1: Terminal Velocity

Terminal Velocity

A long, loud yawn split the silence in twain. A pair of very dark orange eyes slowly crept open, desperately trying to adjust to the extremely intense light bombarding them. The specially enchanted wall of the stasis bubble only did so much against the raw fury of the sun.

He stretched slow and deliberately - four lithe legs extending outwards from his spotless, white-coated body. A mid-length mane sprouted from his head and along his neck, tapering off near the small of his back. It was a combination of evenly intermingled red, orange and yellow strokes. The absence of gravity made each individual hair dance in slow-motion, as if hoping to one day be free of him.

Identical markings covered both his flanks. They painted a picture of two fireballs, one yellow-orange and the other a pale yellow, with their flickering tails curled back behind them as they circled each other. A slightly diminutive pair of wings was folded neatly against his sides, their pristine feathers all but shining, except for the left one. A peach-sized hole near the outer tip cut a crescent into the wing, its edges a sooty black. On his fore-hooves he wore diamond-plated obsidian shoes, with patterns of a raging fire travelling a few inches up from their base.

'Already?' he thought, '… felt like a few minutes since I drifted off …'

He looked around as the fog cleared from his mind, albeit too slowly for his liking. The vast expanse that represented only a tiny section of this galaxy lay before him; its scenery remaining relatively unchanged for the past two thousand years, even after travelling so far from his home, able to remember the view from there like it was yesterday … or five minutes ago. There was nothing quite like the miracle of stasis magic.

'What am I- oh, right,' he remembered suddenly as his mind finally became clear. It was time. He rubbed his hooves together anxiously then started doing warm-ups like an athlete getting ready for his winning performance. 'Limber up- very important, never forget that!' a stray memory falling into place. Finally, he took a deep breath and snapped his head forward.

Blazing through the cosmos, his eyes aglow with the same color of the very star he just happened to be getting used to since his arrival in this solar system, he streaked toward the little blue planet that he could not yet see. The trail of blinding red magic marking the way he had come, a magic far beyond his capability, an ever present reminder of his origin and his mission; the very purpose for his existence. And the single thought now running through his mind as his eyes narrowed to mere slits: 'CELEST- hang on, was that … is that a comet?' And thus, after two millennia of travel, the unbroken line of magical essence suddenly veered off, seemingly without any direction at all.

A thunderous sneeze shook the grand meeting hall. Princess Celestia blushed slightly at the staring delegates.

"Well that has not happened in decades!" she exclaimed weakly with a smile, quickly followed by somewhat forced chuckles from a few. "Please excuse me for a moment everyone," she added, leaving the room with her usual grace faltering ever so slightly.

She was almost visibly perturbed, but by what … she could not figure out. Something at the very edge of her perception nagged her thoughts for a few moments before it was gone, just as suddenly as it had come.

Blinking a few times as the feeling passed, she sniffed quietly, becoming suddenly aware of the fact that she had not noticed the guards outside the slowly closing, over-sized doors between which she still stood. They seemed to be concerned, but it was almost impossible to tell with their impassive stares fixed to the floor as they remained bowed the entire time.

"As you were," she said after curtly clearing her throat and turned to rejoin the discussions she'd left behind rather unceremoniously. She slipped back through the doors just before they closed. 'Priorities Tia, priorities!' she scolded herself, putting on her most lavish smile for the expectant 'audience', one she was sure would all be paying her extra attention as a result of her unusual behavior.

The translucent yellow glow of magic would have been unmistakable to any unicorn, had they been near enough to see it. The expression on the young stallion's face would have been a huge smile if not for his mouth being as wide-open as he could manage. From his position right behind the comet he was recombining, distilling and teleporting water from its tail into his stasis bubble all at once, its frigid temperature raised a bit in the process, but still feeling amazingly refreshing on his out stretched tongue. A trick he had taught himself in ... happier times.

With a snort he jerked out of his reverie as the diverted focus caused his control of the bubble's course to slip, its flawlessly smooth surface slapping him in the face as it shuddered, reverting to its previous course.

