This is a war zone!"

"One might even say... an Infinity War," Moon Dancer chimed in, chuckling. "Or an... Infinite Crisis?"

"Urgh..." Rainbow met her forehead with a hoof. "Moon Dancer..."

"A Blackest Night? What?" She tapped Rainbow playfully on the foreleg. "You can relax now. We've got this! This villain of ours, they wear crystal like it's some sort of armor, harness dark powers, and seem vulnerable to light." She glanced in the direction of their crystal-clad opponent as they were getting to her hooves, and smiled from behind her mask. "This one was tailored made for me."

She shot a particle stream from the bottom of her raised hoof, whipping their enemy's head to the right as the attack grazed her cheek.

"That," she said, "was a warning shot."

"How chivalrous of you," the Pony of Shadows replied. "But have you forgotten that I'm not the only threat you currently face?"

Suddenly Rainbow was reminded of the rampaging beast that used to be her friend.

She turned, as did the others, to face the creature currently looming over rooftops in the far distance.

"That used to be Spike... right, Rainbow?" Moon Dancer asked, morosely. "I caught wind of what our friend said about dragons growing the... greedier they get." She stared at the vaguely-familiar state of her old friend and frowned. "How would she even possibly know such a thing...?"

"Doesn't matter," Rainbow insisted, shaking her head. She turned to face Moon Dancer. "Can you change him back, o-or at the very least restrain him?"

"Pfft, can I?" She then paused, muttering to herself in uncertainty, "Can I...?"

"Moon!"

"Er, y-yes! T-together," she stammered, before looking back at her three friends for affirmation. "We most certainly can!"

"We can...?" Minuette questioned in a hushed tone, glancing worriedly between the other two as Moon Dancer looked back on ahead. Lemon Hearts and Twinkleshine both shrugged their shoulders.

"Okay. Okay, good." Rainbow breathed out a small sigh of relief. "Then that just leaves..."

The four of them turned their heads to face their opponent, who was back on her hooves, seemingly meeting their stare.

Moon Dancer leaned over to Rainbow, whispering, "The beam I hit them with should have left them disorientated—not just in regards to her awareness, but her hearing should be out of whack for a little while, at least."

"Thanks—" Rainbow stared to reply before her eyes widened, her and her friends ducking out of the way of their enemy's attack. The Pony of Shadow's hooves had stomped down, causing a couple deadly rows of crystals to travel at them before jutting up from the ground and expanding... nearly impaling them all.

Moon Dancer and her friends hovered a safe distance in the sky, their hearts beating frantically as they stared down at the sharp crystals.

Rainbow glowered at the enemy, still situated on the street. "Go!" she yelled, waving her friends off. "I've got this. You go deal with Spike!"

"A-alright." Moon Dancer spun around to face her friends. "Come on, girls."

She flew off to confront Spike, Minuette being the first to mutter, "Man, I can't believe we're doing this... must be outta our minds..."

"We're helping our friend, Minuette, don't forget," Twinkleshine chided her, before flying off.

"And Equestria!" Lemon Hearts added, flying off as well.

"Equestria," Minuette agreed shakily, "y-yeah..." Even though we could actually die, for realsies!

Rainbow picked up on a smirk on the crystal alicorn's lips from behind her crystal shielding.

"Something funny?"

"Only how foolhardy you are, Rainbow Dash. Always rushing in head first..." The Pony of Shadows extended a crystal blade from their right foreleg, and held it out, as if to block the pegasus. "Thinking you can handle me yourself!"

Again with the mindgames... Rainbow glared back at them, readying herself.

She swung the blade down at the street, and charged forward, scraping the cobblestone with the edge of the blade.

Rainbow swallowed, and thanks to her sense of precognition, threw her head back in the nick of time, the blade claiming a few hairs from her mane as it lurched upwards.

Her enemy scowled.

"I don't even need my powers of the night... to handle a featherbrain like yourself!"

Twilight watched motionless at the monster Spike had become, her mind struggling to understand what could have caused this horrible transformation in her friend.

She watched as he roared, and stomped down the streets surrounding the castle.

She was too high up on the balcony to be spotted, and the castle seemed to hold little interest to him... but she didn't care.

She wanted her old friend back.

Twilight inhaled a deep breath, then parted her lips, ready to yell out his name... when Cadance stopped her.

Her hoof planted itself firmly on her shoulder, and she remarked rationally, "Don't yell out to him, Twilight. That thing's no longer Spike."

"What do you mean that thing's no longer Spike?" Twilight retorted, quickly growing agitated. She stepped away from the princess, exclaiming, "He's my friend, Cadance. I know he's still in there somewhere!"

"Yes, Twilight, he is; and we'll find a way to bring him back, I promise. Right now, though... calling out to him may only draw his ire, and have him turn on us."

Twilight's gaze averted itself, and she breathed in and out heavily, wanting desperately to argue the decision. Cadance could tell that clearly.

After a moment, her shoulders fell, her ears drooped, and head dropped in defeat.

Then came a sniffle.

"We'll undo what was done to him, Twilight," Cadance assured her softly. "I promise."

Twilight nodded begrudgingly, lifting a foreleg of hers to wipe it across her eyes.

"All... a-alr-right," she replied shakily.

Cadance smiled warmly down at her, setting a hoof of hers under her chin.

"Now, let's focus on raising the sun," she said.

Once again, doubt began to swell in the pit of Twilight's stomach.

"Hey, come now... I just know that I can do this."

"I... I-I know," Twilight stammered, then turned away hesitantly, turning to face the railing of the balcony, letting out a shaken breath. Cadance's hoof dropped from the younger mare's shoulder, watching her with a sorrowful stare.

She's no doubt feeling so helpless right now... If only there was something I could say or do to make her feel... Cadance's eyes widened in realization. Helpful...

She reached out to her in an instant, grabbing her attention as her lips brandished a hopeful smile.

"Twilight? Would you perhaps... like to assist me?"

Twilight's ears perked back up, and she turned to face her friend, after having done a double-take in disbelief.

"H-help y-you?" she stammered out.

"Mhm. Your assistance would only make this all the easier on me. What do you say?"

"I..."

She peered up at the moon, swallowing hard. If it means keeping my friends safe, then... "I-I'll c-certainly try!"

She breathed in deeply as she shut her eyelids tight, and focused all of her energy into her horn. It began to sparkle, and a telekinetic glow began to form.

She could feel it slowly grabbing hold of the large mass of rock, and immediately she felt the immovable weight of it.

It felt like her horn was being pulled from her head. Her forehead grew hotter, and her head grew more and more lightheaded. It was like she was wrangling a huge fish out of the water, it... wasn't budging.

Twilight bit her lower lip, and her eyelids squeezed shut even tighter... when all of a sudden, she felt it move, if only an inch.

Her heart did a somersault, and her eyes blinked open. Sweat trickled through her cheeks, and she breathed exhaustively, but she turned nevertheless towards the princess beside her, and grinned warily.

Cadance noticed, and turned to face her with a smile of her own, and much to Twilight's amazement... her horn wasn't glowing.

"I'm so proud of you, Twilight. I told you that you could do this." She looked back ahead, her horn igniting in a blue aura. "Not many unicorns have achieved moving the sun, or moon... if only an inch."

Twilight frowned. "Thanks, I... guess."

A part of her was relieved to know that Cadance hadn't yet joined her, and that this task would only become easier now that her magic would be joining hers.

Another part of her was let down.

An inch, she lamented. What's so impressive about that?

She turned back ahead, burying the thought, and together, the two continued to work their magic on the moon, and slowly—though faster than before—it descended from the sky.

Now all that remained was the empty void of space—save for the shimmers that were the stars.

Twilight collapsed, her limbs wobbly, and her breaths in shallow wafts. Even Cadance found herself worn out as she brought a hoof to her brow.

"Okay," she said as she sighed. "Now for the sun—"

Spike's low guttural growl cut off both of the girls, and before either of them could question it, he proceeded it with an ear-splitting roar.

The roar sent chills through the two of them, panic beginning to swell specifically inside Twilight.

Spike? she wondered in dread, darting over to the railing in order to lean up and get a better look. There she saw Spike in clear distress, and multiple ponies... somehow restraining him.

They were each clad in Moon Dancer's special armor, flames flickering from the back of their hind hooves, keeping them afloat.

She squinted, not believing her own eyes. It was... Moon Dancer herself, holding back one of Spike's arms, and were those...?

No... it couldn't be...

She frowned wryly.

Another was holding back Spike's other arm, and the two remaining mares were gripping his tail, preventing him from taking another step.

"Lemon, Twinkle, and Minuette!?"

Her exclamation piqued Cadance's interest.

"You know them?"

"I... Y-yeah..." she replied shakily, and turned her attention back to Spike and the others. How much could their suits even lift? she pondered. One hundred tons?

"Come on, Girls! We've got to keep him restrained!" Moon Dancer exclaimed from the scene below. "He'll tucker himself out eventually... probableeeeeeeee—!"

Spike whipped his arm, flinging Moon Dancer far across the city.

"Moon!" her friends cried out after her.

"Things aren't looking too good for them," Twilight noted, backing away from the railing. "Cadance, we have to get down and calm Spike down this instant! T-those are my friends down there!"

"Twilight, I know you're dying to help... but I still have a job to do up here, and what about Rainbow?"

Rainbow? Twilight blinked, her girlfriend's name dawning on her. How could I forget? I was so concerned for Spike, that I forgot that Rainbow's off somewhere fighting to buy us all time...

She bit her lip, looking off regretfully.

"Cadance, you're right. Moon Dancer and the others can handle themselves, and... I trust them." She crouched forward, as she prepared to take off. "No, it's Rainbow that I should be worried about—!"

"Yes, but Twilight, please! I care too much about both you and Rainbow to allow either of you to take on an opponent like that all by yourselves!"

Twilight paused for a moment, her eyes narrowing. She turned back to her friend indignantly.

"Then perhaps you ought to go with her, my niece."

Huh?

The two turned to find Celestia exiting the stairwell behind them.

"Celestia?' they both exclaimed.

"You've both done better than I ever could have hoped," she continued, smiling proudly down at the two of them. "Now though, I feel it is my turn to repay the favor. I have prevented the further spread of inknorance throughout the castle, and even my magic has slowly begun to recover. All I feel is left, is to raise the sun so that we may stand a more proper chance against this foe of ours."

Before either of them could react, or get a word in, Celestia's horn began to glow, and within a moment, the horizon grew brighter with the first rays of sunlight. The sun drenched the kingdom in its warmth and radiance, causing Twilight and Cadance to wince slightly at its brightness.

Another moment later, and the sun hung high in the sky, shining down upon them all.

"Now then," Celestia began to ask, "what's say the three of us go and assist Rainbow Dash?"

The two mares stared back at her for a moment in astonishment, before nodding their heads in eager determination.

As the sun began to rise over the horizon, the fight below was still well underway, as it continued to rage on.

The two clashed in the center of the street, Rainbow throwing a desperate punch only for her foe to conjure up a crystal shield, forcing her back a ways.

"You're as foolish as you look, if you intend on standing against me," the Pony of Shadows sneered, Rainbow glaring back at her.

"She's not the only one!"

Rainbow's ear twitched at the sound of the familiar voice, and turned with a relieved smile on her face. "Shining!"

"Hey," he greeted, running up beside her. "I was looking all over for you. How're you holding up?"

"Heh." Rainbow swiftly put on a brave face. "You know me."

Shining deadpanned back at her. "I don't actually."

Rainbow, in turn, blinked. "Oh. Right."

The Pony of Shadows meanwhile, dispersed her shield, and was about to make her next move... when she winced, sunlight coming over the buildings, and basking the street in a warm, golden light.

W-wha...?

She squinted, looking towards the sky.

The sun...? That could only mean...

Rainbow herself smiled warily. Nice going, Twi...

Rrgh... The Pony of Shadows grit her teeth, before tearing her gaze away, and glowering towards her enemy.

"So what're we dealing with here?" Shining asked. "What are her strengths?"

"The ability to wield and manipulate crystal."

"Seriously?"

"But thanks to Twi and Cadance, the sun's now up, preventing her from slipping back into the shadows."

"And Twilight?" he asked. "A-and Cadance? Where are they now?"

Rainbow's eyes widened as a sudden warmth filled her heart. She smiled softly, bringing a hoof close to her chest. "They're..."

"Right here!"

Three powerful beams of magic descended from the sky, striking the Pony of Shadows directly, forcing her back.

Proceeding the beams, came three figures, landing on either side of Rainbow and Shining.

Twilight ran up to Rainbow, nuzzling her dearly without wasting a moment. Opposite them, Cadence did the same as she came up beside her own loved one.

Celestia touched down last, glaring daggers at their crystalline foe.

"Looks like you pulled through after all, Twi." Rainbow smiled over at her, just as she pulled back.

Twilight smiled back at her sweetly. "I could say the same thing about you, holding your own this whole time..."

"Heh, well... hay, I'm tough, remember?"

Twilight nodded softly, peering off sorrowfully.

"Rainbow... Spike, h-he's..."

"I know, Twi... and don't worry. Moon and the rest of the girls will figure out a way—"

"Enough!"

The Pony of Shadow's outburst cut them off as they turned to face her, a little shaken.

"Looks like we'll have to pick this up later," Rainbow remarked.

"I suppose so," agreed Twilight, nodding along. "Hey, Rainbow?"

"Yeah?"

"You felt it, didn't you? I-in your heart?"

"You mean the spell you cast on me?" Rainbow gave a slight nod, wearily watching as their foe's horn ignited. "I sure did."

"Then... you know what to do, right?"

She cracked a determined grin.

"I sure do."

Rainbow dashed forward in an instant, as large crystals jutted forth from the earth below. She moved about at a lightning-fast pace, weaving in and around the Pony of Shadow's crystal structures, seemingly disappearing behind one only to reappear out from behind another.

Twi and the others' magic isn't enough to pierce her armor... but fortunately for Twi and me... thought Rainbow, we know something that is!

Rainbow leaped through the air, directly towards the Pony of Shadows as she winded her hoof back, as it itself rippled with electricity.

"Take thi—!"

Rainbow's words died on her lips, her eyes slowly widening.

Cadance and Shining stared in disbelief at what they could see from where they stood.

The electricity surrounding her hoof dispersed, and her forelegs fell limp as a crystal extended from the Pony of Shadow's hoof stabbed her through the heart, and out her back.

The Pony of Shadows smirked briefly before it fell at the image of her foe starting to fade in and out of existence.

An illusion?

The image of Rainbow dissipated into magical dust, leaving her momentarily stunned.

Then where's the...?

Her ears picked up on the sound of frantic footsteps coming from her right, and turned her head in time to see Rainbow fling her tail, pelting her crystal faceplate directly with a clump of dirt.

She recoiled, but not before frantically swiping her crystal blade clean through the pegasus.

And like before, Rainbow again faded into a bunch of magical particles.

The Pony of Shadows desperately shook her head, desperate to shake the dirt off, only for some of it to remain.

Enough that it hindered her ability to see clearly.

D-darn it... She used her tail...! Tch, whatever. I can still use my ears to—!

Her thoughts ceased, her eyes widening as her head whipped to the side. Rainbow's hoof grazed across the side of her face as she flew at her directly from the left. Her hoof packing an additional punch from the sparking electricity, she cut clean through her foe's armor... shattering their faceplate into pieces.

Now, thought Celestia, igniting her horn. I must prevent her armor from repairing itself!

Rainbow skidded along the ground before spinning back around, bearing a wary smirk. "Now, let's see what you really look—"

Her brow raised, her ears flopping just as the other four joined back up at her sides, bearing the same shaken expressions.

"—like..."

Darkest Before the Dawn

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Crystal shards clinked against the stone pavement like bits of broken glass, as a heavy silence fell over the group of friends.

"S-so..." Their foe's words trembled with excitement as she gazed through her partially-shattered hole in her armor, up at the five ponies brave enough—or perhaps foolhardy enough—to oppose her. "It's come to this then, has it!"

The sinister look in her eye, as well as her words took them all aback, but what truly sent a chill down their spines... was the face of their enemy.

"Twi," Rainbow murmured quietly, not believing her own eyes. "It... i-it's you."

She glanced out of the corner of her eye to her right, over at her girlfriend for her own perspective.

Twilight herself, stared ahead in denial, shaken to the core.

Then she snorted in amusement.

Rainbow cocked her head, her expression swiftly turning worried. "Twi...?"

"Yeah," she scoffed. "It's me alright... If I were looking into a broken mirror, maybe with a few screws missing." Her doppelganger raised an eyebrow as Twilight herself proceeded to shake her head in denial. "No, it... h-has to be a trick! It just looks like me because of the magic it stole!"

"Twi..." Rainbow murmured, brow furrowing in concern. "That was when it was cloaked in that... shadowy veil... But that right there is their actual body—"

"It can't be!"

Her outburst startled everypony, most of all Rainbow... her ears flattening and gaze softening. She picked up on the desperation in her girlfriend's voice, and the desire to prove that what she was witnessing... wasn't really there.

That she somehow wasn't responsible for any of this.

"I... I was attacked, b-by rogue m-magic in the Everfree! My magic gave it shape, i-identity... purpose—!"

"Is that what your friends told you?" the other her spoke, her words carrying with them a mocking tone.

Twilight's brow raised, directing her attention back at her doppelganger. "Wha—?"

Her double grinned maliciously. "Go ahead, Rainbow Dash. Tell her what really happened."

Rainbow stepped back, at a loss for words as she all of a sudden found herself the center of attention. "I..."

"Rainbow...?"

Rainbow turned to see Twilight, hints of betrayal in her eyes, and at that, her heart broke.

"Twi, I—"

"I asked her not to tell you, Twilight."

"P-Princess...?"

Twilight looked up at her mentor, bearing a look of bewilderment.

"The real reason I sent you and Rainbow to my old castle... was because I feared Nightmare Moon's impending return. When the object from the sky landed there, I... thought perhaps she was somehow attempting to interfere with the Elements. In actuality, it was to lure you there... so that she could manipulate my sister's lingering spirit into providing her a way back to earth."

"Your sister's lingering will... Wait, s-so... y-you mean..."

"Yes, Twilight. That wasn't dark magic that possessed you... it was Luna—"

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

Celestia reeled slightly at her student's outburst, taking a step back but continuing to stand her ground.

"Because I did not want the way you view her to be forever tarnished by this fact. To know that she had become Nightmare Moon, or that... she would risk unleashing such a great evil upon Equestria..."

"Tch..." Twilight tore her gaze away, falling into silence as she stewed over everything she had just been told.

Twilight...

"Luna's... a-alive...?"

Celestia's ears perked up, alert to her niece's voice, and the question she had poised.

And immediately a pang of guilt ran across her heart.

A realization that Twilight wasn't the only one affected by this turn of events.

She looked off, her voice lowering to that of a murmur. "I told you earlier, didn't I, Cadance? There is so much that I have neglected to tell you, and I truly am sorry... but right now, we must stay focused—"

"I understand..." Cadance nodded before her aunt could say another word, murmuring, "but, if you were truly sorry... then you never would have lied in the first place."

Celestia peered back at her sorrowfully, wishing there were something more she could say. Her chest grew tighter at the words her niece spoke.

Cadance...

"What about you, Rainbow?" Twilight turned towards her fiancée accusingly, Rainbow looking back at her, dumbfounded.

"Wha—?"

"Celestia said you kept this from me... but you were lying to me the moment I regained my senses inside the castle."

"Twi, I..." Her ears flopped as she lowered her gaze ashamedly. "I-it's like Celestia said... I didn't want you knowing that some pony you idolize had attacked you. Even if it was out of desperation..." she murmured in an afterthought.

All the while, their enemy smirked... watching as they fought among themselves.

The seeds of doubt have been sown... Now it is only a matter of time before their hearts blacken with—

Twilight let out a sigh of defeat. "Oh, Featherbrain... I love you too much to be mad with you."

What!? The doppelganger's eyes widened, and she grit her teeth in anger.

"And at least now I understand why you were so hesitant to want to try and save Luna... I know you were only trying to protect me, Rainbow... Still, I... wish you'd have just been honest with me."

Rainbow formed a lopsided smile, as she took one of Twilight's hooves in hers. "I know, Twi... and, if we survive this whole ordeal, I... promise I'll never keep anything from you ever again."

Twilight returned the smile. "That's all I needed to know."

The earth shook beneath their foe's hooves, as hairline cracks began forming in her armor.

"And although it may be difficult for me to forgive you..." Cadance continued with a sigh, turning to face her aunt. "You're still my aunt, Celestia. You gave me a life I never would have imagined... and I won't let myself forget that just because of a few lies."

Cadance... Celestia's surprised gaze softened into a tearful look. "Thank you."

"I may not understand much of what's going on, or why our enemy looks like my sis," Shined chimed in; "but... Celestia's right. The Pony of Shadows is clearly trying to mess with our heads, and turn us all against one another... but we just need to remind ourselves that we're all better friends than tha—!"

"Enough!"

Their foe's voice bellowed out, followed by the crystal armor shattering completely... its pieces flying out in all directions. At the same time, a powerful storm began brewing around her, stirring up heavy winds that kept them all at bay... but through their squinted gazes, saw what she truly looked like.

She indeed bore a striking resemblance to Twilight herself, save for her darker, plum-colored coat, and maroon-shaded mane and tail. Wicked smog flickered from the edges of her eyes that burned a bright white, and a curved red crystal sat attached to the stump of her missing horn.

Oh, Twilight... I know not from which world you hail, but... Celestia's gaze saddened at the sight before her. What happened to you...?

The other Twilight crouched forward, donning a challenging smirk. "Is that what you're calling me? Don't make me laugh! No... I've met the Pony of Shadows—the real Pony of Shadows..."

What? thought the five of them in stunned silence.

"...and let me tell you: he and I... are nothing alike."

He? wondered Celestia.

Twilight's double peered down at her own right hoof contemplatively.

"What's the matter?" Stygian cocked his head, maintaining his friendly grin while his brow crinkled in concern. "Don't you trust me?"

"I don't know you." Twilight continued eyeing the stranger warily. "You said this wasn't a place for heroes—"

"That's conjecture, Twilight. Please, let me—"

She took a step back defensively, powering up her horn. "Then who the hay are you?!"

Stygian remained stunned for a moment before finally responding.

"Wrongfully imprisoned... is who I am."

"What...?"

Stygian let out a sigh, starting over. "You see, Twilight... I was once a well-meaning pony—one with noble intentions, who only wanted to... play their part in shaping Equestria for the better. There were those though who just didn't... trust me. They didn't see the good I was trying to accomplish, and instead of trying to understand it, they... banished me to this place! The... the Pillars, the... hierarchy of Equestria... Its heroes... cast me out, all so that they could remain Equestria's rightful protectors without ever having to acknowledge... the one who brought them all together. After all, history is written by its victors... and they wrote themselves as the heroes."

Stygian... Twilight hesitated, wanting to reach out to him. "Stygian... I know what it's like to have the best of intentions, only for ponies to end up fearing you, or even doubting you... Tell me, who were these heroes?"

"I know not how much time has passed in the outside world, so these names may be of little consequence to you... but I will tell you that their leader was a pony by the name of... Star Swirl the Bear—"

"—ded..." A cold chill ran down her spine as she finished his sentence in a low murmur.

"You've heard of him?" Stygian asked, intrigued.

"H-he's... he's famous..."

"I see..." Stygian's eyes dimmed as he brought a hoof to his chin. "How unexpected..."

"I... I don't..." Twilight stood shaking. "Star S-Swirl would... would never—!"

"You sure about that?"

Twilight's gaze snapped up to meet his.

"It's like I said, Twilight: history is written by the victors, and Star Swirl wrote me out of the picture."

"W-why would he...?"

"My guess would be his massive ego." He lifted a foreleg indecisively while giving his shoulder a shrug. "He couldn't handle somepony else overshadowing him."

Twilight stared down at the dark abyss beneath her hooves, utterly distraught.

"You said you... you k-knew him?"

Stygian smiled. "It was I who made him famous. Now then, may I ask a question, Twilight?"

"Su... s-sure—"

"How exactly did you end up here, in Limbo of all places?"

"O-oh... well..." Twilight gave a halfhearted shrug. "I-I'm not entirely sure..."

"You don't remember?" he pried.

"The Earth was dying... moments away from... f-from being engulfed by the sun..."

Stygian stared back at her, raising his brow in disbelief. "G-go on," he urged.

"My remaining friends devised a plan to send me back in time before everything first went awry. W-when I entered the portal however..."

"You woke up here... I see. Fascinating..."

"Aren't you concerned, Stygian!? This was your home too, and... and n-now, it might very well be—!"

"I'm not so sure it was," he replied, his face bearing a sudden look of skepticism.

"Excuse me?"

"I find it dubious to believe that such a fate would befall my world."

"Your...? What are you...? W-we all come from the same—!"

Stygian chuckled, shaking his head. "Oh, Twilight... You poor, naive child... It appears you still have so much to learn..."

"I..." She tilted her head, furrowing her brow. So much left... t-to learn...?

Stygian scoffed, giving his eyes a roll. "For somepony so enamored with Star Swirl, you sure know so little about him. For starters, did you know about his studies into other dimensions, and how he tethered my world to others through the use of portals? 'Magic mirrors' he would call them... Indeed, it seemed my world was the epicenter for all parallel worlds."

"Parallel worlds... exist?"

"Yes... and with you not knowing about them—" His eyebrow raised, as he donned a sinister smirk. "—makes me think that you hail from one of them."

"Stygian..." Twilight took a cautious step backwards, taking on a slightly defensive stance. "I'm beginning to think that Starswirl was right to banish you here."

"Star Swirl was never right about anything!" he roared, voice deepening and eyes turning white. "But what do you know?" He continued peering at her through his now cold gaze. "You're nothing more than a pony who was seconds too late to save their reality from obliteration, and wound up here instead. A failure... with nowhere left to—" His eyes widened, then squinted as fragmented light radiated forth from Twilight... shimmering like dozens of stars. "What?!"

Twilight too, looked down at herself in astonishment. "What is...?"

I see... so that's it. Stygian's demeanor cooled quickly as a small, excited smile tugged at his lips. "You're being teleported out of here, Twilight. Presumably by the same powers that brought you here."

"I'm... returning to my past!"

"More like a past. No, your past is most certainly gone. It would seem these forces simply needed time to locate a new world... and stored you here for the time being."

"N-no, I..." Twilight shook her head desperately. "I refuse to believe tha—!"

"Believe what you want," Stygian said. "It makes no difference to me... I didn't tell you, did I? I once journeyed into one of Starswirl's portals. At first glance, it seemed to have been a nightmarish landscape, ruled over by monstrous creatures... with the worst of them being their king. A being that called himself the Pony of Shadows."

The... Pony of Shadows...? Twilight repeated over in her head. B-but... they're just a... a legend...

"The Pony of Shadows had a goal," continued Stygian; "to overrun every reality... and make it as empty and corrupted as his own. I didn't realize it at the time, but... he and I... were the same pony."

Twilight stumbled backwards just as Stygian himself grinned. Two long, crooked arms with sharp claws at the ends expelled forth from his back, and he lunged at her, Twilight letting out a breathless gasp.

As if acting on its own, the Shield of Wisdom manifested itself, strapping itself upon her left foreleg. She glanced down for a quick second in wonder, but had little time to be amazed as she had no choice but to block his main assault. His shadowy arms prevailed however, clasping the crystal around her head between his palms.

She somehow managed to... build an immunity to darkness, Stygian was quick to realize, as he began mulling over his options. With no bitterness or contempt to infuse my shadow magic into... there's no corrupting her. However there's still a chance that I can instill into her... my will!

The armor around her head began to crack as his hands clasped tighter, and through those cracks, his magic began to seep like tendrils... drilling into her mind, and bringing with them a flood of evil intentions and horrid images.

Tears quickly welled in her eyes as the pain became too much to bear, and she screamed out in agony... falling back onto her hind legs... her whole body trembling.

"St... Stygi-ian... Wuh-w-why...?" she sputtered out, her body growing translucent. "You d... don't n-need to do this!"

"Yes, I do," he replied, matter-of-factly. As his body was steadily enveloped by the surrounding shadows, his emotionless gaze looked down on her as she wept. So pitiful... he thought. But I'll need somepony to carry on in my name since I'm trapped here...

"Thee-these images... All this... d-death a-and... destruction..."

"A necessary sacrifice," he replied. "In order to mold worlds without false heroes or hope."

A... necessary...?

Through the pain, memories of her life came rushing to the forefront of her mind... as well as the spiteful words spoken by her own shadow.

Maybe he and I... aren't so different...

The sparkles growing around her intensified as Stygian's influence forced a dark veil to sprout around her crystalline body. Her forelegs fell limp at her sides, her conscious thoughts blinking out one by one.

No, she reassured herself, he's... what I used to be...

"Everyone you ever considered to be an ally... will come to betray you eventually. That's simply the way of things. If you weren't about to become me... I'd say you would have come to realize this yourself, about your own so-called friends..."

Rainbow Dash... It isn't true, is it? You didn't send me here on... on purpose... d-did—?

Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted, as her body disappeared in a flash... leaving only an air of silence in her absence.

Hmph. Stygian stared at the spot she had been for another moment before closing his eyes, solemnly thinking, Now we wait...

"Stygian!"

His gaze narrowed as he turned to confront the voice. There, stepping out from the shadows, was his former ally. The legend of magic, and bearded scholar... Star Swirl himself.

Three more stood, while two others who bore wings, hovered around him.

"At last we have found you, Stygian," he spoke, his horn brimming with magic. "You shall not escape us again!"

Stygian grit his teeth. Such indignance... he thought, swiftly becoming one with the shadows.

"I told you," he growled in a voice much deeper and imposing, reemerging from the shadows in a black, featureless form and piercing white eyes that loomed over the six, "that isn't my name!"

Twilight reappeared midair, falling onto the face of a cold, rocky surface.

She landed roughly, letting out a slight groan in pain as she lay there, her head throbbing with an awful, congested feeling...

As she warily got to her hooves, she wobbled, finding it hard to balance herself, and nearly fell forward... only narrowly catching herself.

"What do you suppose they are?" a frail, wispy voice questioned from within earshot.

Twilight's shadowy ears twitched at the sound.

"An intruder? An assailant perhaps...? Oh... Mistress Mare on the Moon will not pleased to hear about this..."

I... Twilight glanced about slowly, taking in the harsh environment, and the small, ashen creatures that looked up at her. What is... this place—?

"Well?" The creatures all gasped and backed away, scurrying behind a pony that now loomed over her. She was tall, with a coat as black as the night, and hair that flickered like blue flames.

"Are you just going to stand there, or do you intend on answering my subjects' inquiries?"

"I... am the Pony of Shadows," she declared after a long moment, her mind at last clearing.

The pony blinked, confounded, as she and her subjects stared back at her.

Then, the tall, dark pony bellowed out in laughter... Twilight, with her pure, white eyes glowered back at her, unamused.

"No, but seriously..." the tall pony continued, taking on a more serious tone. "Who are you?"

"The Pony of Shadows," Twilight repeated firmly, standing her ground. "I've come to conquer this land you call your own."

"Uh-huh..." The tall mare looked down at her with a deadpan look, quickly growing annoyed with the charade this unknown pony was putting on. "I do not know where it is from which you came, but you are not the Pony of Shadows. They are nothing more than a ghost story, centered around my host's lingering presence."

Twilight readied herself into an offensive position, igniting her horn in a blaze of white aura. "Do not take me lightly, cretin. I am very much real, and I have every intention of—!"

The tall mare rolled her eyes, and powered up her own horn... grabbing hold of, and stripping the dark layer off of Twilight in one fell swoop. She herself stumbled back as the shadowy substance was ripped from her body, and rolled into a sphere before being flicked off carelessly into the cold vacuum of space.

Twilight remained lightheaded, her mind aching as the heavy fog placed by the Pony of Shadows painstakingly cleared... allowing for her memories to reemerge. She winced as her head throbbed from the sharp pain of their reemergence, reminding her little by little, of her true identity.

As the pain quelled, and the fog cleared completely... her memories once again shone at the forefront of her mind. I'm... Twilight Sparkle, she remembered, opening her eyes to find her vision blurred. Is this... home?

She looked around in hope, but all she could make out in that moment, was a tall, dark figure , wearing some sort of pale, blue armor as they stood before her.

"Luna...?"

The taller pony cracked a grin at the remark. "Oh, on the contrary..."

T-that voice...! Twilight's eyes widened, her vision beginning to focus. "You, it... it c-can't be...!" She stepped back in denial of who she was really seeing. "N-Nightm-mare M-moon...!"

"Well well well..." she quietly mused. "You certainly are unique... You seem so young, and yet you not only know about me, but my other half..."

Twilight unwittingly tuned out the villain's words, finding herself too wrapped in her own thoughts to focus on anything else.

Did it work? Am I... in the past? If I am... then why am I talking to Nightmare Moon... and not Luna? She was then struck with a horrid realization. Did I somehow... alter the past...?

"Tell me." Nightmare Moon's sudden, demanding tone snapped Twilight from her thoughts. "Who are you? How did you end up here?"

"H-here...?" the young mare stammered.

The villain rolled her eyes in exasperation. "Look around you," she said. "You're on the moon."

"The...?" Twilight looked around dumbstruck, observing the starry sky, and the pale, rocky surface that went on for as far as she could see, but hadn't once considered... "The moon?"

"Indeed. Why, just look over there, if you need even more proof."

Twilight did as she was instructed, turning her head apprehensively in the direction Nightmare Moon had pointed. There, as clear as day, was the Earth, exactly the way she remembered it.

She dropped to her hind legs, unable to help but smile... finding herself overjoyed, and overcome with relief. "I don't believe it..."

Nightmare Moon peered down at her curiously, pursing her lips before shrugging it off and turning back to the Earth. "So how did you end up here?" she asked again.

"I was sent here," she murmured out, still in awe. "I need to get down there..."

"Well that'll be easier said than done. You were sent here by the Elements of Harmony... weren't you?"

Twilight turned her head swiftly. "How did you—?"

Nightmare Moon let out a condescending laugh. "How else does one get sent to the moon?"

"I... hadn't considered..." Twilight looked back ahead in solemn thought, contemplating the rhetoric. What if... the Elements succeeded in sending me to the past, but banished me here due to me still having Nightmare Moon's strength deep within me... Still, so many questions remain, like... She peered in suspicion out of the corner of her eye, at Nightmare Moon. What is she doing here, on the moon no less...?

"This is so strange," one of Nightmare Moon's ashy minions remarked.

"You've got to admit though... that crystal sheen of hers is remarkably stunning."

"Shh!" Nightmare Moon hissed, kneeling down between them. "Both of you!" She exhaled a snort, turning her attention back towards her enigmatic guest. They're not entirely wrong though; this is unusually strange... She was supposedly sent here by those accursed Elements and yet... that fool Celestia has yet to find somepony suitable to wield them... Could it be that she's the cause behind the...?

Her pondering was cut short as her newcomer got to her hooves, turning to face her.

Nightmare Moon's minions jumped at her approach, scurrying to hide behind their master's hind legs.

Twilight glared at the villain from her behind her crystal armor. "I have a few questions for you... Nightmare Moon."

"That makes two of us, my little pony."

"Why are you here, a-and why are you still in control of Princess Luna's body?!" At that, Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. "My friends and I defeated you moons ago!"

"I see..." she murmured in thought. "So you're the one who ends up defeating me..."

Twilight tilted her head, having had just about enough of this.

"That would explain how it is that you know my true identity..."

"What are you talking about?" Twilight cut her off, shaking her head in frustration. She stomped her hoof as her voice rose. "Tell me what's going on—!"

Nightmare Moon's eyes all of a sudden burned brightly, her horn brimming with magic. "Do not threaten me!"

Twilight had but a second to react, conjuring her shield to cancel out her attack, resulting in a crater between them that billowed out smoke.

Unbelievable... Nightmare Moon thought in disbelief, staring into the cloud of smoke. That was alicorn magic, and still she managed to...! I knew this one had to be special, seeing as she bested even me... but even still. Whoever this is... certainly isn't just any old pony...

As the smoke cleared, her crystal-clad intruder stood on her guard, her shimmering shield strapped to her left foreleg and at the ready.

Hmph. Nightmare straightened up, gathering her composure. "Settle down. I shall answer your inquiries, one at a time."

Twilight's brow raised, taken aback, though remaining on her guard. Huh... "A-alright," she replied, dismissing her shield. That was quick... Also, who is she, telling me to settle down...?

"I have dominion over this one's body because it was she who gave me control," Nightmare Moon went on to explain. "As for what I am doing here... it was Luna's insufferable sister, Celestia who banished me here..."

"Banished...?" Twilight wondered aloud. "Erm... How long h-has it been since...?"

"Longer than I care to remember. All I know is that I haven't been able to leave for a very, very long time. Although..." She cracked a wicked grin, turning her malice-filled gaze towards the Earth. "I feel I won't be waiting much longer. I know Celestia is scrambling to find candidates worthy of inheriting the Elements... but it's futile. There'll be no stopping me this time once I destroy them for good."

"T-then..." A sickening revelation washed over the younger mare, as she paled in realization. "That means... we're one year away from the one thousandth Summer Sun Celebration..."

Nightmare Moon made a sudden grunt in detest. "Do not mention that over glorified—wait." She turned back to Twilight in shock. "One thousand years you say...? So it truly has been that long... No doubt everypony has already forgotten me..."

I don't understand... Rainbow really must've sent me back further than she meant to... but I can still fix this! All I need is to somehow make my way down to Earth, find Princess Celestia, and convince her I'm really who I say I—!

"Hey!" Nightmare Moon snapped, startling her out of her reverie. "Are you listening? Because I have a question for you, my little pony... and it has to do with what you said earlier."

"With what I—?"

"Recently, I've been receiving visions of my own defeat, at the hooves of six ponies— These ponies I now know to be you and your friends."

"And you're going to try and kill me... is that it?"

"No," Nightmare Moon simply said. "I know when I'm outmatched. Rather, I wish to know how you did it. Tell me," she demanded; "it was the Elements, wasn't it? You six were chosen by them, weren't you?"

Twilight stared back at her, remaining silent for a moment before answering. "You want the truth?" She formed a smile from behind her armor. "It was the power of friendship that defeated you."

Nightmare Moon narrowed her eyes back at her.

"Do not be coy with me, little one. Hmph, no matter. Be it your friends, or the Elements... I've glimpsed my future, and this time... things will be different."

Twilight fell silent as she watched the villain, thinking back on what she had said.

"Nightmare Moon... How exactly did you see into the future anyway?"

"I figured it had to do with you."

"Me?"

"You came here from a future where you and your friends bested me, and you did so with the aid of the Elements of Harmony, so... it only stands to reason that your time still exists concurrently."

Twilight blinked, dumbfounded. Concurrently...? N-no, that can't... She hung her head, murmuring in admittance, "I'm its sole survivor..."

"Then explain that." Nightmare Moon pointed past her.

"E-explain whu—?"

"The Earth," she hissed. "Take another look, and this time... look closely."

Still a little distraught, Twilight turned and looked at the Earth for a good several seconds. Nothing, she thought, feeling her frustration start to build. "Nothing looks any different."

"Look harder," came Nightmare Moon's response.

Twilight huffed and rolled her eyes before continuing to look for... whatever it was the villain wanted her to see. All I see is my vision becoming a little blurry, she grumbled internally, blinking her eyelids a few times to no avail.

The Earth remained looking like a venn diagram, with one of them partially-transparent and hard to make out.

"N-no..." Her voice trembled as her eyes slowly widened. "There's no way..."

Nightmare Moon's eyebrow piqued, sensing her shudder.

"Do you see it now?" she asked, walking up beside her. "My world has been splintered into two realities—one where my reign was interrupted by you and your meddlesome friends... and one where I'm still here, trapped in this prison. How else could this be unless the pony responsible was banished from their time only to now end up in this one, sustaining them both?"

"And you... y-you think that pony is me?" Twilight shook her head desperately. "N-no... no, it... it couldn't be! I told you! My... my world, it... it no longer exists..."

"I see..." mused Nightmare Moon. "But, if that were true, then..."

It was then that Twilight recalled Stygian's words, and paled at the realization, her pupils shrinking.

"That isn't my world..."

"Well, isn't that a shame," came Nightmare Moon's apathetic response. "Unfortunately, that only raises more questions... If you're not responsible for this deviation in the timeline and the birth of this new reality, then... who—?"

"I don't know," Twilight sputtered out, shaking her head... her chest growing heavy and eyes reddening. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't..." She let out a trembling breath "I..." Her eyes blinked open and her ears stood fully alert from within their crystal casing. "The Elements..."

"Hm?" Nightmare Moon glanced back down at her. "What about them?"

"I'll find Celestia, a-and convince her to lend me the Elements!" Twilight stood tall, determined. "And then... and then the Elements will guide me home to my reality, and help me to rewrite my past!"

"Oh? And how do you plan on wielding them?"

Twilight smirked. "With my friends, of course."

"Your friends?" Nightmare Moon repeated dryly. "I thought your friends were dead?"

"They are—er, were! They were... but I know now..." She peered up towards the stars with a look of confidence. "That they aren't... because the souls of the element bearers exist within the Elements of Harmony, and that'll never change... because while the magic may be different, the magic of friendship is unanimous throughout all reali...ties...?"

Her thought fizzled out, interrupted by Nightmare Moon's laughter.

"Oh you cannot be serious. What poetic drivel," she said, wiping a non-existent tear from her eye.

"It is not!"

Twilight stomped her hoof before huffing, turning away bitterly. "But it's not like a pony like you would understand..."

"And what of it?" Nightmare Moon fired back. "These Elements... They're a sham, a fake—not truly a part of this reality."

"Well... that makes two of us," Twilight mused, igniting her horn and focusing in on the patch of green earth that was Equestria.

Her horn sparkled and zapped as her magic enveloped her body, igniting along with it thoughts of her home, friends and loved ones... I've never attempted to teleport such a long distance before, but for you, Rainbow... my friends... I will make this leap of faith—!

An invisible force repelled her, and sent her reeling back through the air with a frightened shriek, landing on her back with a thud.

"Oof. That went well," Nightmare Moon remarked snidely, her vitriolic sarcasm still ringing in the younger mare's ears.

Twilight winced, propping herself up with her foreleg. "What was...?"

"It appears as though something doesn't want you to leave."

Still reeling, Twilight got to her hooves, her heart sinking slowly in dismay. "N-no..." she whimpered. "Whu... W-what happened?!" An exasperated look swiftly dawned upon her face, as she turned to face the villain. "Did you do that?"

Nightmare Moon in turn, bought a hoof to her chest, letting out a mocking gasp. "Perish the thought. Why would I ever try to prevent you from leaving?"

Tch... Twilight tore her gaze away, peering down at her hooves at a loss.

"I... I-I don't know!" she at last retorted hopelessly, a twinge of anger boiling beneath the surface. She slammed her right hoof down, creating a few fractures in her armor. "Darn it..."

"Hmm... It's as though this reality knows you're not a part of it, and like an antibody, is rejecting you."

"Ridiculous," Twilight scoffed. "The universe isn't some living, breathing thing. It has no mind of its own... so then how—?"

Nightmare Moon brought a hoof up to her own horn, making it plainly obvious to the other pony.

"My magic...?" Twilight mulled over the idea, giving some credence to the idea. "Well, I... suppose magic could operate differently in each reality... Maybe mine doesn't have the same frequency, or operate on the same wavelength as this universe's..." She held out her left foreleg, thinking to herself, My shield sure seems to work though... Then again, the Shield of Wisdom isn't any old magic...

"So what will you do?"

Nightmare Moon's question captured her attention.

"What will I...?"

Nightmare Moon rolled her eyes, having expected as much.

"As I thought." She turned partway, motioning for her to follow. "Come with me."

"C-come with—?" Twilight hurried after the villain before slowing her steps and trotting alongside her. "Come where?" she asked, looking up at the taller mare in interest.

"Seriously?" the villain replied in an irritated tone, before stopping to point towards a palace of sorts with tall, spindly spirals that sat at the end of a winding set of stairs.

Twilight blinked, stupefied.

"How'd I not see that...?" she murmured, before snapping back to reality and hurrying after Nightmare Moon, who had already resumed her pace, proceeding up the stairs that lead to her palace. "So, uhm... w-what is this place exactly?" she asked, joining back up by her side.

"The place where dreams are made... or were, I should say," came Nightmare Moon's vague response.

"Dreams? Surely you're speaking figuratively."

The taller mare, however, shook her head.

"Literally."

"B-but I've had plenty of dreams, and I'm pretty sure no creatures were responsible for them. Also, I thought Luna—?"

"My host has the power to traverse one's dreams, but holds no actual power over them. This place, and these creatures however... create dreams for ponies without any dreams."

"Without any...?" Twilight grew quiet, lowering her gaze in thought. "How horrible..."

"More like wonderful. Their minds are like a blank canvas. Without anything to look forward to... they become susceptible to nightmares..."

The two entered through the arched doorway, into a wide, open chamber with marble flooring and blue, star-embossed columns. Patterns of a crescent moon dotted the walls, and in the center of the chamber itself were several ethereal-like pools, mist swirling around them.

Twilight looked around in awe of her surroundings, and at the little creatures hard at work for a long couple of moments before a question began to arise in the back of her mind.

"Nightmare Moon... Why are you showing me all this?"

"Because, little one. You wish for a way down to Earth, and truthfully? I just want you gone."

"Okay...?" remarked Twilight, remaining no less confused. "But... what do dreams have to do with...?"

Her words were interrupted the moment she felt something tug on her foreleg, and looked to see it was one of Nightmare Moon's soot-coated minions.

"Um, this way please," the creature said. "I'll explain the rest on the behest of our mistress."

"Er..." Twilight glanced back at Nightmare Moon for a second in uncertainty, before looking back on ahead as she was lead over to one of the many various pools of liquid.

"Now then," the creature went on to explain matter-of-factly, "the first thing we must do is get you acquainted with your other self."

Twilight remained silent for a moment, cocking her head in confusion. "My other...?"

"The you from our reality, to put it more simply."

Oh... Twilight made a look of realization as it dawned on her right then, but the revelation did little to ease her nerves.

"Are you sure that's a good idea? W-what about the space-time continuum? The very fabric of—!"

The creature held up its stubby paw. "If you ask me, you've already damaged the fabric of reality, what with you being here."

Twilight paused, then chuckled humorlessly. "Yeah, I... guess you're right."

"Hey, don't feel sad. My friends and I are here to help!"

"But... aren't you all servants of Nightmare Moon?"

"Oh sure we serve her, but we don't like causing nightmares. She sort of just... forces us into it." The little creature peered down in somber thought. "We didn't always look like this you know..."

Twilight stared back at the creature curiously, feeling a twinge of sympathy for the little thing right then. She parted her lips, about to inquire more when the creature perked back up, bearing a cheery disposition once more.

"But enough about us! What's your name, Dear?"

"O-oh, uhm! Twilight," she answered in a hushed voice, leaning forward. "Twilight Sparkle."

"Twilight, is it? That's a pretty name. I... suppose it doesn't really matter, but my name's Doran." Doran paused, looking up at Twilight funnily. "You know you needn't whisper."

"For the sake of my other self's future," Twilight replied. "Nightmare Moon mustn't know anything more about me than she already does."

"Oh, alright; I understand. Alright, well... let's see. Twilight Sparkle... Twilight Spar— oh my."

Twilight perked up instantly, lifting her head in worry. "What is it?" She scurried over to the pool, narrowly bumping into Doran in the process. "Tell me, what do you see?"

Her eyes darted back and forth yearningly, looking into the rippling pool... only to see nothing.

"The other you seems to be in the midst of a terrible nightmare," Doran replied.

"What?" Twilight turned desperately towards the smaller creature. "S-snap her out of it!"

"O-oh, t-this one isn't our doing," Doran stammered in response, leaning back a bit. "This is something she must work out on her own."

Twilight remained still, glaring at her for a moment more before letting out a huff, straightening up. "W-well... do you know what caused it?"

Doran merely shook her head, turning back to the pool. "Her mind must be heavily burdened."

"By... what?" pried Twilight.

"I wish I knew."

Doran went back to work, leaving Twilight to fidget in place, anxiously chewing her lip

"Well... now that we've found her, we must focus on forging a connection with her."

Twilight snapped back to reality, looking back at Doran in intrigue. "Forging... a connection?"

"Mhm. These reflective pools do more than give us nyx a glimpse into the dreams and nightmares of every pony on Earth. We can also alter them by adding a touch of magic."

"And you want to... what? Add my magic?"

"Oh, only a little. We wouldn't want to overload her."

Twilight's eyes widened. "O-overl-load?"

"Oh, you know... Dizziness, nausea, splitting headaches... and in worst case scenarios, muzzlebleeds, fainting, aneurysms..."

"What!?"

The other creatures all flinched at her outburst, turning to look at her.

"T-that's why this time we're being extra careful!" Doran assured, holding her hands out. "All you need to do is add a little of your magic by way of her dreams, and siphon out some of her magic in turn."

"I... thought my magic had no effect in this reality?"

"It has no effect on this Earth, but these are dreams. They exist outside the boundaries of reality."

"Hmm... If you say so. So then, how exactly is this going to let me enter your Earth?"

"Well, by filtering in and out enough of your magic with hers, you should be able to fool this reality—"

"—into believing that I'm really her..." Twilight held a hoof to her chin as she thought it over.

"You know, that actually might work..." Her face lit up as she exclaimed, "You're a genius, Doran!"

"Oh, I wouldn't go that far... In either case, this will take a while."

"Er... How long are we talking?"

"Oh... a good several days, give or take."

"S-several days?" Twilight remarked, incredulous. She then shrunk back, lowering her voice upon noticing the stunned look on Doran's face. "Oh-okay... That, that isn't unreasonable..." As long as I don't keep everypony waiting too long...

"So then—"Doran clapped her hands together. "—shall we get started?"

"Oh, uhm... y-yes! Please tell me what I must do!"

Doran nodded, motioning towards the pool. "Just submerge your head in this here water—or rather, the gateway into the other you's subconscious. Your mind will meld with hers, and your magic signatures will overlap, with hers flowing into you, and yours into her."

"Um..." Twilight lifted her hoof to her head, giving it a few taps with her hoof. "My mind's sort of encased within a crystal shell."

"Oh, that won't matter. Mental magic like this isn't hindered by any sort of blockages. Simply give it a minute and the magic will seep its way through on its own."

"Like, an actual whole minute, or...?"

"Come now." Doran beckoned her closer. "Don't hesitate."

Twilight dipped her head in dismay, letting out a muffled groan. "Fine..." she grumbled. Whatever it takes...

She stepped closer, inspecting the rippling pool with uncertainty before squeezing her eyelids shut, and dunking her head beneath the watery surface. Murky, was her first thought as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Okay," she heard Doran say. "Now just relax your thoughts, and open up your mind. Give yourself over to the magic... allow it to rejuvenate your senses—"

Twilight deadpanned. This is beginning to sound like a load of—

An image flashed before her eyes, sparking her curiosity. What was...?

Another scene played out before her, proceeded by another, then another.

These are her memories... So then... why is Rainbow Dash...? I never met her until I came to Ponyville... What is she doing in my Ivory Tower, a-and why does she look so... s-so hurt?

Twilight's expression softened, her heart aching at the imagery, and voices that accompanied them. My poor Rainbow Dash... Why is the other me not rushing you to the hospital? Why... am I not helping her!?

Doran grew concerned, watching as the surface water began to bubble and sizzle with hot steam.

"Um... Twilight dear? R-remember what I said! Relax your thoughts and keep your mind clear. Don't allow yourself to become distrac—"

Twilight tossed her head back, sending water flying as she recoiled from the water's edge, seething as water droplets dripped from her head. She stood shaking, her shallow breaths trembling as she stared down the pool, her horn sparking with residual magic.

Is this... the deviation Nightmare Moon spoke of? And was I... a-always so... s-so—!

Before she could contemplate any further, a sigh came from beside her.

"Well, that went about as well as expected," Doran remarked, shaking her head disappointingly.

Twilight's expression took on a dumbfounded look.

"Honestly, I can't say that I wasn't expecting that sort of result. I was remaining hopeful for the sake of our mistress, but... ah, well—"

She was yanked from the ground, and brought face to face with Twilight, her own nose pushed up against the crystal encasing the pony's muzzle.

"You knew something would go wrong!?"

Doran swiftly threw on a panicked grin. "N-not necessarily, Twilight... Something like t-this has just... n-never been tested before! The effects of magic melding with another pony, much less your very own doppelganger are unprecedented, why... I told you something like this would take days!"

Twilight's eyes shut suddenly as she winced, her mind flooded by a barrage of unfamiliar memories. She dropped Doran to the floor as she fell to her haunches, grasping at her head with her hooves. "W-why... why am I seeing these?"

"Suh—s-seeing w-what?"

"Her memories! They're playing out inside my head, I... can't shake them!"

She screamed out in frustration, slamming her hoof down against the floor, creating several small fractures... and startling not only the other nyx, but Doran most of all.

Twilight fumed, gazing back ahead of herself, and immediately seeing the startled nyx, fallen backwards and with a frightened look in her eyes, was enough to bring her back to her senses.

"Oh my Celestia," she uttered, her anger dissipating. She sunk back onto her haunches in a defeated motion, shaken to the core. Her eyes began to grow heavy. "I'm so sorry—"

A sudden voice bellowed out into the room, causing all of the other nyx to jump from their skin. "What is the meaning of all this commotion?!"

Nightmare Moon stood at the edge of the stairs with an angry glare as she surveyed the room. As her gaze came to rest upon Twilight and a terrified-looking Doran, she let out a snort... narrowing her eyes. Why am I not surprised...

She approached the two, hopelessly shaking her head. "I retire to my chambers for but a mere few minutes, and already there is the sound of somepony yelling. Must I do everything around here...? I expected you to be able to handle this on your own, Doran... for you know I hate being disturbed..."

Doran scrambled to her liege's hooves. "I-it's actually all under control now, My Queen. Our friend here had a bit of an overreaction, b-but it's all over now."

Nightmare Moon peered past Doran, and raised an eyebrow as she stared down upon the crystal-clad pony who sat sobbing, clutching her splintered hoof against her chest. She seems at war with herself... as though she's afraid of letting her anger loose... Yes... A pupil of Celestia, with a dark side it would seem...

She sneered at the prospect.

I could use this to my advantage... because I too, know a part of me that's dying—not to be let out... but in.

Doran cocked her head. "M-mistress Moon?"

"Escort our guest to one of our spare bedrooms," Nightmare Moon commanded, "and make sure her needs are taken care of."

"Y-yes! Of course ,of course." Doran bowed her head before hurrying back on over to where Twilight sat. "Come along, Dear." She rested a hand on Twilight's side. "Deary?"

Twilight however, remained lost in a world of her own.

Rainbow... she silently wept. I wish you were here, I... could ruh-really u-use you right now... I-I...

Twilight's doppelganger turned back towards the five who stood opposite her with an intense glare, setting her hoof down as the long memory fizzled to a close. The swirling vortex of wind died down around her, with residual lightning rippling across the divide between them.

She took in the looks of uneasiness on her foes' faces, and sneered, crouching into a striking position. "I can't wait to destroy you all!"

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa, hey, h-hold up a sec!" Rainbow stepped before the others, holding her hoof out pleadingly. "If you really are Twilight, then... can't we talk this out—?"

"I already told you, Dash. That isn't my name—"

"Okay, fine, whatever! Just... just talk to me! Maybe we can work this out."

Twilight looked at her with wide, curious eyes, and parted lips. Rainbow...? What're you...?

Twilight's doppelganger scoffed at her words. "Funny, seeing as how you were so intent on knocking my lights out earlier. Now you... what? Want to settle things civilly because I look like the pony you love?"

"Because if you were really once Twilight... then I know there's good in you."

The other Twilight narrowed her eyes back at her.

Rainbow...

"You really are loyal to a fault, aren't you?"

Rainbow's feathers rustled just as Twilight came up beside her, setting a hoof over her foreleg.

"Twi—?"

"Forget it, Rainbow. This isn't somepony you can reason with, because this pony..." She turned away from her girlfriend to glare at her dark reflection. "Isn't me."

"Twilight..."

"She... she can't be!" she stressed. "I'd never fall to the darkness—!"

"Mm, no... you would."

Twilight blinked, her heart skipping a beat. "What—?"

"You've just yet to be betrayed by those you look up to most."

The ones I...? Does she mean...? She glanced back at Celestia for a quick second before refusing to entertain the idea. No... you... "You don't know me, you... y-you are not me! T-there can't be two of me! That's—!"

"Scientifically impossible?"

Twilight collapsed onto her hind legs, staring blankly, unblinking... Her pupils shrunk, and her body went numb,

"What? Did I take the words right out of your mouth? Or maybe they never left. Oh, but that's right—you still believe that time travel isn't a thing that exists," her doppelganger mocked with a roll of her eyes, then smirked. "I forgot how... close-minded I used to be."

So I was right... mused Celestia, shaken to her core as she silently watched from alongside her niece and Shining Armor.

"I'm everything Twilight isn't! I have what it takes to do what's needed! I'm not distracted by some ridiculous notions of... friendship or love, I...! I see things for how they really are..." She glared straight ahead, her back hoof denting the pavement. "The only pony you can ever count on is yourself!"

She charged towards Rainbow, her horn brimming with powerful magic. Rainbow froze, too shaken to even brace herself as she stood unnerved by the killer intent in her otherworldly friend's eyes.

Celestia and Cadance shared a quick, knowing look, and igniting their horns, erecting a magical barrier that encircled the five of them.

Twilight's doppelganger glowered at them all as she continued to charge, ultimately rearing up upon reaching the barrier. "You think this will stop me?!" she screamed, slamming her front hooves down and sending waves rippling across its surface.

The jolt snapped Rainbow out of her astonishment, and she stumbled back, staring sorrowfully into Twilight's seething expression.

Twilight... What... what h-happened to—?

"Do not be afraid, Rainbow Dash. This barrier was made using both my own, and Cadance's magic. This spell is composed of our love and hope, and was designed specifically to stave off shadow ponies..."

"Shadow... ponies..." Rainbow turned back to her girlfriend's other self. Her hooves fizzled into black smoke as they pressed into the barrier. Her left eye winced, her teeth clenched... and through her pained expression, kept a scornful eye fixated on the rainbow-maned mare.

A look that made her feel all the more guilty.

Did I... do this to you?

"I can't believe that... thing was once my sister..." murmured Shining, heartbroken by the sight.

Cadance rested a hoof upon his shoulder. "Your sister is right in front of you, Shiny. Don't forget that, okay?"

"I-I know, but... even so..."

Cadance bit her lip before reluctantly nodding her head. "Twilight or not... she intends on... enslaving our home, our friends." She stared ahead in determination. "We cannot allow that."

"Then we must come up with a plan, and quickly," agreed Celestia. "We're safe for the time being, but we cannot remain here forever."

"W-well, what do you propose?"

"If she were another shadow pony, then I'd say we banish her back from whence she came. Since she isn't however, nor does she hail from this world... I don't see us having any other option but to fight her with everything we've got."

"I was afraid of that..." Cadance gulped, looking back on ahead pensively. "If that's what it'll take..."

All the while, Twilight sat with a thousand yard stare, oblivious to all else around her.

"A-another me...?"

Rainbow forced her gaze away, turning pleadingly towards her Twilight.

"Twilight!" she begged, taking hold of, and giving her shoulders a shake, only to no avail. "Twilight, you've got to snap out of it!"

Twilight remained unflinching, lost within a world of her own thoughts.

Darn it, Twi...!

"Rainbow Dash!"

Rainbow looked up attentively at the sound of Celestia's voice, and saw the other Twilight's hooves creating a gap in their shield. She herself grimaced as the magic burned her hooves, but she prevailed through the pain, continuing to split their dome apart.

With a fierce scream, the magic dispersed, forcing Cadance, Shining, and Celestia to retreat back several steps, and for Rainbow to grab hold of, and lurch Twilight out of her doppelganger's trajectory.

The force caused her earring to slip from her ear, the gemstones of which clacking against the pavement briefly, before an unmistakable and gut-churning crack filled the air.

The two fell back harshly on their sides, inches from where their foe fell forward onto one foreleg... onto the fallen earpiece, and shattering the gems that bound the symbol of their unity into pieces.

Rainbow weakly opened her eyes in time to see the familiar hue of one of her feathers be carried off by the residual gust, and it didn't take her long to realize what had just happened. A feeling of sadness gripped her chest for but a moment before snapping back to the present moment, and the mare she currently held in her hooves.

Hay, she decided. It was only a symbol.

No sense in beating herself up over it.

Twilight's doppelganger grit her teeth, bearing the pain as areas of their coat simmered like smoke... before glaring up bitterly towards the two of them.

She stood tall, letting out a huff as she came to tower over them both. She raised her right foreleg, and manifested a crystal blade from the bottom of her hoof itself.

Rainbow gulped, her eyes widening. H-her powers... I-I thought they came from t-that shadowy veil, or her crystal armor, b-but... they were inside of her all alon—!

Their foe swung her hoof back down, and Rainbow instinctively shut her eyes tight, throwing one of her wings over Twilight.

A powerful beam of magic deflected the blade, cutting it clean in half before it could strike either of them.

Their foe recoiled at the powerful blast, wincing briefly before turning her angered gaze toward the source of the attack.

Celestia...

She glared back at her former mentor, watching as the older alicorn's horn brimmed with an intense magic, as she herself stood poised and ready to strike.

"I know not what happened to you, Twilight, to make you this way... I can only surmise that your Celestia must have failed you in some way... but if you think for a second, that I am about to stand idly by while you make an attempt on my friends' lives..." Her eyes began to glow, her horn's aura increasing in ferocity. "You have another thing coming."

Twilight's doppelganger snorted at her words, drawing the splintered remains of her blade back into herself. Setting her hoof back on the ground, she turned to face her fully, bearing a devilish smirk. "Very well, Princess... but be warned..."

Crooked, shadowy appendages with claw-like tips rose up out of her body as she knelt forward... her curved red horn rippling with magic of her own.

"Every world has its princess, every world its Guardians of Harmony... and neither shall stand in my way!"

Rainbow looked back at them all, from where she laid beside Twilight. "Guys!"

"We've got this!" Cadance yelled back in response. "Keep talking to Twilight, try and snap her out of—!"

Two of the claw-like, misty extensions grabbed both Shining and herself by their throats, stifling the young mare's gasp and pinning them both to the ground as the other Twilight then proceeded towards Celestia, attempting to kick her to the ground with a whip of her foreleg.

Celestia reacted swiftly, conjuring a shield that connected with her assailant's hoof midair. She winced briefly at the brunt of the impact, before forcing her opponent back, and swiping her horn—magic extending out from it like a blade—to cut through the appendages that pinned both her niece and her beloved to the ground.

Cadance and Shining slowly got to their hooves, gingerly massaging their necks as they regained their breath.

"Are the two of you alright?"

The two of them reassured her with a simple nod.

"We... we are," Cadance replied.

"That's good." Celestia directed her narrowed gaze back towards their foe, just in time to see her gearing up for another attack. "Be on your guard, Cadance, Shining Armor. Here she comes!"

The two readied themselves just as their foe galloped back towards them directly, hooves surging with electricity, and horn brimming with a threatening aura.

All the while, Rainbow kept her attention focused solely on her Twilight.

"Twi? Twilight, can you hear me?" She gave her girlfriend's shoulder a light shake, but she remained still, unblinking.

"How... can there be two of me?" she finally uttered under her breath. "There shouldn't be two of me, or... or anypony for that matter."

Rainbow's heart sunk at her girlfriend's words, just as more sounds of violence rang out behind them. Twilight...

She bit her lip as her own ears flopped, wracking her brain over what to say when a weak laugh passed her girlfriend's lips, leaving her at a loss for words.

"Guess that just goes to show how much I know, huh Rainbow?" She snorted. "Some mare of science I am."

Twi...

Rainbow's gaze saddened, picking up on the slight deprecation in her words.

"All my life," she continued, "I've prided myself on the knowledge I've acquired and put to good use, and yet... I was still so short-sighted..." She sighed, directing her crestfallen gaze away. "A parallel reality," she mused. "I was ignorant to think that one wouldn't, no, couldn't exist outside our own universe, or perhaps even overlapping ours... invisible to the naked eye, and existing within its own magical wavelength."

"Twi, you... you were so sure it wasn't you. What changed your mind?"

"What changed my—?" Her words drifted as she slipped back into thought.

"What?" her doppelganger mocked. "Did I take the words right out of your mouth? Or maybe they never left. Oh, but that's right—you still believe that time travel isn't a thing that exists."

"Those words she said to me, before the princesses formed that barrier... She asked if she had taken the words right out of my mouth, and then proposed that they had never left."

"Yeah, and? Twi, I... think she was just egging you on."

"I'm not so sure, Rainbow," she argued, growing contemplative. "Because, when she spoke them, they struck a cord with me—like I had heard them before. I... remembered speaking them in a similar situation, wherein I was again facing myself..."

"Somehow, I... have a feeling it wasn't. I'm not sure how, but... I'm confident she and I are the same."

"Hold up. You and her are not the same, Twi. I mean, she's like, totally evil and stuff, and you're, well... you're not."

Twilight's expression remained unchanged, instead peering down at the empty space between them. "How can you be so certain?"

"Twilight..."

"I mean it, Rainbow." Twilight drew her desperate gaze back to hers. "What if it's like she said, and I end up being betrayed by those closest to me! How can you be so certain that that isn't my future?"

"Isn't it obvious, Twi?"

Twilight tilted her head, furrowing her brow in confusion. "Obvious...?"

"Sure, I mean... I'll be with you every step of the way to make sure that doesn't happen, won't I?"

She blinked her eyes. "You'll..." Her gaze proceeded to falter as a slight smile crept upon her lips. "I know you're loyal to me, Rainbow... and that, if we work as a team, we're unbeatable, but..."

"But what, Twi? Come on, I mean... what else is there?"

Twilight winced before shying her gaze away, forcing her girlfriend to try a different approach, as she took on a softer tone.

"Look, Twi... I don't understand what's going on here anymore than you do, but, Twi... what's something you and me both know you struggle with?"

Twilight thought it over, before shaking her head hopelessly. "I-I don't know. T-There's... just so much—!"

"Doubt, Twilight. Your ability to blow everything way out of proportion."

Twilight averted her gaze away ashamedly.

"All this time you've doubted whether or not ponies would betray your trust, or whether or not you'd let them down."

"B-but I've changed, Rainbow. I learned not to think that way—!"

"I know you did, Twi. She on the other hoof..."

"Must've fallen victim to her fears and doubts..."

Rainbow nodded solemnly, turning to look back at the ensuing fight in thought.

"I don't know what she's gone through, what she's lost, but..."

"I do," Twilight spoke up, drawing her girlfriend's attention. "During that night in the hospital, when she blanketed out my memory with inknorance... I tried attacking her, only to pass right through her instead... and, although I could not see what she had experienced... I could certainly feel it. M-my own subconscious was wracked with so much pain and agony that I could barely even move... only lay there and submit to the growing darkness..."

"Twi... Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't find it to be pertinent, Rainbow, I'm sorry."

"Well... one thing's for certain."

"Rainbow?"

"She's not the only who has suffered, but whereas I found solace in you, and made peace with my past... this other you seems unable to let go of the past." Rainbow stood up defiantly, Twilight staring up at her, speechless. "I don't know why this other you wants our Elements of Harmony, but I just know deep down that nothing good will come of her having them under her control."

Rainbow...

"Our friends could really use our help..." Rainbow looked back down at Twilight, bearing a comforting smile. "What do you think, Twi?"

A teary smile slowly adorned the young unicorn's lips. "I think I'm sorry for taking so long to come to my senses. Thank you, Rainbow." She blinked her eyes, taking her girlfriend's hoof. "I guess finding out that you have a doppelganger from a parallel Earth sorta rattled my nerves."

Rainbow cracked a slight grin. "You don't say?"

Twilight smiled, holding a hoof out before her.

"After you, Rainbow."

"Heh... alright." Rainbow leaped into the air. "Follow my lead, Twilight!"

Beams of magic assaulted Twilight's doppelganger, as Celestia, Cadance and Shining all continued bearing down on her. She herself winced, gritting her teeth as her physical body began to smolder.

"Keep it up, you two! Don't give her a moment's reprieve."

"But, if we do," Cadance spoke up, voicing her concern, "won't we end up fatally wounding her?"

"Cady's right, Princess. Even if she's not my Twily... I'm not sure I'm willing to kill her."

"Hmph." Through the pain, his sister's doppelganger narrowed her eyes, bearing somewhat of a smirk. "You always were too soft, Brother!"

"Wha—?"

Her body morphed into a cloud of black smoke before their very eyes, their magic passing effortlessly through her incorporeal form as she swam toward them in an instant, wringing herself around all three of their necks.

Their magic faded, the magic in their horns flickering away as her grip on them affected their concentration.

"Now then..." her voice growled. "Succumb to oblivion—!"

"Hey! Windbag!"

The doppelganger froze. What—?!

Her other self's voice followed the raspy insult, and seemed to be drawing ever closer.

"Think fast!"

A sudden rush of magic hit her, swiftly chilling her to the core.

W-what... is...?

Before she could even process what had hit her, a deafening crack, akin to that of ice splintering sounded loudly as Rainbow and Twilight flew straight through her, shattering her shackling form into hundreds of tiny shards, falling onto, and littering the pavement.

Twilight's hooves touched down beside her brother and the other princesses, while Rainbow skidded to a halt a ways down the road, before turning to face the others.

"Twi!" she shouted. "Are they alright?"

Twilight nodded, reaffirming that they were all okay. "They are!"

"Good..." She breathed out in relief. "Good... Then, that just leaves..."

She turned her gaze to the shards littering the street, noticing as the frost all seemed to thaw away, and the individual pieces of their foe seemed to saunter back to life, culminating into a small cloud that wasted no time in dashing towards her.

Rainbow instinctively took a step back herself as the upper body of her foe materialized up out from the ashen-black smoke, crystal blade raised high above her head, about to swipe it forward.

Rainbow stifled a gasp, and had but a moment to react before swerving her body out of the blade's incoming trajectory... the blade itself still managing to draw blood as it grazed her left foreleg.

Twilight's doppelganger manifested fully from the cloud of smoke, holding the sword out at her side as she walked towards the wounded pegasus.

"You've interfered with my plans one too many times, Dash!"

"Tch..." Rainbow looked up at her sorrowfully. Twi...

"Twilight, wait!"

Twilight froze mid-step, turning to look back at her mentor questioningly, distress in her eyes.

"What do you mean wait, Princess? I have to do something!"

"I agree, but what do you propose? That we freeze her again?" Celestia shook her head, coming to stand beside her. "Think again, my student. Her body will only proceed to reconstitute, and a frontal assault would merely buy us seconds. No, we need a more permanent solution, Twilight. Something to seal away her dark powers once and for all... or otherwise she'll just keep phasing through our attacks."

Twilight tore her gaze away in frustration. Darn it! I hate to admit it... but she's right. We do need something to... Her eyes widened as she caught sight of something out of the corner of her eye, gleaming a short ways away. "Eureka..."

Celestia picked up on her pupil's hushed murmur, and looked down to see what had captured her attention.

"Twilight?"

A slight, hopeful smile adorned Twilight's lips as she teleported the object, levitating it before both herself and Celestia.

"Your doppelganger's blade, Twilight?" Celestia inquired.

"Yes. Specifically the one you cleaved in half. Since it's a part of the other me, I was thinking that you could enchant this with a containment spell. That way, if we could just impale her with it—"

"It would realign with her unique physiology, and the spell would then nullify her powers from the inside out... Twilight, that's brilliant!"

She dipped her head as she ignited her horn, pointing it towards the broken blade, and for a couple agonizingly long moments, Twilight stood anxiously, chewing her lip.

"There," Celestia said at last, with a sigh of relief, "that should do it." Twilight snapped out of her worried state of mind, turning to look curiously towards the weapon. "An enchantment strong enough to seal away even the strongest of shadow ponies."

Twilight formed a grateful smile. "Thank you, Princess. Now then, all that's left is to—"

Her ears perked up at the sound of her doppelganger's threatening voice.

"You've interfered with my plans one too many times, Dash!"

Oh no.

She turned, and her heart immediately sunk at the sight of her doppelganger directing her sword directly at Rainbow... Rainbow herself looking worse for wear.

She wasted no time in grabbing the blade from her mentor, and teleporting away in the blink of an eye.

"Twilight!" Celestia yelled out after her, "wait!"

She reappeared before her beloved, circumventing her doppelganger's sword strike as she glowered down at her.

"Keep your hooves... off of her!"

Rainbow's brow raised in awe. "Twi?"

"Nngh..." Her doppelganger staggered, nearly losing her balance from the blow. A shadowy appendage extended forth from her side, planting its palm firmly upon the ground.

Twilight herself wasted no time in enacting the next part of her improvisational plan, mustering her strength before swiping her own sword through her doppelganger's body.

Her eyes widened. No good! It.. passed right through her!

The other her sneered as she straightened back up. "Were you seriously expecting that to work?"

The shadowy hand then lunged at her, grabbing her in its clutches as she let out a startled shriek.

"Twilight!" Rainbow yelled.

"Dash!"

The hand hoisted her up high into the air, causing the sword to slip from her magical grasp, clanking against the ground.

Celestia, Shining and Cadance meanwhile, watched from afar, readying themselves to take action.

"On my signal, we'll all teleport," Celestia said. "I'll buy you both some time, while you go and free Twilig..."

Celestia's voice trailed off as she noticed the ground they stood on all of a sudden turn black.

What—?

"As if I'd forget about the three of you," the doppelganger murmured.

Three more large hands rose up out of the shadows, ensnaring the three of them within their claws as they gripped them tightly.

Nngh... what is...? Celestia peered down warily at the hand itself, feeling as though her own strength was fading, and fading quickly. Her eyelids fell heavy, as she found herself struggling to keep her eyes open.

These hands... a-are they absorbing our magic?

Celestia gave her head a quick shake, blinking her eyes. No... Whatever this magic is, it... feels like it's sapping more than simply our strength. This isn't good... If I can already feel its effects, then what does that mean for...

She reluctantly peered over at her niece and... Shining... Her heart sunk, seeing his eyelids had already betrayed him, and his body slouched forward in a seemingly withered state.

She tore her gaze away, turning instead to face her niece.

"Cadance."

"I know," she said, seemingly sharing her thoughts as she ignited her horn. She winced, focusing her magic on her beloved. "I'm already on it. Can... c-can I count on you to keep Twilight—?"

Celestia's horn flared without a moment's hesitation as she turned in Twilight's direction.

"You needn't ask."

"Guys!" Rainbow reached out after them, then mentally cursed, glaring back at her girlfriend's doppelganger.

"Let them go!"

"And if I don't?" she questioned with a growing sneer. "You cannot touch me, Dash, and any contact with these shadowy arms will only ensnare you too."

Darn it... she's right... She bit her lip, her ears flopping as she wracked her brain. It seems like she's only vulnerable whenever she tries attacking one of us, and... even if I did manage to get in close enough... all I could land would be a quick punch or a kick before one of those shadowy arms grabbed me too... Man...! She peered hopelessly up at Twilight. What do I...?

"R... Rainbow..."

Twilight? Her eyes widened, and ears perked at the weak, strained sound of her girlfriend's voice uttering her name.

"The... sword..."

Sword? Rainbow blinked, drawing her puzzled gaze back to the gleaming crystal blade. That's right... Twi tried attacking her other self with it. At first I thought it had just been to protect me, but now I'm wondering... Without hesitation, she leaped into the air, and dove toward the blade, scooping it up between her hooves before dashing back to where she had been before.

The sword had barely been in her hooves for a second before she was hit with a familiar feeling—that being, the familiar sensation of magic. It was feint, but she could feel it lingering.

Just as I thought... Twi must've enchanted this with some kind of spell—maybe even one to nullify her doppelganger's powers!

"Hmph, and what exactly do you plan on doing with that old thing?" the other Twilight scoffed. "If you try attacking me with it, I'll just phase right on through it!"

"Ngh... Don't l-listen to her, Dash!"

Twi? Rainbow directed her attention back to her girlfriend.

"She h-has to be... has to be bluffing! T-these constructs, they... t-they stem from her! It n-no doubt takes immense concentrate to retain their physicality! S-so, if she r-really is incorporeal, then... then they should be also—!"

"Silence!" her doppelganger growled, tightening her grip on the young unicorn's body.

"Twi!" Rainbow cried out, then gasped as, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed several more shadowy tendrils sprouting forth from her foe's body, the claws of which enlarged once fully emerged. They loomed over her, now big enough to snatch her up if she wasn't careful.

She took an instinctive step back, but deep down she knew she wasn't deterred. Rather, a fire ignited within her eyes, as she found herself overcome with a sudden surge of confidence, and determination.

She placed the blade between her teeth—knowing she'd need her hooves—and leaped back just as the claws impacted the spot where she had been standing.

I just need to get in close enough, she assured herself, using her hooves to push off into the sky.

"Oh no you don't!" the other Twilight shouted after her, commanding her clawed tendrils to give chase after the pegasus, Rainbow herself narrowly swerving in and around their individual strikes. They moved wildly, and with disregard for their surroundings, as they grazed the front of buildings and collided with the street in vain attempts to grab her, sending stone and debris scattering.

"All this time," Twilight's doppelganger's continued, "I've been allowing myself to get swept up in the heat of battle, like a predator... toying with its prey!" She conducted the tendrils with ease, sending them relentlessly after Rainbow. "I've been allowing myself to become so easily distracted by the sight of you all, that perhaps, deep down, I was merely aiming to prolong your suffering... but no longer. If you and your little friends continue to oppose me, and refuse to give up the location of the others... then I'll have to resort to more drastic measures, Dash."

Drastic—? Rainbow's worrying thought only worsened the second a sharp cry of pain hit her ears. Twilight's voice.

"How about it, Dash? I could break her legs, maybe cripple her spine, or even snap off her horn." One of her shadowy claws stroked itself along the side of Twilight's horn tantalizingly. "So long as you and her still draw breath, it doesn't really matter what I do. I'll do what I must to get the two of you to quit resisting."

Rainbow's heart pounded, paling at the sheer thought. She wouldn't... She peered wistfully down at her left foreleg, at the small cut that hammered home the severity of her threat. Oh who am I kidding? She's insane enough to at least try!

She turned swiftly, flying up and over a series of rooftops to her left, her pulse racing ever faster as she looped back around.

"But why stop there?" her foe taunted with a wicked expression. "When I could so easily absorb your princesses and their precious knight's energies and intellect into my own consciousness. Knowledge is power after all, and surely one of them knows of the chosen's whereabouts?"

Rainbow gulped at the taunts as she neared the spot Twilight was being held. Winding her head back, she then whipped it and the sword forward, hoping to sever the tendril that held her girlfriend hostage in the air.

"Nuh uh uh, Dash!"

Rainbow's ears perked up just as her own eyes widened, and she narrowly jumped back as one of the clawed tendrils made a move for her, appearing suddenly between the divide that separated herself from Twilight.

No good! she fretted. Figures that Twi's doppelganger wouldn't make it easy for me. Still, I have to do something... but what can I...?

She looked back at Twilight, and saw her gazing back at her weakly, her body appearing somewhat wrinkled, as if slowly withering away... but what grabbed her attention more than that, was the still-determined look in her eyes. Her horn sparked to life, telling Rainbow that she still had one last trick up her sleeve.

With a nod of understanding, Rainbow turned tail as she once again took to the skies, feeling the familiar sensation of her finacée's magic start to encompass her entire body.

Twilight's doppelganger all the while, commanded the tendrils to give chase, little by little merging into a singular claw that proceeded to eclipse her completely.

As Rainbow spun back around, she paled at the enormous clawed hand that now loomed over, sending a cold chill down her spine. She looked down anxiously at her own body, as it continued to shimmer and glow. Please hurry, Twi... for both our sakes...

She tensed, her eyelids instinctively squeezing shut as the hand at last clasped tightly around her, engulfing her entirely within darkness.

Her foe smirked. "It was inevitable," she mused aloud. "You never stood a chanc—"

Her words died on her tongue, her eyes slowly widening.

Rainbow reappeared before her in a flash of light, plunging the sword directly into her chest.

And for a single, long moment, everything was still.

"Oh, Dash..."

Rainbow peered up inquisitively at her girlfriend's doppelganger as she let out a few, soft chuckles. She let go of the broken blade, just as the weapon itself slowly absorbed into her foe's body.

"Did you really think that'd work? I applaud your ingenuity, Dash... but I'm afraid that this is the end for you."

Rainbow stumbled back as her foe sneered, pointing a foreleg at her directly, as if to command her tendrils to snatch her up.

She shut her eyes instinctively, tensing up... only for nothing to happen.

She tentatively reopened them, her brow raising at the sight of her foe giving her foreleg a puzzled flick.

"What is happening?" she grumbled, before glaring back at Rainbow directly. "What did you do?!"

Heh... So it did work after all...

Rainbow straightened up defiantly, bearing a slight smirk. "Me and my friends just used your own strength against you, that's all."

Rrgh... They must've enchanted that blade... No wonder they were so intent on using it against me...

All around her, her shadowy arms dissipated one by one into the air around them, leaving the four of them suspended midair for but a second or two, before they themselves began falling back to Earth. As Celestia glided down, and Cadance caught Shining in her aura, bringing them both down safely... Rainbow's heart dropped at the sight of Twilight, falling limply from the sky.

"Twi!"

Rainbow wasted no time in dashing up to her, catching her swiftly within her forelegs.

"Twi?" she asked, gazing down at her worriedly. "Are you alright?"

Her breathing was shallow, and her appearance still remained somewhat withered, but she nonetheless managed a nod.

"I will be," she replied assuredly. She mustered a thankful smile, gazing up at her weakly, her head resting against Rainbow's shoulder,. "We really did it... huh, Rainbow?"

"Heh, we sure did, Twi." She returned the smile, before leaning down to nuzzle the top of her girlfriend's head. "You were really great, you know that? You really saved me out there."

Twilight snorted at that. "Thank you... but it's Celestia that you should be thanking, Rainbow, not me." Rainbow looked down at her puzzled, and before she could question what she meant, Twilight elaborated. "Without her magic, I wouldn't have had enough to teleport you, much less hold out for as long as I did..."

"Er, hold on." Rainbow cocked her head, her brow furrowing. "Her magic?"

Twilight nodded. "Mhm. I... could feel it sustaining me. I think because alicorns naturally have more magic... she was using hers to keep me alive."

"Huh..." As the two neared the ground, Rainbow looked off thoughtfully towards the other three. I'll have to thank her then, when I get the chance.

Her hind hooves gently touched down against the pavement, and she carefully allowed Twilight down, before setting down on all fours herself. Together, they turned their gazes toward their foe, who directed her own icy glare back at them.

"If you think... that you've won..." She shut her eyes suddenly in a wince, letting a few muffled grunts slip as her body began to writhe.

A pained scream followed suit as a pair of broad, feathered wings emerged from her sides.

"What—?"

"She's an alicorn?!" exclaimed Twilight in bewilderment. H-here I thought she had been using her dark magic to merely take the shape of one...

"Whoa, h-hang on a sec, Twi! She did just drain some of Celestia and Cadance's magic. Maybe her body is transforming because of it?"

"Maybe..." agreed Twilight, in solemn thought. "E-either way, we mustn't lose heart! After coming this far, there's nothing that... that our friendships can't accomplish, when we work together!"

"Heh..." Rainbow smiled over at her fondly.

"Well put, Twilight," remarked Celestia, teleporting beside the two of them. To Rainbow's right, Shining and Cadance galloped up alongside them as well. "But I'm afraid that I've put all of your lives at risk now one too many times. Allow me—" Her horn began to glow, and in the blink of an eye, shot forth a beam of light into their enemy, knocking her the remainder of the way across the street and directly into a storefront. "—to put an end to this."