'Awww … well it was fun while it lasted,' he thought, still staring at the comet as it quickly became a pin-prick in the distance, his face and fore-hooves smushed awkwardly against the bubble's inner surface, like a colt at a candy-store window that knew he could get none of the delicious treats behind the glass. He pushed slightly and returned to his original spot, floating weightlessly in the center of the bubble, brooding once more on the task at hand.

'Step one, gather as much information as possible. Step two, gain her trust. Or, failing that, the trust of those closest to her. Step three, should the opportunity present itself, elim- whoa! So that's what a gas giant looks like up close …'

The bubble zoomed off in another direction, glowing yellow, but leaving its usual red streak, a tad less bright with the guidance spell hijacked ... again.

"PARTYYYYYYYYYY!" screamed the pink earth pony at the top of her lungs, fore-hooves launching confetti and streamers into the air from seemingly out of nowhere, her darker pink mane bouncing wildly with the sudden movement.

"For the last time Pinkie it is only a picnic," Rarity said, one eyebrow in the air, staring at Pinkie as she walked daintily alongside her friends toward the spot they had picked in the Sweet Apple Acres orchard. The thought of getting her white coat dirty, or even worse, disturbing her slightly pearlescent purple mane after spending the morning re-curling it was just about the worst thing she could think of at that particular moment.

It was Twilight Sparkle's birthday, but she had insisted on just having a quiet gathering with her friends this year, knowing all too well the kinds of parties that usually occurred. Convincing Pinkie Pie to keep it small was a monumental task all on its own; it took all of them pitching in just to get her attention long enough. Still, they somehow managed to pull it off, and now Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and of course Spike, Twilight's number one baby dragon assistant, were strolling along while keeping up a lively conversation between them, despite Pinkie's random outbursts.

Pinkie Pie's face crinkled in thought, tongue sticking out to the right, eyes unfocused somewhere up in the trees. "PARTNIIIIIIIIIIC!" she yelled this time before continuing to bounce forward on all-fours, the equivalent of walking for her. The rest of them would have been awarded first prize for synchronized eye-rolling right at that moment, had there ever been such a sport.

"So Twilight, what's with the hush-hush this year? You wouldn't be getting old on us now would yah?" asked Applejack in a playful tone, her blond, tied-back mane, and similarly kept tail, blowing gently in the cool breeze, perfectly accentuating the earth pony's orange coat.

"Well I don't know about old, but I'm certainly getting older," Twilight replied with a grin. "Actually, I have to finish my dissertation on transverse mystical dynamics by tomorrow evening, so I can't risk being such a wreck afterwards - like last time," she added, giving Rainbow Dash the 'evil eye'. Despite her faked frustration, she was still a sight with two stripes, one purple and one pink, interrupting her otherwise plain dark blue mane and tail, and an, abnormally mussed, lavender coat. It was obvious she had been staying up all night again and had barely spent any time grooming herself before being dragged away from her beloved books by her friends.

"Who would've thought that Twilight couldn't hold her drinks?" Rainbow Dash snickered in mock defense while doing the backstroke on a low-hanging cloud, one she had pulled down there herself, her sky blue legs and rainbow striped tail hanging off the edges.

"Case-in-point," Twilight replied, face deadpanned, "I wonder whose brilliant idea it was to spike the punch." Rainbow Dash started whistling, a little too loud to be coincidence, just as Pinkie began giggling uncontrollably. Those two discovering cactus juice might have been the ruin of Ponyville, if not for the fact that it was imported from a long way out; further than most travelling traders went.

"Yeaaaaaaaaa …" Twilight was vying for extra credit at 'eye-roll academy' this time, "Just a nice quiet picnic for me this time thanks. I really need to be able to focus tomorrow, what could possibly go wrong?"

The surface of the blue-green sea of hydrogen, helium and methane gas erupted briefly into a chaotic swirl, as the familiar glowing yellow bubble erupted from beneath, its single occupant caught in the midst of his most thoughtful expression, one back hoof crossed over the other which was bent at the knee, one fore-hoof rubbing his chin and the other cradling an elbow.