Twilight's doppelganger lurched forward from the sudden shock of being thrust into the building, squeezing her eyelids shut, clenching her teeth. Before her body even had the opportunity to slump forward... golden chains, endowed with a magical aura, wrapped around her horn, limbs and body, chaining her tightly to the wall.

There... Celestia straightened up, letting out a sigh of relief. "That should hold her, and hopefully keep her powers negated for the time being." She breathed out in relief when Twilight's voice—her Twilight—caught her attention.

"...Princess?"

Hm? She looked down beside her, to see Twilight peering back at her with a look of uncertainty.

"What do... we do with her now? A part of me feels like... she's beyond saving, and yet... s-she's still me... you know? Isn't there anyway we could... I don't know..." Her words drifted off, unsure of how to voice what she was thinking.

"What? Redeem her? Save her from the darkness that controls her?" Celestia looked off wistfully, remaining silent for a long moment, before giving her head a shake.

Twilight's ears flopped at her mentor's answer.

"I don't think there is, my student. Otherwise, I would have done so to free my own sister, long, long ago."

"I see..."

Twilight turned away, disheartened, back to the sight of her doppelganger pinned to the wall opposite them, and letting out several grunts and cries of frustration as she struggled to break free of Celestia's chains.

Twilight's gaze softened up at the sight.

"I know she's not a nice pony," she said. "I know that... she's made threats against us, a-and threatened each of our lives no less!"

"Twi..." Rainbow spoke up reluctantly, as she began to ask, "What are you saying?"

Twilight sighed. "I still see myself in her, and seeing her struggle like this... I can't help but wonder what led her to be this way... To be so... filled with hate, a-and anger!" She averted her eyes, biting her lip before adding with a slight shrug, "I just can't help but feel a little bad for her, despite all she's done..."

Her brow raised curiously as she felt a hoof on her shoulder, and lifted her gaze to meet her girlfriend's, who smiled warmly back at her.

"That's because you're a good pony, Twi; never forget that."

"I second that," Cadance chimed in. "You were certainly the sweetest filly that I've ever known. Even if you did end up closing yourself off from the outside world for years—"

"A-and!" Shining cut in swiftly, smiling nervously, "not to mention that you're definitely the best little sister a guy like me could ever ask for!"

Everypony... Twilight shied away bashfully, a slight smile adorning her face.

"Though, she has a point, Princess," continued Shining, turning towards Celestia. "If that really is Twilight from some other world, then... she's still my sister in some capacity. Is there seriously nothing we can do?"

"I hear your concerns, everypony... but I'm afraid there is not. She sealed her fate when she chose to try and usurp me, manipulate my sister, threaten to end your lives, and lay waste to our home." She knelt her body forward, her horn rippling with magic.

Celestia... Twilight looked up at her mentor with a crestfallen expression.

"What's more, I fear, is that she may very well have seen inside our thoughts, our memories, like she threatened she would. She wants the locations of the Elements, and now. If she did indeed look inside my mind... may very well know the locations of the other chosen."

Rainbow perked up worriedly. "W-wait, does that mean...!"

"Never fear, Rainbow Dash, because I'm putting an end to this now. I'll be imprisoning her within stone."

Stone? thought the others.

"Once imprisoned, she will not be able to hurt anypony, nor shall she be dead."

"She'll be in a perpetual state of stasis..." Twilight mused aloud.

Celestia gave a slight nod in response. Because, she supposed in thought, even I lack what it takes... to put an end to her...

Her own eyes fell shut as her magic intensified, and she nearly cast the spell when she heard her niece's voice cry out her name in repulsion of... something.

There, as she reopened her eyes, emerged shambling beings of shadows around her pupil's doppelganger, rising forth from puddles of black goo on the ground.

Black droplets dripped from her chained-up body, like bullets of sweat, and seemed to spread once hitting the street, spawning the beings of darkness.

Celestia grit her teeth. Inknorance?

Twilight gulped, taking a fearful step back. "I-I thought we had seen the last of these things?"

"She calls 'em her Nightmare Knights, Twi," replied Rainbow, readying for a fight; "and no, apparently, we haven't."

The inknorance continued to spread, some of it seeping onto the very chains that bound its host, and little by little, absolving them of their magic.

No! Celestia panicked, preparing her spell. I must act now before—!

Some of the Nightmare Knights hurdled themselves at her, forcing her to fire off the spell in desperation, partially encasing some of the equine-like creatures within stone.

She retreated back into the air, looking down at the scene splayed out before her, and the few Knights stuck frozen in place, half encased in stone as the other halves struggled endlessly to squirm their way free.

She turned in dire panic to her friends, who stood their ground as they found themselves being swarmed by their own onslaught of Nightmare Knights.

Her horn ignited, and aiming it at the horde, unleashed a powerful beam of light that tore through the swarm, tearing up the ground, and sending stone and remnants of ink flying everywhere.

The others all lowered their forelegs from their eyes from the powerful blast of light, looking down in awe of the trench that had seemingly been dug before them, and the now-lifeless puddles of inknorance strewn about everywhere.

Whoa, they all couldn't help but utter in sheer amazement.

Good. Now that they're safe... Celestia redirected her attention to that of Twilight's doppelganger. The once golden hue that had radiated from her chains was now almost entirely covered in darkness.

The links themselves appeared to be corroding, becoming malleable from the affect the ink was having on them.

I must hurry! thought Celestia, as she swiftly charged her horn.

With one final scream of frustration, Twilight's doppelganger tore her right foreleg free, sending bits of blackened chains scattering across the street.

Seething, she turned her attention to her left foreleg, using her unbounded hoof to tear free those chains as well, before using both her hooves to yank free the chains that bound her horn to the wall.

Igniting her horn, she fired a beam down at the chains around her hind legs, severing them in half, before unwittingly falling to the ground in an exhausted heap... her wings lying limply by her sides.

"Finally..." She looked up warily from behind the bangs of her mane, forming a slight smirk. "Even your mightiest restraints cannot... hold—"

Her eyes widened as a blinding beam of light approached her.

"—me..."

As if on instinct, her body began to transform into a more incorporeal state. Her body continued to morph even as the beam engulfed her being completely, passing through her, and not without first grazing her right foreleg that had yet to fully change along with the rest of her.

Pale rock slowly inched its way up her foreleg, only stopping once it reached the rest of her incorporeal body.

And with nothing more to react to, the spell dissipated into its surroundings, after a grueling moment spent in anticipation.

Darn it! fretted Celestia. She circumvented the spell?

Twilight's doppelganger cursed under her breath, allowing her body to become tangible once more. She peered down at her foreleg for a moment more, finding herself with little time to lament, before turning her glowering gaze back instead towards her former mentor.

"So... you've finally decided to treat me like one of your villains... is that it?"

She snorted, clumsily getting to her hooves.

"Well then, Princess... Allow me... to up the ante!"

She turned around, looking towards the eclipsed sun. Raising her good hoof, she aimed it directly at the moon, before pulling it back towards her, as if she were yanking the very moon back towards her.

Rainbow lowered her eyelids, staring ahead with a tired expression. "What now?"

"I-I don't know," Twilight replied, looking around worriedly. "Everything feels the same, but somehow... I-I can't shake this feeling—"

"Everypony," Cadance spoke up suddenly, drawing their attention once more towards the sky. "Look!"

As each of them looked, their hearts collectively sunk at the sight. It was feint, but unmistakable.

The moon had indeed been pulled closer, and showed no signs of slowing... like a shadow looming menacingly above them, inching ever nearer.

A low rumbling soon filled the sky, growing slightly louder with each passing moment.

"You madmare!" Celestia glared back at the other Twilight. "What do you think you're doing?"

"Evening the odds," came her response, her back to the five of them. She smirked confidently up at the sky. "Five of you are more than I care to take on now that I'm like this... So..." She closed her eyes for a brief moment, before cocking her head to the right, peering back at the group with a knowing expression. "Ponyville, huh?"

What...? Celestia's heart beat sickeningly in her chest.

Twilight blinked, momentarily taken aback. "...Ponyville?"

"I had my suspicions, but it wasn't until I peered inside your memories, Princess, that I could confirm my hypothesis." She turned around fully, bearing a delighted sneer. "You understand, don't you? Different world, different set of rules... and what with the whole spacetime continuum being so out of whack," she rattled off with her hoof, "I had to make doubly sure they weren't here. After all, why else do you suppose I decided to survey the castle before making my move?"

Celestia remained quiet, glaring back at her, unamused.

"So chose, Your Majesty! Will you stay and fight me... or will you yet again risk defending your very world from ruin?"

"P-Princess..." Twilight uttered shakily, "s-she has to be bluffing."

Twilight... Celestia's temper simmered down at the worried sound of her student's voice. I...

"S-she has t-to be," Twilight insisted desperately. "You know she's serious about locating the Elements—"

Or perhaps it's part of a larger plan, to help expedite their emergence into this world... Celestia considered, her gaze softening as she looked upon the distraught younger mare. Regardless, I cannot risk it.

"—she'll n-no doubt use this opportunity to flee to Ponyville."

"...Which is why I'm counting on you and your friends to prevent that from happening."

Twilight paused, her brow raising in surprise. "Princess—?"

Celestia spread her wings wide, her mind made up. "Make haste, my little ponies! Whatever you do, do not let her reach Ponyville!"

She took off, leaving a rush of gusty winds in her wake, their manes rustling slightly in the residual breeze.

Twilight's doppelganger watched as Celestia flew off, her gaze lingering for a long, pensive moment, before she at last turned her attention back to the four who opposed her... the rumbling in the sky growing ever nearer.

"Well, this was fun." She raised a hoof, putting on a cheery expression. "Ta ta."

Her wings unfurled, and she raised herself up off the ground with a few mighty flaps.

"Come meet me in Ponyville, where you and the chosen other four will have no other choice but to confront me—a threat to your very existences... thus forcefully calling forth the Elements I seek!"

She wants to incite an incident that'll force the Elements to appear? thought Twilight in dreaded realization. B-but Celestia said—

"Yeah right," Rainbow's voice exclaimed from right beside her; "like we're gonna let that happen!"

Her girlfriend's wings unfurled, the pegasus herself kneeling forward before dashing at their foe, blazing a rainbow trail as she flew.

"We're not gonna allow you to lay a hoof on them!"

Celestia flew towards the approaching moon, igniting her horn.

This'll be different than simply raising or lowering it like all those times before... The moon is descending now on its own trajectory, picking up speed as it remains locked in a one way collision course with the Earth...

She closed her eyes, and breathed in deeply, mustering what magic she had left.

Little by little, her magic crawled over the moon's surface, a pale, radiant light slowly encompassing the moon in its entirety.

Her eyelids winced, her teeth clenching as she felt the enormous weight of the rock push against her.

Nngh... this pressure, it's... almost too much to bear! But, for the sake of the planet, I must—!

"Well, well, well..."

Celestia's eyes blinked open, her heart skipping a beat. That voice!

"This certainly isn't the reunion I had envisioned."

Celestia looked towards the sound of the condescending voice, coming face-to-face with the toothy, sinister sneer of her sister. Or rather...

Nightmare Moon...

(The Dawn of) Day 334 - The Best Night Ever, Part 2

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Celestia looked towards the sound of the condescending voice, coming face-to-face with the toothy, sinister sneer of her sister. Or rather...

Nightmare Moon...

She swiftly placed her feelings of nostalgia aside, focusing her sights instead on the herculean task in front of her.

"Do not attempt to interfere," she warned, brow furrowing. "What I do is for the good of everypony... even you."

Nightmare Moon stared back at the struggling princess, insulted by her words.

"I know," she replied simply, after a moment in silence.

"Wait." Celestia's eyes widened as she did a quick double-take. "You... do?"

"Hmph. Do not take me for a fool, Sister," came her arrogant reply. "What, did you seriously think I did not feel the moon shift from its resting spot, or that I cannot see it currently descending upon your precious capital?"

Celestia glared back at her, choosing to remain quiet.

"Or should I say my capital—once I dispose of you, that is. For now, however, that time will have to wait." She sighed, turning her head away while bearing a doleful expression. "After all, as much as it pains me to admit it... I alone cannot prevent the moon's descent. Neigh, rather, it will require both our efforts."

Her own horn sparked to life, and as she focused her magic on the moon, she too soon felt the enormous weight of it working against her, fighting her.

She gritted her teeth, standing her ground despite the sudden pull of her magic. "Nnngh... This is nothing though... compared to the pain of... being imprisoned for—rrgh—nearly one thousand years. The... isolation, and, feelings of torment over... feeling so powerless...!"

Celestia listened quietly, and for a moment, her heart swelled, swearing it was Luna she was truly, genuinely hearing.

Sister...

Nightmare Moon snorted. "It's no wonder she double-crossed me... Unlike me, a young mare like that—"

Celestia's eyes opened wide. D-does she mean...?

"—after everything she lost," continued the villain, "lacked the fortitude to patiently wait—"

"Spare me the self-indulgence, Sister," Celestia cut her off, before then asking, "What do you mean a young mare?"

Nightmare Moon paused, looking back at her fellow alicorn with a look of skepticism.

"Really, 'Tia?" She raised an eyebrow. "You think now is the ideal time for a chat—?"

"Please, Sister..." Celestia beseeched. "This is important! Don't tell me... that you really did have something to do with the pony my friends and I currently face? The pony responsible... for the predicament we're currently in?"

Nightmare Moon stared back at her for a long moment, unwilling to budge before reluctantly relenting. She breathed out a sigh, peering off.

"Crystal armor?" she asked in a stubborn murmur.

Celestia's brow raised in slight amazement, as she lifted her gaze to look at the alicorn stood opposite her.

Nightmare Moon snorted, forming a bitter smile. "My servants and I discovered her. She arrived some time ago, out of the blue and covered from horn to hoof in dark magic. She was... spouting some nonsense about a Pony of Shadows, and how... she was going to take over this, and all worlds. Naturally I rolled my eyes, coming to realize that her mind was under the influence of this magic, and so I promptly stripped said magic from her body, hurdling it into the cold vacuum of space. After that, she seemingly regained her sense of who she was—"

That makes one of you, mused Celestia.

"—and do you know what I learned?" Through her strained expression, she cracked an evil grin. "That this pony was an otherworldly doppelganger of one of your pupils. How fortunate for me! A pony so close to you, whom I have no doubt you trust completely."

"So that's it then. You manipulated her, molded her into a tool to use against me."

"Oh, the thought crossed my mind, make no mistake... but she ended up being more trouble than she was worth... so I let her be. After all, the little foal wanted to travel down to Earth to see if you could offer her the assistance she sought, and another reminder of you was the last thing I needed."

Nightmare Moon's words gave Celestia pause.

Me...? she thought.

"I gave her access to my dream portals. I'm... urgh... sure I don't have to explain their purpose. The plan was to trick this Earth into believing she belonged by fooling it into thinking that she was this reality's version of her."

"Trick... this reality?"

Nightmare Moon cocked her head back at her, bearing a patronizing look. "Yes, Celestia. Keep up, won't you? This doppelganger would merge her subconscious with your pupil's dreams, similarly to how I can enter ponies' dreams of my own volition, sprinkle a little fear, and grow more powerful with every waking nightmare I sow..."

She laughed softly to herself as Celestia all the while remained straight-faced, less than amused.

"Dreams themselves are a powerful source of magic," Nightmare Moon continued. "The plan was simple. She would siphon off some of her doppelganger's magic from within her dreams, and would then replace the stolen magic with some of her own. It should have been a simple give and take, the only downside for her being that of the occasional nightmare, or headache."

Headache? Celestia's ears perked up in remembrance. Then, that time... she wondered. Was it a side effect of their plot to tear down the walls that divide our worlds, and prevent travel between them? All this time, and I hadn't a clue what she was scheming... manipulating not just one, but two realities' Twilights... And to think that my world's Twilight was at the epicenter of it all, being taken advantage of for the better part of a year, and I was none the wiser...

The moon's descent grew ever nearer, despite the two sisters' best efforts... and although it continued to slow, Celestia feared it would ultimately end up colliding with Canterlot's castle were they to not stop it in time.

Most everypony in Canterlot is in that castle! If I don't stop it...!

She forced the thought aside, tapping into her magical reserves. The rippling aura encasing her horn doubled in size, as her eyes turned pure white.

She gritted her teeth, holding her forelegs out before the moon itself, feeling its enormous weight fighting against her still.

She squeezed her eyelids tight, forcing the large sphere back with all her might.

She could feel its weight lessen considerably, and yet... it still continued to fall.

I... mustn't give up—!

"Hey, did you forget you're not the only one here trying to save the city below from obliteration?"

Nightmare Moon's mocking tone snapped her back to reality, as she peered up at her bemused.

"This isn't a contest—" she started.

"I beg to differ, Celestia. Everything I've ever done was done to prove my superiority!" Her horn's aura flared further, igniting even more powerfully than before. She focused it down at the moon, feeling its resistance start to lessen. She breathed out a slight sigh of relief, turning warily towards Celestia.

"Hmph, you might have a point though... Say, what say I continue my story? It surely must have been better than this starch, dead air currently rifling between us."

Celestia looked up at the other alicorn in surprise, sweat trickling through her fur.

Story? she thought. Is she serious?

She was about to object, when another thought crossed her mind.

There's not much we can do other than wait this out... No doubt she only wishes to hear herself speak, but I do still have a question for her, and I suppose there is more I should learn about this other Twilight...

With a sigh of defeat, she relented.

"Alright, you may tell the remainder of your tale, but skip the trivial bits. Tell me more about the foe we face, and what spurred this change in her."

"I knew you couldn't resist." Nightmare Moon formed a delighted sneer.

Celestia rolled her eyes.

"Very well. As stated, I had given her access to my dream portals, to absorb enough of her counterpart's magic, and use it to break through the dimensional barrier. However it seemed it proved too much for her, and she appeared to become enamored by the dreams of others. One night, when I came to check on her progress... she instead came running to me, going on about something called a... memory stone..."

Memory stone? Celestia repeated over in her head. Now why does that ring familiar...

"She pleaded with me to help her retrieve it, because according to her, it contained the memories of somepony very dear to her. Naturally I scoffed. How could somepony from this Earth be dear to her, I thought. Unless of course, it was another otherworldly counterpart of somepony she—urgh—cared for from her Earth."

Contained the memories...? wondered Celestia. Could she be referring to Rainbow Dash?

"I gave in, reluctantly. The sooner I got this mare out of my mane, I supposed, the better. I commanded several of my minions to sneak down to Earth, and steal it right out from under the mare's muzzle who housed it... leaving a convincing enough fake in its place. Whence they returned, your pupil's doppelganger was seemingly overjoyed, though even now I couldn't tell you as to why..."

Of course you wouldn't, Sister, lamented Celestia in thought, but I'd be willing to bet that Rainbow Dash means a lot to Twilight in any universe...

"So later, as she retired to the chamber that I had permitted her, I had the most wonderful idea." A sinister grin spread across her face as she reminiscenced. "Creep into her dreams, uncover whatever secrets she had been withholding, and perhaps even learn of her true identity so that I may in turn alter my own fate."

Alter my own...? Celestia looked back at Nightmare Moon bewilderingly, giving her own head a slight tilt.

"But..." Nightmare Moon peered off, growing quieter. "Things didn't go exactly as I had planned..."

Nightmare Moon opened her eyes, coming to within a strange, black void.

Where—? Surely this cannot be her dreamscape? she wondered aloud, glancing about at the blank emptiness. What little pony dreams of nothing? Usually their dreams are so full of... sunshine and rainbows, gumdrops and, eurgh... the magic of friendship, blech. As she continued taking a few steps forward, she mused, This must be her subconscious, but the question remains as to which part—

She froze mid-step, her ears becoming fully attuned to the faint sounds of... Voices, she concluded, but whose...?

"...cannot— me here... ever."

As she proceeded, the voice became clearer.

"I can sense it... your frustration over being trapped here, unable to help your friends from our Earth, and now even on this one. You're helpless, and growing increasingly hopeless, I can feel it."

Nightmare Moon rounded the corridor, finding herself once more in darkness that seemed to stretch on forever, and yet, she could sense that the area had widened, becoming more spacious.

In the center of the abyss, sat a pony with her back towards her, barely visible save for the dim light that shone weakly from her horn.

She sat seemingly in anguish, clutching her head with both her hooves. "Stop it," she pleaded under her breath. "Stop it, stop it, stop it..."

The other voice spoke back up, continuing to taunt her. "Your repeated attempts to suppress me have only prolonged the inevitable. So why fight it? You gave rise to me, after all, like a body fighting back against an illness."

A loud clang followed suit as what sounded like a pair of hooves pounded against cell bars.

"Our world was sick, but still I had the cure! Had you only not interfered... neither of us would be in this predicament!"

Nightmare Moon watched as the pony on the floor sniffled, bringing a foreleg to wipe her eyes before weakly getting to her hooves.

"I've m-made a l-lot of mistakes... Giving rise to you w-was no doubt m-my biggest... B-but despite everything I did wrong... l-letting you run things would have been a hundred times worse! I m-may not have relied on my friends n-nearly enough, and yeah, m-maybe I w-was even quick to fall in love." She grew silent, bringing a hoof to her heart. "Maybe I was only trying to fill a hole... b-but in the end, I was loved and had friends—friends who are still counting on me to bring them back from the brink."

As Nightmare Moon came cautiously closer, it became apparent to whom this pony was talking to.

Herself... she solemnly realized.

There, opposite the younger mare, dimly illuminated by her horn's aura... stood a second pony—an apparent mare—reared up on her hind legs with her front hooves pressed up against the caged bars of which she had seemingly been confined behind.

A black sludge-like substance coated the cell bars, pooling at the bottoms. The faint magenta light helped to better illuminate some of the trapped pony's features for Nightmare Moon to see.

Black eye sockets, devoid of the faintest hints of light, stark-white coat, and jet black mane with evenly cut bangs that hung just slightly over her eyes.

What is...? Nightmare Moon thought. Such malice... Hmph, reminds me a little of myself. Who would have thought such a little thing could house such malevolence...

"I know that I won't be able to stave you off forever... and that, if the state of this place is any indication, you're growing stronger with every feeling of helplessness and despair-ridden thought that passes through my head. But make no mistake... I will fight off your influence for as long as—"

"Hm?"

The imprisoned pony's ears perked up as she shifted her focus, looking directly towards the faint outline of Nightmare Moon, standing silently in the darkness.

"Nightmare Moon?"

Nightmare Moon blinked, staring dumbfounded back at the caged pony.

The other pony meanwhile, jumped in startlement, stifling her gasp as she shied what little of her face was visible further away.

Nightmare Moon barely gave it a thought however, keeping her gaze fixated on the black and white caged pony.

"You know my name?"

"I know... a you," the shadow pony replied. "My other self should have known you'd try and slither your way in here, but she never has been quite as perceptive."

"And where is... this place?" questioned Nightmare Moon.

"Our deepest subconscious," she replied. "The other me," she denoted with a nod in her other self's direction, "doesn't dream of much these days. She instead comes here, finding her resolve weakening."

"Resolve?"

The mystery pony snorted. "Why else do you think I'm caged in here? She and her friends tried sealing me away, in a place I'd never be able to reach her. I'm her quote, un-quote negative emotions. Her rage, frustration, contempt, loathing... towards all the ponies who offer promises of false hope, and who ruin our worlds under the guise of faith and trust in one another."

Nightmare Moon listened, staring silently back towards the other pony.

"You understand what that's like, don't you? Fighting back against an unjust world... being neglected, played for a fool... But if you help free me... then this me will become the dominating consciousness within this here body, and I will work with you... to overthrow Celestia, and all the others who think themselves just."

She cocked her head, cracking a coy grin as she extended her right hoof through the bars of the cell... it dripping with droplets of the same black substance. "So, what do you say?" she asked. "Won't you help me?"

Her other self's ears perked up, and keeping her head down, beseeched, "Nightmare Moon, p-please! D-don't—!"

"Silence, you sniveling foal," Nightmare Moon snapped, causing her to flinch. "I do not take orders from you. You hold no power over me here, and from what I understand... your own strength is dwindling."

"It m-may be true that I'm growing weaker... b-but if you set her free... t-then she'll absorb you—just l-like she did with our own Nightmare Moon—!"

"Shut it!"

Nightmare Moon meanwhile, stared back at her speechless.

Our own...?

She turned swiftly towards the caged pony with an accusing glare.

"Is what she speaks of true?"

The caged pony huffed out irritably, staying quiet for a moment as she simmered down.

"...Yes," she confessed in a murmur.

At that, Nightmare Moon took a few steps back, taking on a defensive stance as her own horn swiftly ignited.

"The other you was attempting to seize control of our body, our mind... but needed the other me to open herself up to darkness," she continued. "So she released me, in order to make her over there more susceptible to possession."

"So she wanted to make you her new vessel, and you fought back..." Nightmare Moon remained on the defensive, though her guard began to lessen.

The caged mare lowered her gaze. "I was... tired of being used... but if we were to forge an alliance, and agree to work as a team, then..." She looked back at her directly, bearing a look of resolve. "You have my word that I will work with you, to help you overthrow Celestia, and reclaim this world as your own."

"Hmph, and why pray tell, should I trust your sincerity? You yourself professed your sheer loathing of concepts such as faith and trust mere moments ago!"

The caged mare in question, simply shrugged, falling back onto all fours before turning away. "I loathe a world dictated by such false notions. No, what I seek out of this alliance, I think... will benefit us both."

Nightmare Moon raised an eyebrow. "That being...?"

"Why, the Elements of Harmony of course." She peered back at the alicorn with a mischievous grin.

Nightmare Moon let out an immediate groan in detest. "Those tacky old things? Why am I not surprised..."

"You said you wanted me gone, but in order for me to leave this world, the Elements are vital. What's more, you said your world has been splintered into two concurrent realities: one set in the future, and one in the past. This second reality no doubt has its own Elements too—duplicates, which were never meant to be."

"...Where are you going with this?"

"Removing the Elements from the future reality—much less any reality—could end up resulting in irreparable damage to that world, possibly even sending unforeseen consequences rippling throughout the multiverse... and I'm not about to let that happen. But, were we to remove the Elements from a budding new reality, before the future of said reality could have the chance to be written, and permanently paved..."

"Ergo," Nightmare Moon concluded, "you're referring to my world..." She scoffed, bearing a skeptical look. "Do you seriously expect me to believe that you are okay with me ruling over this world, when you just talked about not wishing to do harm to other realities? You... do realize that I am a tyrant, do you not?"

The caged mare nodded thoughtfully. "I may not be as forgiving, or nice as my begotten other self... but I am by no means a bad pony. I just don't want ponies to have false hope, or idyllic delusions... but rather, to see the world as it really is so that they may never experience the heartache of being let down. So perhaps a world ruled by darkness is precisely what they need, rather than letting them be dictated by false light."

"So you'd rather ponies live in hopelessness, and be ruled over by fear..." Nightmare Moon cracked a slight grin. "I like the sound of that."

The mare in response, snorted. "Ponies will always fear those with power, no matter how benevolent they might appear to be on the surface. So as long as you keep this new Earth devoid of outside threats to everyday life, and you aren't afraid to do what needs to be done... then you're already a better fit for ruler than Celestia. Indeed, I would rather just ponies live hopelessly, then live in a world full of false hope. That's all."

"Hm, well... that's all fine and good... but your world is gone now, is it not? How do you plan on returning home when your world no longer exists?"

"That's precisely why I desire the Elements. They, along with Starswirl the Bearded's time travel spell, were how I ended up here... so naturally, they must also be the key to sending me back. This time before my Earth's untimely demise, and from there..." She gazed up through the bars of her prison with a determined look. "I'll rule it right."

"Starswirl's time travel spell?" questioned Nightmare Moon. "Hmph. Who would've thought that old coot would have devised a way to traverse time itself..." She put the thought aside, finding herself with more pressing concerns. "If such a spell does indeed exist... that fool Celestia is no doubt keeping it under lock and key somewhere deep within her castle."

"In the magic archives' restricted section. If we were to work together however, then gaining access to that forbidden wing would be foal's play. From there, you perform the spell on me, and I'll take the Elements themselves with me, erasing them from this reality and all but assuring your rise to power. At least with me they'll be put to good use, whereas you'd probably just smash them." She cocked her head at the alicorn, all while bearing a snide look. "So whaddya say? Partners?"

"N-Nightmare M-Moon..." came a sudden frail and weak voice from beside her, a voice she quickly recognized as the imprisoned pony's other self.

"I am b-begging you... D-don't—!"

"Beg me? Do not make me laugh! Since when do I bend to your whim, coward? You, who shy your own face away, think that you can command me? Need I remind you of whom you are speaking to!?"

The mare in turn gasped, conjuring her shield and bringing it up in front of her face, bracing herself for impact just as a flurry of strong winds emitted forth from the taller pony's body.

The winds forced her body back, her hooves sloshing through the black sludge that coated the ground. She winced, gritting her teeth... feeling as though both her fore, and hind legs were about to give out.

Her breaths quivered, peering up warily into the interior of her shield as she pleaded under her breath, "P-please..."

Nightmare Moon looked away with an indignant turn of her head, facing the shadowy doppelganger that stood just opposite of the prison bars, she herself bearing a delighted sneer.

"Looks like you made the right choice."

Nightmare Moon narrowed her gaze. "Spare me the condescension. Need I remind you of where you stand? I've yet to actually free you."

The caged pony's smile fell in response, and she let out a buff, rolling her eyes. "Very well..."

"Good. Now then," began Nightmare Moon, "what must I do?"

"Why, extrapolate the darkness of course. You did it before in the other reality, when you extracted me from my other self."

Extrapolate the darkness, huh? Silently and without hesitation, she raised her foreleg out before her. She closed her eyes, and concentrated... slowly willing the bars to bend, forcing them apart.

A series of frantic hoofsteps drew nearer, quickly approaching from her right side before she was thrust to the watery floor with a impactful splash.

Nightmare Moon recoiled, wincing at the brunt of the impact... and partially blinded by a particularly strong light emanating from what she could only assume was that blasted pony's accursed shield.

Before she could gather her bearings, the brunt of the shield connected with the side of her face, sending her head reeling back into the muck.

And again, and over again, the assumed pony bashed her repeatedly with the shield.

"No!" she screamed, tears welling up in her eyes as her whole body trembled, seemingly moving all on its own. "No, no, no, no, no, n—!"

She had only just wound her foreleg back one final time, before a voice addressed her, causing her to freeze up, her blood going cold.

"Hello, other me."

Her eyes slowly widened, a lump forming in the back of her throat as she rigidly turned to face the other her... stepping out towards her from between the bars.

"N-no..."

"Ah, it's good to be free..."

Her shadowy doppelganger stepped forward, cocking her head while bearing a smarmy grin. "Looks like you were just seconds too late, as usual."

The other her scrambled backwards off of Nightmare Moon, terrified.

"Mmm..." Her shadowy self knelt forward, giving her forelegs and back a quick stretch. "I told you that you couldn't keep me locked up forever... and now that I'm free..."

She stood up swiftly, sneering as she pointed a foreleg of hers directly at her double.

From behind her, black, rag-like tendrils shot past her, one after the other, targeting her double's limbs and body.

Her shielded self gasped, her pupils shrinking in fear at what she could describe as ink-soaked rags strapped themselves firmly around her free foreleg, before then targeting her shield-cladded one.

"N-no...!"

Her heart beat faster and faster, a sickening feeling growing in the pit of her stomach as her very mind raced to keep up with what was happening.

A couple more tendrils wrapped around her hind legs, pulling them out from under her, and knocking her onto her back with a heavy splash.

Another tendril wrapped itself around her barrel, and, as it and the ones around her forelegs drew back, she found herself thrust forward onto her stomach.

As her face lay partially in the muck, she couldn't stop herself from sniffling, or her body from trembling unwittingly... and as she lay terrified and helpless... a single thought passed through her mind.

R-Rainbow... I... S-sorry, I... wasn't able to return your—

The tendrils yanked her forth once more, and she was promptly thrust into the air with a startled cry, disappearing in a flash over her counterpart's head, and into the darkness that awaited her on the other side of the cell bars.

The bars realigned themselves, bending back to the way they were.

And from that moment, everything went quiet.

The shadowy doppelganger stretched forward, letting out a content little sigh. "Well... that was a fun staycay... but now it's back to business."

She turned to look at Nightmare Moon, who was only just sitting up, rubbing her jaw.

"So much for the fearsome Nightmare Moon..."

Nightmare Moon glared back at the mare. "I've endured far worse punishment than this..."

"Then pull yourself together." The black and white pony looked on ahead with a serious expression.

"We have work to do..."

"...And that was that."

The memory concluded within Nightmare Moon's subconscious.

"When I awoke, I found her awaiting me within her chambers. As she claimed, she had indeed seized control of your pupil's body, cloaking it within a veil of darkness. She had professed that doing so gave her the ability to move freely, without being weighed down. We spent the following days... months... Time passes differently on the moon... as I'm sure you were unaware." Nightmare Moon smirked snidely at Celestia, who maintained straight-faced.

"I spent most of my time training her, teaching her to master her powers, and utilize those she didn't even know she had. I taught her how to give rise to beings we deemed our knights, from a substance she believes to have been cursed with. I—urgh—even taught her how to channel her hatred and rage, and through it all, she never let that stone out of her sight, always keeping it close... I hadn't the faintest idea as to why. She told me she was waiting for the precise moment, when the memories' owner would suffer most... and even compared it to my utter loathing of you, questioning whether or not I would do the same." Nightmare Moon snorted, looking off pensively. "I suppose I sympathized... Regardless, the time at last came to launch a preemptive attack on this pitiful nation. You see, Sister... This doppelganger had revealed to me that if we waited for the stars to free us, you would have assembled a team to stop us by then. So we instead devised a plan to manipulate my host's lingering spirit that I had long since abandoned..."

Celestia's chest swelled upon hearing her speak those words.

Luna...

"We sent a message by way of the stars, knowing full well that you'd take notice. A calling card, addressed directly to Luna's renegade spirit... giving her the false pretense of becoming whole again. I knew she longed to be whole again, even if under my control; and your pupil's doppelganger all the while, just knew that you'd send the other her to investigate. We would fool Luna into thinking that this pupil of yours was one of the stars sent to free me, and from there our whole plan hinged on Luna's desire to be whole. Her magic, combined with your little pony's would have opened a gateway for the both of us! Unfortunately..."

"...Things don't always go the way you plan, do they?" Celestia surmised.

Nightmare Moon nodded softly, growing quieter as a new memory began to surface.

She let out a pained yell as a beam of magic struck her in the side, sending her into a nearby moon rock.

Her body cracked the rock as she collided with it, before then falling limply to the moon's surface.

"Nngh..." She warily propped herself up with a foreleg, directing her angered gaze at the doppelganger. "What do you think you are doing!?"

"Change of plans!" the other pony declared, grinning menacingly. "Turns out I've grown somewhat attached to this new Earth. It's true I promised myself that I'd find a way to restore my Earth, and I will... but I cannot allow you to rule over this one."

Nightmare Moon winced, gritting her teeth in anger. "You dare... betray—?"

Another beam of magic cut her off, sending her reeling back to the ground.

"I've been doing some thinking during my time stuck on this rock, and something occurred to me. This world was split into two, but what allows them to co-exist? Then the answer became clear. A pony from the future world must be existing in this world set in the past... and an anomaly with the power to sustain and even create multiple realities could be exactly what I need."

Nightmare Moon merely stared back at her incredulously. "Create realities...?" She put the thought aside, lashing out at her angrily. "Y-you treacherous—!"

"Bye for now."

The other pony smirked, lifting her hoof as if to wave goodbye before turning and diving headfirst into the swirling vortex of colors.

The portal closed behind her, leaving an air of silence in her wake as Nightmare Moon herself lay on the frigid moon's surface, stewing in seething anger over what had just transpired.

"I felt it, you know," she professed to Celestia once more as her memory came to an end. "Luna's soul, rushing back to me the moment she leapt through that portal to Earth. I had become complete once more, but... here I was, still relegated to that forsaken rock..."

She pushed the thought aside, addressing Celestia in a serious tone.

"I cannot believe I am asking this, but... once we are done here... you must put a stop to this foe of ours. I was so overcome with anger that I didn't even realize it at the time, but her words... unnerved even myself..."

Celestia's brow raised in awe of her words.

Sister...

"That talk about wishing to... create and rewrite realities, and restore what had been lost... will no doubt result in catastrophes across this, and countless other universes..."

Celestia remained quiet, though unnerved by her plea.

"I understand," she replied after a moment; "and... I will do what must be—"

"What in the world!?"

Celestia's gaze shot up suddenly at the sound of Nightmare Moon's voice, startled by the outburst.

She turned her head to see what had shocked her sister, and was quickly taken aback herself as her eyes were met with a pallet of greens and purple. As her own gaze widened in disbelief, she came face-to-face with a mighty, and fierce-looking dragon, poised just a little ways behind them and the moon, the claws of its feet firmly embedded the castle's roof... and tail snaked around one of its many spires.

"A dragon?" Nightmare Moon cried out incredulously.

Celestia all the while, stared back speechless at the ferocious beast stood before them.

Spike...?

Earlier, before the moon began its dreadful descent upon the capital city, another war waged on within the recesses of the city against another less threatening, yet devastating force of destruction...

"Rrgh... Don't give up girls! Come on, give it everything you've got!"

Moon Dancer grunted, the thrusters in her hind hooves kicking into overdrive as she pressed her forehooves hard against Spike's chest... doing her best to hold him in place.

The other three, all the while, worked at keeping his arms restrained out at his sides, and fighting desperately to keep them from breaking loose.

Spike bellowed out a mighty roar in frustration, thrashing his tail back and forth, damaging more buildings below in his rampage.

This isn't going the way I had hoped, dreaded Moon Dancer in worry. If we don't find a more permanent way to subdue him, then... all of Canterlot...!

A sudden rumbling, growing steadily louder interrupted her thought as the noise filled the sky above them.

What...?

She turned wearily towards the sky, where her eyes proceeded to widen... her heart sinking at the sight.

You have got to be kidding me...

The moon above them loomed closer, seemingly growing larger with each passing moment, and showed no signs of slowing down.

The others noticed as well, inadvertently easing their grip on Spike's arms... and unwittingly giving him the opportunity he needed.

Tearing his arms away, he swatted them away, the three of them returning to their senses and narrowly dodging the multiple swipes aimed at them.

The commotion also happened to snap Moon Dancer back to the present moment... just in time to feel the brunt of Spike's hand collide with her directly.

Though her armor absorbed the brunt of the hit, the shock of the impact was almost too much for her mind to process as it knocked her right out of the sky, and spiraling towards the street below.

And before she could even process where she was, the face of her armor grazed the corner of a rooftop before the rest of her body impacted with the street... sparks igniting as her armor scraped the pavement before coming to an eventual halt.

Spike huffed, feeling himself begin to simmer down. He glared down at the flying nuisance as it laid there defeated, unmoving... its body seemingly torn to pieces, and... wait...

He veered his head closer, curious... noticing what looked to be a pony... underneath the strange, reflective skin.

Her cream-colored coat, and disheveled, red bangs... and crooked glasses drooping lightly from her muzzle struck an all-too familiar chord with him.

He found himself entranced by this pony, almost as if... he knew her from somewhere... but from where—?

"Spu-s-spike..."

Her breaths were little more than shallow wafts, and despite her stuttering... he understood.

His eyes widened ever so slightly, his ears becoming alert at the pony's weak utterance before her eyes fell shut, and her head fell to one side.

Spike? Had he heard her correctly?

...Is me, he thought, in whatever scraps of coherent thought his mind retained. Spike... is me. Pony... knows Spike...

His heart skipped, not entirely knowing why, but only that... he had to help her somehow, someway...

He knelt closer, attempting to scoop her gingerly up in his hands and take her someplace safe, when more voices grabbed his attention.

"Stay away from her, you monster!"

He froze, and went to turn his head in the direction of the voice, when a blast of magic was fired directly into his snout, causing him to recoil... his eyes snapping shut.

"Moon Dancer should have known better than to befriend a dragon!"

Moon... Dan... cer...?

The name resonated with him on some level, giving him pause.

Moon Dancer... Moon Dancer, Spike friend!

Coming to his senses, and absolved of his lust for greed, he looked ahead with a determined look, letting loose a stream of fire at his attackers.

"Whoa!"

"Watch out, Girls!"

Minuette, Lemon, and Twinkleshine narrowly swerved out of the oncoming fire blast, and out of Spike's trajectory.

He smirked warily, feeling quite proud of himself as he began to turn back around, when his eyes caught sight of something big in the skies above, and growing ever closer.

He paused, looking up towards the huge, shining orb in wonder.

'Moon' was the first word to come to mind... the word seemingly popping into his head at that precise moment.

He forced his gaze away, instead to his friend who still lay unconscious.

Moon Dancer... He frowned, peering away sorrowfully, back towards the sky. Moon... will... hurt... Moon Dancer!

With a sense of resolve, he knew exactly what he needed to do.

He took off down the road, tearing past the ponies hovering around him, and on route for the castle itself.

Minuette looked after him with a bewildered expression.

"Now he's headed towards the castle?"

"Whatever for?" Lemon wondered.

"I don't know... but right now..." Twinkleshine motioned to their downed friend. "Somepony else could really use our attention more."

Their eyes widened upon being reminded of their other friend, both exclaiming "Moon Dancer!" before leaping into action.

They flew down to the ground in a hurry, crowding around her, and unsure of what to do...

"W-well..." Lemon was the first to propose. "Do any of you know what to do?"

"I'm a dentist practitioner; I don't have a clue!" Minuette shot back.

"Well... I think we need to check if she still has a pulse," suggested Twinkleshine.

Lemon cocked her head in response. "Okay, and how are we supposed to do that when she's wearing all that heavy armor?"

Twinkleshine and Minuette went to respond, only for their mouths to snap shut a moment later, the two of them pursing their lips in thought.

"Girls... please..."

Their ears all perked up, looking at one another questionably, before turning back towards Moon Dancer... and instantly their faces all lit up.

"Moon Dancer!" they exclaimed all at once.

Moon Dancer winced at the outburst, as she slowly propped herself up with a foreleg.

Her brow scrunched up as she brought her other hoof to gently massage her temple. "You're kind of giving me an even worse headache than I currently already—"

She let out a startled breath upon feeling all three of her friends hug her at once, effectively shutting her up.

"You're okay!" they exclaimed joyously, before remembering the state their friend was currently in, and promptly stepped back, giving her room to breath.

"Er, um... s-sorry," they each apologized simultaneously.

Moon Dancer sighed, shaking her head. "It's... i-it's fine, just... Where's Spike?"

Spike?

The reminder caused her friends' eyes to widen slightly, and for each of them to turn towards the castle in the distance.

"He's..." Twinkleshine began to explain, only to find herself at a loss for words. "Oh my Celestia..."

"He's scaling Canterlot Castle... but..." Minuette's brow furrowed. "But why?"

Oh, Spike... Moon Dancer's gaze saddened. You finally regained your senses, and now... "He's trying to save me... us!" She cleared her throat. "He's trying to save us."

She glanced inconspicuously between her three friends, sporting a faint, embarrassed blush, though their minds seemed too preoccupied to notice.

"Save us?" Twinkleshine stared back at her with an auspicious look. "Five minutes ago he was trying to kill us, and now you're telling us he's had a change of heart? Man, Moon... I'll never understand what you see in that monster."

Monster? The word resonated negatively with Moon Dancer as her expression soured, before turning her gaze back towards Twinkleshine and the others.

"He is not a monster. Why, he's so gentle, he practically is a pony, just... decked out in dragon scales, is all."

"You call what he did to you gentle?"

"T-that's only because he didn't know it was me, and the greed that's affecting his size must have been affecting his mind as well, along with his ability to think clearly. But now he's doing something selfless, at the risk of his own life! How does that make him a monster?"

"He could be trying to save himself," Twinkleshine murmured in response, before noticing the unamused look on her friend's face.

"Er..." Her resolve quickly weakened. "I'm... sorry, Moon. I suppose it doesn't." She rubbed a hoof along the back of her neck regretfully. "I just... Seeing him turn into that, I... suppose it got us all a little rattled, a-and weary of what dragons are truly capable of."

Moon Dancer sighed, nodding her head slightly. "I suppose I understand. Dragons are indeed capable of a lot, but... that doesn't mean they're all the same. It's who they are on the inside, and the nature of their actions that determine who they are, not how they look."

"Well... you're a lot more trusting than any of us, Moon; that's for sure." Twinkleshine flashed a sheepish smile in her direction.

"Please. I still have a lot to learn about friendship... but being friends with Spike, and Twilight, and Rainbow—" She went to stand up, feeling her fore and hind legs start to wobble as she did so. "—h-has really helped—!"

She stumbled forward, catching herself before tumbling too far, her friends holding out their hooves in worry.

"Easy, Moon, easy! You're seriously in no condition to be moving right now!"

"But if I don't, then Spike... h-he'll shrink back to his normal size! S-somepony needs to be there to catch him—!"

"Then let us," Twinkleshine assured her. "We'll be there to catch him. You can count on it."

Moon Dancer stared back, wanting to argue, before reluctantly backing down.

"I'm counting on you girls."

"Mhm. Now then, Minuette, Lemon!" Twinkleshine spun around, motioning them forward. "Let's go save a friend in need!"

Spike's hand gripped the castle wall, his claws leaving indentations with each move he made upwards, bits of drywall crumbling loose with every section of wall his claws anchored themselves to.

Must... keep moving... for—rrgh—Moon's... sake!

He went to grab the section of wall above him, only for something to stand out to him as odd.

His claws weren't making as big of a dent.

I'm... shrinking, he solemnly concluded, before shaking the thought from his head, and pressing onwards.

Then... I must... hurry!

His hand eventually came to rest over the castle's roof, and with it, he managed to pull the rest of himself up and over.

He had but a moment to rest, before standing tall, and letting out a fierce and determined roar. His tail snaked around the tower behind him, as he held his hands out before him.

What I do... I do... for... friendship!

Celestia stared back speechless at the ferocious beast stood before both herself and her sister.

Spike...?

She shook out of her stupor, just in time to hear her sister snidely remark, "I should have known a fool like yourself would allow dragons to run amok."

"Run amok—?" Celestia rolled her eyes. "That dragon is—er, was—a friend of mine." Her voice lowered as she looked back ahead in contemplation. "He just normally isn't so big," she mused.

Nightmare Moon snorted. "You always were a poor judge of character," she scoffed, before directing her attention back to the matter at hoof. "What do you suppose he's doing?"

Spike extended his arms, his palms outstretched towards the moon itself.

They connected with the moon's surface, and immediately the base of the tower behind him cracked, and began to shift out of place.

He winced under the enormous pressure, his feet pressing into the castle's roof, leaving indentations where he stood, and his arms already beginning to feel like wet noodles.

"He's trying to protect them," Celestia murmured in realization, Nightmare Moon peering over at her dubiously.

"Clearly," she snarked.

Spike fought through the pain, gritting his teeth, before bellowing out a mighty roar, a light emanating from deep within his throat.

A burst of fire shot forth, the moon's surface parting the green flames as the two forces collided.

Whoa! Celestia swerved out of the incoming flames' trajectory, both her and Nightmare Moon instinctively raising a foreleg to shield themselves from both the intensity, and wafting embers.

He's attempting to slow the moon's descent using fire... Even still, that will only do so much... No, Celestia concluded, I must use this opportunity to stop this now, once and for all!

The aura surrounding her horn increased tenfold, and closing her eyes and focusing, she breathed in before pouring the last of her strength into stopping the moon's descent.

She wound her head back, fighting it with all her might, feeling it pull at her horn, threatening to rip it from its base when, all at once... the feeling subsided entirely.

She blinked her eyes open, looking around in puzzlement.

What?

She turned swiftly towards Nightmare Moon, who shared the same look of befuddlement.

The moon was on a set course, Celestia slowly realized as it dawned on her... a slow, sickening feeling building in the pit of her stomach. This whole time... we were never truly in any danger...

Nightmare Moon all the while, came to her own realization.

"We were played for fools..."

Sister? Celestia snapped out of her thoughts, looking back at her worriedly.

"The moon was never 'ripped' from the sky—it was enchanted, with a spell to move on its own. All this time we were attempting to slow its descent... when we should have been working on dispelling the spell she cast." She snorted, shaking her head. "She needed you out of the proverbial picture, exhausted of your magic... Looks like she succeeded."

Celestia turned desperately towards the horizon, and the forest that lay just beyond the cityscape.

Twilight!

Her ear twitched, picking up on a low rumbling, and a reminder of something from the corner of her eye.

"Spike!"

Before her, Spike continued to decrease in size at an alarming rate, spurring her to leap into action.

Hmph. Nightmare Moon watched as her 'sister' flew off in a hurry, without a second thought regarding the moon, or its residents. Not a second later, the moon began moving, once more of its own accord, back to its proper place in the sky.

She continued to watch even as Celestia, and the city of Canterlot grew further and further out of view, forming a gleeful smirk in anticipation.

Be seeing you... Sister...

Celestia sped towards Spike, just as he assumed his regular size—before his Hearth's Warming growth spurt—and promptly caught him, holding him in her forelegs both against her chest and her own hammering heartbeat before he fully realized where he was, or was cognitive of what was happening around him.

"Princess...?" He gazed up at her through wary eyes. He remained quiet, his brow crinkling as he struggled to gather his bearings. "I remember... being lost, and... becoming entranced by nngh... something... glittering in the darkness. Next thing I know, Moon's lying below me injured... a-and the actual moon's—!"

"Rest, Spike. It's all okay now."

"It is...? Man," he lamented, "my mind's so hazy right now..."

Which I suppose, is for the best, Celestia silently supposed, just as three other mares cautiously flew up beside both herself and Spike.

"Princess?" Twinkleshine tentatively spoke up first.

"Oh, hello Twinkleshine," she greeted, before turning to acknowledge the others. "Hello to you too, Minuette, Lemon Hearts."

Minuette and Lemon, in turn, shied back, while Twinkleshine remained still, hovering in place. She blinked, stupefied. "You aren't surprised by our appearances?"

"Tonight has been anything but normal, Twinkleshine, and I'm afraid now is not the time. Here," she said, reaching Spike out to them. "Take him, get someplace safe."

"O-oh! Uhm, o-okay."

She took hold of Spike, only to hear him murmur weakly, "Is that really you, Twinkle...? You look awesome..."

Twinkleshine stared back at him, at a loss for a second, before forming a lukewarm smile.

She turned back around to face the others. "Let's return to Moon Dancer. She'll know what to do next."

Minuette and Lemon nodded in agreement, before turning and descending back towards the Earth. Twinkleshine was about to follow after them, when she stopped, reminded of something important.

She glanced back over her shoulder. "What about you, Princess? What are you going to do?"

Hm? Princess Celestia looked back at her, taken aback for a second, before looking past the younger pony—towards the woods in the far distance with a wistful expression.

"Whatever I must," she replied.

Throughout the forest and over the sounds of rushing winds, the sound of callous laughter rang out.

"Oh, how predictable!" the gleeful voice of Twilight's doppelganger exclaimed as she looked behind her, up towards the sky. "You princesses make things just... too easy!"

She grinned, doing a carefree spin through the air, all the while Twilight and Rainbow, together with Cadance and Shining, galloped through the trees and bramble of the forest as they gave chase after her.

"Whatever we do, we can't let her reach the edge of the mountain!"

"Rrgh... I hear ya, Twi, but nothing we do is having any effect!"

"Well," Twilight retorted back at Rainbow, "there's gotta be something other than tackles and magic that'll stop her in her tracks for g—!"

Rainbow's eyes widened.

"Wait. Twi, that's it!" She swerved in front of her, grabbing her by the shoulders and staring into her eyes directly.

Twilight let out a startled breath, stuttering out in bewilderment, "W-what is?"

"I don't know why I didn't think of this before... b-but Twi! You and her are basically the same, yeah?"

Twilight's surprised look softened up, and she peered away, lips forming a slight frown. "Physically," she supposed, with a sigh. "I guess we are." She shouldered the disparaging reminder for the time being, and asked the more pressing question. "Why?"

"Because, Twi! That basically means you and her have the same—!"

Twilight's eyes all of a sudden widened in realization.

"Weaknesses..." she uttered under her breath.

"Exactly," Rainbow reaffirmed. "Now, think Twi. Can you remember a time when something made you feel weak, frozen in place, er... I don't know... immobili—"

"My entrance exam," she whispered shakily, as it dawned on her. "T-that day," she went on to explain, "a-a boom went off outside that seemed to, I-I dunno... ignite all my senses. I-it made my mind go blank—"

"Y-yeah, I remember now, Twi, thanks. But, ah... would you say that explosion you heard was more akin to say... a sonic boom?"

Twilight's ears perked up, and she stared back at her girlfriend funnily, giving her head a tilt. "Sonic...? Er, well... thinking back on it, I... suppose—"

Rainbow cut her off with a swift kiss. "Thanks, Twi," she said as she pulled away, "that's all I needed to know."

She took off, Twilight extending a hoof out after her desperately.

"H-hey, wait a second, Rainbow! What are you planning on doing?"

"What I do best, Twi," she replied with a wink, as she looked back over her shoulder. "Can I count on you to stall her for the time being?"

"Stall her?" Twilight repeated incredulously. "How on Earth am I supposed to—?"

"By doing what you do best, Twi, that's all."

"What I...?" Her brow furrowed. "You mean studying, o-or organizing?"

"The other thing, Twi. You know... Shake your tail?"

Twilight watched as her girlfriend smiled at her before turning and flying out of sight. Then, not a moment later, she let out a silent 'Oh' as it dawned on her, and she turned, with a newfound air of determination.

At least, she hoped this is what Rainbow had been hinting at.

With a nervous gulp, she yelled out, "Hey! Other me!"

Her voice carried throughout the trees, startling Cadance and Shining, and even causing her doppelganger to turn and look at her with an indignant scoff.

Hmph, her doppelganger snorted. If she thinks she can talk me down...!

"Just think." Twilight struck a pose, pointing a foreleg accusingly out at her other self.

Her brother and Cadance all the while, stared back at her dumbfounded.

Twilight...?

"While you've been getting down and out about the liars and the dirty, dirty cheats of the world—"

Her doppelganger blinked, her lips slowly parting.

What...?

"You could've been getting down to this—"

Cadance cocked her head in puzzlement. "Is she...?"

"—sick—"

Shining deadpanned immediately. "She is."

"—beat-tuh."

Not a second after, she began dancing, flailing her forelegs up and down clumsily, standing up on her hind hooves and swaying her body to the beat that she half sung, half murmured.

Cadance blinked, stupefied. "T-this has to be part of some plan of hers, I mean... this is Twilight we're talking about."

"I mean..." Shining raised an eyebrow. "Maybe in her own way, she's stalling? I don't see Rainbow anywhere."

"So Twilight's keeping her doppelganger stationary long enough then for Rainbow to attack..." Cadance softly nodded, musing to herself as she peered up, taking note of the leaves as many of them began rustling. "I suppose it's a good plan, seeing how it's kept us distracted..." Her words trailed off as her eyes narrowed in on something through the rustling leaves before widening in realization. She instinctively let out a gasp, alerting Shining to what had startled her.

Through the waning leaves and branches he saw it, and without hesitation, threw a foreleg around Cadance, pulling her along with him as he dove to the ground, eliciting a barrier around them both... all the while going unnoticed by Twilight's doppelganger.

"Eeeenough!"

Her voice bellowed out past the growing winds and rustling noises—drowning it all out, gritting her teeth as she stared angrily at her other self.

Twilight herself froze mid-step, staring back at her other self with a sheepish smile.

"If you think for one second that you can distract me with this foolish song and dance..."

Twilight tuned out her doppelganger's words, her eyes drifting to the space above her. Her eyes widened for a moment before returning to normal, the smile falling from her face in an instant.

She turned without a word, and ran in the opposite direction, igniting her horn and readying a spell as she fled the scene.

Her doppelganger's words meanwhile, drifted off as she watched he other self run in the opposite direction. Where is she—?

Her thought was interrupted by the sudden realization of her surroundings—blustery, loud... like the very Earth was rumbling... And then it occurred to her.

Rainbow...

Swiftly, she turned her attention upwards, and that was when time seemed to slow to a halt.

Her heart thumped sickeningly and pupils shrunk as she came face to face with the rainbow-maned pegasus, mere inches from her.

Her shoulders drooped almost instantly.

"Oh sh—"

The two collided, and what followed caused the surrounding trees to nearly fold as torrential winds tore through the forest, while in the center of it all rose a mushroom-shaped cloud of hot, buoyant air, and Rainbow's own trademark colors. The cloud rose high above the trees, grabbing the attention of Celestia as she flew towards the forest.

Her brow lifted at the sight, her heart dropping into the pit of her stomach.

She swallowed hard, putting her worrying thoughts aside as she picked up the pace, en route to the sight of the explosion.

Twilight continued running towards the spot she had calculated that Rainbow would land. If she was right, then Rainbow would be tossed from the explosion and the trajectory would land her right about...

Here!

She conjured up a catcher's mitt large enough to catch even a pony, and looked behind her as her steps slowed to a canter.

I've never been physically inclined... but this is one catch I can't afford to—!

Through the dense cloud of smoke came the silhouette of a pony, her body seemingly thrown from the center of the explosion.

Twilight's heart skipped as she cried out Rainbow's name, narrowly catching her in the palm of her construct... and still her own body was flung backwards from the sheer force of the impact.

The two hit the forest floor, landing on their sides and laying side by side.

Twilight was the first to regain her composure, giving her head a shake before bringing a hoof to it... letting out a wary groan before remembering Rainbow, and snapping back to reality.

"Urgh..." Rainbow let out a few weak coughs as she lay before her, before gazing up at her and cracking a slight smile.

"That seriously hurt..."

She let out a chuckle, but Twilight remained serious, with more pressing concerns on her mind.

"Can you walk?" she asked. "Does anything feel broken, o-or dislodged?"

"Mm..." Rainbow sat up slowly, giving herself a moment to think before answering. "I don't think so..."

"H-how about your vision? Erm..." She sat back up on haunches, holding up both her forelegs. "H-how many hooves am I holding up?"

Rainbow narrowed her eyes back at her girlfriend.

Twilight remained adamant however, forcing her to deadpan.

"Two," she replied dryly.

"Whew... alright, okay." Twilight's nerves eased up in relief, letting out a breath as she leaned back on both her forelegs. "We really did it..."

"I hope so. I mean, I hit her with everything I could muster, and I think it worke—ow!"

Rainbow winced, recoiling a bit the moment Twilight leaned forward, shoving her suddenly with a hoof.

"Hey! I'm still sore y'know," she muttered sourly.

"You didn't have to go so far, featherbrain! We talked about doing a sonic boom, not dive bombing her!"

"H-hey, well... I'm spontaneous, Twi; you know that! An', well..." Rainbow shied away, murmuring under her breath, "I thought unleashing one the moment I dove into her would be more effect—!" Twilight effectively shut her up, taking her by surprise as she leaned forward, hugging her tightly. "Ive..."

"Don't ever do that again..." she murmured into her shoulder.

A playful smile tugged at Rainbow's lips. "I knew you'd catch me," she teased.

"Not the point," Twilight grumbled.

Rainbow's smile fell from her face, feeling a pang of guilt over her girlfriend's tone of voice.

"I'm sorry, Twi... I shouldn't have scared you like that." She grew quiet, taking a moment to nuzzle her gingerly. "B-but hey!" she continued suddenly, pulling back with an elated smile. "On the plus side, I shouldn't have to do that ever again, because I think what I did back there, really did a number on her! I mean, we've been talking this whole time and nothing's happened, right?"

Twilight turned her attention towards the clouded area of the forest in thought. "Things have been awfully quiet, I'll agree with you there."

"Wanna find out together?"

Twilight sighed, shaking her head. "Not really, but... I suppose we have to, don't we?" She looked off pensively into the forest. "We have to make sure your recklessness didn't get Shining and or Cadance injured."

"Oh shoot, you're right!" Rainbow sucked in a deep breath. "Guy—!"

"What do you think you're doing, Rainbow?" hissed Twilight, turning back towards her urgently. "Suppose the other me made it out unscathed... you'd be giving away our positions. Ours and theirs," she added in clarification.

"Er, right... " Rainbow averted her eyes. "Point taken. So... ah..." She rubbed a hoof along the back of her neck anxiously as she worked up the nerve to ask, "How's your magic doing anyway? I've been meaning to ask. I-I mean, I couldn't help but notice t-that your eyes have been sorta flickering... a-and your horn—!"

"They're fine, Rainbow," Twilight replied with a slight huff. "We both knew this would happen, and it was a risk we were both willing to take."

"Yeah, I know, but..." She peered off somberly, shrugging her shoulders. "I just... can't help but worry about you, y'know?"

Twilight snorted, turning to face her with a warm smile. "I know. All too well in fact, because that's exactly how I felt a little while ago."

"Oh, ah... r-right." Rainbow garnished an embarrassed smile, to which Twilight softly laughed before leaning in to nuzzle her.

"But it's like you told me a couple nights ago, after surviving that attack against the hydra... Focus on those you love, and mold your power into a tool to defend them, rather than hurt them."

The two remained silent for a single moment before Twilight then added, "I... may be paraphrasing a little." She grinned sheepishly as she drew back from her girlfriend, Rainbow herself raising an eyebrow as she smiled in good humor.

The two tentatively carried on, through the thinning smoke, until at last they came upon the lip to the crater that the explosion had resulted in. Before they could look any further however, a pair of voices grabbed their attention.

"There you guys are!"

"Warn us next time, won't you?"

Twilight's ears alerted herself to her brother's presence, and she turned quickly, brandishing an embarrassed look.

"D-don't look at me, Big Brother. I wasn't warned aware of her plan either!" she insisted.

Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Okay, guys, yeesh, I get it; I messed up. B-but you can't argue with results!" She ushered towards the crater. "I mean just look at—!"

Her words died on her tongue as she stared into the pit of the crater, as did the others. As more of the smoke cleared away, Twilight's doppelganger laid there visibly, for all of them to see. She lay there with her eyes closed, seemingly unconscious... her breaths coming in and out in crooked wafts.

The four peered on in silence, too unnerved to say anything, or even what to say in the first place.

And then, before any of them realized it, a huge grin spread across Rainbow's face, and she leaped into the air, fluttering her wings as she pumped her hoof into the air.

"Aw, yea—!"

"Rainbow!"

Rainbow blinked, her smile dropping and ecstatic behavior fading in an instant.

She lowered herself back to the forest floor, rubbing a hoof behind her head sheepishly.

"Heh, sorry."

Twilight rolled her eyes, letting out a small huff as she turned back to her other self. Her expression softened up the more she stared at her other self, before letting out a halfhearted snort in amusement.

"Never thought I'd be stood over myself, watching as I slept..."

"This has been a strange night for all of us, Twilight," Cadance assured her, as she came up beside her. "I think we're all more than a little unnerved..."

"So, what do you suppose we do now?" Shining asked.

"I... don't really know," replied Twilight, bowing her head hopelessly. She sighed, peering back over her shoulder, up towards the sky. "It... looks as though the moon has retreated to its resting place in the sky, confirming the whole thing was a ruse like I had initially thought..." she murmured glumly. "Celestia will no doubt be joining us shortly. She should know what to do, or... do what we don't have the strength to do."

"You're talking about turning her to stone... aren't you, Twi?" Rainbow softly asked, after spending a moment in hesitation.

"Well, do any of you have any better ideas?" fumed Twilight, her voice raising suddenly in frustration. Then, not a moment later, her anger quelled, and her head dipped once more in dismay. "Celestia was right... She's a monster, and far too dangerous to be locked up, or even rehabilitated..."

Rainbow's ears flopped, her gaze turning sorrowful as she watched her. "Twi..."

"My goal for tonight was to stop her," Twilight continued. "At the time, I didn't know who she was or what she wanted other than... than to hurt all of you! I want to keep you all safe, and this is the only thing I can think of without resorting to something a million times more drastic, that would haunt any one of us for the rest of our lives."

"I think whatever we end up doing will haunt me," Cadance remarked in a soft murmur, lowering her gaze.

"Regardless..." Twilight bit her lip, before shaking her head, putting the thought aside for the time being. "We have bigger things we should be focusing on. This other me was conspiring with Nightmare Moon, whose impending return undoubtedly requires our attention now more than ever, and—"

"Twi," Rainbow spoke up in concern, sensing how nervous her girlfriend was becoming.

"—not to mention the revelation that our world is part of an entire network of parallel realities, filled to the brim with alternate versions o-of you, and you, a-and you too!" she rattled on, motioning to each of her friends.

"Twilight," Rainbow merely repeated, this time a bit more assertively, and were Twilight just any old pony, her words would have no doubt reached her.

However, her girlfriend remained lost in her recent surge of revelations as she turned back towards the crater.

"This opens up an entire realm of possibilities. We should be devoting time, a-and resources to studying this discovery, pouring all of our time and resources into—!"

"Twilight," Rainbow nearly shouted; "hey!"

Twilight stiffened immediately just as Rainbow raised her voice, before then slumping forward as if defeated.

"Twi, we aren't forgetting about any of that stuff. But, Twi..." Rainbow eased up, her voice taking on a softer tone. "Your doppelganger is important. She's connected to all of what you just said, and plus, there's... still so much about her that we don't know."

Twilight remained silent for a long moment, prompting Rainbow to take a cautious step towards her, her own brow furrowing in worry.

At the same time, Twilight at long last lifted her head, turning in Rainbow's direction.

"How many times must I tell you..."

"Twi—?"

Rainbow's words died in her throat as Twilight's horn plunged deep into her shoulder. The pegasus's alarmed gaze stared on ahead, unblinking... too stunned for words, slowly becoming less cognitive of the world around her... Cadance's and Shining's voices became garbled, becoming impossible to make out.

A single, black wing sprouted forth from Twilight's body, acting as a curtain between the two of them, and herself and Rainbow.

"My name isn't Twilight."

She pushed against Rainbow's body with a single thrust of her hoof, and with it, tore her horn free from Rainbow's body, drawing with it several specks of blood.

Rainbow made a pained expression as she stumbled back clumsily, immediately clutching the gaping hole on her body as she gazed through squinted eyes at the mare she had thought to be Twilight... and then she saw it.

A subtle, dark smog encompassed half of her girlfriend's features, splitting herself right down the middle.

H-her... doppelganger...? But... h-how is she controlling Twilight?

Twilight smirked for a second, before that arrogance quickly turned to anguish as she reeled backwards, bringing a hoof to her head and letting out muffled grunts, before screaming out in agony.

Twi!

The smoke encircling her leapt from her body, taking on a life all its own as it manifested into a looming presence, nothing short of terrifying. Its vaguely equine form consisted of billowing smoke, and piercing white orb-like eyes, a monstrous maw with razer-sharp teeth, and an emaciated, almost skeletal-looking frame.

Twilight all the while, regained her consciousness, coming face-to-face with what she had involuntarily done, and at that moment, was instantly overcome with emotion.

Her own eyes grew heavy at the sight of the mare she loved, now trembling, sickly and pale, with a hole in her chest and blood-soaked fur that... that she had caused!

Oh, Rainbow...

"Fools!" the monster's voice roared out, reminding them all, even Twilight, of its presence there. "You seriously thought that flying faster than the sound barrier itself would be enough to stop me!?"

The others all stood looking up at the shadowy presence, unblinking... too shaken to say a word.

S-so that's our true foe... Twilight nervously peered away for a second, down instead towards the crater where her doppelganger's body lay. This other me... She was never the enemy. Rather she was being puppeteered by this... t-this thing.

Cadance tore her gaze away, squeezing her eyes shut. as the horrible feelings she felt caused her whole body to shudder.

"Cady?" Shining asked worriedly. "What—w-what's wrong?"

"It's just..." She reopened her eyes warily. "I can feel all t-this... negativity, a-and hatred stemming from that thing. I-it's unbearable, the... the aura it's giving off..."

"I don't doubt it. From the way it just stabbed Rainbow, and used my little sis to do it... But, Cady... I'd be worried less about that, and more about what that thing's capable of."

Cadance nodded less-than-enthusiastically, swallowing the nervous lump in the back of her throat. "R... R-right."

Twilight all the while, winced, feeling her consciousness slowly start to fade once more. Her magic intensified, causing her thoughts to grow hazy.

At that rate, I... I-I don't know how much longer I can keep this u—

The startled cry of her girlfriend snapped her back to the present moment just in time to see their foe snatch Rainbow up in its clutches. The smoky appendage stretched forward in one fell swoop before ensnaring the pegasus within its sinister grasp.

The arm then retracted, blowing past Twilight, and carrying her fiancée along with it... its sharp, spindly fingers curled securely around the pegasus's torso and forelegs. Only her head remained visible, as she came eye to eye with the gruesome entity.

"You..." its voice finally came, in a low, guttural growl, "you just don't know when to quit."

"Nngh... well, I... wouldn't be me if I didn't."

The entity snorted.

"You're lucky I need you alive... Well, unfortunately for you, Dash... there's no longer a thing you can do now that I have you in my gr—"

"Maybe not!" Twilight shouted at the fiend, crouching forward as her horn brimmed with powerful magic. "But we can still try!"

The monster stared back at her, dumbfounded for a moment before bellowing out in laughter.

"You foal! Physical magic cannot harm raw, visceral emotion!"

E...e-emotion?

Twilight had but a second to ponder what the entity meant before Rainbow unwittingly let out a cry of pain as their foe tightened its grasp around her.

"Let this be a warning to all of you..." the entity's voice lowered, taking on a far more threatening tone, "to stand in my way no further!"

Shining peered over, noticing Cadance's own horn slowly beginning to brim with magic.

"Cadance..." he began. "You're not seriously considering..."

"If that thing is made up of emotions, then..." Her own eyes burned bright white. "Then maybe there's something that I can do."

"Cady..." His voice took on a worried tone, as he reached out, setting a hoof over her foreleg. Her body immediately stiffened upon feeling his touch, letting out a startled breath. "You heard what that thing said. If we try attacking it... we'd be risking Rainbow's life..."

Cadance grit her teeth, feeling her whole body tense up in anger. Darn it! She tore her gaze away, turning woefully towards the ground, her magic dispersing. He's right...

Tch... Twilight stepped back, racking her brain for a way out of their current predicament, as her feelings of hopelessness only worsened.

Her eyes began to grow brighter as she slowly slipped into contemplation.

I could unleash it... this power I've been holding back... She closed her eyes, letting out a single, shaky breath. If I do though... there could be no going back. If I accidently end up hurting Rainbow in the process, then... t-then this power could end up changing me forev—!

Her thoughts were interrupted by the muffled grunts resonating from the monster poised before her.

Her own eyes proceeded to widen, staring in disbelief as the entity began flickering in and out of sight, as if fading from reality itself before her very eyes.

It doubled over, setting a palm on the ground to perch itself up while continuing to clutch Rainbow in its other.

"Curse this wretched form... It would seem that... I just c-cannot exist freely in this world without a— nngh... s-suitable host!"

Host?

Twilight turned her attention swiftly, her heart beating ever faster, towards the lip of the crater where the body of doppelganger presumably still lay defeated.

S-so that's the key! Her horn's aura brimmed to life. I just need to cut her off from the other me before it's too—!

Another distortion wracked the monstrous entity's form, forcing it to let out an ear-splitting scream, and in its agony... unknowingly dig its claws into Rainbow's side.

Rainbow reacted immediately, reeling her head back and letting out a cry of pain. A cry that, unfortunately for Twilight, fell on deaf ears as she herself stood unblinking, too unnerved to process what was happening right in front of her.

Her whole body froze, feeling her heart sink sickeningly as she stood watching, helpless. Even with her own eyes squinted in pain, she still noticed when Rainbow was carelessly dropped to the ground in a heap, specks of her blood seemingly slowing in midair before her very own eyes.

Shining and Cadance stood frozen in shock as well, with Cadance letting out a breathless gasp at the sight, bringing a hoof to her mouth in horror.

The entity all the while slithered back to its host body, albeit begrudgingly, as if not of its own accord, but rather as if it were being reeled backwards.

It rejoined with Twilight's doppelganger... and after a long moment of silence, her eyes blinked open.

Twilight came to her senses, screaming out her beloved's name as she scrambled to her hooves, her eyes switching between their familiar purple irises and a blinding white glow. Her horn continued to pulsate, sending a throbbing pain through her head, bringing her to her hooves.

Still, she continued to bear it, dragging herself closer and closer until she lay by her girlfriend's side, overlooking her.

Her doppelganger meanwhile, got to her own hooves, several of her joints enticing a cracking noise as many of her bones snapped back into place. She stood tall at last, popping the kinks in her neck before glaring on ahead with an air of determination.

She took her first step on the slope of the crater, when a sudden, nauseating pain struck her head, causing her to nearly fall. A sickening, dizzying pain that gave her pause for several long seconds as it seemed to be sending her magic glands into overdrive... and blurring her conscious thoughts one by one.

She groaned, warily shaking her head, before pressing on up the slope, through the ever growing haze.

Tears dripped from the tip of Twilight's muzzle onto Rainbow's chest, leaving damp little splotches as she proceeded to cry openly, and freely.

"R-rainbow, come o-on," Twilight taking Rainbow's hoof into her own forelegs, trembling almost uncontrollably. "Th-this really isn't funny, Rainbow..."

"I'd never forgive myself if I let something bad happen—to the princesses or you."

"Twi... Haven't I told you to quit being so hard on yourself? To stop beating yourself up? I mean, this Pony of Shadows isn't your fault."

"Isn't she though? She used me like a blueprint, Rainbow, using me to give herself form—!"

"Which wasn't your fault, Twilight!"

"I... Y-you're right, Rainbow, I just.. I just feel like... everypony is really counting on me to be a hero like you, Rainbow. You know, somepony worthy of being an element bearer..."

From what she could tell through her tear-stained vision, Rainbow seemed to be barely holding on... her eyes shut and breaths coming in and out in weak, shallow wafts. Below her chin sat the still-gaping wound on her shoulder, inflicted by her very own horn... and below that... Twilight's eyes reluctantly drifted downwards. to the series of deep lacerations on her side, and the once green grass now stained red with her girlfriend's blood.

"Aren't you worried though, Twi? I mean, you heard what the princess said. Cadance, your brother, and who knows how many other ponies are all going to be there. Doesn't that make you worried?"

"Of course it does, Rainbow. But, with you at my side... I'm not afraid, because the two of us? We can do anything, so long as we're together. It's like Princess Celestia said, Rainbow—we're chosen, which means that our strength comes from the bond that we share."

Swallowing down a tough lump in her throat, and draping a foreleg across her eyes, she mustered up the strength to ask, "W-what? Is… is this all that's bothering you? I t-thought a pony like you could h-handle a-anything..."

"Can you promise me though, that... if tonight does go poorly... not a single one of us will... you know."

"I can't promise that, Twilight... but if we wear these suits, we can try our darnedest to prevent that."

She sat up on her haunches, before pressing both her hooves deep against the series of puncture wounds. "T-there, see?" She forced a smile to her lips. "Problem solved."

She remained still for a moment, holding out hope that she'd see a change in her girlfriend's demeanor, however small... Her smile fell, watching as Rainbow's expression remained unchanged. Her breaths grew uneven, and more panicked as she shakily withdrew her hooves to see that blood now soaked the front of her own hooves.

Twilight's pupils shrunk, feeling utterly sick to her stomach.

Her heart continued to beat faster and faster.

Twilight...

Cadance could no longer bare to watch, and took a step forward when Shining's questioning tone grabbed her attention.

"Cady? What are you...?"

"Saving her life, that's what." She looked back on ahead. "Please don't try and stop me, Shiny. I... may not be as proficient at healing magic as others, but... I am also the Princess of Love, and right now there's a love that needs saving."

"I won't stand in your way then. I'm just worried about—"

As if on cue, Twilight's doppelganger came into view, emerging at last from the crater.

"Her..." finished Shining, his heart sinking.

"You... accursed... pegasus!"

The doppelganger squeezed her eyelids shut, gritting her teeth as she brought a hoof to her head, her horn giving off immense sparks. "What have you done!?"

Her eyes began to burn a bright white. "My horn... feels like it's on fire!"

Twilight paid the voice little mind however, too wrapped up in her own grief and denial to even care. She squeezed her eyelids shut, shutting out the blinding light that burned powerfully behind them, and in her frustration, raking her bloodied hoof against her cheek and up through her mane. She sobbed uncontrollably, tears streaming down her cheeks as her entire body trembled. Drops of blood dripped from the hairs of her mane, and the tip of her muzzle...

That was all it took for Twilight's mind to go blank, her thoughts to cease… her heartbeat to slow to a crawl… with only the memory of a pegasus's limp, cold body lying there. A pegasus that brought about a warm feeling to the magic within her.

And whatever strand of Twilight's memories remained, remembered who was the cause.

I need to get Rainbow out of there while I have the chance! fretted Cadance in realization of what was no doubt about to unfold, and with the two Twilight's distracted, acted fast. She teleported Rainbow away from Twilight, and the moment she reappeared, knelt down beside her, igniting her horn.

Whew... Now, she thought, with a determined look, time to do whatever I can!

Twilight turned her head on a dime, and met her doppelganger's gaze. Their bodies both froze, staring unblinking into each other's eyes, and that was when everything went dark for the young mare. The sounds of her surroundings and woes of reality melted away as her consciousness was enveloped by a thickening haze, finding her consciousness rapidly slipping away...

She awoke some time later in an empty, and spacious black void, devoid of any light.

As her eyes slowly blinked open, Twilight found herself laying on her side, her face partially submerged in what she thought to be black water.

She sat up in an instant, sucking in a much-needed breath, taking a moment to gather her bearings.

Where—?

A horrible reminder racked her thoughts, sending cold shivers down throughout her entire body.

Rainbow!

She stood up on all fours, yelling out into the dark abyss.

"Raaaaaiiiiinnnnbooowwwww!"

Her voice echoed throughout the chasm as she waited, holding her breath for several long seconds in anticipation... only to ultimately be met with nothing more than silence.

Rainbow...

She collapsed onto her haunches, staring disheartened at the murky, rippling surface beneath her.

As she stared into her distorted reflection, she sniffled, overcome with the same feeling of sadness as before... to when Rainbow lay before her injured, only...

This time was different.

This time she felt alone.

N-no... she thought, clutching her foreleg. No, I... I'm stronger than this, thanks to my friends... thanks to Rainbow... and being alone is not a life I care to return to. Rainbow wouldn't want me to sit here and cry... she'd want me to keep my chin up, and... and keep moving forward! So I can't give up! She took her first step, feeling a little wobbly at the sensation of walking on the slick surface. She might still be here somewhere... a-and if not, then... then I'll find a way back to her, and fight to keep our relationship alive!

Her horn ignited, lighting up the small space in front of her.

I swear I'll make it out of this place, and back to you, Rainbow—a-and you too, Spike! Mom, Dad, Cadance, Shining... Celestia, Moon Dancer... I have a wedding to look forward to, with an awesome, awe-inspiring bride to marry!

She took another determined step forward as a slight smile tugged at her lips.

After coming this far, she mused, there's not a chance in Tarturus we're gonna let this stop us!

Cadance and Shining stood in silence, watching as Twilight remained completely still, not budging an inch. Her gaze staring straight ahead, never once averting itself from her doppelganger's, who stood at the lip of the crater, frozen in place.

Large, white auras, like those of flickering flames, grew around the two mares, seemingly in sync with one another. As the magic grew in intensity, so did its ferocity, igniting sparks that fired off in random directions, setting the surrounding grass and trees ablaze.

It wasn't long before the putrid scent of smoke began to fill the forest air.

"We can't stay here..." Cadance murmured, as she remained crouched by Rainbow's side, attending to her wounds.

"Yeah, and neither can Twilight," remarked Shining, about to step forward. "We have to snap her out of it before—!"

"Wait!" came a familiar voice. The two turned to see Celestia descend swiftly beside them.

"Do not approach her," she warned. "Allow me to transport you both a safe distance first!"

Before either could get a word in edgewise, Celestia's horn ignited in a quick instant, teleporting the four of them a short distance away, to an area that the flames had yet to consume.

"Princess!" Shining beseeched, once the three of them had rematerialized. "Please, do you have any idea what's happening to—?"

"I do," she replied hastily. "I've seen it once before, in fact."

"Y-you have? Wait, so... does that mean you can help, or...?"

"Do not fret, Shining Armor. I can restore Twilight to her senses."

He blinked, taken aback. "You can...?"

He shook his head, snapping out of his momentary stupor.

"Er, good..." He smiled uneasily, momentarily overcome with relief. "That's good to hear. S-so, ah..." He cleared his throat, directing his attention back towards the smoldering woods. "W-what's happening to her exactly?"

"Her mind is being overrun with magic, forcing her conscious back into the furthest recesses of her mind," explained Celestia. "Normally, I'd have to link with her conscious, and bring her back to the forefront of her own mind."

"Normally...?" Cadance chimed in, inquisitively.

"This time however, it would seem things are different. I'm... not so sure that I can bring Twilight back of my own accord."

"What do you mean?" Shining demanded. "I-I thought you said you could restore—!"

"I said she could be restored to her senses. The problem is that there are now two of her, who were both struck by the same affliction; and judging by the fact that neither of them are moving..." Her tone softened, turning to look sorrowfully towards the two mares. "I fear they have both been removed from their bodies."

"...Removed from their bodies?" Cadance questioned.

Celestia nodded solemnly. "My theory is that being of the same mind and body, and experiencing the same, sudden surge of magic... caused their consciousnesses to converge with one another."

"Meaning... what exactly?" Shining reluctantly asked, a dreadful feeling worsening in the pit of his stomach.

Celestia grew silent.

"That if Twilight is to return to us... she'll have to find her way back... all on her own."

Shining paled, as both his and Cadance's hearts sunk at the revelation.

Celestia's heart all the while, ached at the realization, as she could do nothing more than watch, and believe in her pupil.

Those magical auras would tear us limb from body if we were to attempt to remove them forcefully... I'm sorry, Twilight. Her gaze grew a little teary as she silently berated her inability to help even those closest to her. It would seem I failed you yet again...

This place... seems to stretch on forever. It feels like I've been walking for ages already, and I've only barely scratched the surface...

Twilight trudged forward, one step at a time through the never-ending darkness. Her hooves began to grow tired, but her mind never wavered, pressing onward, past the aching pain until she found her way either to an exit, or to Rainbow.

Either one would be a blessing.

"I'd never forgive myself if I let something bad happen—to the princesses or you."

Her voice played out suddenly within her head, the memory giving her pause.

Another reminder... Twilight shook the nagging memory from her thoughts, carrying on further into the dark abyss.

Whatever this place is... seems to have a hold over my memories... and is seemingly trying to weigh me down. It's almost as if this place hopes to guilt me into staying here... but that just isn't an option! C'mon, Twilight... Rainbow wouldn't want you to be beating yourself up like this... Even if...

Her body grew ever more sluggish, her steps growing heavier as the muck below her seemed to grow more and more difficult to trudge through.

Even if stopping to rest... sounds pretty good right about now...

She went to take another step forward, only for her hoof to become stuck—the realization doing wonders to snap her from her reverie.

W-What is—? She yanked her hoof back, only for a stubborn trail of black sludge to remain attached. "G-Get off!"

She stumbled backwards, yanking her hoof even further than before, and this time managing to break its hold on her.

Whatever it was.

She let out a few calming breaths, holding her hoof near her chest apprehensively, as she observed the spot where her hoof had first become stuck, before tilting her head upwards, to the endless void above her in wonder.

"What is this place...?"

"He... H-Hello...?"

Twilight paused, confusing the voice, for a moment, for her own.

"Great," she grumbled, "now this place really is playing tricks on me..."

"This isn't a trick," the voice spoke again, before falling silent, as if contemplating what to say next.

Twilight tilted her head, squinting her eyes as she struggled to peer through the darkness. Even with the light from her horn, she could only make out the faint outlines of what looked like... bars?

"Y-you're her, aren't you!" the voice asked suddenly, out of the blue. "T-this world's me?"

"Er..." Twilight put the thought aside, instead deciding to ask, "Who're...?"

"Why are you here? Y-you shouldn't be here. Y-you need to leave before your conscious self gets trapped here too!"