'So that's what the core is made of … who would've thought?' he mused to himself, drifting away from what he did not realize was the seventh closest planet to the sun, coincidentally losing his concentration again. This time however, he ended up getting smacked in the flank as the stasis bubble took off once more on its original heading.

Just as he was peeling himself off of its wall, the bubble started to wobble in a rather unhealthy manner, setting off alarm bells in his head. 'Well that can't be good,' he thought as panic started to set in. He touched a hoof to the surface of the bubble and concentrated for a moment. 'Uh-oh.'

His fore-hooves glowed once more as he summoned up what little magic he had left after all the ... unplanned detours. 'Come on buddy, hold it together. No more shenanigans, I promise. Just get me there in one piece.' There was another wobble, swiftly followed by a jerk. Perhaps the sudden extreme temperature changes were too much for it to handle, a very different kind of beast from the relatively constant cold of the vacuum he'd been travelling through all this time. A particularly useful feature of the stasis bubble happened to be its almost completely reflective surface that kept the intense light of the, admittedly tamer solar masses, from boiling anything inside it.

'Please?' his eyes pleading with the bubble, smiling a bit too sincerely for one talking to a non-sentient object, conjured by one far more powerful than he. With that, they shot toward the now barely visible pale blue dot of a planet. He sighed audibly, beginning to set his mind at ease again.

The next tremor, an instant later, set him bouncing around the bubble like a ping pong ball, the walls distorting with each impact. 'Crap crap -'

"NGH!" he grunted with a grimace on his face as his fore-hooves ignited in a yellow blaze again. He became completely and utterly focused on the task of keeping the bubble stable. It would have been comical to see, as he bounced around the bubble a few more times with the glowing bits of him leaving streaks of light, if not for the fact that if the bubble collapsed, magic or no, he would have been a frozen solid in less than a minute ... after all the other more horrible things happened. He quickly decided to think about something else.

Finally he came to rest once more in its center just before it permanently elongated to resemble an oblong egg, contoured closely around his body, which happened to be facing head first toward his objective. His fore-hooves were tucked in by his sides and the back ones pointed straight as an arrow behind him.

Within minutes the planet was fully visible. The greens, blues and whites all appropriately laid out just like it was described to him. 'Paradise. But not for her,' he remembered darkly, 'Not for much longer.'

His thoughts were cut short as his now heightened concentration made him realize that he was approaching a bit too fast, and on a VERY bad trajectory! The guidance spell must have weaken with his constant tampering. He knew from practice runs that his journey would end rather badly, unless he could reorient himself to breach the atmosphere at a much more acute angle. Sweat began to bead on his brow as he redoubled his concentration, no longer just trying keeping the bubble intact, but also manipulating its course ever-so-delicately.

'A small white pancake, yup, that's what I'm going to be in a moment,' he thought to himself, mentally laughing at the fact that he could still keep up his usual sarcastic internal banter, even as he hurtled toward his doom. The heat generated as he met the atmosphere would have barbecued him to a crisp without the bubble. He rubbed the inner surface gently with the hoof still at his side. 'C'mon, c'mon! Just a little further.' There was little else he could actually do within its close confines.

'There's just no way this is going to be a smooth landing, that's for sure,' was one of his last thoughts as clouds ripped apart by his entrance into the troposphere. Then mountains blew past, the trees, other random bits landscape- he was not really paying much attention to the small stuff. The last thing he remembered was the bubble's transparent surface going completely opaque as he changed his focus from its trajectory (now a lost cause) to keeping it as sturdy as possible, drenching him in a perfect darkness with no sound, smell or touch but that of himself. Not that there were any of those other things to begin with.

In some really morbid way, it seemed appropriate to start humming … something from a long time ago. He did not know why, but it had always been stuck in his head for as long as he could remember. A lullaby perhaps?

The thundering crash, had he been able to see it, was not quite as spectacular as he had imagined.