"Conscious self?" Twilight repeated in puzzlement. "What're you talking about—? Er, where is here?"

"Here?" To Twilight, the voice sounded genuinely surprised, as if it were taken aback for a moment. "Don't you know?"

"Know what?" Twilight pressed, pensively taking several steps closer.

"You're inside my head, Twilight." A pale, sickly-looking face became visible from behind the bars, belonging to a mare who sat slumped over, and bore an all too striking semblance to herself.

"The darkest recesses of my mind."

"Y-you!" Twilight blurted accusingly, stumbling backwards. "Y-you're her! You're...! You're my doppelganger..."

The other her bore a look of confusion, tilting her head.

"I'm sorry," she nervously asked. "Have we... met?"

Before Twilight could respond, her other self began panicking.

"Er, wait. No no no no no no no no, no! This can only mean that you've seen me—t-the real me, not hidden behind some crystal, or... or dark veil... which means that she did it... She invaded your world and went after you and this world's other Elements bearers—!"

"What are you talking about?" Twilight shot back, causing her other self to flinch at the sudden outburst. "Real you? Aren't you the one behind these attacks? A-aren't you the one puppeteering...!"

Her accusatory tone died down as she fell back into thought.

This other me... She was never the enemy. Rather she was being puppeteered by this... t-this thing.

Twilight stared back at her other self as the memory concluded. That's right... I completely forgot...

"That's right," she murmured. "That thing was possessing you." Her other self's head lifted, looking back at her curiously. "Which means..."

"T-thing...?" Then it dawned on the other Twilight. "Y-you mean the manifestation of my negative emotions..."

Twilight froze.

"You foal! Physical magic cannot harm raw, visceral emotion!"

"You're the reason for everything that's happened..."

Twilight's doppelganger raised her brow in surprise, falling silent in response.

"The attacks against my friends and family, the heartache, the worry, the stress..." Twilight's temper flared. "Rainbow Dash... deathly injured, and... a-and lying at my hooves!"

Her horn's aura exploded in anger, illuminating the nearby darkness. Her doppelganger recoiled, wincing from the bright light, but still she was able to see the furious scowl on her double's face.

"I... I-I—!" her doppelganger stammered, then fell backwards in fear as the other her lunged towards her, slamming her forehooves against the bars of the cell. Her horn's aura grinded against one of them, resulting in residual sparks of magic.

"I-I'm sorry!" she blurted out, shielding her face with her hooves. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."

The mare muttered off apologies, growing quieter until trailing off completely. She fell silent but still she wept, as she continued to cower under the dark silhouette of her other self.

The sight gave Twilight pause, as her own anger slowly dispersed, and she found herself more bemused than upset.

What am I doing...? thought Twilight, taking a moment to look at her surroundings. She's behind bars that seem to stretch on forever... and if what she said about this being her mind's interior, then... she's a prisoner here.

She stepped back onto all fours as her own expression saddened, her ears flopping. For some time too, judging from the looks of things... and from the state she's in... Even if this other me is technically responsible for everything that's happened to both Rainbow and myself... She appears to be no less of a victim...

Twilight pursed her lips in contemplation.

"Hey," she called out tentatively to her doppelganger, hoping to grab her attention, only for her words to go unheard.

She huffed, growing irritated, before pounding her hoof against one of the bars, eliciting a startled jump from her other self.

"Hey," Twilight repeated, this time in a sterner tone of voice. "Pull yourself together. I... I'm sorry about just now, okay? I'm not going to hurt you, I just..." She sighed, peering off. "I just... feel so lost right now, and... and I need to make it out of here and back to Rainbow before...!" She slowly trailed off, drawing her doppelganger's curiosity. "Before..."

"Rainbow?" The other her sat up intently, brow raising. "Wait... I remember now. The dream portals..." Her tone angered suddenly, turning accusatory, causing her other self to furrow her brow. "You were so mean to her..."

"I..." Twilight blinked, taken aback. "When was I...? Wait... you know about that? Which means... you've been with us this whole time, spying on us..."

"N-not this whole time," the other her corrected. "But long enough. Long enough to see into your memories of neglecting her... verbally berating her...!"

Memories...? Twilight pondered. How could she have looked into my memories? She mentioned 'dream portals'... Maybe while I was dreaming...? But when did I—?

And then it occurred to her.

That evening in the hospital... I dosed off... she solemnly realized. Of all the luck... This other me had to witness me at my worst...

"Well?" her other self's voice demanded.

"T-that was a mistake on my behalf!" Twilight stammered, scrambling to explain. "I'm sorry, other me! I was a different pony back then... but it's because of Rainbow that I was able to change!"

Her confession gave her other self pause.

"What...?"

"She taught me how to forgive myself, and... and how to make amends with those closest to me. She taught me how to be strong, and to place my trust in others! To give friendship a shot, and to be the best possible version of myself... That's why she's more than a friend to me," she confessed, smiling fondly as she reminisced. "That's why I love her."

Her doppelganger's interest peaked. Love...? She eased back, her mind in disbelief. Looks like I wasn't the only one Rainbow worked her magic on...

"I'm sorry you saw what you did..." continued Twilight. "But that isn't who I am anymore! I would lay down my life for that mare, so please! Help me find my way out of here, and back to reality before it's late to save her!"

Her other self's eyes widened. "...S-save?"

Twilight bowed her head, peering down hopelessly at the murky ground beneath her. "I fear she's still hanging by a thread... even as we speak."

"I-I don't understand," replied the other her. "I thought my shadow merely wanted the Elements? It doesn't make sense she would gravely wound Rainbow Dash."

"Urgh, we don't have time to be talking like this," Twilight grumbled. "There's just... too much that either of us don't know about the current situation—hay, I still can't wrap my head around the fact I'm currently talking to another me within my own head," she mused in a low murmur. "Time is of the essence though, and—"

"Actually..." her other self spoke, a little anxiously. "I'm not so sure. Er, h-how long has it been? S-since the day I witnessed you and her?"

Twilight's ears perked up. "How long...?" she repeated, giving it some thought. "Uhm, well... A-almost a year now, give or take."

"A year?"

She blinked, stupefied at first, before growing silent. She smiled slightly, letting out a halfhearted chuckle.

"For me it's felt like an eternity..."

An eternity...? Twilight experienced a cold shiver upon hearing her doppelganger's words.

"We're cognitive beings, after all. Manifestations of our physical selves, consisting of our spirits. Time for us hold no meaning, technically."

"I suppose... That doesn't mean I intend to stay trapped here any longer than need be."

"N-no, of course not," her other self agreed. "I just... know how high-strung I can be." Her lips formed a knowing smile. "Somepony needs to tell you to slow down, and take things one step at a time every now and then."

Huh? Twilight stared back at her in surprise, at a loss of words for a moment, cocking her head.

Take things slow, huh? She smiled slightly at the notion. Well, I guess if anypony understands what's best for me, it would be myself...

"Very well," she replied, leaving her thoughts. "I have time, so I'll stay calm... and devise a way out of here!"

Twilight took a deep breath, closing her eyes, as she mulled over everything she had learned about her doppelganger, and the void she currently found herself trapped within.

"But, if this is your mind," she continued after a few moments, drawing her doppelganger's curiosity. "Then I'm going to require your assistance."

"M-my assistance?" Her other self questioned, frenzied. "W-why—?"

"Because I'm gonna need you free so that when the time comes, you can take back your body," replied Twilight. "Not to mention that this is your mind, yes? So you should know this place better than anypony, and how to escape its confines."

"I-I'm not s-so sure it'll be q-quite so simple," her other self started to explain, only to fall on deaf ears.

"Let's see now... How to free you..." Twilight pondered, bringing a hoof to her chin. "It should take nothing more than a simple dispel spell," she concluded after a moment, igniting her horn.

Her other self's eyes widened. "W-wait!" she began.

Her voice was cut off by the blinding light caused by her double's horn, and not a moment later, the cell bars began rattling before beginning to dissipate into hundreds of glimmering fragments.

They soon faded completely from view, leaving nothing but darkness in their wake.

"There," informed Twilight, breathing out a sigh of relief as she turned to face her doppelganger, "now you're free—"

"Y-you idiot!"

Twilight froze, staring back dumbfounded at her other self, who all of a sudden looked very distressed.

"I can't help you, okay?" she stressed, throwing her forelegs down at her sides. "Because if what I think happened, then... it's already too late. It won't matter what either of us do at this point."

"Too late...?"

"Tell me, Twilight. What's the last thing you remember before you wound up here?"

"Last...? Er, w-well... m-my thoughts are somewhat hazy, but... I remember being s-so... distraught, and... blinking in and out of consciousness... and that was when I locked eyes with you! Er, y-your body, I-I mean."

"Then it's exactly as I thought..."

Hm?

"When you locked eyes with my body, our minds must have formed a mental link somehow—be it our outpour of magic, or similarities in biology—and when we both fell unconscious, you woke up not in my mind... but in a sort of shared mindscape." She shook her head hopelessly. "I don't entirely understand it myself... yet here we are."

"Yeah, I... suppose after tonight, nothing is off the table in terms of believability..." mused Twilight in agreement. "But, even if our minds are linked, there has to be a way to break that connection! So, what did you mean then, when you said nothing we do will matter—?"

"Don't you see, other me? If you fought the one possessing my body, then... shouldn't this inky substance ring familiar?"

Inky? Twilight's brow raised before she directed her gaze towards the watery surface beneath her hooves, and gasped breathlessly as she put two and two together.

"It's the substance my other half was cursed with when... the Shield of Wisdom was cast upon me... to protect my memories."

"It's called inknorance," murmured Twilight, still reeling from the revelation.

"So it has a name..." her doppelganger mused. "All I knew was that it blots out everything it touches... which brings me to my point. Twilight, now that our minds are connected, this darkness—the 'inknorance' as you called it... is already seeping into your mind."

Twilight's heart sank at her doppelganger's words.

"I-it's... already..."

She swallowed hard, finding it hard to maintain her balance.

"This inknorance blots out even one's headspace, creating a blank canvas of sorts... Perfect for my other self to inhabit."

Twilight shuddered, glancing around at her surroundings, at the endless stretch of darkness that encircled her.

This darkness... i-is inknorance? Her chest grew heavy with a sickening feeling. E-even so... "If you take back your body, then that other you should disappear without a host to cling to, right? S-so..."

Her doppelganger shook her head softly.

"If only it were that simple," she murmured, Twilight's own brow furrowing in concern. "Even when she's losing, she still finds a way to win. If I did somehow regain control of my body, and managed to expel the other me from my mind... she would simply take refuge within yours instead... thanks in part to the inknorance."

"Then let's figure out a way to purge it from our minds!"

Her other self stared back at her incredulously. "W-wha...?"

Beneath her, the inknorance began rippling.

"I mean... if we could just seal it away somehow..." continued Twilight, "then this other you would no longer have a safe haven to hide away in... right?"

"Twilight... the inknorance stems from the other me, and it has another purpose other than simply rendering my mind hospitable. Twilight, if... we try to leave...!"

She let out a sudden, breathless gasp at the feeling of her body being pulled under, the inknorance acting like quicksand, and swiftly swallowing her up.

Twilight stood frozen in place, too unnerved to make a move as she watched her doppelganger continue struggling to break free.

"Nngh... Y-you see, Twilight?" Twilight jumped at the sound of her doppelganger's strained voice, snapping her out of the state she was in. "This darkness's... other purpose... is to make sure I don't try to reclaim this body!"

She continued sinking, the inknorance reaching up to her neck in no time.

Anxiety swirled within Twilight, biting her lip as she hesitated, mulling over what to do.

Until she could bear it no longer.

"No!" she cried out, scrambling clumsily through the ink. M-my body... just reacted on its own... I know it's reckless of me... but she's my best bet at helping me make it out of this place!

Her body sloshed through the ink as she leapt forward, narrowly grabbing hold of her other self's hoof. And... plus, I...

She gritted her teeth, her gaze squinting as she struggled to hold onto her doppelganger's hoof, and through her squinted gaze, saw the bewildered look on her other self's face, looking up at her from below the surface of the ink.

"W-why are you being so reckless for my sake?"

Twilight's eyes widened, her ears standing tall. She can still talk, she realized, staring down at her double in surprise. Well, now that I'm looking at it, the inknorance doesn't seem to extend down beyond this layer into whatever void lies below...

She returned to the questioning look on her doppelganger's face, her lips forming a lukewarm smile.

"I don't think I could bear to see myself die," she professed.

Her other self's eyes opened wide in disbelief, feeling her chest swell with emotion before swiftly forcing her gaze away.

"I won't die, Twilight," she murmured, shaking her head. "I'll just be dragged further down, into the recesses of this place."

"If that happens," argued Twilight, "then you may as well be dead!"

Her doppelganger remained silent for a moment before scoffing under her breath.

"I may well have been for some time now..." she lamented.

Twilight rolled her eyes and grunted, her face pressing further into the inknorance as her body sunk deeper, little by little.

Her other self peered up at her from behind her bangs, before falling back into contemplation. You're not very strong, Twilight... We both know that.

She felt Twilight's hoof begin to slip, dropping her further into the abyss.

Below the inky surface, she looked back up... seeing Twilight's cheek pressed firmly against the layer of inknorance. Despite the forces pulling her own body deeper, she hung on to her hoof the best she could.

She couldn't help but find the whole situation infuriating.

"Just let go of me, you stupid mare," she grumbled, lowering her gaze. "Don't drag yourself down along with me. Just leave me to sink into the darkness where I—"

Her words were cut off and her ears perked suddenly upon hearing her counterpart shout another desperate "No," muffled by the layer of inknorance.

Her gaze shot up in astonishment, staring back at Twilight as she clenched her teeth, squeezing her eyelids tightly together.

"W-what are you doing?!"

"Saving your hide," came Twilight's strained response. She grunted, her horn fizzling, and firing off random sparks of magic. "I'll never leave you hanging..."

The words resonated with her doppelganger, giving her pause.

"Those are the words Rainbow Dash abides by," continued Twilight. "If I aspire to be heroic like her... then above all else, I cannot forsake myself!"

Her other self's chest grew heavy, her gaze saddening. A hero... huh?

Twilight grimaced, and with a fierce scream, thrust her doppelganger upwards, until she breached the inknorance barrier.

Her other self bore a look of shock, even after her upper body breached the surface... and as she lay motionless, she couldn't help but slip into thought.

It's been so long that I guess I've forgotten... All I've done while imprisoned here, is fear the worst... but Dash would never lay around moping! She sniffled, gritting her teeth and leaning forward, doing her best to pull her hind legs free. She would fight, and never give up! Even in the face of overwhelming adversity... she'd face it head-on, 'cause that's what a brave pony does!

She breathed out warily, looking ahead in determination. The odds may be stacked against us... but I'm free now, thanks to her... If I could reclaim my body, then... I could complete my mission here! I... I've got to at least try!

She looked to her left, to Twilight as she lay on her side, exhausted. Their eyes met, and for a moment, they shared a look of understanding.

"W-we can't stay here long, otherwise we risk this inknorance stuff pulling both of us down into the abyss this time."

Twilight silently agreed, as she slowly picked herself up off the layer of ink. She shook her head, mulling over their options.

Maybe I could utilize the cloud-walking spell... It should function more or less the same... For now, however...

Her horn's aura ignited, and with it, an ethereal, orchid platform, like that of a disk, formed under their hooves. Their bodies jutted slightly as it began moving, raising them both high up off the layer of ink.

Whoa... Her other self gazed down in awe, before turning to look over her shoulder, an impressed look on her face. "Nice thinking, other me—!"

She squinted her eyes, taken aback by the light illuminating from her other self's horn.

Er... Think you could maybe dim your horn a little?"

"Why?" Twilight asked. "Does it bother you?"

Her doppelganger snorted.

"No," she replied, shaking her head. "My eyes just need a little time to adjust."

Twilight smiled, nodding before turning back ahead. As she looked on ahead, her smile all of a sudden fell, and she let out a startled gasp as several long, spindly tendrils shot up out from the sea of ink below, one after the other. They towered over them, each of them bearing three, claw-like appendages that loomed overhead, as if ready to strike at any moment.

Twilight gulped at the sight, her pupils shrinking in fear. She unwittingly stepped back, only to brush her tail against her doppelganger's, the sensation snapping her back to reality, and reminding her of where she currently stood.

Neither of us can focus on evading, thought Twilight. Right now, we really need to prioritize defense!

With that in mind, she ignited her horn once more, this time extending their platform out and upwards, folding around them into a sturdy dome.

She breathed out, then jolted at the sudden thunk created by the palm of the clawed tendril pounding against the exterior of their shield.

Another tendril pounded the opposite side of the barrier, this time eliciting an "Eep!" from her doppelganger.

She shrunk back, quivering as the looming tendrils continued mindlessly attacking the dome.

Twilight looked back at her with a fretful expression. "G-get a hold of yourself! You were acting courageous a moment ago!"

"I-I know, b-but..." Her doppelganger gulped nervously, mustering her courage. Be brave, she reminded herself, taking a calming breath.

"Never mind," she replied, stealing her nerves. She glared up at the monstrous tendril looming just outside the dome. "I'm good now."

Twilight smiled, nodding as she turned back on ahead.

"Can you still use your magic?" she asked, giving her other self pause.

"I-I..." her double murmured in uncertainty.

"There's creepy, black tentacle-claw monsters right outside!" stressed Twilight, wincing as one of the attacks from the tendrils left their dome cracked.

She's right... her other self thought. It's been so long... I almost forgot how to cast a spell... But I can't afford to hesitate!

"Yes," she assured, with a confident nod. She fired up her horn. "I'm ready. Lower the barrier and I'll deal with them all at once!"

She'll...? Is she serious? Twilight thought, incredulous. Before she could question her doppelganger's words any further, more cracks formed in the dome, causing her to wince, and let out a muffled groan.

Oh what the hay, she decided, and with a shaky breath, reduced their bubble to a midair platform.

"Okay..." Twilight's counterpart breathed out, closing her eyes and focusing on her magic. at the same time, the clawed tentacles reared back, before diving towards them.

Twilight bit her lip, instinctively squeezing her eyelids shut. "Whatever you're about to do, do it now please!"

"Time to take my body back," her doppelganger whispered, her eyes turning white.

A wave of magic rode out from the shores of their platform, washing over the monsters, and swiftly drowning them in its midst.

The wave retracted, leaving no trace or sign of the monsters having ever been there.

Twilight blinked, then looked all around her, utterly astonished.

"Whoa..."

"Years of practice," her other replied. She glanced over her shoulder, adding in a teasing manner, "You'll reach this level someday."

Twilight rolled her eyes, sporting a slight smile.

"Does that include wings?"

Her other self turned to look at her surprised.

Twilight continued. "I... thought you might be an alicorn from the real world, but this was also after you had absorbed some of Cadance and Celestia's magic; and due to your shapeshifting abilities, I... couldn't be certain. Looking at you now though..."

She peered down at her other self's wings in admiration.

"Truth be told, I'm a little envious of them. What I wouldn't give to be able to actually fly alongside Rainbow..."

Her doppelganger snorted, sporting a halfhearted smile. "Yeah, I... guess I sort of took them for granted myself... I... still don't feel like I'm entirely worthy of them, but... Celestia, a-and Rainbow thought I was, so..." She fell silent for a moment as she continued to reminisce. "I-it's not like I ascended without a reason, after all."

Ascended?

The word sparked Twilight's curiosity.

Huh. Well, now that I think about it, Cadance did the same thing... Hm... makes me wonder... "Do you think, um... maybe someday..." she began, before trailing off, her expression turning sheepish.

"What?" her doppelganger pressed, looking over teasingly. "That you'll ascend someday?"

The question caused Twilight to shy her gaze away, her cheeks blushing.

Her other self laughed softly, as she looked back on ahead.

"Hm, well... I come from another reality, Twilight, not this one." She gave her shoulders a shrug. "Who knows what your future has in..."

Her own words gave her pause, as the word 'future' reminded her of something Nightmare Moon had told her.

"My world has been splintered into two realities—one where my reign was interrupted by you and your meddlesome friends... and one where I'm still here, trapped in this prison. How else could this be unless the pony responsible was banished from their time only to now end up in this one, sustaining them both?"

Her brow creased in worry at the stark reminder. "Um, Twilight," she murmured, a little apprehensively as she averted her eyes. "I... A-about your reality—"

"Hey," Twilight spoke up suddenly. She bit her lip, clutching her foreleg as she peered down in the dark abyss below. "S-so, uhm... Do you think more of those tentacle things will show?"

Her counterpart blinked, taken aback. She must've been steeped in her own thoughts too, because she didn't even hear me right now... I suppose she's right though. Now's not the time, nor the place to discuss such things...

"I dunno," she solemnly replied. "This stuff... the inknorance, it... it's magic... a-and we all know how unpredictable magic can be."

"Right..." Twilight nervously agreed. "H-hey, uh... you know... That was a... pret-ty nifty spell you used back there, other me," she remarked, looking over at her other self with a slight grin.

Her other self, in turn, snorted at the remark.

"If I had to hazard a guess... it's only because the Shield of Wisdom was cast on me, and, as a result... the evil me was stricken with the inknorance curse. So, because it stems from the Shield of Wisdom, and the shield is now a part of me... that just means my magic has what it takes to counteract it, I... think."

"W-well, hey!" exclaimed Twilight. "That's great news for us then, isn't it? I-I mean, I assume you can use it to clean away all of this gunk as well?" she asked, motioning to the inknorance beneath them.

Her doppelganger shook her head. "In order to do that, Twilight... I need to scrub away at the source."

Hm?

Twilight cocked her head, but before she could question what her other self meant, she added, "Lower us back to the surface."

"N-not without a failsafe, I won't!" Twilight refused fretfully. "Allow me to at least cast a cloud-walking spell on us both a-as a precaution!"

Her other self's ears perked up, her brow raising. Cloud-walking spell...? That brings back memories... That's a clever workaround to the risk of the inknorance dragging either of us down too. I guess I shouldn't be surprised though. We Twilights are innovators, regardless of our backgrounds...

She took incentive, turning to face Twilight directly. "Allow me to cast the spell, Twilight," she volunteered. "After all, my magic counteracts the inknorance."

She knows it? Twilight looked back at her counterpart in surprise. "By all means then," she relented, her expression easing up into a look of trust.

Her other self nodded, igniting her horn and enchanting their hooves, resulting in a light magenta aura shimmering around them.

At the same time, Twilight lowered their platform back down onto the surface of the inknorance.

With baited breath, the two of them stepped out onto its surface, their platform dissipating behind them.

Her doppelganger looked out into the endless darkness, remaining silent for a long moment before yelling out, "Show yourself, other me!"

Twilight jumped, startled by her other self's sudden outburst. O-other her? she wondered. She must mean the evil her... but then, does that mean...?

The walls of their collective mind began to rumble, the ground beginning to shake.

"Well well well..." a voice, distorted and echoey... and all-too familiar, spoke up from the shadows, seemingly coming from all around them. "Looks like I got caught red-hoofed."

Twilight's double took on a defensive stance, conjuring a shining, crest-like object to her foreleg.

Twilight squinted briefly from the bright light her other self's shield-like construct emitted. I-is that the Shield of Wisdom? Her eyes slowly reopened as she continued staring in awe. I guess the inknorance isn't the only thing that can manifest itself in a literal sense...

Rrgh... Twilight's doppelganger grit her teeth, raising her shield as her horn flared.

"I-I don't understand," remarked Twilight, shaking her head. "The evil you is here with us? W-when did that happen?"

"I suspected as much once I realized that our minds had converged, and you found yourself here. If you were here, then surely the one in control of my body was also here. Furthermore," her other self went on to explain, "I felt something was off the moment the inknorance tried attacking us directly. It was only a hunch, but... I've only ever known it to restrain, or blot things out... not attack."

She fell silent, recalling the moment Nightmare Moon had freed her evil self.

The same thing happened back then too, though the tendrils at the time were different, like they had yet to fully materialize...

"But wait," Twilight replied, no less confused. "If she's here, manipulating the inknorance, then... why do it from the shadows? I-I mean, if she's so confident... why not face us head-on—l-like in the real world?"

"Isn't it obvious, Twilight?"

Hm? Twilight cocked her head at her other self.

"It's because she isn't confident," her counterpart declared. "She can't utilize her dark magic if she's not in control of my physical body. In here, she's no more powerful than I am, the difference between us being that I have the Shield of Wisdom, and we just proved how powerless the inknorance is against it!"

She stomped her hoof down, creating a circle of light that swiftly expanded, absolving the dark abyss in the blink of an eye.

As the darkness dissipated, Twilight's eyes slowly widened at the sight of something beneath the darkness.

Floorboards, she realized, then turned her attention to the surroundings, to the darkness melting away, and the burgeoning bookshelves that appeared in its place. This is what the interior of her mind really looks like...

In the far distance, she could see what looked like the interior of her tower coming into view, and as more of the inknorance dissipated, something else became apparent to Twilight.

This place... reminds me of the library Rainbow showed me, that night in Ponyville...

Rainbow breathed out deeply. "I was wondering if..." She looked, her voice becoming that of low murmur. "I-if, you know... you'd like to move here."

"...Move here?"

Rainbow nodded slightly, keeping her gaze fixated away from her as a faint blush formed in her cheeks.

"Y-yeah, y-you know..." she stammered, then reiterated, "w-with me."

The faint, embarrassed blush on her face deepened as she swallowed hard. Mustering her courage, she turned to face her girlfriend directly. "I was thinking maybe the two of us could make this place our new home."

Could it be, wondered Twilight, as the memory faded, that I moved to Ponyville in this other me's reality?

With a muffled grunt, their foe materialized a short distance away before their very eyes. She stumbled forward, slipping free from the darkness as the last of the inknorance faded away completely.

Her villainous self glared up at them, wincing from the residual pain that continued wracking her body.

Twilight's attention was drawn to the black and white pony, her lips slowly parting in astonishment at the sight of her.

That's what her cognitive self truly looks like, she realized. "Stark white fur, and jet black mane and eyes..." She gulped nervously, observing as what she could only assume was inknorance dripped from her bangs, and stained her cheeks as the same droplets formed in her eyes, slowly trailing down her cheeks.

"Don't be unnerved, Twilight." Twilight jumped at the sound of her other, nobler self's voice calling out to her. "What you see before you is nothing more that rogue emotions, nothing more."

Their foe's anger flared.

"For the longest time, I let my fears get the better of me... and even when we met, I felt like I didn't deserve to be freed, nor did I even want to be freed because of how... frightening the task ahead seemed. I... also knew that the inknorance would try and prevent me from reclaiming my body the moment I broke free..."

Twilight's ears flopped as she peered away guiltily.

"But then you saved me," her doppelganger continued. "You... reminded me of what Dash would say. So I'm not going to let fear, or... any other negative emotion rule my life anymore! That includes you... rogue emotions."

"Hmph." Twilight smiled, turning back towards her double with an amazed look. "No wonder she locked you up."

The two shared a laugh, much to their foe's annoyance.

"I am trying to rid this, and all worlds of the pain of loss and misfortune! Why can't you understand that?"

"Oh, we do." Twilight replied. "We just don't agree that you're the one who should do it."

"Your mind's distorted because of the emotions you embody," her doppelganger added in. "You were created during a time of great strife and war, and when all else failed, you saw yourself as the only sensible one. The one who could fix everyponies' problems... But no matter how noble your ideals may seem, you're only acting on them out of spite for those in power!"

"Instead," said Twilight, placing a hoof over her heart, "we'll rely on, and put our trust in our friends to help make our worlds a better place. Sure, bad things may happen, and sure, some catastrophes may even be unavoidable, but... that's precisely one of the many reasons why we need friends in the first place. To help us grieve in our darkest hour, and be there to help us move on, and make the most out of life!"

Their foe rolled her eyes. "Oh please... Stop with the whole 'friendship is magic' drivel. What, are you already forgetting what you called me? I'm nothing more than rogue emotions, remember? So why even talk me into changing my ways? And who even are you to lecture me, when... when you don't know the first thing about loss!"

Twilight's eyes widened ever so slightly at her foe's words, her accusation hitting her hard.

"What do you know about loss?" Rainbow growled out accusingly, her girlfriend's voice playing out within her thoughts. "About losing a family member? One that... that you can't even remember!"

"Yeah, and you don't know the first thing about having friends," Twilight's other self retorted. "I know because... because you killed ours without a second thought."

Twilight peered over at her other self with a look of surprise.

Her doppelganger sighed, shaking her head and turning around.

"Enough of this. It's time I took my body back—" She glanced back over her shoulder, at her evil half. "—and expel you from it for the last time."

"E-expel...?" Her villainous half stared back at her incredulously. "Y-you're kidding. If you do that, it'd doom us both!"

Twilight's eyes widened, and she looked after her doppelganger as she walked away. "Is she serious...?"

"No, Twilight, she isn't. She wouldn't know because this has never been tested before... and besides, she tries to instill fear and doubt in ponies like us, remember?"

Twilight averted her eyes, her voice softening. "R-right..."

"Run back to your mind now, Twilight. If you're still here when I come to, you'll be trapped here in this place."

Twilight perked up instantly.

"Oh! Um... r-right," she stammered. "S-see you in the real world!"

Twilight's doppelganger and her evil duplicate watched as she ran off towards the safety of her mindscape.

"I wasn't lying this time, you know," her evil duplicate chided. "But do whatever you feel is right. After all, you've done nothing but make the right choices, time after time after time."

Twilight ignored her evil duplicate's taunts, proceeding to open her body's eyes wide open, delivering the shock to her system her body needed to regain control.

The light radiating from her body's eyes dimmed as they returned to their original state.

"You..." her rogue emotions growled out. "I can't believe you're seriously going ahead with this..." She stomped her hoof, exclaiming, "I'm the cure for this, and all worlds! I know what needs to be done, and I have the strength to do it! I'm your strength! Without me, you'll be—!"

"Expel," Twilight's doppelganger murmured under her breath, her horn's aura igniting. The word left her lips, rendering her rogue emotions immobile. She was lifted up off the ground, feeling strong, gale winds pulling at her.

She grunted, floating helplessly in the air as her body was reduced to smoke, little by little. Her forelegs struggled hopelessly against the fierce force of the spell until at last her entire body was reduced to a black cloud of smoke, and exorcised from her mind completely.

She reappeared in the real world, exiting out of her body's right ear, and remaining in her true, shadow pony form.

Tsk... She looked around at her surroundings, briefly taken aback by the fire and smoke that ate away at her surroundings, before redirecting her attention elsewhere.

She smirked, and without hesitating, quickly flew out of sight.

At the same time, her other self regained full control of her senses, blinking her eyes as her vision slowly came into focus... and she silently gasped, appalled by what she saw.

N-no... Her gaze saddened, as a cold chill ran down her spine... as her nostrils were met with the unmistakable odor of smoldering ash, and her vision met with the bright hues of ravaging flames. This isn't real... T-this... can't be happening again!

Her pulse quickened, making her feel sick to her stomach. Her breaths turned rugged, uneven... as she struggled to stay cognitive of her surroundings.

N-no... She shuddered, clutching her foreleg. No... no, this is just a forest fire, she told herself, over and over. It's just a forest fire, it's just a forest fire, it's just a...!

She came to her senses, looking around herself, fully alert. A forest fire! But, how...? Her ears flopped in puzzlement, her brow furrowing in contemplation. It must have been when the other me, and the evil me both lost consciousness. The outpour of magic must have set the surrounding trees aflame—!

Her eyes flew open. Twilight! she remembered, looking around frantically. Where is—?

Her worries were put to rest as she caught a glimpse of her other self's hazy silhouette, partially visible through the thick smoke.

Her face lit up, and she went to lift a foreleg, ready to run on over to her... when her body all of a sudden froze up.

A searing pain struck her heart, causing her to wince and suck in a sharp breath, as she was left motionless for a long moment... unable to do anything but contemplate the strange, new sensation.

She breathed in slowly, and ruggedly, struggling to keep her balance as she felt as though her forelegs were about to give out from under her at any moment.

It... feels like my heart's been torn wide open... But... why is this...?

Her eyes slowly reopened, as the dreary reminder of something her duplicate self had said dawned on her.

"I wasn't lying this time, you know," her evil duplicate had chided. "But do whatever you feel is right. After all, you've done nothing but make the right choices, time after time after time."

She swallowed hard, sudden chills traveling throughout her body as her mind reluctantly feared the worst.

W-was she seriously… telling the truth...?

Her eyes welled up with tears as she faced the cruel reality of the situation, and let out a choked sob as she bowed her head, squeezing her eyelids tight and clenching her teeth as her jaw unwittingly trembled.

I'm such a stupid mare... I let her mess with my head, even when I knew that was what she was trying to do! I bet even her anger over me banishing her was fake too... Her lips formed a bitter smile. I'm such a screwup... Maybe... this is what I...

"Hello, other me."

Her eyelids flew open at the hauntingly familiar voice, and craned her neck up to come face-to-face with her other self's body, leering down at her as a grin parted Twilight's features.

"What was that about your little theory having never been tested before?"

Cadance's ear twitched, picking up on what sounded like voices coming from deeper within the forest.

She remained crouched by Rainbow's side, nursing her wounds and monitoring her pulse. Shining stood watch over her, while Celestia flew around overhead, doing her best to prevent the flames from spreading.

"Um, guys?" she called out, grabbing both her aunt's, and Shining's attention. She nodded in the direction of the tree line. "Do you hear that?"

"Voices?" Shining questioned, squinting in the general direction. "You sure, Cady?"

"I mean... I suppose I could have imagined it..."

"No, I believe Cadance is right, Shining Armor," Celestia remarked as she spoke up, peering past the leaves of the trees, into the smoldering forest grounds beneath her.

I can't make out their magic auras anymore. I can't sense them either... Could it be..?

Without hesitation, Celestia's horn flared, and she teleported, disappearing before both Cadance and Shining's eyes.

"Auntie, wait!" Cadance called out after her.

Celestia reappeared within a bright flash, standing on the forest floor. Despite the crackling flames and sweltering heat, she was able to pick up on the voices a little more clearly, as well as a pair of silhouettes on the other side of some bramble.

"...little theory having never been tested before?"

There's no mistaking it... That's Twilight's voice. But, as for which one, I...

She stepped a little closer, when her presence seemed to elicit a gasp in her direction, followed by a desperate cry of her name.

"Celestia!"

Celestia had but a moment to react before the figure nearest to her, turned to face her... horn brimming with magic.

"Well... look who decided to show up."

The alicorn princess's heart skipped, as she took an instinctive step back... her student's face leering back at her.

"P-princess!" the other figure cried out. "T-that isn't Twilight! T-the foe you've been fighting, i-it's her!"

Twilight's expression smirked, peering back at her other half.

"Thanks to you, other me." She looked back ahead, addressing Celestia directly. "She expelled me from her mind... but forgot that I harbor Nightmare Moon's spirit, her powers, her memories... and I saw what happened when she severed her link with my world's Luna."

Celestia's brow raised, her lips parting.

Her world's Luna...?

"She was left for dead, dying in the snow. The body cannot survive after losing such a vital part of your very being. But my other self thought she knew better, and look at her now! She's struggling to stay alive, and I have a fresh, new body to inhabit! Of course," the villain grumbled as she continued, "this body has not ascended to alicornhood... but it'll do."

"But... Twilight's mind was purged of the inknorance!" Twilight's doppelganger exclaimed, exasperated. "Our minds were even unlinked! So... how—?"

"What," her villainous self boasted, "you seriously haven't figured it out?" She hopelessly shook her head, grinning at her other self's nativity. "I simply ensnared her cognitive self before she could regain her senses! Even now... this body's former resident remains trapped, suspended within a swirling vortex of my making!"

Twilight's doppelganger stared back disbelievingly at her other self. Was she really fast enough to—?

"Face it, other me!" her rogue self continued, mocking her. "You're just a screwup. No matter what you try, and no matter what you do... it always backfires in your face!"

Backfires...?

"Enough of this!" Celestia yelled out over the sounds of crackling flames. "Relinquish control of Twilight Sparkle's body at once!"

Twilight's rogue emotions turned towards the alicorn princess, eyebrow piqued. "And if I say no...? What will you do? Attack me? Or perhaps enter my mind, and force me out?" She sneered in delight. "Face it, Cely... you've used up a heckuva lot of magic tonight... and even if you hadn't... you'd never risk harming your precious Element of Magic..."

Celestia glared back at the villain, all the while wracking her brain for a solution.

"You see, I need a new body, and it just so happens that this one is perfect. Young, primed, susceptible... This other Twilight has run her course. She's... no longer the obedient little pony she once was, she... can't be broken any further." Twilight's villainous self glanced over her shoulder, and with a swift kick, thrust her former host backwards, her body tumbling into the crater with a cry.

She landed in a heap, among the dirt and debris. She breathed in sharply and squinted her eyes tightly in pain, her whole body searing with fiery pain.

Tears welled in her eyes as she lay there, helpless... powerless to do a thing, with nothing more than her evil self's words echoing in her thoughts.

"You're just a screwup. No matter what you try, and no matter what you do... it always backfires in your face!"

She clenched her jaw to stop herself from sobbing aloud, as she lay silently crying face down in the dirt.

Twilight's rogue emotions turned back ahead, bearing a smirk.

"She burnt out on me. But this Twilight! Oh, this Twilight is full of hurt, of pain! She's suffering the loss of her friends, of her home; and that, Princess, is when they're at their most manipulable! Only this time, there will be no mistakes. I'll make it that she'll have no memory of her friends, her consciousness will be drowned in darkness... She'll... have nothing left to keep her going! Oh, and don't even think of trying anything," she added. "One move, and I'll snuff out her cognitive self in an instant."

Celestia's heart skipped, her eyes slowly widening at her foe's threat.

She's right... Even if I were to enter her mind, she could so easily smother Twilight's consciousness like a candlelight...

"Oh, but why stop there? My curse spreads far and wide... This inky substance... it blots out more than just our surroundings... Hay, I may just command it to blot out the memories of that wretched pegasus from the minds of all of Canterlot!" She let out a soft, callous laughter. "Forget the Elements! After erasing all traces of what Twilight holds dearest in the minds of this city, it'll be as if none of it ever existed! All of the ponies Rainbow Dash inspired will forget, and my rule will be all but guaranteed! Much more effective than simply killing her, or any of your other little element bearers, don'tcha think?"

Celestia glared at the coy little pony.

"If you think for a second... that I'm going to stand idly by—!"

"Hm? Oh no, no, it's already happening."

What!

"The... inknorance you guys called it? It's dripped from my body all over this city. In the castle... in the streets... in these woods."

Celestia felt her heart sink, as she turned frenzied towards the direction of the city.

"Honey? What time is it...?" asked Twilight Velvet in a tired voice, as she remained seated beside her husband, resting against his shoulder. "It feels like hours since the kids and Rainbow all left to fight that... shadow pony-thing."

She grew pensive as her voice dipped to that of a murmur. "Do... you think...?"

"Our kids are strong, Dear, don't forget that," Night Light assured her, giving her hoof a squeeze. "Heck, even Rainbow, and Cadance are strong too. None of them are quick to give up, okay? You just have to believe in them."

"I know that, but... I don't think I'll be able to relax until I see them again, safe and sound." She fell silent, staring aimlessly into the ballroom.

The once regal and beautiful ballroom now resembled more of a shelter, with families and ponies of varying stature seated wherever there was space available.

"I wonder how much longer they plan on keeping us here..." Twilight Velvet quietly mused.

"Well, at least the guards regained their senses, and are back on our side," Night Light replied. "They've been holding this place down and standing watch all this time. Let's just be thankful we're someplace that's at least somewhat safe."

"Right now, I couldn't care less about my own safety. Not when my kids, and their loved ones—!"

A startled cry, followed by a few shrieks and yells, startled the couple, alerting them to the commotion, and as they turned to see what the noise was about, paled at the sight.

An oily, black substance spread rapidly across the ballroom floor, tendrils emerging forth from its surface, striking pony by pony between their eyes.

Clamor quickly filled the air, but many had little time to react before the mysterious substance struck them too, leaving them immobilized and staring off into space.

As the ballroom erupted into disarray, and many attempted to flee, Night and Twilight instinctively bolted up from their seats.

"W-what is...? W-where did that stuff come from?" stammered Twilight Velvet.

"I... I-it must have crept in from the garden entrance," replied Night Light in a hurry. "Come on, we need to—! Honey, watch—!"

Night Light's words died on his tongue as one of the eerie, black tendrils struck his head.

Twilight Velvet let out a horrified gasp.

"Nigh—!"

Her husband's name died no sooner than it was uttered as she jolted, startled as she too found herself struck by another one of the mysterious tendrils.

Her shocked gaze slowly returned to normal, feeling her eyelids start to grow heavy as the tension in her limbs melted away.

And despite it all... she felt very much alive, still cognitive of the ballroom, and the ponies around her—as though she were lucid dreaming.

Mnrgh... Twilight... a-and Shining. I... remember them running off because of some danger... but...

As her mind drifted further into slumber... her thoughts began to drift, and she soon found herself struggling to recall what she had been so worried about in the first place.

Did Daring pay me a visit...? I... remember a pegasus, but... Well, it was probably just a meeting about a new book. I swear we've had so many of those, that they practically all blur together!

"I'm telling you girls... I'm fine, seriously."

Moon Dancer shook off her friends' concerns, assuring them she was fine.

Twinkleshine, Minuette, and Lemon Hearts all stood around her worriedly. Minuette and Lemon's armor had retracted to their saddles, while per her request, Twinkleshine had given Moon Dancer hers.

"Are you really sure though, Moon?" asked Spike, peering up at her guiltily as she finished suiting up. "My memory's still sort of foggy, but... I know I hurt you pretty bad, and, well..."

"Aw, Spike... I appreciate the concern, but... Rainbow and Twilight are still out there, going through who-only-knows what! As their friend, I cannot let them down!"

Spike nodded softly, averting his eyes.

"I only wish there was a way I could help..." he murmured, clutching his arm. "Instead, I only ended up doing nothing but causing more trouble for you guys..."

Moon Dancer's gaze saddened. "Spike..."

"A-anyway!" He smiled up at her, swiftly placing the thought aside. "Be back soon... okay?"

Moon Dancer smiled back at him warmly.

"I will, don't you..." Her voice drifted off, her eyes widening at the sight of... something approaching, and approaching quickly. "...worry... G-guys! Look out!"

Hm?

Her friends each turned their heads only partway, having but a second to react before being struck in the head by malevolent-looking tendrils. The pointed tips pierced their skulls, however drawing no blood, and leaving Twinkleshine, Minuette, and Lemon Hearts immobilized completely.

Spike, who had been the last to turn, gasped in terror, before failing onto his rump and frantically scrambling back, until he brushed up against Moon Dancer's forelegs.

His heart beating wildly, he gulped nervously before peering up shakily towards the mare, only to see her staring straight ahead at her three friends, seemingly too spooked to even move.

"Moon...?"

W-what is...?

"M-Moon!" Spike tried again, giving her foreleg a bit of a forceful shake. "H-hey!"

Moon Dancer jumped, letting out a startled breath, and looking down at Spike, hurriedly crouched down beside him, holding him tightly against her.

The strange, black substance crawled across the ground like a roaming mist, moving quickly across the street, and inching ever nearer towards Spike and herself.

"M-Moon...?" Spike asked, his voice shaking. "What's...?"

"I-I don't know, Spike," she answered breathlessly. She swallowed her nerves, and with gusto, swept Spike up in her right foreleg, and ran in the other direction with her other three.

"Moon!" he exclaimed in startlement. "W-what're you...? Y-you're in no condition—!"

"I don't care, Spike!" came Moon Dancer's hurried response. "I'm not letting that stuff touch you!"

"Moon..."

Spike peered away as his feelings only worsened. There was no way either one of them would be able to outrun whatever that was...

Darn it! Moon Dancer cursed mentally as she continued hobbling forward. I can't fly while holding Spike like this...! But if I stop, then I—! The world around her blurred as she grew more and more lightheaded, and her head throbbed in pain, causing her to stumble.

She collapsed on her side, dropping Spike beside her. She groaned, reeling from the lingering sensation of vertigo. She blinked her eyes several times and shook her head, picking herself up from the ground.

"Moon..."

Moon Dancer's ears perked up, and she turned warily in the direction of the voice, and a pang ran across her heart at the sorrowful state of Spike as he lay beside her... the darkness creeping up on them both.

"You're really the best friend a dragon like me could've asked for."

Moon's eyes immediately grew misty.

Spike...

The darkness crept under their bodies, and before Spike could utter a noise, his head was penetrated by a tendril, as it rose out of the blackness.

Moon Dancer's body went cold, her pupils shrinking.

"Spi—!"

She flinched as a second tendril, twitching as its slithery form rose up from the ground, examining her... before striking the spot between her eyes.

Her eyelids squeezed shut, when she heard a soft tink reverberate off her faceplate, followed by a low fizzling—as if the strain of magic was... hissing.

Moon Dancer blinked her eyes back open, her heart beating wildly in her chest as she stared back at the tendril, her gaze unwavering.

Then, as quickly as it appeared, it submerged back into the darkness... leaving Moon Dancer sitting there in stunned silence, her mind in disbelief of what just took place.

Her eyes darted back to Spike, and her heart once again sunk at the sight of him, frozen in place, his eyes unblinking.

She tentatively reached out, pressing her hoof gingerly against his neck, and to her relief... she could make out his heartbeat.

So, Spike, and everypony else, they're... they're alive... But then... what is...?

She turned her attention to the expanding, ink-like substance, examining it for a couple moments in pensive silence.

Rainbow, or Twilight... heck, even the princesses may know something...

She turned back to Spike, and smiled softly, running a hoof across the spikes atop his head.

"I'll be back for you soon, buddy..." she promised, before turning back on ahead.

She peered up towards the sky, recalling what Twinkleshine had told her, after she had returned from the sky with Spike.

"Yeah, the uh, princess... She, uh... flew off towards the outer woods. Said something about... doing whatever she must."

With that in mind, she got to her hooves, and took off towards the woods.

"Shining!" exclaimed Cadance, as her attention was drawn back towards the woods as a gooey, black substance began oozing out from the tree line.

Shining heard her, and turned to see what had caused her to scream his name.

"It's more of that stuff," he murmured, taking on a more defensive stance, and igniting his horn. "Keep Rainbow close, and stay behind me, Cady."

He ignited a blue, magical barrier around himself, Cadance and Rainbow, as the inknorance crept ever closer.

"Tch..." Shining took a nervous step back while Cadance looked on worriedly, wrapping her hooves a little more tightly around Rainbow's body.

"Shining...?" Cadance bit the corner of her lip before hesitantly asking, "Do you think Celestia is...?"

Her question drifted off, but Shining was able to connect the dots.

"I'm sure she's fine."

He smiled down at her, but Cadance could see the uncertainty hidden behind it.

"I mean, your aunt's the Princess of the Sun, remember?"

She looked back ahead in contemplation.

"Yeah," she replied softly, "I know..."

Shining held his ground as the inknorance continued to advance, but unbeknownst to him, his dome-like barrier extended only to the grassy plain... and the inknorance worming its way through the loose soil and shorter grass went unnoticed by the couple.

The anxiety Moon Dancer felt swelled as she found herself approaching the outer edges of the city.

Please don't be too late, please don't be too late, please don't be...!

She chewed her bottom lip, doing her best to suppress her nagging, worrying thoughts, and instead focus on a more positive outcome.

That all changed the moment she caught sight of some ponies huddled together within a magical barrier.

She paled at the sight, her chest tightening. Without wasting a moment, she descended quickly towards the ground.

"Guys!" Moon Dancer cried out towards the three of them, landing in the grassy field a short distance away.

Shining turned in her direction, and his face swiftly changed to a look of shock.

"You again?!"

"You need to get away from there, ASAP!" continued Moon Dancer, as she began running to them, her heart beating faster. "The ground isn't safe! y-you need to just run, a-and don't stop! Now—!"

Her brow raised, and she gasped suddenly, watching as more tendrils from before rose up out of the ground behind both himself and Princess Cadance.

"Behind you!" she yelled.

Confused, Cadance was the first to turn her head, and gasped before being struck right above her muzzle by one of the tendrils.

Shining turned in time to see the tendril piece the skull of the pony he loved, and his heart sunk.

"Cadance!" he cried out desperately, before he too fell silent, his body going limp... the dome around them dissipating into the air.

Moon Dancer's eyes slowly widened, her run slowing to a canter.

"No..." she uttered under her breath, falling quiet as she once more grew a little teary.

She mentally cursed, staring sorrowfully at the couple... when her attention caught a glimpse of several bright colors, poking out from behind Cadance.

She instantly perked up, a glimmer of hope igniting in her eyes.

Rainbow? she wondered, before realizing the tendrils still lingered, seemingly looming over... something.

Her hopeful smile fell.

"No..."

She began running again, disregarding her safety, and throwing caution to the wind.

Her armor seemed to protect her anyway, from... whatever this stuff was.

"No...!" she repeated under her breath. "No, no, no, no, no...!"

As she got closer, she could confirm that it was indeed Rainbow, nestled in Cadance's lap; and as she rounded the couple... her heart sunk in dismay.

A tendril loomed over Rainbow's body... embedding itself right between her eyes.

Her blood went cold at the sight.

Her eyes drifted further as her breaths grew a little uneven, and she saw a series of small, furless patches along her side, with slight blood trails stemming from them.

A-are those wounds...? They look mostly healed, but... Was Cadance healing them?

She grit her teeth, her anger flaring.

What the hay happened here?!

She redirected her attention to the tendril once more, before raising a hoof, and firing.

One after the other, she unloaded magical blasts into the tendril, only for them to pass harmlessly through.

She huffed out, glaring warily at the tendril for a moment longer, before shutting her eyes tight and stomping her hoof down against the black substance that now coated the grass.

"Darn it!"

She sniffled, lowering her head as a couple tears unwittingly trickled down her cheeks.

"Nngh..."

The sound of a sudden groan broke through the silence. Moon Dancer's eyes flew open, and she turned attentively towards the source, where she saw Rainbow wincing... groaning under her breath.

Rainbow? Moon Dancer wondered.

"Twi..." Rainbow mumbled.

Twi? Moon Dancer thought, staring in confusion at the pegasus, before switching her gaze over to Cadance and Shining. So why aren't they moving? W-why's Rainbow resisting whatever's happening to her, but not everypony else?

She veered closer in astonishment, kneeling down beside Rainbow.

If it were a nightmare, then... everypony would no doubt be acting similarly... If these tendrils are attacking their brains, then... Her eyes slowly grew larger as it dawned on her. It's targeting their memories... It... wants Equestria to forget...

She stood up, stumbling away from the three as she recalled the words she had exchanged with Twilight the day before...

"The Elements are not ponies, Moon Dancer. They're some kind of... artifacts, and they're inherited by a select few, okay? Believe me... The princess wanted me to research them."

"Y-yeah? W-well... y'know what some artifacts are? Lost. Destroyed. Forgotten. Hay, there's no proof these things even still exist."

"I believe they do, because as unbelievable as it sounds... Celestia believes Rainbow and me... have already been chosen by them."

With a growing sense of urgency, she turned hurriedly towards the forest.

More of that inky stuff emerged from these woods... So that can only mean...

She ignited the thrusters in her armor's boots, and swallowing her nerves, lifted into the air, before taking off into the forest.

"...Already I can feel it. Their memories are slowly being blotted out, and the best part is, even if you did somehow manage to beat me," Twilight's rogue emotions boasted, "only the inknorance in the real world would vanish!"

Celestia's mind raced, feeling as though she had been backed into a corner as she hovered in the air... a magic, bubble-like barrier encompassing her.

"Now come down here so that I may erase your memories as well! Or better yet..." She grinned maliciously. "So that I may absorb your power into me as well! It'll be in better hooves, I assure you."

Celestia glared back at her.

What do I do? She's holding Twilight captive within her own mind, and I make a move...! Her gaze turned regretful as she thought to herself, If only I could still wield the Elements... Then, maybe I...

"Princess!"

Celestia's ears perked up at the strange, filtered-sounding voice as it called out her name, followed by the sounds of rustling winds and... propulsion?

A pony emerged by her side suddenly from out of the thicket, suspended in the air by miniature flames shooting out from her boots.

"You again...?" their foe remarked aloud in a deadpan voice, drawing Moon Dancer's attention.

Her thoughts ceased suddenly, her lips slowly parting in disbelief.

"Twilight...?"

"No, not quite," Celestia replied, shaking her head. "It's a long story. I'll fill you later once we're out of this mess, but all you need right now is that the one we've been fighting is currently in control of Twilight Sparkle's body."

"No kidding..." murmured Moon Dancer, unnerved. Her gaze slowly saddened the more she continued to peer down at her friend's body. Twilight...

"By the way, um..." Celestia hesitated, before turning to the armored pony beside her with a curious expression. "Who are you, exactly?"

"O-oh, um...!" Moon Dancer blushed, snapping out of her thoughts, and turning attentively towards the princess. "I-it's me, Your Highness! Moon Dancer."

"It's really you under there, Moon Dancer? You mean to tell me you built this armor yourself?"

Moon Dancer snorted, turning back on ahead. "I knew you'd be impressed."

"Are you two done?" Twilight's villainous self stared up at the two of them dryly, then turned her focus towards Moon Dancer in particular. "Moon Dancer, huh? I've heard that name before. Never cared enough to come visit her though," she added with a sneer. "What makes you think your Twilight will be any different?"

"I..."

Moon Dancer fell silent, her enemy's words giving her pause.

"Don't let it get to you," Celestia spoke up, getting through to her, and snapping her from her thoughts.

Moon Dancer perked up, turning to face her curiously.

"Princess?"

"She's just trying to get inside your head, so don't listen to a word she says." Celestia smiled down at her assuredly. "Twilight would never abandon a friend of hers."

"Not if she forgets all of you first!" their foe retorted threateningly, drawing their attention.

"...She's not kidding," Moon Dancer mumbled, before turning to Celestia worriedly. "Princess...? W-what are we going to do?"

"Honestly, I... I-I don't know," came Celestia's solemn response.

"Oh, I'll tell you what you're both going to do..." Twilight's eyes went white as her body knelt forward. "You're both going to die... and surrender this world to me!"

"You're just a screwup."

The words echoed over and over again within the head of Twilight's doppelganger.

"I'm just a screwup..." she murmured into the dirt. "I couldn't save my world, I couldn't save this one..." She sniffled as she continued to wallow. "I don't deserve to be a Princess of Friendship, much less a princess of anything..."

You're wrong.

Twilight let out a startled breath, her teary eyes opening wide.

W-whu...?

If you can hear my voice, then that only means that you are indeed worthy.

...Who are you?

This world is on the precipice of disaster. Harmony itself is at risk of being disrupted, and whenever such a threat arises, a champion must rise to combat it.

Champion? Yeah right, Twilight's doppelganger scoffed. Listen, whoever you are, I'm no champion.

But you must! The voice insisted. You're the only one close enough who can wield the Elements of which my branches bore, to stop this threat before it is too late!

Wait...! Her brow raised. A-are you...?

But be weary. The voice continued. As the Bearer of Magic, you embody aspects of the other five Elements. However, they are not meant to be wielded by one pony alone. If you do decide to wield them, it will no doubt have irreparable side effects. You... may never again be able to wield them.

I'm as good as dead anyways, she replied halfheartedly after a moment, softly shaking her head as she began to pull herself together.

She lifted a hoof, and immediately winced as the unbearable pain flared, like her very nerves were on fire.

She grit her teeth as tears started to well, and slammed the base of her hoof into the dirt. She held back a scream, feeling as though her muscles were tearing as she lifted her other hoof.

Is this... the pain Luna felt... when she...

"She was left for dead, dying in the snow. The body cannot survive after losing such a vital part of your very being. But my other self thought she knew better, and look at her now! She's struggling to stay alive, and I have a fresh, new body to inhabit!

She seethed out, glowering ahead of her as beads of sweat trickled down her face.

No matter the hardships... No matter if it kills me... A spark ignited in her eyes. I will save this world!

Step after step, memories began playing out in her head, keeping her going.

"You have a very special gift. I don't think I've ever come across a unicorn with your raw abilities, but you need to learn to tame these abilities through focused study. Twilight Sparkle, I'd like to make you my own personal protégé here at the school."

"You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of... magic!"

"I, Princess Celestia, hereby decree that the unicorn Twilight Sparkle shall take on a new mission for Equestria. She must continue to study the magic of friendship. She must report to me her findings from her new home in Ponyville."

"Ever since I became a princess, I took the weight of the world on my shoulders, and tried to do everything so that the five of you wouldn't have to. After I lost Spike, I... wanted to protect what little I had left; and after my parents died, I... thought I'd never be able to rely on anypony ever again... But I forgot... that it was my friends who helped me whenever I needed it most. So I think it's time I put my trust in all of you again."

"I'll never leave you hanging... Those are the words Rainbow Dash abides by. If I aspire to be heroic like her... then above all else, I cannot forsake myself!"

She reached the lip of the crater, and through her blurred vision, saw her other self, knelt down in front of her.

"Oh, I'll tell you what you're both going to do... You're both going to die... and surrender this world to me!"

A fierce gust of wind began circulating, whipping furiously around herself, as six, brightly-colored gems circled her, forming a ring of light.

Her own eyes turned stark white.

Twilight? wondered Celestia, watching as she stepped out from the crater, encompassed by the ring of light. Are those...?

Is that another Twilight? thought Moon Dancer in awe. I'm so lost right now. D-does this mean the multiverse really does exist...?

Hm? Twilight's body turned around, only then to stumble back, exclaiming in disbelief, "Y-you!"

She winced from the rainbow aura stemming from her counterpart. "Don't come any closer, or else I swear I'll snuff out her consciousness! I—!"

A rainbow blast shot forth, entangling her evil self in a vortex of swirling colors that rose high into the sky, and causing bits of the terrain to rip away as strong gusts ravaged the mountainside.

"Moon Dancer!" exclaimed Celestia, widening her shield to include the smaller pony, and swiftly moving both her and herself to safety.

Twilight's villainous self groaned as she slowly regained consciousness... finding herself floating in a white void, opposite her other half.

Her eyes immediately narrowed, unamused.

You just don't know when to quit, she growled out, glowering at her other half.

Well... it's like you said, other me. I'm a screwup.

So... what? You're going to seal me away again, is that it? This time inside an innocent mare's head? She let out a scoff. Some friend.

I don't have many options left, her other self admitted, shaking her head solemnly. You're bounded to Twilight, and there's nothing I can think of that would separate the two of you without causing irreversible damage. However... I can seal you away so deep inside that she won't be able to sense you, or hear you, or even feel your influence. Like you did with me for all these months.

Oh, Feeling bitter? I had no idea the Element of Magic could hold a grudge.

Twilight glowered back at her other self, paying her words no mind.

You'll be forced to watch as this mare you so loathsomely despise builds herself back up again, makes new friends, befriends her old ones... and shows what meaning there really is in friendship.

Her counterpart merely glared back at her, eyes burning with contempt.

It's time we both stopped meddling in this world's affairs, and entrusted them to not make the same mistakes we did. It's... time for us to rest.

The empty void around them began to fade, once more resembling the reds, greens, browns and greys of their burning woodland surroundings.

Her villainous self snorted.

If you think I'm going to listen to a princess like yourself... If you think I'm ever to going to rest... Heed my words, other me...

They locked eyes, staring at one another sternly... as their bodies began to fade along with the void.

I... am never going to stop.

The white void vanished, and with it, so did Twilight's evil counterpart.

Her other self's eyes snapped open as she returned to reality... and immediately collapsed, her forelegs and hind legs giving out from under her.

She coughed harshly as more and more smoke billowed around her, and fire continued to spread. Her entire coat felt clammy and drenched in sweat, and every inch of body stung as her muscles and joints remained in searing pain.

And yet, for the first time in forever... she felt at peace.

Not bad, she thought. For a screwup, at least...

The elements encircling her slowly morphed into magical sparkles, flittering into the air before disappearing completely.

And as they left, she heard a voice. It was feint, but the words were unmistakable.

Thank you, Twilight Sparkle. I knew I was right to reach out to you. I... only wish I could somehow return the favor...

Twilight's doppelganger smiled warmly as she sniffled, salty tears rolling down her cheeks.

Any chance you could restore a world from the brink of destruction? The voice remained quiet, cuing her to let out a snort. I'm only kidding. Don't be sorry, it... i-it's fine.

She felt the ground underneath her shift a little as a pair of different, yet familiar voices cried out to her.

"Twilight!"

Celestia and Moon Dancer emerged through the blanket of smoke, hovering above both herself, and their world's Twilight.

They flew nearer, when the earth shifted again, as deep cracks began forming in the nearby ground.

"Guys!" she cried urgently, unwittingly coughing some more. "G-get Twilight out of here! T-this a-area isn't safe!"

"But what about the other you?" Celestia asked. "I-is she...?"

"I sealed her away, u-using the power of the E-elements... Don't worry." She smiled up at her weakly. "S-she won't bother you guys e-ever again..."

Burning branches above them fell, forcing Celestia and Moon Dancer to swerve out of the way. They landed by and around the other Twilight's hooves, the fur of her right foreleg catching fire.

"Twilight!"

"It's okay, Princess." She shook her head assuredly, with whatever strength she had left. "My fate's already sealed. There is no saving me."

"Princess!" Moon Dancer cried out, hovering urgently beside their Twilight as she lay collapsed. "We seriously can't stay here! We need to grab our Twilight and go!"

Celestia bit her lip, looking fretfully back towards Moon Dancer as the ground around them began to give way.

"You heard her," continued Twilight's doppelganger. "Take her and get away from here. Oh... a-and Princess?" Celestia whipped her back around with a tearful expression, Twilight's other self staring back at her with a soft smile. "Tell her to stop reading those... dusty old books..."

Celestia stared back at her, taken aback, before nodding, blinking the tears in her eyes away, and sweeping Twilight's body up in her hooves.

The forest floor crumbled and gave way, and as she began to fall, Twilight's doppelganger gaze softened up as a saddened smile adorned her lips.

I'm sorry, Rainbow, she thought, peering up weakly towards the eclipsed sun. It looks like... I won't be saving our world after all...

Her eyes began to close, when she caught sight of something, at first mistaking it for a trick of the eye.

A dark, winged shape, flying closer and closer towards her. An angel...? she wondered.

Her eyes slowly widened, as more of the figure's features came into view, and she smiled, weakly reaching out to her with her left hoof.

Rainbow Dash...

Days 336 - 363 - What's Past Is Prologue

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Day 336

"This whole incident really has left Canterlot defenseless, hasn't it?" Cadance asked as she accompanied a maintenance mare down the dilapidated street, into the tunnels beneath the city.

The reflective walls of the cave's interior shone brilliantly, as the lone sounds of water droplets dripping from the stalactite above filled the cavernous void.

"Though all of our minds are still a little hazy, we remember that the intruder's appearance was a surprise to all of us, choosing to attack us when our guard was at its lowest. But never to fear, Princess Cadenza. We will be back to full strength, as will the city. Hopefully by the week's end."

Cadance nodded. "So, what is this place anyway?" She glanced about in amazement. "Princess Celestia never mentioned a place this big existing beneath Canterlot..."

"It's a system of cave routes mentioned briefly in the historical records of the city, long ago used by jewel thieves—mostly all but forgotten about nowadays."

Cadance nodded absentmindedly, her gaze lingering on her surroundings. "It's so spacious down here... A pony could forever be lost down here..."

"T-that's an eerie thought to have, Princess," replied the worker pony with a nod, smiling nervously.

"Yes... Say, why do you think Celestia's never considered these caves as a prison?"

"Locking ponies away down here sounds a little cruel and unusual, wouldn't you say?"

The worker pony was met with silence, and after a moment, turned curiously towards the Princess of Love.

She was met with a menacing glare.

"I am cruel and unusual."

"Princess—?!" She stumbled backwards in fear.

"Not princess—queen." A green flame flickered in her eyes.

"What—?" Before she could utter another word, the identity thief sapped the love from her heart, leaving the weakened pony lightheaded, and her forelegs wobbling.

She stumbled, as one of her hooves went over a ledge, and her body slipped, tumbling into a steep pit.

The dirt settled around her, and she gazed up wearily, her body withered.

"Good luck finding your way out," Cadance's impostor sneered, green flames engulfing her own body.

The same maintenance pony walked out from from the hole in the street, immediately being spotted by some of her fellow workers. Some ran over to her, almost swarming her.

"There you are, Quick Fix! The princess, wasn't she with you?" one of them asked.

"Neither of the princesses were ever with me," Quick snapped, taking the others aback.

"I-it's just that we need to speak to her about the road construction, and... some of us swore they saw her with you—"

"Yeah, well... you imagined it. Princess Cadenza, whom I take it is the one you're looking for, is with Celestia in the castle. Now if you're done bugging me—" She cocked her gaze over her shoulder, to the street behind her. "Work on raising this street and sealing up the cave underneath. We don't need anypony getting trapped down there."

"Uh, y-yes Ma'am."

Quick watched as they scurried past her: some to the castle, some to repair the aforementioned damage.

She giggled behind closed lips, a hoof over them. The ponies here are so susceptible to trickery, I love it.

Her pupils flashed green for a brief second. What an intriguing young pony this Twilight Sparkle is... I can't wait to see what else this city has in store...

The last thing I remember... was falling amongst the debris of a crumbling cliffside.

The wind wooshed around me... and the flames from my burning limb lapped at the air before my eyes as they slowly fell shut.

I'm sorry, Rainbow, I had thought. My smile saddened, my gaze staring up weakly towards the sun. It looks like... I won't be saving our world after all...

I had made peace with the fact that I was dying, and that there was nothing more I could do to prevent it.

It was inevitable, and if you had asked me... I deserved it. This whole time, I've been nothing more than a harbinger of doom, being manipulated by villain after villain, even after being brought to this reality... this timeline.

Yes... I had thought, I should just take comfort in knowing that, in my final hour, I was able to conquer my darkness for good... and save this reality from being enslaved.

As I was about to close my eyes for good... the silhouette of a pony appeared before me from out of the sun, small at first, but approaching quickly.

Rainbow Dash...?

The figure grew closer, and as a result, larger. So much so, that I could make out its features.

I reached out my hoof, ready for her to escort me to the afterlife, when its features changed in an instant, becoming darker, and warped... it's appearance becoming increasingly monstrous.

My heart leapt out of my chest at the sight, and I instinctively shut my eyes tight.

And that was when everything went dark for me.

Where am...?

Twilight's doppelganger groggily opened her eyes, staring up into an endless, blue void.

A dense fog rolled past, and slightly over her body as she lay floating on a watery surface.

Am I... dead?

No, a voice spoke back to her, seemingly from somewhere nearby. Not dead, just... teetering on the edge.

What...!

She sat up straight, looking around herself mystified.

From the corporeal fog, formed a perfect image of her beloved.

Rainbow Dash...

Right now, the phantom went on to explain, you're asleep, but on the verge of death as well, so... your mind is sort of in this transitional state, lingering between this world and the next.

I see, so... I-is that why you're here now in front of me, Rainbow Dash? She looked towards her inquisitively.

The phantom softly shook her head. The spirit of your loved one is not here, I'm afraid.

Oh... Her ears flopped as her gaze fell disparagingly. Then...

She peered back warily up at the ghostly image of her friend. Are you...?

I'm what you know to be true, embodied within the image of that who is most loyal to you.

Twilight's face took on a look of cynicism. So... what? You're my rationale, having come to reason with me? Like you said: we are inside my own head, after all.

That is one way of looking at it, I suppose... The spirit clarified, I'm here to try and convince you—

Rrgh... Convince me of what!? Twilight stomped her hoof as her anger soared. To choose life instead? Everypony I ever knew or loved is gone! My world is... i-is never coming back! And... and do you not remember what I did to the ponies of this world?! All the strife, a-and heartache, a-and for what! She looked away sorrowfully, her hoof clutching her trembling foreleg. No, I...

She shook her head, sniffling slightly. I deserve to die.

A long silence filled the space between herself and her rational self.

I know you don't believe that, Twilight. You swore you'd find a way to save your friends, and undo the pain of the past, so... are you really willing to give up now, after fighting back against the evil you alongside this reality's version of yourself?

That was...! Her rational self gave her pause, falling quiet. To help her... She shook her head, getting back to the point of contention. I-it doesn't matter anyway! I'm dying right now because I was forcibly separated from my darker half, so... there is no choosing between life and death! No... Me choosing to fight... was merely my last good deed before leaving this world...

But you are not dead yet... are you? You still cling to this mortal coil... which can only mean...

Her eyes slowly widened, her heart sinking in realization.

Traces of my rogue emotions remain within me, she murmured. Sustaining me... and keeping me alive...

You can feel her presence, looming all around us, and growing ever closer... She will try to separate us, so I must have your answer, Twilight! her rationale urged.

M-my answer? she stammered, shaking her head incredulously. H-hold up! Why is a part of her still within me? I-I thought she had attempted to transfer all of her essence into my other self—!

Until you made the effort to try and seal her within your other self's mind, that's true. She must have become aware to what it was you were attempting to do, and thus left a trace of herself within you, to hopefully one day reawaken that part of her that still slumbers.

So... she plans on using me as a mail carrier, to drop her right off as my other self's doorstep...

She wants to use you to reunite with the rest of her, so that she may possess your other half, yes...

And just when I think I've finally buried the past... it comes back to haunt me... So, am I just supposed to... what? Up and leave Equestria? Journey to the furthest corners of the globe, and hide away?

Don't think of it as hiding. You wish to restore my reality, and bring back Rainbow, your friends... Spike. You lost control of the Elements of Harmony, but maybe there's other ways to traverse the dimensional barriers. Magic is all around us, Twilight, and who knows what other types of magic are out there, just waiting to be discovered.

Twilight peered away. It's a fool's errand, she murmured.

You won't know that, until you set forth, and seek all there is to see. I can feel it... The shadow's presence, it grows nearer! Twilight, if you do not regain consciousness soon, your other half's lingering presence will absolve your will, and erase me, your ability to reason!

Well, what are you doing outside of me?

I am not 'outside of you,' Twilight. You are the embodiment of Twilight's emotions, and me the embodiment of her logic and reasoning. Logic and emotions have always remained separate, but if your rogue emotions gain control of you, then she'll use you to destroy—!

There you are!

A dark, equine figure rose up of the mist, covered completely in a dripping, inky substance... The figure lunged at Twilight just as she elicited a terrified shriek, stumbling backwards.

It latched onto her foreleg, and the ink began to spread, slowly but steadily inching its way along her foreleg.

Twilight grunted, pulling at her foreleg as she struggled to break free.

That was some trick you pulled, other me! her evil half applauded mockingly. But you're not getting rid of me that easily.

Twilight, you have to resist her! I know it's easy for me to say, but... you have to keep calm, and not give in to your fears, your anger! That will only make it so that this other you can more easily control you! I know this because I am the rational side of you, that has come to reason with you—!

Shut it, 'rationale', her rogue emotions growled out in a threating tone. After I've gained control of her, I'm coming after you next!

I... I... Twilight's eyes squeezed shut as the inknorance now encompassed half of her own body.

You must fight it, Twilight, her rational self encouraged... only for her pleas to fall on deaf ears.

She's too emotional right now... but perhaps some of my wisdom will bring her to her senses...!

She moved hurriedly, reaching out and taking hold of Twilight's hoof in her own, and upon holding hooves, a warmth encompassed the remaining half of Twilight's body.

The light caused the rogue half of Twilight to wince, steering her head away from the glaring light.

You... meddlesome...!

Twilight's rational self veered closer to her emotional self's face, whispering, Wake up, Twilight.

Twilight let out a breathless gasp as her eyes were forced open by a powerful, shimmering light, and as the void she found herself in began to fade, so did the voices of her other cognitive selves.

Instead she found herself welcomed by the presence of new voices, seemingly coming from all around her...

Day 337

"Princess...! C-come quick, she's... she's coming to!"

Mm... wha...?

"Please... give her space, everypony."

Voices murmured to her left and to her right, fading from her subconscious as they grew quieter... until she heard the sound of some far off doors closing from somewhere behind her.

Her eyes opened groggily. Mmrgh... Where am I...?

"Twilight?" a voice greeted her concernedly.

Twilight's double's eyes snapped open, her heart thumping sickeningly in her chest as she rigidly turned her head to greet the face of her old mentor.

Ce... Cel-lest-tia...?

"How're you feeling?"

H-how am I...? She couldn't formulate the words... she could only stare back at the older pony with a petrified stare, as her breath froze in her throat.

Celestia smiled softly. "I can see that you're afraid. Well I promise you Twilight, that you are safe and sound. You're in the castle infirmary right now."

The castle...? she repeated in thought. "W-what a-am I doing in your castle!?" Her voice returned to her, taking the princess before her aback.

Her breaths were deep, and shaky... a dire look in her eyes.

She fumed as she attempted to sit up, only to find her forehooves shackled... and stared back at Celestia incredulously.

"Just a precaution," Celestia explained, feigning a sheepish smile. "I wasn't sure who you'd be—" Twilight's eyes widened, the alicorn's words giving her pause. "—when you came to."

The younger alicorn's gaze faltered, the anger she felt right then fleeting from her system. She bit the corner of her lip, peering away in uncertainty.

"Why am I here?"

Celestia's ears perked up as her face took on a look of surprise. "You mean you do not remember?"

Twilight solemnly shook her head.

"Some construction ponies found you, hidden among some rubble at the base of the mountain. You had lurched to life, giving them quite the fright, and had apparently spoke in a somewhat delirious tone... mentioning me by name before falling unconscious once more."

Hmph... I did, huh?

"So they informed me of the situation, recognizing you as one of my students... and I took you into my care. You've been here for a couple days now, slowly being nursed back to health by my staff here."

Twilight nodded slowly, taking in the information. "...And they all assume I'm... my other...?"

"As far as everypony, save for myself and a certain other know... your darkness succeeded in scrubbing the memories of Rainbow Dash, and by extension, everypony and every moment tied to her from the minds of everypony here in Canterlot... That included you, so..."

"I see... so then... I failed to..." Twilight bit her lip, gazing down disparagingly.

"You tried your best, Twilight... that's all you could do."

"With all due respect, Princess... No, i-it wasn't."

Before Celestia could get another word in edgewise, Twilight continued.

"You, ah... m-mentioned a certain other... k-knows my true identity...?"

"That would be me!" a cheerful voice chimed in. Twilight jumped slightly at the startling sound.

A pony—a young mare—showed her face as she came up beside her. Twilight's eyes themselves widened, recognizing her from all those years ago, before she had left for Ponyville...

"I'm Moon Dancer," the pony greeted.

Twilight's breath froze in the back of her throat. M-Moon Dancer...?

"You might remember me as that pony in iron armor from the other nigh—"

"Y-your name's actually Moon Dancer?"

Moon Dancer leaned her head back. She raised her brow in surprise, unsure of what to say.

"Erm... y-yes?"

She adjusted her glasses, remaining no less confused.

"W-why? Do you recognize that name, or...?"

Twilight shook her head, explaining, "I just... remember being acquaintances with a filly named Moon Dancer—w-when I attended school. We... hung out every now and then, but... I never really..."

She drifted off, breathing in, then out ruggedly. "She looked a lot like you..." she confessed, in a solemn whisper.

Moon Dancer and Celestia both stared back at her, at a loss for words.

"I never even got to reconcile with you..." continued Twilight.

A long moment passed between the trio in silence.

Reconcile? Moon Dancer pondered, sharing a brief, confused look with Celestia.

Moon Dancer, huh? I've heard that name before. Never cared enough to come visit her though. What makes you think your Twilight will be any different?

Moon Dancer snapped out of her reverie, turning back to the downtrodden pony, and garnishing a sympathetic smile up at her. "I'm sure she held nothing against you, Twilight."

Twilight barely nodded however, cuing her to try something else.

"So you, ah... really knew my doppelganger, huh—?"

"Why do you still remember me?" Twilight all of a sudden asked, cutting to the chase and taking the other two aback.

Her brow furled. "Celestia mentioned that you and her are the only two who have any memory of me, so... why you?"

Moon Dancer blinked, dumbfounded. "O-oh, uhm... w-well..."

She averted her gaze anxiously. "I just s-so happened to be wearing armor when that inky stuff showed up."

Celestia intervened, adding, "Moon Dancer was incredibly fortunate. The inknorance was spreading far too quickly however. Too quickly for me to save anypony else I'm afraid, had I even been able..."

Celestia hung her head as she lamented the thought... giving Twilight pause.

"Celestia enlisted my aid in your recovery," continued Moon Dancer. "After learning of my skills at robotics and utilizing magitek. She, uhm... wanted me to build you a new foreleg."

Twilight's brow furrowed. "A... new...?"

She looked down warily at her body, taking a closer look at her forelegs... when the sight of her right foreleg caused her heart to skip.

A feint metallic sheen shone beneath the thin layer of artificial, plum-colored fur, and to the unsuspecting onlooker, it looked like any other part of her body.

Looking a little more closely however, revealed screws, a ventilation port, and several panel covers to what she had to guess were concealing wires and other circuitry.

"Pret-ty complex circuitry," Moon Dancer proudly explained, noting where the other Twilight's attention seemed to be held. "It was, um... quite the challenge, truth be told. Your otherworldly magic signature aside... your body for whatever reasons kept altering in and out of a corporeal state, as if becoming smoke itself. Princess Celestia said it reminded her of, um..."

"An umbrum," Twilight was quick to explain, with a sigh of indifference. "I'm... part umbrum."

She turned her attention away from the two, in favor of her new prosthetic.

Poetic justice... she mused.

"Well that... certainly clears things up," Celestia remarked. "I knew I had sensed some of Sombra's darkness within you, but could not be certain as to what it was exactly. Now though, I see... Your body underwent a transformation when you grafted that crystal horn upon your head... Is that right?"

"I only wanted to help my friends," expressed Twilight, in a soft murmur, "I didn't mean to turn myself into this...! This..."

Didn't you though? a voice taunted from deep within her subconscious.

Twilight's eyes widened, startled by the mocking voice.

You... she slowly realized.

I thought you wanted to become an umbrum, so that you could snuff out every last one of those wretched changelings?

Twilight's heart thumped sickeningly against the inside of her chest. She swallowed hard, her breaths growing shorter as guilt quickly wracked her mind.

I... T-that's not...! She desperately shook her head. I... I only wanted to utilize his magic, not—!

"Twilight?"

Huh? Twilight turned with a scared look in her eyes, towards the sound of her name being called.

There she was met concerned looks from both Celestia and Moon Dancer.

"...Are you okay, Twilight?" Celestia proceeded to ask.

I... She tore her gaze away, peering down at her lap. "Why did you save me?"

Both Moon Dancer and Celestia reacted in kind to her question, staring back at her dumbstruck, before then looking at each other.

"Whatever do you mean, Twilight?" asked Celestia.

"I mean that I'm not worth saving. I get taking me to a secure location like this... but you should have just... put an end to me, a-after everything I did, everypony I hurt..."

"That wasn't you, Twilight," beckoned Celestia. "This other you... She was the one who waged war on my kingdom... not you."

"Yes, but...!" Twilight groaned in frustration, gritting her teeth. "She's still conscious, inside my head!"

Silence set in between the three of them.

"...What?" Celestia finally managed to ask, in a deathly serious tone.

Twilight sighed, starting over.

"You recall how I sealed my other half within your Twilight's psyche, Princess? I thought I had sealed her so deep away that she'd never pose a threat, but... I now know that a part of her escaped... once again taking refuge within me."

"...So what you're telling me..."

"Is that there's a risk of the other me manipulating me again, and using me to reawaken the part of her that slumbers? Yeah, I... I'm afraid so."

"W-well, isn't there a way we could just seal away that part of her too?" asked Moon Dancer.

"Not unless you know somepony who can wield the Elements of Harmony," Twilight's doppelganger solemnly replied. "If you wait for Twilight and her friends, you'd be putting me in direct contact with her."

"Isn't there another way, that doesn't involve the Elements of Harmony...?"

"This evil me has already bonded itself to half of my emotions. If you seal her away, it could very well leave me braindead, which... might not be so bad actually..."

"Twilight..." Moon Dancer murmured.

"Not that the other me would ever actually allow that to happen," she went on to explain. "Like, if I were to consider suicide for example..." Both Celestia and Moon Dancer's expression swiftly turned panicked as Twilight's doppelganger ignited a nearby scalpel, floating it over to her neck.

A swirling, dark smoke encompassed her left foreleg, immobilizing her movements in an instant.

Celestia and Moon Dancer silently stared back at her, each of them taken aback by everything they just witnessed.

"W-warn us next time you're about to do something like that," Moon Dancer was the first to reply, letting out a breath of relief.

"And maybe don't feign such extremes... okay?" Celestia agreed, removing the scalpel from her grip, and floating it away.

"I told you we should've put a tennis ball on her horn," whispered Moon Dancer to Celestia, leaning closer. "Those things seriously work wonders..."

Celestia rolled her eyes.

"Sorry, guys," Twilight's doppelganger confessed, the darkness swirling around her foreleg swiftly dissipating. "I know that was drastic, but I needed to demonstrate that she still has a hold over actions that are linked with negative thoughts and emotions."

"Well... what if there was a way to suppress those emotions?"

Huh?

Both Twilight's doppelganger and Celestia turned to look at Moon Dancer inquisitively.

"And that should do it."

Moon Dancer pulled her scrutinizing gaze back, as she finished the final tweaks to the other Twilight's foreleg.

"Sertraline..." Twilight's doppelganger deadpanned. "Really, Moon Dancer? You're going to put me on anti-depressants?"

"Hey, crazier things have worked. Plus, it's... worked pretty well for myself for some years now, so..."

Moon? Twilight cocked her head at the other mare in pensive silence.

"A-anyway! I've programmed it to release a small dose into your system every twenty-four hours. The supply we've equipped you with should last you at least a few months."

"If you don't find your way home by then, then do not hesitate to write to me, and I'll hurry to your location," Celestia chimed in.

Twilight's doppelganger nodded, the princess's words doing little to put her mind at ease.

"I'm still unsure about all of this... Do you really think I'll be able to find a way to restore my Earth from the brink of destruction?"

"That I do not know, Twilight. But I do know that in my youth, myself and Star Swirl the Bearded traversed the land, and in our travels, discovered a series of dimensional weak spots. Areas where the walls between our world and others were weaker. So, maybe there's one out there that you cannot pass through, that could very well be the one that once lead to your world."

Twilight's ears perked up in interest as Celestia handed her a scroll of parchment. "Here. This is a map detailing Equestria, the oceans, and every portal Star Swirl and I documented on our travels. I can journey briefly into the portals located on our continent, but... I cannot spare more than a day or two at the most. It would take me far too long to explore the seas and neighboring lands..."

"So that's where I come in..." Twilight's double sighed with a slight nod in understanding. "I'm guessing it's also because you want me as far from the mainland as I can get, huh?"

"Twilight, that..."

"No, no, it's fine. I get it. It's going to be different, that's for sure. Traveling outside Equestria's borders..."

"There's... one last thing I'd like to pass on to you, before you take your leave."

Twilight's head cocked, as she looked up at her otherworldly mentor inquisitively. "Y-yeah...?"

"If you do indeed find a portal that leads to your world, and you cannot pass through... then you'll be needing this." Celestia conjured up a second scroll, levitating it down for her student's double to accept. "This is a time spell that Star Swirl himself wrote."

"Y-yeah, it's... from the wing of the archives that was named after him, isn't it?"

"That's right. I didn't know you knew about it. Then again, I suppose your world seems to have been set farther into our future. Your Celestia must have taught you about it already."

"Uh... something like that," agreed Twilight's double. "So why are you entrusting this to me? Did you already forget that I host a villain inside my head?"

"So does my sister... and yet, when she inevitably returns, and Nightmare Moon is sealed within her once more, I will welcome her back with open hooves, and house no ill will towards her. So consider this... a show of trust. This spell is far too dangerous to keep here in Equestria anyway. No matter how secure I thought the archives may have been, The Grand Galloping Gala proved how naïve I truly was."