2: Rude Awakenings

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Rude Awakenings

A distant thundering made the group halt mid-stride.

"What in the heavens was that?" Rarity exclaimed. Fluttershy's pale yellow form jumped clear off her hooves and bolted behind Rarity, her pink mane, and indeed the rest of her body, shivering violently with fright.

"It kinda sounded like my-" Rainbow Dash fell off her cloud as she was cut off by the deafening sound that followed, orders of magnitude louder than its preceding sonic booms. The ground shook and the foliage of nearby apple trees whipped violently in the same direction as they were hit by the unseen shock wave before snapping back to their original position, showering semi-ripe apples on the befuddled group.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack exclaimed, bracing herself against the nearest tree. The other ponies looked at each other with mixed feelings of amazement and wonder, but mostly fear. Most of them had managed to stay on their hooves. But the shock wave was not as bad as it seemed and the dense tree-line in the orchard had absorbed most of it. The worst of the damage was suffered by their dignity, if anything, after all - Rainbow Dash had had bigger spills during her time as one of Equestria's top flyers. Not to mention the fastest flyer. So, as expected, she was up again almost instantly after hitting the ground, this time hovering above the tree-line.

"Over there," she yelled down at them, pointing a hoof off to the south-south east. "It's HUGE!" she gawked just before taking off at top speed, the cloud that was her previous resting place dissipating in her wake.

"Wait!" called Twilight Sparkle in, partially succumbing to panic, her vivid imagination conjuring up all kinds of dangers that could have been waiting, only to be quickly overcome by her insatiable curiosity. They all jumped up and gave chase as Twilight took off after the rainbow blur. Spike's purple and green scales flapped in the wind as he was forced to cling to her tail, the sudden acceleration nearly throwing him off, and got dragged along for the ride with his eyes wide and heart racing. Only Fluttershy remained behind when the dust cloud settled. She had been keeping her eyes tightly shut with her fore-hooves over her ears, until she noticed that the comforting feeling of Rarity's tail was strangely absent.

Cracking open one eye-lid she gave a tiny squeak of surprise as she jumped into a hovering flight, a few feathers floating away after liberating themselves from the wings of the Pegasus, (presumably from the stress of the moment) she decided being alone right then was far scarier than following the others.

Memories swam through the pitch blackness like a slideshow gone awry. Each of the thousand frames were flying in random directions, all vying for his attention while accompanied by a jumbled noise of sounds that may have resembled something legible had they stopped trying to be heard all at once. Attempting to focus on any of them only made that particular frame become obscured behind a strange spot, one that was somehow both dark and bright at the same time. It was quite a bit like trying to read after staring at a bright light-source for far too long, each scrutinized word disappearing until you look elsewhere on the page, and yet not being able to make out what it written by peripheral vision alone. It was maddening to say the least.

One particular image took center stage before insanity could set in. It grew larger and larger until it enveloped his entire perspective, coming alive in the process and drowning out all the other sounds with its intensity.

The sky was being swallowed up by a blinding light. The fear was instant and visceral. The silhouette of a rather tall pony stood out against the blazing background, staring into the oncoming horror. Then a gentle male voice spoke up from much nearer, "Is there anything you can do?" Despite its calm, the owner of the voice was obviously terrified. The view was obscured, as if … looking from over the lip of a saddle-bag … a very large one.

"I don't know! I just- I have to try something!" came a hysterical reply from a female voice. It seemed to belong to the silhouette. A flash came from somewhere near the top of its (her?) form, it should have illuminated at least a little of the figure, but for some strange reason she remained shrouded in shadow. A transparent blue barrier shot up between them, looking flimsy at best.

"Focus smmmmfffmm," the word was garbled beyond understanding, a name maybe? "You can fix this, I know you can!"

"This is different smmmrbl," a name that time, he was sure, "it's too big, I-" the voice choked up a bit before continuing "I can't stop it!"

There was another flash and several more barriers went up in a perfectly spaced cascade behind the first. And yet the silhouette still stood in front of them all, as if knowing all too well they would not be much help. Perhaps it was some sort of vain effort to shield them with her body.

"Just remember, no matter what happens, I love you smmmmfffmm!" While he was shouting these last words, a glow started to emanate from nearby and finally some perspective was gained. The saddle-bag was hanging from a pitch black pony (unicorn?) sitting on its haunches behind the barriers. It had a red mane with flecks of dark orange and its horn was glowing intensely.

Just before everything went dark the last thing he heard was the female screaming a name he couldn't make out and crying … a new-born foal's crying …

"Mooooooom!" the young stallion was screaming at the top of his lungs as he snapped back to consciousness, sweat launching from him with the sudden jolt. He was sitting up with his back to the dirt, a fore-hoof extended behind him to prop himself up, hyper ventilating and wide-eyed despite the light of the setting sun being a very harsh change from the pitch black behind his closed eyelids. The resulting pain made him slam his eyes shut almost immediately after, his fore-hooves reaching up to his face to rub them … too quickly.

"Gah!" he yelped, adding a black eye to the list of aches and pains he was all too quickly becoming aware of. He glared daggers at the diamond-obsidian shoes through squinted eyes as they began to adjust. The spate of anger helped to steady his breathing a bit. Then it dawned on him; he had no idea what the things were.

"Why would anyone wear these?" he exclaimed aloud in exasperation, still gasping with every other breath, the question meant for no one in particular but answered none-the-less.

"Ah figure y'all would be the best one tah answer that, sugarcube," a voice yelled from somewhere above him, at which he nearly jumped out of his skin. His eyes still had not quite adjusted to the light, especially not when he looked up toward the voice, its owner shrouded in the blazing sunset sky. He squinted through watering eyes bringing one hoof up to shade his view, carefully this time, in a vain attempt to figure out what was going on, while scrabbling at the dirt with his other three hooves, trying to move himself in the opposite direction.

"Who's there?" he called. "Please, do not hurt me, I am- I- I do not …" he stuttered, realizing something was dreadfully wrong. Not just with the fact that he seemed to be at the bottom of a none-too-shallow hole in the ground, boasting what felt like a innumerable cuts, bruises and internal injuries, but also because he had no idea where he was … or how he got there.

"Now why would ah ever wanna do a thing like that hun?" the voice broke the awkward silence, a bit gentler this time. "Are y'all hurt anywhere?"

"Wha-" was all he could get out before jumping again as he became aware of a something blue hovering off to his left, a face mere inches away from his, previously hidden in his blind-spot.

"Hi!" said the female Pegasus in a friendly, yet over-zealous tone. He bolted up onto his hind legs, his fore-hooves held out defensively, back braced against the wall of the crater, blinking furiously and still trying to get his breathing under control. But just as his back connected with the stilted surface, he immediately arched away from it, grimacing in pain. He fell back into the impression his body had apparently left in the ground, his hooves too preoccupied with their attention on the bruised appendages extending from beneath his should blades to stop him from landing face first. It almost looked like he was hugging himself while making out with the ground. He might have had a good laugh at himself under different circumstances.

'Well I know one thing, I really hate the taste of dirt,' he thought to himself despite the newly added intense pain shooting up his shoulders and into his spine. He moaned pitifully as he tried to push himself up again with one foreleg, spitting the offending material out of his mouth as the other hoof still clung to his … wing?

He hurriedly flung off the stylized shoe in frustration and probed the wing carefully, unable to crane his neck to look without experiencing excruciating pain- well … more excruciating than what seemed to be 'normal' for the moment. As the shoe left his hoof there was a barely visible flash which was noticed by absolutely no one present. He leaned back on his haunches and flung off the other shoe, probing at his forehead with the now liberated second fore-hoof. There was a sickening wet squish just as he touched it that made him immediately reconsider that idea; that and the splitting headache which erupted as a result, causing him to grimace in a wash of fresh agony.

"Nnngh-Sunspots!" he exclaimed through clenched teeth.