Twilight smiled softly, lowering her gaze as her voice quieted. "I don't know what to say, Celestia. Thank you..."

"Just be sure to—"

Twilight ran forward, taking Celestia aback as the smaller pony leaned up, wrapping her forelegs around the princess's withers in a heartfelt embrace.

Twilight... Celestia smiled warmly, wrapping a single foreleg around her in return.

"S-sorry about that," Twilight apologized suddenly, stepping back with a sorry smile. She rubbed her eyes, sniffling. "I-I don't know what came over me."

"Don't be," Celestia assured her. "I'm just sorry I cannot be of more help to you..."

Twilight nodded pensively, before turning to face Moon Dancer.

Moon Dancer herself smiled nervously. "Are you gonna hug me now?" she joked.

Twilight snorted, shaking her head. "Not if you don't want me to. I do wish to thank you too though, for everything..."

"Oh... y-yeah no, uh... n-no problem," she stammered out in response, a bashful blush adorning her cheeks as she gazed away.

"Promise me this though, Twilight," Celestia spoke up, continuing from where she left off. "Promise me that you'll memorize this spell, and once you've memorized it well... you'll destroy it."

"D-destroy it...?"

"I've memorized its contents as well, so it won't truly be lost... but I realize now how vulnerable Equestria is, and how... easy it would be for a pony to get their hooves on a spell like this, altering our history... Time is not something that should be played with, after all... but in your case, Twilight... I'll make an exception."

"I-I won't let you down, Princess." Twilight's double bowed before her, bearing a grateful smile. "Right, well..." she continued with a sigh, standing tall once more. "Guess it's about time I got going then, huh."

"Won't you be needing a ship ticket?"

Twilight blinked, dumbfounded. "Oh, uh... right."

"And hey!" Moon Dancer chimed in. "You looking like a slightly darker version of our Twilight might garner a bit of attention and unwanted questions. If you're gonna head out, people might mistake you for her."

Hm? She turned towards the unicorn, the thought having never occurred to her. "I mean, I guess..."

"You know what would be perfect? A sweatshirt. Our Twilight got one for her Rainbow Dash too, and she totes adored it."

Before she could get a word in edgewise, Moon Dancer let out an elated gasp.

"I bet green would look great on you! I've got someplace I need to be anyway, but I'll be sure to pick you out something nice!"

Oh boy, Twilight's doppelganger thought, forming a slight humored smile at her otherworldly old friend's enthusiasm.

Moon Dancer sat beside Rainbow Dash's bedside at the hospital, slouched as her eyelids grew heavy from her hard day's work.

Her mind drifted back to a few nights ago, to the day she had brought Rainbow to the hospital.

"Her name's Rainbow Dash," she explained to the doctor that would be overseeing her friend's recovery. "She's... been living here with some friends and I for the past year, and... when the... calamity happened, she ah, hit her head." The doctor raised an eyebrow, and at that, she further explained, "I-it was a chunk of drywall. Fell out of nowhere and—" She slapped her front hooves together. "Bam. Out cold, just like that."

Moon Dancer adjusted her glasses, and smiled nervously. "It really was the darnedest thing."

"Mhm..." He nodded wearily, asking, "And these cuts?"

"Uhm..."

"The calamity?" he surmised.

"Yes! Uh, y-yes," Moon Dancer hastily agreed. "The calamity."

"And dare I ask what the two of you were doing?"

"Being heroes?" She laughed nervously, cuing the doctor to glance down at her skeptically.

"Right, well..." He sighed and gazed back to his clipboard. "I'm not sure I can condone that, but at least you're both alright."

Moon Dancer averted her eyes, murmuring, "Physically, anyway... U-uhm..." She hesitantly gazed up at the doctor pony, scuffing a hoof back and forth. "She will be okay, won't she?"

"Well, her body indeed sustained quite extensive damage, judging from the lacerations on her side and chest, but fortunately they seemed to have already been healed by somepony else."

"Yeah, that was uh... a-a friend's doing."

"Well, your friend is a very gifted healer, seeing as how the area in and around her wounds seems to have healed remarkably."

Moon Dancer chuckled awkwardly. "Y-yeah..."

"Anyway, her brain scans seem relatively normal, and no damage was done to her skull or spinal cord. It's too soon to tell, but her thoughts may be a little jumbled when she comes to, and she might be sleepier than usual. Other than that, however... it would seem she's very lucky."

You have no idea... Moon Dancer gazed back in Rainbow's direction with a slight smile. "I'd, um, l-like to stay here until she wakes up, if that's alright."

"It is, but only until she wakes up. After that, you can visit, but we will have to ask you to wait outside."

Moon Dancer nodded slowly, trotting up to the pegasus's bedside.

"On the bright side, we shouldn't have to keep her long. She should be ready to return home within a week's time."

If only she still had a home here in Canterlot, Moon Dancer mused solemnly, as the memory came to an end.

Moon Dancer unwound on her family's couch after yet another day of paying Rainbow's room in the hospital a visit.

She breathed out contently, closing her eyelids as she allowed her eyes a brief rest.

"Moon?"

Mom? Moon Dancer's eyes blinked open at the sound of her mother's voice, and she turned attentively towards the hallway door entrance, the sound of the front door clicking shut.

"You're home from the infirmary already?"

"Uh... y-yeah, sure am. There were less patients today, so..." She turned nervously back on ahead, falling quiet.

"Urgh, that gala really was an absolute disaster, wasn't it? Worst part is, neither me nor your father seem to have any recollection as to why..."

A panicked pang ran across her heart as she turned back around, looking at her mother worriedly. "You still don't remember...?"

"Hm? No, I'm afraid not. Why," she asked. "Do you?"

Moon Dancer raised her brow, momentarily taken aback. "N-no, I uh... don't remember a thing," she replied as she turned back ahead, slouching further into the sofa. Her voice lowered to a murmur, her pupils darting back and forth anxiously.

"Hm, that's a shame. Well, keep your chin up, Sweetie; I'm sure they'll return to us all eventually."

"Uh-huh," Moon murmured under her breath.

"I suppose it wasn't all a disaster, however, because Princess Celestia finally recognized your hard work, and has even enlisted you to assist her. You may even earn enough to afford a place of your own! Whose worthy of bragging rights now, Mrs. Velvet? Looks like Twilight Sparkle isn't the princess's only protégé."

Moon Dancer grimaced at her mother's words.

Please stop comparing me to her...

"I was worried too, between your aversion to social gatherings, or that doctor's silly assertion that you were suffering from anxiety... or depression! Not to mention not wanting to keep up appearances. I mean, you still have yet to pick out a new pair of glasses—"

"I'm going to get some fresh air," Moon Dancer said in a hurry, cutting her mom off as she sat up from the couch suddenly.

"O-oh, um... okay." Her mom cocked her head as she watched her youngest daughter move hurriedly towards their home's entrance. "Oh, but before you go... you haven't spoken to Morning Roast today at all, have you? I only ask because she apparently wanted to speak with you."

"Morning needs to talk to me?" Moon Dancer's breath caught in the back of her throat, and she looked over her shoulder nervously. "A-about what?"

"She didn't mention," her mom replied with a shrug of her shoulders. "I don't know why she simply couldn't wait for you here... I mean, where else would she think you were?"

Moon's heart skipped.

"I gotta go," she informed in a hurried tone, before turning back towards the door, and leaving out the house, closing the door behind her before her mother could get a word in edgewise.

Moon Dancer took off down the street, biting her lip as her anxiety worsened.

Don't tell me... that she found it?

She arrived at the entrance to Celestia's school in a frenzy. She pushed the door open, and headed deeper inside, hurrying through the halls on her way towards her lab.

After a few agonizingly long moments, she reached her lab's entrance... and stopped, the sight of something giving her pause.

Not her sister, but... a sticky note, stuck to the door.

Heading back home for the foreseeable future.

- Starlight Glimmer

Starlight's... headed back home? Moon Dancer wondered, bemused by the note. She could've let me know in person... I mean, we've been studying together for months after all...

Putting the dreary reminder aside for the time being, she drew her attention back to her lab's entrance, where she saw the door was slightly ajar, light filtering in through the crack.

She swallowed hard, fearing the worst as she nervously pushed the door open wide.

There, she was met with the disapproving sight of her sister, seated by the nearest lab table.

Her heart sunk immediately.

Oh shoot.

"What is all of this?" Morning Roast demanded.

Moon Dancer cursed herself mentally.

I knew I shouldn't have left all my equipment out in plain sight...

She shook the thought from her head, stepping down the stairs into the lab.

"H-hello to you too, Sis," she greeted with a nervous smile. "What's what?"

"Don't feign ignorance, Moon. You know what I'm referring to."

She carelessly lifted one of sister's compact, armored saddles as an example, spurring Moon to reach out suddenly, exclaiming, "C-careful! That tech's delicate!"

She froze, her sister raising an auspicious eyebrow in response.

"Er... I-I meant that it looks delicate. I don't actually know who made—"

"Stop lying, Moon. I know this is the space Celestia allowed you to use for your research... but really, Moon? This is the fruit of your labor? Superpowered suits, and steel-plated armor?"

Moon Dancer remained taken aback, before gazing away, feeling her pulse quicken.

"Celestia thought it was cool..." she murmured.

"That isn't the point, Moon. You've been putting yourself at risk this whole time, potentially hurting yourself, or worse—!"

"I know what I'm doing," Moon Dancer murmured bitterly.

"Yeah, and what if you find yourself in over your head, or up against a threat more powerful than you or your toys can handle?"

Moon Dancer remained silent for a couple moments, before deciding to change the topic.

"How did you find out about all this anyway?" she asked.

"My memory of the gala's still hazy, but I remember being concerned about you, and even after a few days passed, I couldn't shake the feeling... So I asked around, and I was eventually lead here, to your lab. Looks like I was right to be concerned. You were involved in whatever went down during the gala, weren't you?"

"I..." Moon Dancer's expression turned pleadingly towards her sister. "Please don't tell Mom or Dad about this..."

"I won't," Morning Roast replied after a moment, diverting her own gaze. "But, only if you put a stop to all of this," she added in a murmur.

Moon's eyes widened.

"What...? You... can't be serious—!"

"I already spoke to the princess about this too," her sister continued, apathetic to her distress, "and I told her how concerned I was for your safety... She agreed on finding a safer alternative—"

"N-no!" Moon Dancer exclaimed, stomping her hoof in stubborn refusal. "Y-you can't! You... Equestria n-needs a hero, and... and doing this, it... i-it makes me feel alive!"

"That's because it's a high you're riding... but I don't believe it's a healthy outlet for you, Moon. Especially with your mental and emotional state, the last thing you need is vigilantism on your shoulders."

Moon Dancer paused, growing pensive.

"Seriously? You're using those as an excuse?" Her eyes swiftly narrowed as her anger piqued. "That's low, Sis."

"I'm doing this for your own good, Moon. If you don't stop this... I will tell Mom and Dad, and they'll react much worse than me right now."

Moon Dancer remained silent, glowering back at her older sister.

"I'm doing this out of love for you, Moon. I don't care if this sours our relationship... I can't stand by while you risk your life." After a moment, she added, "Why can't you just devote yourself to your studies... and be more like your classmates from back in the day?"

Moon Dancer's heart thumped sickeningly, her eyes slowly widening.

"After all, it's not like you see any of them playing hero, right?"

Celestia believes Rainbow and me... have already been chosen by them.

"Whose worthy of bragging rights now, Mrs. Velvet? Looks like Twilight Sparkle isn't the princess's only protégé."

Morning Roast cocked her head worryingly at her sister's silence. "Moon...?"

"Get out!"

Moon's outburst rattled her sister, leaving her in stunned silence.

"O-oh..." Morning's ears flopped, her gaze saddening. "O-okay. If... that's what you want..." She nodded solemnly, turning towards the door. Hanging her head, she glanced back sorrowfully towards her younger sister.

I really am sorry, Moon... I hope someday... you'll be able to forgive me...

She exited out the lab, leaving her younger sister behind, alone... anger bubbling just beneath the surface as her sister's words played out over and over again in her head.

"I already spoke to the princess about this too, and I told her how concerned I was for your safety... so she agreed on finding a safer alternative."

Day 338

"How could you?!"

Celestia flinched at Moon Dancer's teary outburst, her student's voice breaking.

"I devoted years of my life to that research... a-and becoming somepony who could protect others! And you strip it all away just because of something my sister said?!"

"Moon Dancer, I..." Celestia grimaced, her ears flopping guiltily. "I couldn't just ignore your sister's concerns!"

"You could have told her how capable I am!"

"That wouldn't make her worry any less. Take it from me... an older sister myself."

Moon Dancer hesitated, letting out a huff.

"Furthermore, I am not so sure you are capable, Moon Dancer."

Huh? The young pony's chest tightened, looking up at her mentor bewilderingly.

"When we were in the woods the other day... you could have been seriously injured had I not been there."

"B-but I wasn't!" Moon Dancer protested. "Why didn't you mention any of this to me before, while I was working with you to help the other Twilight?"

"Because I hoped to show you another way that you could utilize your gifts for the benefit of others... and in turn, you helped the other Twilight. You managed to be helpful while finding a practical application for your research, and all without bringing any harm to yourself or others."

Moon Dancer grit her teeth.

"Y-you hypocrite!"

Celestia blinked, staring down at the younger unicorn, dumbfounded.

"I know... a-all about how Twilight is chosen, and... and how you have all these huge plans for her and Rainbow to... to became heroes!"

Celestia remained dumbstruck, her lips slowly parting. "You know...?"

Moon Dancer gave a slight nod in response, looking off bitterly.

"I bet Twilight's parents don't have a clue either, do they?"

Celestia peered away. "They do not," she confessed.

"What a surprise. Oh, but I'm guessing if I told them, and they came pleading to you, you'd stay true to your resolve, wouldn't you?"

"Moon Dancer, I... The Elements are essential. They have the potential to bring true harmony to the world; and whether or not her parents agree with my decision, it unfortunately cannot be helped. I need Twilight to become the Element of Magic."

"Okay, well... what about me? D-don't I have what's necessary to embody one of these elements?"

"Before, I would have suggested magic, but as you already know... Twilight is fulfilling that role."

Again, somepony's comparing the two of us... Moon Dancer fumed silently. Telling me how much more capable Twilight is than me...

"I am sorry, Moon Dancer, but the Elements of Harmony are the heroes Equestria needs... and so long as I can help it, I will not have any other ponies needlessly endangering themselves. Is that clear?"

"Whatever," grumbled Moon Dancer in response. "But, if you're going to rip my dream away from me... at least compensate me for helping you this past week. At least give me that, or is Twilight the only student of yours that gets to get paid, and live comfortably on her own?"

"...Very well."

Moon Dancer gave a slight nod of acknowledgement, before turning for the exit without another word.

"Moon Dancer," Celestia called out after her. "I truly am sorry. I never intended on ripping your dream away from you, but you must understand... I merely wish to respect your sister's wishes. I will also reiterate that I have many jobs available to you here, where we could put your expertise to good use! Please," she urged. "Consider my offer."

"...Sure," the young unicorn murmured with a halfhearted sigh, refusing to even glance behind her. "Whatever." She resumed her own pace towards the bedroom door.

"W-will you at the very least be by tomorrow, to see the other Twilight off?"

Moon Dancer's hoof froze as it reached for the door handle, caught off guard by the sudden reminder.

"...I will," she replied after a moment of contemplation. "But make no mistake." She looked back over her shoulder at Celestia, bearing a teary and bitter glare. "I'm doing this for her," she stated plainly. "Not for you."

Day 339

Twilight's double looked herself over in Celestia's own bedroom mirror, as she modeled the sweatshirt Moon Dancer had picked out for her.

Brown, baggy sleeves, and a forest-green body and hood... she couldn't help but agree with Moon Dancer's sentiment from the other day.

The color indeed suited her.

She adjusted the rustic satchel strapped across her chest, containing her map and time spell, along with her cruise ticket and a few other basic necessities, then turned to face Moon Dancer.

"Looks like I'm all set to leave."

"Looks like it," Moon Dancer agreed, forming a halfhearted smile back at her.

"Hey..." Twilight's doppelganger furrowed her brow in concern, reaching out a hoof. "You okay? You've seemed sort of distracted since coming here."

Moon Dancer looked back at the other Twilight in surprise.

"J-just peachy," she replied, a little less than convincingly.

"Okay?" Twilight tilted her head curiously, before shrugging it off and garnishing a reassuring smile. "Hey... well, you know, whatever's bothering you... just remember that you still have friends you can turn to for support."

"Yeah," scoffed Moon Dancer. "If only two of those friends weren't still comatose..."she added under her breath. She averted her eyes for a moment, when remembering Twilight's double was standing before her, and scrambled to assure her.

"S-sorry. I didn't mean to remind you, o-or insinuate—!"

"N-no, no, it... I-it's okay, Moon Dancer," Twilight's doppelganger was quick to respond, before falling silent, her confident smile disappearing from her face. "Unfortunately, I... can't promise you that they'll remember you, or even each other, but... those bonds aren't so easily erased, regardless of what my more villainous self thinks. So, even if you do forget one another... your bonds will make it so that you'll meet again, and reignite the friendships you all hold with one another."

A thought spurred in Moon Dancer's head upon hearing Twilight's words. Reignite friendships, huh...

"And who knows? Maybe one day the inknorance will fade on its own... or I'll make it back to my own world in time to complete the Shield of Wisdom spell, restoring everything here that was lost."

"Yeah," Moon Dancer agreed with a halfhearted chuckle, "may-be."

"Well then," Celestia said as she cut in, stepping forward. Moon Dancer tensed, and swiftly veered her gaze away. "Is there anything more you need, or wish to say before you set off?"

Is there anything...? Twilight's doppelganger blinked, caught off guard by the question as she swiftly fell into thought.

"Nope!" she replied after a couple moments with a confident smile.

Celestia returned the smile. "Then I bid you farewell, Twilight, and I wish you safety on your travels. I sincerely do hope that you find your way home, and back to your friends."

"Thank you, Princess... Oh, and thanks for letting me stay here the past couple of days too!" She raised her hood up over her head as she gathered her bearings, and turned for the bedroom door. She waved them goodbye as she turned around fully, letting out a deep breath as she opened the door.

And as she closed the door behind her, she once more became steeped in thought.

Was there anything I wanted to tell them? Yeah, I mean of course there was! Like the truth about their reality, for starters. But if I did that, then... then it would only serve to disrupt their sense of self... their sense of being.

As Twilight's doppelganger exited the castle grounds, stepping hoof into the bright, sun-filled streets of another summer morning in Canterlot, she looked onwards with an air of confidence.

Even if these ponies are just some... byproduct of another reality... A strong wind blew through her hair and hood, giving her pause on her way to the docks; and in that moment, felt its cool touch. She looked around herself, taking in all the sights and sounds, and smiled, turning her gaze towards the sun, feeling the warmth on her face.

This world is as real as any other... she mused in her brief moment of reprieve; and these ponies deserve to live believing that they are exactly that... Real.

Day 341

Twilight's double leaned up over the railing of her cruise ship as she stood up on her hind legs. A steady breeze rustled the bangs of her mane from under her hood, as the salty ocean air filled her nostrils.

Below her, the ocean waves flowed in a calm motion as the ship's horn bellowed out deeply into clear, blue skies.

She breathed in deeply, holding her breath for a long moment before letting it all out.

I never intended to live. My flesh should've been burned away, my body buried beneath piles of rocks and rubble... and yet, the darkness—whatever of it is left, is sustaining me. It doesn't want to die either. It wants to reunite with the rest of it, whatever of it is slumbering, locked away inside my other's subconscious... It's grown so fond of my mind... my magic... but it wants a fresher, stronger body.

She looked ahead confidently, into the wild, blue yonder. So long as we're never reunited, that'll never happen.

At the same time, the sky darkened above her, drawing her curiosity.

Clouds...? she wondered, beginning to look upwards, when the sounds of some frightened passengers captured her attention.

"Pirates!" one of them exclaimed.

Pirates? Twilight's double repeated dubiously in thought, her ears perking up.

Ropes descended from the sky onto the ship's deck, near to where she stood, and before she knew it, dark figures rode the ropes down until landing on the ship's deck.

Other passengers scrambled back just as the tall, upright and seemingly bird-like creatures brandished swords above their heads.

Twilight's heart sunk, and in a panic, activated her magic.

She reappeared before the trio of... parrot pirates, and conjured her shield, standing defensively before the other passengers.

"Go, get out of here!" she exclaimed to the ponies stood behind her, before redirecting her focus towards the so-called pirates with a glare.

"Leave these poor ponies alone, you fiends!" she demanded in a daunting tone, her horn brimming with magic. "I won't ask you again."

"Fiends...?" one of the supposed pirates muttered.

"Is she seriously going to fight us...?"

"Yeah, I mean we usually never encounter such resistance... Should, should we fight back, or—?"

"Time's up," Twilight's double growled out, ready to blast the three of them from the deck and into the waters below, when another voice grabbed her attention.

"Heads up, boys!"

The pirates, along with Twilight, turned their attentions above them, in time to see a fourth bipedal parrot descend from one of the ropes that extended from the stationary airship floating above.

Her cohorts stumbled back as she landed triumphantly before Twilight.

The pirate cracked a smirk, tilting her hat up from above her eyes as they bore down at the pony.

"Well, what do we have here? A well-meaning ne'er-do-well?"

"Something like that..." Twilight stood her ground, watching who seemed to be their captain with a weary expression. "I'm not about to let you and your gang of cronies hurt these—!"

"Hurt them?" the pirate captain replied incredulously. "You have the wrong idea, little pony. My crew and I don't endanger innocents, and, for those who oppose us, well... you'd be the first."

"Yeah, well... I'll also be the last if you don't return to your air... pirate ship... thing t-this instant!"

"Sorry, but no can do. See, me and my mates, we're in dire need of supplies, and we no longer have a home to return to exactly, after we were forced to flee, so our ship has become our new home away from home. Don't worry," she added, "we'll only take what we need to survive; and surely you ponies can spare us a thing or two."

"That depends on why you guys were forced to flee in the first place. You're... what, wanted fugitives?"

"Survivors, actually. Our homeland was attacked by a power-crazed tyrant," the pirate captain confessed, giving Twilight's doppelganger pause. "Oh, but of course you ponies don't know a thing about that, living in your idyllic kingdom full of sunshine and rainbows."

Twilight averted her eyes guiltily, her body beginning to ease up.

"We all lost something in the carnage," the captain continued, placing emphasis on her pegleg made of emerald as she stepped forward. "But these losses have only brought us closer together, and made us stronger... and more determined than ever to fight for our freedom."

"I... I get it." Twilight relented with a small nod of acceptance as she dispersed her shield. "I'm a survivor too, actually." She raised her right foreleg, letting her baggy sleeve fall, and revealing her prosthetic to the pirates. The metallic gleam was faintly visible from beneath the shadow of the airship. "My life has honestly been anything but idyllic."

The pirates remained silent as Twilight's double lowered her sleeve back down around her foreleg.

"A-anyway, I'm not the captain of the ship, so I don't really care if you help yourselves to any of the supplies here on board, so long as you leave some for the ponies, and you leave them all unharmed. The captain though, or the crew... they on the other hoof..."

"Hmph. Looks like you're a lot more understanding than I initially thought. Don't worry, we fearsome pirates know a thing or two about intimidation tactics. We make a few threats and they'll go running. We don't really have any interest in hurting others."

With that, she turned to her crew, exclaiming, "Lix, Boyle, Mullet! You know what to do. Let's plunder ourselves some loot, and if anyone tries to stop you, scare 'em good."

Her crewmates pumped their swords into the air above their heads as they unanimously exclaimed, "Aye, Captain!"

She grinned as her men took off, before then turning her attention back towards the pony brave enough to confront her.

"So, what's your story anyway?"

"A long one," Twilight's doppelganger replied. "So, you guys really live on that airship, huh? Why not just settle somewhere else?"

"I don't think we'd be welcomed anywhere, to be honest... Besides, we've grown accustomed to this kind of lifestyle. It may not be the most noble, but it's liberating, and exciting. We come across all kinds of treasures, and make all kinds of discoveries on our travels."

All kinds of discoveries, huh... Twilight's double considered the pirate captain's words, before reaching into her satchel with her magic, and pulling out the map Celestia had given her. She opened it for the captain to see, pointing to the red xes dotting the nearby islands.

"Will you by any chance be stopping at any of these islands?"

"We go wherever the Storm King isn't, and these waters seem safe, so why not? We go wherever adventure lies."

Storm King? Twilight's doppelganger pondered the name briefly before filing the thought away. "C-can I come with you guys?"

The pirate captain blinked, taken aback with a dumbfounded look on her face. "Ex... E-excuse me?"

Twilight backpedaled, explaining herself more clearly. "I-I was heading out to these islands, and maybe even beyond them in search of something too. I don't seek adventure, or riches... but what I'm searching for is more important to me than any treasure... and, plus..." Her cheeks flushed red as she smiled sheepishly. "I'm... fairly certain the ponies on board won't be too pleased with me basically allowing you guys to plunder this ship, when I otherwise could have stopped you."

"Hmph. It's true," the captain supposed. "They might very well throw you in the brig for that. Are you really sure though that a little pony like yourself wants to rough it with a bunch of fierce, thieving outlaws like ourselves?"

"I've endured a lot more than you think. I think I can be a big help to you, i-if you'll have me."

"Well, you've got guts, I'll give you that. Maybe it's the fact that you're missing a piece of yourself, or maybe it's the way you stood up to both me and my men, but... I feel for you, little pony; and you're right about being useful to us. So I'll allow it... but if you even think about mutinying, the boys and I won't hesitate to throw you overboard. Savvy?"

Twilight's double gulped, nodding her head in response. "Y-yes, Ma'am."

"It's Captain, little pony. Captain Celaeno."

"Uh... D-duly noted, Captain. B-but I have a name too, and it's not 'little pony'. My name's...!"

She fell silent, glancing down at her prosthetic foreleg, biting her lip in contemplation. My name's Twilight, but... am I really still worthy of that name, after everything I've done? After everything I've been through...? Not to mention I probably shouldn't be telling pirates my true identity... I've changed so much already, and now that I'm living in this new reality, and about to set off with a band of thieving pirates... perhaps it's time I invented... a new identity for myself.

With that in mind, she lifted her gaze, meeting Captain Celaeno's expectant gaze.

"Well...?" the pirate captain asked.

"You can just go ahead and call me Cy-Twi," Twilight's doppelganger replied with a confident smile.

"Cy-Twi? Is that supposed to be some sort of codename? Is it because you don't trust us pirates? Hmph, smart mare."

"Captain Celaeno!" her men called out to her, as they came up beside her, carrying burlap sacks over their shoulders.

"Boys! Back already?"

"Sure am, Capt'n," Mullet replied. "We grabbed as much as we could, while abiding by the young missus' order to leave some for the ponies on board."

"Now that's what I like to hear! Great work, all of you. Now then, let's shove off! Oh, but before we do... Men, say hello to our newest recruit."

She motioned to Cy-Twi, leaving the trio of male pirates at a loss for words.

"Uh... Capt'n? Are you serious?" Lix whispered.

"Yeah, I mean... we barely even know her," Boyle added.

"Well, it turns out we have some things in common, and she's wanting to visit the surrounding islands, so I invited her to tag along. No worries," Celaeno added in a whisper, cupping her beak with a talon, "I already told her that if she tries anything, we'll throw her overboard."

Boyle smiled back at her with a silent look of understanding.

"Alright then! Lads, and ladies..." Celaeno beamed down at Cy-Twi, and motioned her forward.

As they were talking, the pirates' airship, once present in the skies above, had flown closer to the ocean for the crew to board, the remaining crew aboard the airship having extended a plank for them to use.

Cy-Twi herself swallowed hard, gripping her satchel strap anxiously. For my friends, she thought, as she took her first step forward.

Celaeno tilted her hat up as she turned her gaze towards the endless, blue horizon, and grinned excitedly.

"Let's set sail!"

Day 359

Moon Dancer watched over the sleeping pegasus with heavy eyelids as yet another day passed with no change in Rainbow's condition. Maybe she could stay with me for the time being, but... Oh, nopony outside of Celestia and myself even remember who she is... I have to be here for her, when she wakes...

Moon Dancer stifled a yawn. Poor thing... Her own fiancée more than likely doesn't even remember her... Maybe if she saw Rainbow again, that would trigger a memory or two, but... does Rainbow even remember Twilight? The doctor said her thoughts may be a little jumbled. Oh, what if she doesn't—?

"Moon?"

Moon Dancer jumped in startlement, her head jerking up from the hoof it rested on. "Wha—?"

She paused, and visibly settled down, seeing that it was only her friends. "W-what are you girls doing here?"

"We're here to see you, silly," Twinkleshine said. "We know you've been cooped up in here for the past couple weeks. We didn't know why, but... we figured you could use some company. Maybe we could leave for a bit, hang out..."

Moon Dancer's surprised faded, being replaced instead with a warm smile. "I appreciate that, but... I'm not leaving until Rainbow comes to."

"Who's Rainbow?" they asked simultaneously.

Moon Dancer threw her head back, slapping a hoof against her forehead. "Right, I..." She turned apologetically towards them. "You girls don't know her, but... we were friends for a long while, and still hopefully are! She just... She got injured when disaster struck during the gala."

"That's a shame," Lemon Hearts said woefully, her ears drooping.

"Is she the reason you've opened up so much?" Minuette asked after a moment. Moon Dancer looked over at her, a little taken aback. "I mean, no offense, it's just... the Moon Dancer I know wouldn't be spending weeks in a hospital, let alone days, with a friend to look after no less."

"Uh, y-yeah, yeah, she's uh..." Moon Dancer sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "She's one of the reasons."

Twinkleshine nodded absentmindedly, continuing to stare down at the rainbow-maned mare. "She has such a pretty mane..." She looked over her shoulder, back at Moon Dancer. "I hope she gets better soon."

"Mhm!" the others agreed.

"However," Twinkleshine continued, drawing out the word, "she's also sound asleep, so... Please, Moon. Go home, get some sleep. I mean, Rainbow isn't going anywhere."

Moon Dancer considered it, biting her lip in thought before shaking her head. "I really should be here when she comes to. To help her adjust, and explain to her what happened."

"Ah, she'll piece it together on her own," Minuette said in a dismissive tone, ever the worry-free pony.

Moon Dancer however, wasn't so convinced.

"Maybe," she murmured, averting her eyes.

"And hey!" Lemon hearts chimed in. "We could surprise her with a party—a little get together, you know? In the castle courtyard!"

Moon Dancer simply blinked, and stared back at her, thinking over the idea. Her lips parted, and she was about to reply when Lemon added with a smile, "Don't worry. We'll tell everypony it was your idea."

"I..." I suppose it would be a nice opportunity to reintroduce Twilight to Rainbow, if they can only convince her to tag along. Moon Dancer smiled at the thought. "Only if you invite Twilight Sparkle—a-and Spike too!"

"Oh, we... didn't know you were friends with those two," remarked Twinkleshine, sharing surprised looks with Lemon and Minuette. "We bumped into them a couple times over the past year, I... think. Anyway! Sure, if you'd like us to invite them, we will."

"Thank you." Moon Dancer sat up, blinking away the grogginess from her eyes before stepping down from her chair. "So... I guess then, if you'll excuse me, I'll be heading home to get a proper day of rest, because after all—" She turned to them with an elated smile, a couple steps away from exiting the room. "—I have a party to organize!"

Day 362

Is this how it feels to love somepony? thought Twilight, as she lay in the dark, moonlit grass with her newly-made friend, using said friend's belly as a pillow.

Twilight pointed up at the sky. "That's the Ursa Major, reminiscent of the ursas we have here in Equestria." Her hoof lowered, resting it against her chest as her voice grew quiet. "To think those things actually exist..."

"Aw come on, Twi." Her friend rolled her eyes, smirking at the serious tone of Twilight's voice. "I mean, they're just bears."

Her friend's voice sounded like it was coming from far away, like it was being stifled by an invisible wall built between them.

"Just bears?" Twilight rolled over onto her stomach, looking her friend directly in the eyes, and doing her best to sound scary.

Her friend's visage remained cloaked in a dark veil, her features impossible to make out.

"Imagine a celestial, all-powerful creature. Fifty feet tall, and ravenous, with enormous fangs and eyes that bare right into your soul—!"

"Yeah, I uh, can imagine..."

Twilight paused, then merely nodded, smiling sheepishly while uttering a quick "Sorry," before turning back over to resume her stargazing.

"These things don't live around here, do they?" her friend questioned.

Twilight shook her head. "Most ursas live in the Everfree Forest," she explained, recalling what she could from the book she read about them. "It's a really, really, really, big forest south of here, and..."

"And?"

"That's all I know..." Twilight's admitted, timidly. "Sorry, I haven't exactly done much research on that particular forest."

"It's cool, Twi," her friend assured her. "From the sounds of it, neither of us will be paying this forest a visit anyway."

Twilight's eyelids dropped halfway. "I'd still like to learn more about it," she muttered.

Her friend chuckled faintly in response, seemingly fading along with the wind. "Whatever you say."

The two silently continued to lie in the grassy field for moments longer, only the faraway sounds of the city and chirping crickets filling the night air and reminding Twilight of just how late it was getting. "We really should head home," Twilight suggested. "I can only imagine how late it is."

She waited, expecting to hear her friend's answer, only to be greeted with the same, nightlife sounds.

She sat up, letting out a breathless gasp as she looked behind her... to find herself alone.

Her lips parted softly in bewilderment, as she stared at the grassy spot for a few, long moments in contemplation, before turning her attention towards the city itself.

The city, along with her surroundings seemed to have darkened while her back was turned, with the moon and stars now barely visible in the night sky.

This is way past my curfew! Why was I out here this late again...? I was with somepony, wasn't I? But, who...? She brought a hoof to her chin as she gave the questions some thought.

As she continued looking around, she picked up another voice. Faint, but unmistakable, and seemingly coming from right beside her.

"Twilight?"

She turned to face the disembodied voice with a questioning stare.

"Spike...?"

Her eyes blinked open, and she found herself lying in bed in a cold sweat, and breathing shakily as she looked around at her surroundings, slowly gathering her bearings.

She blinked her eyes, clearing the grogginess from them.

"Twilight," the familiar-sounding voice spoke up again; "y-you're awake!"

Twilight turned her head to the left curiously, following the source of the voice to her bedside where Spike stood looking up at her with a relieved look on his face.

Her brow furrowed in confusion.

"Awake...?"

"Whhhhaaaaaaatt?"

The outburst shook the tower to its very core.

Twilight breathed out faster and faster, running around her room, and around Spike, the poor dragon doing his best to calm her down.

Her hooves frantic and practically dancing back and forth, she levitated the calendar on her wall before her eyes. "What do you mean a whole year has gone by?!" Her hoof trailed up her cheek, raking through her mane. "Oh, I barely remember any of it! How does something like that happen?!"

She spun around to face Spike, seething and exhaling an angry snort.

"Er..." He gulped, tentatively raising a clawed hand and bracing for the worst. "To... to be fair... H-how many ponies really remember everything that happened the year before? I mean, when you look back on a year, how much of it do you really even remember? It all sort of feels like a blur when you try to remember everything, r-right?"

"Hmph." Twilight straightened up. "This is different, Spike," she noted matter-of-factly, gazing away. "I don't even remember yesterday..."

"Well... that's probably because you were asleep," Spike stated plainly.

"Asleep?" Twilight looked back at him and scoffed. "I was asleep the whole day, Spike?"

"Try weeks," Spike replied, Twilight simmering down immediately and staring down at him completely flabbergasted. He sighed, noting her dumbstruck expression, before explaining, 'There was this... horrible storm a month or so ago. Freak lightning and thunder, winds, buildings and streets demolished, trees in the forest caught fire, and the ground around there crumbled away..."

Twilight's ears flopped, and she looked away, anxiously rubbing the back of her neck.

"That, t-that's horrible," she uttered. "No... nopony got hurt, did they?"

Spike shook his head. "Everypony was at the castle for the Grand Galloping Gala. Princess Celestia was there, so she managed to keep them all safe."

"Except me, huh?" She shrunk back a little, giving him a sheepish smile. "I would never go to the Gala, a-and you said..."

"I said you were out—comatose—f-for weeks. You got pretty banged up, I... The Princess said you'd make a full recovery, but I..." Spike clutched his arm and gazed downwards, Twilight looking past his body language.

"Wait wait wait." She held up one of her hooves, beckoning him to slow down. "Princess Celestia was looking after me?"

Twilight bit her tongue before throwing her head back and letting out a disbelieving groan.

"W-what?" Spike asked. "What's wrong?"

"What's wrong is that the Princess of Equestria gave up time out of her busy schedule to look after me!"

"Well... you are one of her subjects, and a personal, close friend of—"

"Can you not use that word please? Thank you." Twilight breathed out, feeling her irritation, bubbling under her skin, start to settle.

"Well," he hesitantly spoke up, "You and her did grow closer over the past several months, so..."

"Did we?" Twilight's brow crinkled and her ears lowered. "I don't remember us growing closer... Are you sure, Spike?"

"I... remember her visiting you, a-and vice versa. What I don't remember are the reasons why, but..." He looked apologetically back at the unicorn as she bore the same searching look in her eyes. "She did mention that we're on vacation though, and have been for the past year or so, so..."

"Vacation?" Twilight repeated disbelievingly in a soft murmur.

Spike looked up at her worryingly. "Twilight?"

"Oh no, no no no no, this is not good!" She began trotting in place once more as her fears worsened, and her pupils darted around anxiously. "I've been on vacation this whole time? I must be so behind on my studies! Oh Spike, please tell me Princess Celestia at least dropped off the books she otherwise would have had me study!"

"Oh, uh... well, now that you mention it..."

Twilight perked up, staring down at him intently. "Yes?"

"Princess Celestia did say something about how she recognized a couple books upstairs, and wondered if you had read them or not... She seemed surprised at how dusty they had become."

Dusty? Twilight's heart sunk, and without another word, moved quickly towards the stairs.

"H-hey," remarked Spike as she passed by him. "Where are you...?"

"Sorry, Spike," replied Twilight, her gaze fixed firmly ahead. "But I've got some reading I need to catch up on!"

Twilight's awake...?

Celestia fell back onto her haunches, stunned by the words on the piece of paper suspended before her. A feeling of sheer relief washed over her, reading Spike's message over and over again within her head.

A smile tugged at her lips, and she rested a hoof over her worried heart.

Oh, what a relief...! Although, it would seem her memories truly have not returned, as we had previously feared...

She stood back up with a dreary sigh, rolling Spike's note up in her aura.

Well, the important thing is that she's awake, and seemingly the same as... as before she met Rainbow...

She fell silent, as the reminder sunk in.

A whole year of progress gone... She's no doubt afraid to socialize... to make friends even...

She looked up with teary eyes in determination.

I mustn't allow that to come to pass.

Day 363

Rainbow Dash stirred from underneath her hospital bed's covers. Her eyelids winced as she let out a few soft grunts and murmurs under her breath as she slept.

"Nngh... Tw... Twi...!"

Slowly, her eyes opened to the blank interior of the hospital room... her ears being greeted by the sounds of birds and bustling commotion just outside her room's open window.

The curtains flittered in the cool breeze that filtered in, gently cooling her flushed face. Slight trickles of sweat trailed down her face as she lay motionless, taking in her surroundings.

This feels like a hospital, she thought. But, why I am hospitalized? Oh crud... I didn't crash again, d-did I?

Fear swelled in the pit of her stomach as she considered the thought. I hope I didn't cause anypony any serious trouble...

She mulled over the thought as she sat up carefully, looking herself over.

Doesn't look like I sustained any injuries... Man... She sighed, softly shaking her head. How long have I been out...? Urgh, my memory's so hazy... I can't even remember what happened to me in the first place...

Her gaze returned to the open window opposite her, her attention lingering on the world outside.

That looks like Canterlot, but... what the heck am I doing here? Like, why am I not in Ponyville...? She groaned, flopping back onto her bed, and staring up hopelessly at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes.

Mrgh, so many questions... The last thing I really remember is losing my temper with Fluttershy... but now I can't even seem to remember why... It's like... whatever I was feeling before just... vanished. Urgh... Rainbow pursed her lips as she deadpanned. I'm such a mess.

She lay awake for a while before the door to her room eventually opened, followed by a cheery male voice.

"Well, looks who's awake," the voice greeted her. Rainbow herself sat up to see a male stallion entered halfway through her room's doorway.

Awake? she repeated in her head. "Er, h-how long have I been asleep for?" she asked him as he walked up beside her bed.

"Well, I do believe it's been roughly a month since you were first brought here."

A... a-a month...? Rainbow paled, feeling her heart sink.

"How're you feeling?" the doctor carried on in a caring tone, oblivious to the distressed look on her face. "Truth be told, you had me worried after the first couple weeks, because there was still no change in your condition. Your vitals and brain scans all returned normal... Honestly, we really weren't entirely sure what was ailing you, so we could only really wait for you to regain consciousness." He smiled meekly, scratching the back of his head.

"I don't understood," Rainbow confessed after a long moment in a defeated tone. She gazed down hopelessly at her bed covers. "What am I doing here? In Canterlot? Why am I not in a hospital in Ponyville? And for that matter... why am I in a hospital in the first place?"

"Ponyville?" the male doctor repeated in a surprised tone of voice. "I'm sorry, but the friend of yours that brought you here... She says you've been living here in Canterlot for the past year or so."

Rainbow's heart pounded sickeningly against her chest at the doctor's words as her gaze drifted, and her breaths grew uneven... feeling as though her whole body had gone numb all of a sudden. It felt so unreal... A whole year...? she repeated over again in her head. How... how h-has an entire year gone by, and... and I can't remember a s-single...!

Her ears perked up, and her attention shakily returned to the doctor as he resumed speaking.

"We checked your public records. You actually checked in at another hospital here in the city last year, and it seems you indeed have been living here since around the same time. You've been working as a weather mare, isn't that correct?"

"I... I-I dunno," came Rainbow's uncertain, and quiet response, hanging her head in doubt. "I can't even seem to recall yesterday..."

"Hm..." The doctor gave a slight nod, peering off solemnly. "This is what I was worried about..."

"The friend," Rainbow said, speaking back up. "Was it a mare? A-and did she have a yellow coat, a-and pink mane?"

The doctor thought about it briefly, before solemnly shaking his head. "I'm afraid not, no." At that, Rainbow's gaze returned to the bedding. "Her name was... Oh, what was it again...? She only mentioned it once, and it was when she first brought you here..."

"I, I see..." Rainbow murmured dejectedly, barely nodding. A long moment passed in silence before she mustered the courage to speak up again, this time asking, "Doc... D-did I lose my memories or something?" Not a moment went by after asking her question, before her expression swiftly turned panicked, struck by a second worrying thought. "Don't tell me I partied too hard, and blacked out—! Er, repeatedly." She fell silent, questioning the possibility. "For an entire year, and... yeah, on second thought, probably not—"

"Ah-hem." The doctor cut in, clearing his throat. "Apparently you sustained quite the injuries from the month prior. I believe your repressed memories may be tied to the trauma your body endured."

Rainbow gazed up at him curiously. "Trauma...?"

"Sometimes," the doctor continued, "when an individual receives such severe physical trauma... the memories tied to the incident are repressed."

"Oookay...? But, was that incident tied to the rest of the year, or...?" Rainbow peered away sadly, as her voice lowered to that of a murmur. "I can't seem to remember anything since leaving Ponyville..."

"Hmm... well, I'm not equipped to help with that. What I do know is that your physical injuries have mostly all healed. As for your memory..." He smiled, setting a hoof upon her shoulder. "Perhaps I can refer you to a psychotherapist."

Rainbow however, remained in deep thought, paying the doctor's words little mind.

I don't even remember why I left, or why I was so angry... but I know I left Fluttershy hanging for a whole year! I gotta get back home, apologize to her, a-and for being gone for so long!

"Well, in the meantime," he continued. "Just focus on getting bedrest and taking it easy, okay? Take it one step at a time, and I'm positive your memories will return in due time."

He smiled reassuringly, before turning, opening the door before stepping outside, and shutting it softly behind him.

I don't have time for that! I ran away from my problems, my family... and I up and left those who only tried to help me! She stood up from her bed, disgusted with herself. I don't know what happened to me this past year, but whatever happened, it was a wakeup call. I'm such an awful friend for leaving 'Shy hanging for so long... but from this moment onwards, I swear... I'm never abandoning my friends like that ever again!

With her mind made up, she crouched forward, spreading her wings wide, before taking off towards the open window... the curtains whipping about wildly from the residual gust of wind.

Though, as she soared over the rooftops and tall spires of Canterlot, she couldn't shake a nagging feeling weighing heavily on her mind.

Why does it feel... like I'm doing just that...?

Once upon a time, in the magical land of Equestria, there were two regal sisters who ruled together and created harmony for all the land. To do this, the eldest used her unicorn powers to raise the sun at dawn; the younger brought out the moon to begin the night. Thus, the two sisters maintained balance for their kingdom and their subjects, all the different types of ponies.

But as time went on, the younger sister became resentful. The ponies relished and played in the day her elder sister brought forth, but shunned and slept through her beautiful night. One fateful day, the younger unicorn refused to lower the moon to make way for the dawn. The elder sister tried to reason with her, but the bitterness in the young one's heart had transformed her into a wicked mare of darkness: Nightmare Moon.

She vowed that she would shroud the land in eternal night. Reluctantly, the elder sister harnessed the most powerful magic known to ponydom: the Elements of Harmony. Using the magic of the Elements of Harmony, she defeated her younger sister, and banished her permanently in the moon. The elder sister took on responsibility for both sun and moon... and harmony has been maintained in Equestria for generations since.

Twilight paused, looking down at the page with a scrutinizing gaze, furrowing her brow in thought. Hmm... Elements of Harmony, she thought curiously, turning her gaze up towards the sky, and the clouds above. The silhouette of a pegasus passed by overhead, briefly capturing her attention.

I know I've heard of those before... but where?

Twilight walked leisurely on her way back to her home, when she found herself stopped in her tracks by three familiar faces.

Old classmates of hers, if she recalled correctly.

"There you are, Twilight!" Twinkleshine exclaimed in delight. "Moon Dancer is having a little get-together in the west castle courtyard. You wanna come?"

Twilight stared back in silence, before glancing away nervously. "Oh, sorry, girls... I've got a lot of studying to catch up on." She grinned apologetically as an awkward silence set in, and unsure of what more to say, ran off... leaving her classmates watching in confusion as she left.

Twinkleshine sighed, turning to her friends in concern. "Does that pony do anything except study?" She frowned, turning around fully, along with Minuette and Lemon Hearts. "I think she's more interested in books than friends."

"Makes you wonder what Moon Dancer was thinking, inviting her..." Lemon added in solemnly. "I mean, if she were really Moon's friend, then... she wouldn't have ran off like that without a second thought... right? Like, we talked to Spike about it, and he seemed cool with the idea..."

Minuette shrugged, biting her lip as her ears flopped, and she looked between her two friends in uncertainty.

"So..." she began hesitantly, anxiously rubbing her foreleg. "What do we tell Moon Dancer?"

Celestia's ears became alert, and she turned to see her advisor Kibitz, standing in her room's doorway, seemingly distressed over... something.

"Princess!" he began, bowing his head before her. "Beg your pardon for the intrusion, but you said if there was an update regarding a certain patient...!"

Celestia's heart skipped, and she gave him her full attention, urging him to continue as her own feelings suddenly worsened.

"Y-yes...?"

"Er, well... i-it's just... The staff there sent a letter, notifying me that the young miss is nowhere to be found!"

"W-what do you mean, nowhere to be found?"

"Exactly that. One moment she was in bed, and the next, gone!"

"She didn't escape out a window, did she? I thought I had requested not to leave her in a room with one."

"Yes, well... It would seem that that simply was not doable," replied Kibitz. "I am sorry, Princess... but we currently have no clue as to her whereabouts. So... what do you suggest? Should we send out a search party?"

"That... won't be necessary, Kibitz," Celestia told him, after thinking it over. "I think I may know where it is she flew off to..."

"Princess?"

She's either returned home... she thought. Or, she's returning to her home away from home... Before she could ponder any further, several green flames appeared suddenly, lapping at the air before her, and resulting in a scroll that proceeded to fall harmlessly to the floor below.

"A letter?" Kibitz questioned. "Those green flames could only indicate...!"

"It's from Twilight," remarked Celestia, sharing the same thought. Her gaze narrowed in on the seal on the parchment. She levitated the scroll in her aura, bringing it closer to her... her chest growing heavier. So, either she's writing to tell me that Rainbow has returned to her... or more realistically...

Her gaze saddened as she began opening the letter. She's writing to inform me about... a particular prophecy...

"Make sure to tell Twilight to... stop reading those dusty old books."

Those were the words Twilight's otherworldly doppelganger had spoken to her, all those nights ago.

Advice from a future yet to be written? Celestia pondered. Had I, in her reality... given her that same advice?

Well, it wasn't particularly bad advice, she supposed, and... it sounded like something she would have said.

Celestia sighed, mulling over to do as she stood at her bedroom desk, overlooking the letter her pupil had sent to her, moments prior.

There were quite a few crossed-out words and scribbles, but she managed to get the gist of it.

Nightmare Moon was returning... and her student was dead set on making sure it didn't happen.

I'm guessing she finally got around to reading those books I lent her all those months ago... She smiled, snorting in slight amusement at the thought. I was thinking maybe I should have been more direct... but I had wanted to teach her a different way, and have her build her relationships instead. Having her fret over a villain's impending return surely wouldn't have done her any good, and yet... I gave them to her anyway because... because I still needed her to know of the future, and the Elements... After what the other her told me though... Was I wrong to have ever given them to her in the first place? Even when I tasked them with exploring the Everfree, it ended with them learning the truth about Nightmare Moon and their destinies, and look what happened because of it. They must have been so worried... and I decided the best course of action would be to throw a gala. I thought having more guards employed would be enough... It's no wonder the darkness within the other Twilight hated those of us in power so deeply... The more I trivialize these threats... the worse things are going to get.

She breathed out deeply, looking up from her desk as she took a moment to reflect.

If I tell Twilight to find the Elements, then she'll most certainly ignore everypony else around her... but if I tell her to help out with the Summer Sun preparations, then she'll begrudgingly do so, all the while thinking that I've gone crazy, and still end up trying to stop Nightmare Moon regardless.

She walked to the glass doors leading to her balcony, looking out them with a contemplative expression. No... I must place my faith in the other Twilight's words. She'd know herself better than even myself... and if she believes that's what her other self needs, then so be it. And if Rainbow Dash truly has returned to Ponyville, then... that only furthers my decision. Those two belong together—not only because of their connection to the Elements—but because of their love for one another. They may not remember it, but perhaps meeting again may stir those forgotten feelings. After all, memories and feelings are never truly forgotten—they merely remain buried... waiting to be rediscovered.

She turned away from the outside world with her mind made up.

They'll fall in love again, I'm sure of it. I only wish that I could intervene, and remind them of the feelings they hold for one another myself... but that would be forcing the issue, and would they even believe me for that matter? I can't just simply force them to fall in love again...

It was that thought that made her a little apprehensive, as she levitated a quill over her piece of parchment, laid out on the desk before her.

Regardless, my time in Equestria grows shorter as Nightmare Moon's return draws ever nearer. It won't be long until she returns, and inevitably gets her revenge on me. So I must make the most of the time I have left, and chose my words carefully, even if... she ends up resenting me because of it.

With a heavy heart, she began writing.

My dearest, most faithful student Twilight...

? ? ?

Heading back home for the foreseeable future.

- Starlight Glimmer

Starlight peered up at the hastily-written message that she had scribbled onto a sticky note, and stuck to the door leading to hers and Moon Dancer's lab.

She turned without a second thought, saddlebags in tow and staff slung over her shoulder.

She made her way out the front doors of the school, closing them behind her before carrying on her way. All the while memories began surfacing, as she hurried through the late night streets alone on her way to the train station.

Memories of everything that had led to this very moment.

"Enough!" a voice bellowed across her thoughts. "You've gone too far this time, Starlight!"

A blindingly-strong light grew in intensity from the top of the horn of the alicorn she faced off against.

Twilight Sparkle.

Miss Goody Four-Shoes. Miss Perfect.

'Our differences are what make us special,' Sparkle.

Starlight scowled, though her gaze remained squinted as she looked up at the insufferable princess in all of her pompous glory.

She hovered opposite the mare, suspended within her own aura of magic, over an unoccupied stretch of runway in the Cloudsdale training field.

"I've tried to be patient with you, Starlight... but no more! When you risk the life of one of my best friends—a young filly no less...! That's where I draw the line!"

The orb of magic continued to expand from the tip of her horn.

Starlight raised her brow. "What're you—?"

The culmination of magic erupted, rippling forward and filling the surrounding area with a pure white light.

Nngh... What... is...?

Starlight's eyelids softly began to fall shut, feeling as though the magic itself was being drained from her body.

The light soon faded, and she warily opened her eyes... only to find herself rapidly approaching the ground.

She hastily explained herself to the train conductor, before then boarding the last train headed northbound.

Her destination? As far as the tracks would take her.

She grabbed an empty seat, sitting close to the window as she rested her cheek against the glass... staring out at nothing in particular.

The whistle soon sounded, and before long the train began chugging along.

And as the sounds filled her ears... her mind once again drifted off, once more recalling the past...

She sucked in a sharp breath through clenched teeth, sitting rigidly on the runway, carefully rubbing her sore flank with a hoof.

"Rrgh... what did you do!?"

Starlight glowered up at Twilight, who met her embittered stare with one of her own.

"You've not only attempted to alter history, but nearly gravely hurt one of my closest friends. For that... I've relieved you of your magic for the time being."

"Relieved me of...?" Starlight's heart skipped... the alicorn's words slowly sinking in.

"G-give it back!" she exclaimed in a desperate plea.

Twilight shook her head.

"That isn't how the spell works," she explained. "Your magic will return to you eventually... but in the meantime, this will allow me to detain you... and will hopefully serve as a reminder to think twice before using your magic to hurt others."

"Rrgh..." Starlight glowered up at the hovering princess, and her little dragon assistant that sat upon her back with a scornful glare.

Not since those three witches... have I been forced to use such drastic measures, thought Twilight, solemnly. I feel like I nearly exhausted my magic... but if it means keeping Rainbow Dash safe, then...

"Twilight," beckoned Spike, grabbing her attention. "Twilight, look! It's gonna happen!"

"Hm? What's that, Spike?" she asked as she swiveled her head to look where he was pointing.

There, in the far off distance, came a thunderous boom, followed by a ring of expanding colors.

And from those colors shot forth a rainbow-striped streak that tore through the sky.

Twilight looked on with a relieved expression and wary smile. "Looks like history is saved..."

"Y-you fool!" cried Starlight, grabbing both their attention. "You have to give my magic back this instant!"

"Uh-huh..." Twilight replied, a little skeptically. "And why's—?"

"B-because if you don't, then I won't be able to connect with the spell I used to bring us both here! I... I won't be able to able to return to our time—!"

As if on cue, the portal to the present opened in the sky above them both.

Twilight winced, feeling the tremendous pull of the portal drawing both herself and Spike in.

A short distance away, a rainbow streak zoomed closer and closer... the little filly responsible catching a brief glimpse of the whole ordeal... and the winged unicom who hovered before her.

"Ngh... Starlight! G-grab my hoof!"

She reached out, Starlight hurriedly mirroring the gesture... when, all of a sudden, everything went quiet. The portal, and Twilight herself, disappeared in the blink of an eye... leaving her alone on the runway.

Starlight stared up breathlessly at the clear blue sky, and the spot where the portal had been... feeling her chest begin to grow heavier with each passing moment.

Her breaths became increasingly shallow, and shaky... overcome with so many different thoughts and emotions that she didn't know what to think.

Overhead, a rainbow streaked on by, bringing with it a joyous laughter that filled the air.

"Ye-aa-ahh! This is so awesome!"

Starlight didn't bat an eye... as she instead only continued to stare in wide-eyed disbelief.

"I'm trapped in the past," she muttered to herself. A sick feeling grew in the pit of her stomach... her mind dizzying.

"I'm trapped... i-in the past..."

"Mmrgh... Come on..."

Starlight let out a frustrated grunt as she focused on her horn for the umpteenth time... only to drop her shoulders in dismay when not even a single spark chose to ignite.

"D-darn it! Not even a shimmer..."

Starlight hid away behind some bleachers, not far from her initial skirmish with the Princess of Friendship herself.

The morning had come and gone, and now the young pegasi were preparing to head home for the day.

Starlight idly watched from where she stood, keeping her distance and being sure to stay hidden.

She had held out hope somewhat, that the Princess of Friendship would have reenacted the spell, traveling back through time in order to bring her back from this waking nightmare.

Starlight snorted. What a foolish thought.

She herself no longer existed in the past linked to the spell, since she, Rainbow, and everypony else had already begun to move forward.

This present moment would no longer be the one Twilight would find herself in because time was continuously in flux. Even if the Princess of Friendship somehow recovered her strength, and made the trek back... Starlight would be nowhere to be found, because she existed now, not then... and there was just no way Twilight could be certain when she existed... within this vast sea of time.

The same could be said for Starlight herself, since the future she remembered was no longer that same future, as it too, was moving forward... effectively leaving her in the dust.

No, she was a mare lost in time, with no future or home to return to.

Families flocked to greet their kids, and take them home from their long day of school.

One of those kids being the rainbow brat herself, Starlight noted.

The reason she was trapped here...

Her curiosity morphed into an auspicious glare.

Those must be her parents... Hmph, even as a filly, her life just seemed so peachy...

She continued to watch even as the trio flew off together.

The audacity of that Twilight Sparkle... to claim that I had put her friend's life at risk... Sure, I had shot at her... but I had never meant to seriously injure her! Just to... prevent her from pulling off the sonic rainboom...

The evening soon came, and with it, Starlight's resolve.

If she was to be trapped in the past, then so be it.

She'd make the most of this alternate history—without Twilight and her meddlesome friends to get in her way.

She'd make it hers.

But first she'd need to begin her plan anew, and not to mention... make it to the Cloudsdale docks in one piece, without slipping through the clouds.

As she trudged through the evening, sunlit streets, moving tentatively with each step, she kept her head low... her anger festering just below the surface.

"Oh my, are... are you alright?"

Starlight stopped in her tracks, startled by the sudden voice.

She lifted her gaze instantly, coming face-to-face with a blue-coated pegasus mare, sporting a short, orange mane... and bearing a look of concern.

Her heart skipped, and her eyes widened, recognizing the mare from earlier. She's...!

Starlight grit her teeth. That... brat's mother...!

"I'm sorry to bother you, I just... couldn't help but notice your horn. It just looked to be leaking magic, forming... almost what looks like a sort of, well... storm cloud."

Leaking...? thought Starlight, dumbfounded. That can't be. My magic was taken away. There's no way it's returned already, unless... She lifted a hoof to her horn, then brought it before her eyes, drawing some of the mysterious, red substance along with it.

Her eyes immediately widened.

It's anger.

She gulped, feeling her body tense and grow increasingly rigid as a chill ran down her spine.

Anger was what was seeping out of her... and bubbling rapidly to the surface.

She let out a startled breath at the concerned tone of the pegasus mare, once more speaking to her.

"Come to think of it... I don't believe I've ever seen you around here before. It's not often that we get unicorns up here. Are you visiting somepony? Are you lost?" The older pony smiled kindly, extending a hoof. "Perhaps I can—"

Starlight scrambled backwards in a panic, frantically exclaiming, "D-don't come any closer!"

The other pony stopped where she stood, however remaining no less confused, and concerned for this distressed stranger.

A part of her urged her to just respect the strange pony's wishes, and carry on. It was getting late enough as it was, and Rainbow was no doubt growing impatient...

Another part of her however, urged her to think differently, reminding her that she'd be beside herself to not try and help.

"It could be the elevation that's causing your magic to act up. Why don't I show you towards the local clinic?"

"N-no! No-no, t-that's alright. P-please, just... leave me be!" Starlight bit her lip, her heart beating faster and faster. Because if you don't, she thought in dread; I can't guarantee what this emotional outpour will do if you don't...

Still she persisted... much to Starlight's ire.

"Are you here with somepony? Do you have anywhere to go?"

Starlight shut her eyes, bringing a hoof to her head.

Shut up, shut up, shut up!

Her emotional energy warbled, contorting in and out of shape.

"I can't begin to help you if I don't even know your name. Please... won't you at least tell me tha—"

Starlight clenched her teeth, blinking her eyes open to reveal a fierce red light.

"Stop talking!"

The other pony let out a breathless gasp, and then... nothing.

Starlight simmered down slowly, softly breathing in and out. She glowered for a moment longer, before her eyes returned to normal, and she was able to realize what exactly had caused Rainbow Dash's mother to go quiet.

Her anger diminished almost instantly, finding herself now overcome with guilt, denial... and an overwhelming sense of sadness...

Her magic had plunged itself deep into the older mare's chest like a knife, having acted entirely on its own accord.

The pegasus's eyelids slowly began to fall shut, her forelegs and hind legs buckling as they too, began to give out, and all the while her eyes never lost their longing gleam, yearning for an explanation.

N-no...!

Starlight wasted no time rushing up beside her, catching her as she stumbled forward, and helping to lie her down.

A knot formed in the back of her throat as her eyes grew heavier.

No no no no no, no! This isn't happening... this, this i-isn't...!

She kept the mare's head elevated, holding her other hoof over the gaping wound.

The older pony's breaths grew shorter, and more shallow, her lungs gasping for air.

Her lung must've been punctured... This isn't good. Without my magic to help re-expand it here and now, or to even so much as levitate her, I... Her face paled. She has minutes, at best...

"R... Rain..."

Starlight's teary gaze opened wide, and she looked down attentively at the older mare, picking up on her shallow utterances that she wheezed out.

"D-don't strain yourself!" urged Starlight, however her words went unheard as the mare's eyes turned upward, towards the sky.

Her eyelids lowered slightly as her eyes began glazing over.

"I... I-I'm s-sorry... Rai... n... B-bow... P-please," she whispered, as the light in her eyes continued to fade. "Stay s-strong without— me..."

Her eyelids closed completely as her breaths grew fainter and fainter, leaving Starlight breathless, as she stared down at the mare in her hooves in stunned silence.

After a moment of hesitation, Starlight mustered the courage to check the mare's pulse, and as she did so, gulped, feeling a cold shiver run through her body.

She instinctively drew both her hooves back, dropping the mare's head onto the cold, hard pavement as she scrambled back in fear.

Darn it, Twilight... L-look at what you've made me do...!

Her heart racing faster and faster, her gaze darted around anxiously before she brought herself to hightail it out of sight... leaving the older mare's body to eventually be discovered by patrolling authorities.

Okay, Starlight... you can do this.

Starlight breathed in, then out deeply, psyching herself up mentally. Just knock on the door, and introduce yourself as your younger self's aunt. Nothing strange about that!

She knocked a few hesitant times on the front door, then waited... sighing internally as the thought stewed in her head. Who am I kidding? There's at least a hundred things strange about—

Before her thought could finish, the door opened to reveal a refined, purple-coated and green haired stallion, about the same age as she was currently.

Dad... she thought, momentarily taken aback by the sight of him. Snapping back to reality, she swiftly asked, "M-mister Firelight?"

"Er, yes?" he greeted in a puzzled tone. "Hello, what can I...?"

His voice drifted, his eyes widening at the sight of the mare that stood just opposite him. She bore an almost anxious, sheepish-looking expression, but what really caught his eye... was just how much she reminded him of his daughter.

"Do I... know you?" he asked, tilting his head curiously.

Starlight stiffened at the question, forcing a grin to her face. "N-nope!" she swiftly denied, pupils darting to the left, then right. "No, you, uh... A-allow me to introduce myself. I'm Starlight's aunt!"

She held out her hoof, maintaining her cheery demeanor. "My n-name's Kite Flyer!"

"Er... Kite... Flyer...? That's funny..." His brow crinkled as he tentatively shook her hoof. "Limelight never mentioned having a sister..."

"Y-yeah, well... Mo— M-my sister kept a lot of things to herself, didn't she?"

Firelight gave a hearty sigh. "That she did..." he mused in agreement. "Regardless, it's very nice to meet you, Kite. What brings you all this way?"

"O-oh, well, uh... I-I've come to see Starlight actually."

"Starlight?" he questioned. "Whatever for?"

Before Starlight could explain herself, her father added, "Well, whatever the reason, I don't really think she's in the mood for visitors. Not since that friend of hers up and left recently..."

Starlight tensed, feigning ignorance. "Friend?" she inquired.

"Yeah, a young colt," Firelight explained. "Got his cutie mark, and not long after, moved with his family to Canterlot without a single notice. Starlight was devastated..."

Starlight grimaced at the somber reminder, placing the thought aside as she forced an elated smile to her face.

"Well that's precisely why I'm here!"

"Huh?" Firelight blinked, staring back at her in confusion.

"The school actually reached out to me, Starlight's closest relative, to ask if I could help them get in contact with her," she went on to explain. "Now I'm realizing it must have been because this friend of Starlight's talked about how gifted she was, and the school took interest."

"Um... okay...?" Firelight nodded along, however remaining no less confused. "But, even so... I don't understand why you didn't just write to me, and why you instead came all this way."

"O-oh, well..." Starlight fell silent as her mind struggled to come up with an excuse, and fast. "Because... I thought this would be easier in person..." she confessed, adding a dreary tone to her voice.

"Easier...?" Firelight questioned.

Starlight sighed. "Is it alright if we grab a seat, and talk about this inside instead? This may take a while to explain..."

"You want Starlight to come live with you?"

"O-only temporarily," Starlight assured, as she sat on one of the two sofas on either side of a coffee table in the home's living room, her father sitting opposite her. "Only so that she may attend school, and... and be given a chance to be with her friend again... When she won't be living on campus with her classmates, she'd be able to come stay with me! It would be her home away from home, so to speak."

"I see..." Firelight nodded his head slightly as he listened along.

"I thought this way would be easier than having the two of you pack up and move to Canterlot, find a new place to live, and adjust to a whole new way of life. This way, I could even accompany Starlight so that she could still come see you on days she doesn't have school. That, and school up there starts pretty soon, so even if you did move... her classes will already have started by then."

Firelight looked off in contemplation, and from Starlight's point-of-view, was seemingly mulling over... something.

He caught her puzzled expression from out of the corner of his eye, and turned to face her fully, smiling apologetically.

"I-I'm sorry. This is just a lot to take in..." he explained.

Starlight returned the smile. "I understand. This whole situation is very sudden and weird, I know. Not to mention that Starlight is still just a filly... but please, Firelight... think about what's best for her."

"I do!" Firelight insisted. "I-I always do, I just..." His voice softened, his gaze averting as he reminisced. "Ever since her mother left... and that Sunburst kid... Life's just been hard for her, you know? I want to provide her the best life I possibly can, but... I'm not so sure I'm ready to let her go off on her own yet either..."

Really, Dad? Starlight scoffed in thought. After leaving me by myself all those times...?

She forced the bitter reminder aside, maintaining her cheery demeanor.

"Starlight's a growing filly, you know. Some independence and a change of scenery may be exactly what she needs."

"Well... I suppose you're not wrong about that," Firelight admitted. "You're not wrong about me not wishing to move from Sire's Hollow either. I have so much love for this old town, and I was hoping Starlight would find her purpose here as well..."

"Is that what she wants though? She can't be a child forever, Firelight. Sooner or later, she's gonna have to leave home."

"Can it not be later...?" he asked, a little teary-eyed as he met her gaze. Starlight stared back at him, a little taken aback. She was about to reply, when her dad snorted, smiling softly. "No no, I... I'm sorry. You... y-you're right. If she truly did get accepted into magic school, then... then it's her decision, not mine."

Starlight forced an appreciative smile to her lips.

"Thank you. I know this isn't an easy choice to make... And l-like I said before, we'll come visit!"

Firelight gave a slight nod of his head in acknowledgement. "Just promise me that if she agrees to go with you, that you'll keep her safe."

"Well, yeah," Starlight replied. "O-of course I—!"

"And!" Firelight continued. "That you'll keep her on the straight and narrow. She's... very emotional, especially as of late... and she can have a habit of... blowing things out of proportion."

Starlight's eye twitched, feeling a sudden twinge of anger, bubbling just beneath the surface of her skin.

"She needs a good role model, and somepony to help guide her in the right direction. If you can be that pony, then..." Her father sighed, before nodding in her direction. "I'll leave her in your hooves."

Starlight rolled her eyes mentally. "Thank you, Firelight; I promise I'll do my best. Now, uh... where is Starlight?"

"In her room. She may not hear you though, since she's always blaring that music of hers."

It's not just music, Starlight grumbled internally, as she hopped down from the sofa. "So, where is her room?"

"Down the hall, last room on the right. It'll be the one with all those edgy signs on it. Like, keep out or I'll vaporize you. Oh, my daughter and her dark sense of humor."

It wasn't a joke, she mused, before replying with a quick "Thank you," and turning in the direction of her old bedroom. She reached the door after a few, short moments, and after breathing out to steady her nerves, made a series of loud knocks against the door.

Music came from the other side of the door, and continued blaring even after she knocked.

Starlight leaned in closer against the door, apprehensively calling out to her younger self, "Starlight? Honey, this is your aunt. Can you please open up the door for me?"

She waited a long moment, only to be met with the same sounds of heavy metal music.

Her eyes narrowed.

Open the door, you little brat!

She breathed in deeply, taking a step back as she gathered her composure.

"Starlight—?"

"Go away," her younger self's muffled voice grumbled back at her, giving her pause.

Well, at least she responded, Starlight thought, before continuing. "Starlight, it's your aunt. Can you please let me in? I've got something to tell—"

"I don't have an aunt," came her younger self's response.

"Yes you do, and I'm sorry I'm only just now showing up out of the blue! It's just, I live all the way up in Canterlot, and between work and my other obligations, I—!"

The music stopped, and soon the bedroom door knob turned, and the door itself creaked open to reveal her younger self, the light from the hallway partially lighting up her features that otherwise were hidden by her bedroom's dark interior.

"You live in Canterlot?" her younger self asked simply.

"Er..." Starlight simply nodded, rendered momentarily speechless by the physical presence of her younger self before her. "Y-your father told me all about how your friend's family went and moved to Canterlot without you." She forced a comforting smile to her face as she extended a hoof down to her younger self. "How would you like to see him again?"

The next day...

"So this is Canterlot..." Starlight's younger self murmured in awe of her surroundings. "It's so... big, a-and regal-looking..."

"Uh-huh," Starlight replied with a barely-enthused nod. This whole city reeks with an air of unicorn superiority, she thought. Makes me wonder if I'm doing the right thing, bringing my filly self here. Though, if I don't... then history will just repeat itself over and over again, unless I alter the course of my life here and now. And, at the very least... I can give her the life that I was robbed of—

"Aunt Kite...?" her younger self spoke up, pulling her from her thoughts. "Where will we be living?"

"O-oh, um... i-in a tower!" she hastily exclaimed.

Her filly self looked up at her skeptically, furrowing her brow. "A... tower?"

"Mhm! On the outskirts of the city! I'll show you after we get you registered at the school."

She continued guiding her younger self in the direction of Celestia's School For Gifted Unicorns, all the while thinking, Based on what I dug up on Twilight's past in the previous timeline, she spent most of her time, post-graduation, running errands and studying in one of these towers. Prior to that, the tower had no resident. From what I learned, these towers are only available to Celestia's most prized protégés... and Celestia almost never takes on protégés. So, if I'm correct—and I'm rarely ever wrong—Twilight's tower should be vacant for the next ten years or so.

As the two arrived at the doors to the school, Starlight let out a breath before turning to face her younger self. "I'll just be a sec," she informed. "Just wait here while I go get you all signed up, okay?"

"Shouldn't I come with you?" her younger self asked. "From what you told me, I thought they'd really want to meet me..."

"Er... T-there'll be plenty of time for that during your entrance exam!" Starlight replied, patting her younger self's head assuredly. "Besides, we'll mostly be going over just a bunch of boring, old paperwork anyway. Why don't you take a walk around in the meantime, familiarize yourself with the shops and local cuisine?" Starlight glanced up and let out a breathless gasp as a lightbulb went off above her head. "Hey, I just saw a filly around your age enter that store over there! Why not go over and introduce yourself? She's probably a student here as well, and if not, well... hay, it never hurt to meet the locals and maybe make a friend of two. Just remember..." Starlight leaned in closer to her younger self, whispering in a stern tone, "No showboating... alright?"

Her filly self rolled her eyes. "Yes, Aunt Kite," she murmured in response.

"Good! Now, if you'll excuse me..."

Starlight turned, entering the school and closing the door behind her.

Steadying her nerves, she carried on, finding her way to the principal's office, eventually reaching it within a matter of moments.

She swallowed hard, before knocking on the door. She then swiftly reached a hoof into the satchel slung across her chest, clutching its contents tightly.

After a moment, she heard noise coming from within the office, followed by the distinct sounds of hoofsteps.

"Hello?" the principal said, as she opened the door to greet Starlight. "How can I help y—?"

Starlight whipped her hoof, whisking a clump of magic dust directly into the principal's face, causing the mare to stumble backwards, momentarily stunned.

"What in the...?"

Her words trailed off, as her eyes glazed over, and she found herself unaware of everything but the mare standing before her.

Starlight snorted, forming a smirk. A little susceptibility powder, and just like that, you're under my control for the next hour. Who even needs unicorn magic, when there's countless magic shops across Equestria, each with their own supply of magical ingredients!

She shook any residual powder from her hoof as she proceeded to address the principal directly.

"Can you hear me?" she asked.

"Yes..." came the principal's dazed response.

"Good. Now then, I need you to register a new student for me..."

Starlight's filly self looked up at the storefront before her, raising an eyebrow. A magic shop, huh?

Shouldering her nerves, she made her way inside.

She glanced around with passing interest as she nonchalantly made her way up to the blue-coated filly with wavy, white hair. Her attention seemed drawn to some magician paraphilia, and tools of the trade.

She idly walked up beside the browsing filly, pretending to browse the shelves herself as she managed to pique the filly's interest.

"I don't think I've seen you before," the blue-coated filly began, turning to face Starlight giddily. "You're a fan of magic too?"

"Uh..." Starlight's filly self remained at a loss for a moment, taken aback by her fellow filly's enthusiasm. "S-sure am! I, uh... actually just moved here with my aunt... My name's Starlight."

"Trixie," the blue-coated filly replied. "So that explains why I haven't seen you around. Are you attending Celestia's school?"

"Mhm. That's why I moved here actually. I got in through a special recommendation."

"Oh?" Trixie's intrigue piqued tenfold. "So you must be pretty powerful then."

"I wasn't always... but I've been studying a lot," Starlight explained, before falling quiet, slipping into thought. Makes me wonder why Sunburst recommended me in the first place... I know Aunt Kite told me not to pry, to not embarrass him, but... he was always so much better at magic than me... Ah well. She mentally shrugged, tuning back in to the sound of Trixie's voice. I'm not about to question being able to see him again!

"...Of course, we still need to pass the entrance exam, but that should be a cakewalk for great and powerful ponies like ourselves!"

Starlight cocked her head, bemused. "Er... great and powerful...?" She deadpanned as Trixie rambled on, oblivious to the look on her face. She barely knows me...

"And even if I don't pass..." continued Trixie. "I won't be deterred. I'm determined to become the greatest magician Equestria's ever known, and one up my dad even."

"Um, your dad...?"

Trixie paused, remembering the filly opposite her, and grew pensive. "Never mind," she murmured, averting her eyes. "He's just... never home, and always out performing in Las Pegasus or wherever. So I want to prove that I can be just as good of a magician as he is, and loyal to my friends and family at the same time. Maybe even support my mom, y'know?"

Starlight stared back at Trixie in awe, before forming a lukewarm smile. "My mom left a while back, and... my dad's never really around either, but... I don't want to use my talents to surpass anyone! My aunt says not to do that."

"But our differences are what make us unique, Starlight, and ponies like us are meant for great things!"

Starlight bit her lip, apprehensive. "It's just... I've seen firsthoof how... cutie marks and special talents can leave others feeling left behind, and forgotten..."

"Yeah, well..." Trixie rolled her eyes. "We don't have to be like that. We can either be like our parents... or we can chose to be ourselves. Hay, it's like I said: I plan on helping my mom with my talent. So what do you plan on doing with your talent, Starlight?"

"I..." Starlight gazed back at Trixie with a dumbstruck expression. Her gaze drifted as her voice grew softer. "I've never really thought about it. I was so angry for the longest time, I..."

She fell silent for a moment as Trixie stared back at her inquisitively, awaiting her answer.

"I guess if there's one thing..."

Starlight breathed out before meeting Trixie's gaze, confident in her decision.

"I just want to make some friends."

Trixie's face lit up in response.

"Well, hey, that's perfect! I mean, you've already done that!" She grinned, giving Starlight a playful tap on the shoulder. "Say, why don't I show you around. You've still got some time to kill, right?"

Starlight stared back at the other filly, before her face broke out into a wide grin.

"You betcha!"

Nine years later...

"Oh? You're researching Starswirl the Bearded?"

Starlight looked up from the book she was studying, perturbed by whomever dared to disturb her research.

She peered over her shoulder, only to be greeted with the inquisitive face of an onlooking mare with glasses, and a long, red mane with purple highlights.

Starlight stared back at her dryly. "Can I help you?"

At the sound of her irritable tone, the stranger backed up, averting her eyes nervously. "S-sorry," she apologized profusely. "I j-just noticed the pictures on your book's pages and it got me curious... a-and I'm trying to make a habit out of being more sociable, and..." She breathed out, falling silent for a moment. "You know, just forget I said anything. Sorry for bothering you."

What is with this mare? thought Starlight curiously. She reached out to the stranger just as she began to turn. "Hey, hold on a minute."

Hm?

The stranger looked back at her, adjusting her glasses as she did so.

"Yes...?"

"You're interested in Starswirl?"

"O-oh, um... sorta. We learned a lot about him in history class, back in magic school."

Magic school? thought Starlight. Huh. Wonder if she went to school with this world's version of me... Then again, considering she hasn't said I look familiar, probably not...

"So, uh, why are you researching him?" the stranger asked, disturbing Starlight's thoughts.

"It's just been ages since I learned about him myself, so I'm refreshing my memory," explained Starlight, turning back towards the books' contents. "Specifically, in regards to his magical artifacts."

"Oh?" The red-maned mare's interest piqued. "Are you an enthusiast... or perhaps you're into designing prop replicas?"

Starlight deadpanned. "Er, not exactly. I hope to replicate this ancient technology so that I can make a serious change in the world. A change that will benefit all ponykind."

"Well that's vague, but intriguing," the other mare remarked, nevertheless taking a seat beside Starlight. "I'm a bit of an engineer myself. I hope to someday use my own inventions to benefit ponykind too."

"Oh?" replied Starlight. "You're an inventor?"

The stranger's face blushed, and she glanced away, chuckling sheepishly. "Sorta... I-I do have a lab though, where I conduct my research!" She once more met Starlight's inquisitive gaze as she pushed past her nerves, and smiled. "The name's Moon Dancer, by the way."

Starlight snorted, smiling herself at the mare's own anxious nature, mentally rolling her eyes as she extended a hoof for her to shake.

"Starlight," she said, as Moon Dancer took the hint and shook her hoof. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Moon Dancer. Think you could tell me more about this lab of yours?"

The night of the gala...

Starlight blasted another guard out of her way, escaping out the back castle entrance, and taking a moment to strip her body of her formal wear.

Of course this all happens tonight of all nights, Starlight grumbled internally, as she broke into a mad dash from the castle grounds into the main thoroughfare of Canterlot.

Why did I let Moon Dancer talk me into going...? It's not like I even care about that loser... Rrgh, whatever. It's no use mulling over it now. I just need to make it back to the lab before those idiots cause any more—!

She elicited a startled gasp as a loud crash shook the very ground she stood on, her heart nearly escaping her chest as she looked around in a frenzy.

What in the...?

She waited with baited breath, when more bangs and crashes rang out across the city.

I need to hurry.

She turned, and carried on in the direction of Celestia's school, eventually reaching its doors and wasted no time forcing her way in.

She propped a foreleg against the nearest wall as she took a moment to catch her breath.

I am so not used to running that much, she grumbled in thought. Or maybe I'm just getting older... Either way...

She turned her attention towards the inner halls of the school. I need to keep moving.

Reaching the lab, she hurried over and gathered her belongings into her saddlebags as the overhead lights rattled, and bits of the ceiling crumbled as another loud explosion echoed far off in the distance.

She breathed out, steadying her nerves. "And that should do it... Now then..."

She levitated the saddlebags onto her back, before reluctantly turning back towards the exit. I just need to make a break for it.

As she headed towards the entrance of the school, she stopped briefly to attach a note to the lab door. There, she thought, before continuing on her way, when she was struck with another worrying thought.

Will the trains even be operational because of all the chaos happening outside? Maybe they're waiting for evacuees... Well there's no harm in checking... The sooner I can leave, the better. I'm certainly not trying my luck at scaling the mountain roads...

She opened the school's doors, and stepped outside, looking around hurriedly before making a break for it.

Just a little further, she thought. I just need to make it to the trains—!

Her eyes caught a glimpse of something, and she gasped, ducking behind the nearest building. She placed a hoof over her hammering heart, and waiting for several, long moments to hear if any of them had noticed her.

That was the princesses... she realized in awe, mustering her courage as she looked back around the corner. And Twilight, and... that Rainbow nuisance too... facing off against... Her brow crinkled in curiosity. Is that crystal?

The air picked up in ferocity, culminating around the crystal-clad pony, before the crystals then exploded outwards, lightning rippling across the street.

Starlight shielded her eyes from the fierce conditions, and even through her obscured vision, saw the culprit's true identity, and her heart dropped.

Even from behind, her identity was unmistakable, and if the expressions of the others were any indication...

Another Twilight...?

Starlight opened her eyes once more to the same landscape that greeted her from outside her train window, her expressionless gaze staring out at nothing in particular.

That other Twilight... the one Moon and this world's Twilight and Rainbow were fighting... She was responsible for everything that happened that night... My Twilight's bottomless stupidity left me forsaken in this new reality... No doubt that other Twilight's same stupidity resulted in her becoming the tyrant I witnessed that night... Hmph, it's almost as if Goody Four-Shoes Sparkle and her friends aren't as smart as they think they are. Labeling me a villain, only for her to show up as one... Hay, if nothing else... I know now, more than ever, to stay true to my ideals, and see my dream through to the end. The emergence of this other Twilight opens up an entire realm of possibilities. Before I thought there were only my home universe, and this splintered, alternate history... but now I see that our world is just a small part of something bigger—a realm of infinite possibilities.

A smirk adorned Starlight's lips as she turned away from the window, leaning her head back and resting her eyes.

Infinite possibilities... she mused. A world where Twilight isn't the one who's right, and I'm not the one who's wrong... Because after all, if it can be dreamt, then... it can become reality.

Winds of the Past

by Fantasia

Day 1 - How It All Began

Day 2, Part 1 - A Crash Course

Day 2, Part 2 - Celestial Intervention

Day 2, Part 3 - Hospital Blues

Day 5 - The "F" Word

Day 6 - Don't Rain On Our Parade

(Twilight's) Day 7 - Tomorrow Is a Long Time

(Rainbow's) Day 7 - Her Past Is Not Today

Day 8 - Like Fire In the Rain

Days 123 - 124 - The Reason for the Season

Days 130 - 178 - Friendship Lessons, Part 1

Days 201 - 326 - Friendship Lessons, Part 2

Days 327 - 331 - Friends Forever

(The Night of) Day 331 - Legends of Magic

Day 332 - Putting the "Her" In Hero

Day 333 - The Grand Galloping Gala

(The Evening of) Day 333 - The Best Night Ever, Part 1

Darkest Before the Dawn

(The Dawn of) Day 334 - The Best Night Ever, Part 2

Days 336 - 363 - What's Past Is Prologue

Epilogue - Summer Sun Preparations