"It looks pretty bad from down here, we should probably get him some help- fast!" he heard the Pegasus call to … presumably the first voice and … others? He did not like where this was going, being surrounded was never a good feeling, even worse when stuck, barely alive, at the bottom of a hole in the ground with no memories of how you got there. 'Why is nothing making sense right now?'

"Okay, stand back everypony," came the sound of another distinct voice from somewhere above. He was about to make a vain attempt to look up there again just as he began to glow purple.

'Well this is new,' he thought looking down at his body. Then the panic began all over again as he started to levitate upward, away from the gaping hole in the ground that he had just begun to get familiar with. Wide-eyed, with pin-pricks for pupils, and in outright hysteria now, he started to flail uselessly despite the horribly agonizing pain it brought. As he was raised out of the crater and over to a nondescript section of its edge, the feeling of being completely out of control struck a new chord of fear within him that could only be implicit in his very being. And then the hyperventilating began again.

"Hey, take it easy, no pony is going to hurt you," said the third voice, failing miserably to calm him in any way, shape or form. He didn't know if it was the lack of oxygen to his brain, the pain or the shock of the situation, perhaps a combination of them all, but just as the ground came up slowly to meet him he blacked out for the second time that day.

"'Pretty bad' was an understatement Dash. If he doesn't get professional medical attention right now I don't know that he'll make it," Twilight muttered worriedly, feeling a bit guilty that she had a part in his current state of unconsciousness. "I hope you girls don't mind a picnic in the waiting room," she smiled weakly as she got as near to (what she thought was) the wounded Pegasus colt as she could, "I'm going on ahead." And with that her horn lit up with the teleportation spell, concentrating extra hard to ensure it did not harm her passenger like that first time long ago with Spike.

In a flash of sparkling magic the six others were left staring at each other in bewilderment, regarding the size of the crater and wondering just what the Pegasus had been doing to achieve this big of an impact. Of course, Rainbow Dash had something slightly different on her mind. She was wondering if this new character had somehow topped her 'Sonic Rainboom', and just how he might have done it. She looked around the bottom of the crater carefully, making a quiet sound of triumph when she spotted what she was looking for.

Picking up the strangely designed shoe she flipped it around in her hooves a few times before trying it on. To her disappointment nothing happened. 'Maybe there's some trick to it,' she thought to herself, wiggling it in the air before looking around for the second one. The glint of diamond in the last rays of daylight finally caught her eye and she zipped over to it, sticking the other hoof straight in. The immediate shock reminded her of touching a metal doorknob after rubbing her hooves on a carpet in winter. She jump away from it letting out a sound of surprised frustration before returning again for a second try. She had spent too much time pranking with, and being pranked by, Pinkie Pie to be put off by a little shock like that.

"Dash darling? We're going to the hospital with Twilight," Rarity called, "and to take a shower," she muttered to herself as an afterthought when her gaze fell further onto her soiled hooves. Rainbow Dash squeaked in surprise, like a filly with her hoof caught in the cookie jar.

"Hehe, yea uhhh … I'll catch up with you in a sec!" she replied after zipping back up to the surface, hovering with her fore-hooves behind her back. She waited for them to get out of earshot before flying back down in search of the shoe she had lost track of. Who would have thought a dark colored object would be so hard to find in the dirt- there! She flew back over and eye-balled it suspiciously before deftly swatting at it, like a cat with a ball of yard. Either she had been too fast or whatever that was before had dissipated, because this time around there was no shock, or anything at all for that matter. Tentatively she poked at it a few more times before deciding it was safe and stuck her hoof into it again.

'So far so good,' she thought, holding both her hooves up to her face as if something was supposed to happen ... nothing. She shook them … nothing. She knocked them together a few times … nothing. She flew straight up into the clouds at top speed; eyes still on the shoes sticking out in front of her and then stopped suddenly when she was around the same height as Cloudsdale. Still nothing!

"Grrr!" she growled in frustration. She had not managed to go any faster than normal and she still felt the same strain of top-speed flight, that ruled out any extra energy effect. 'Maybe I should ask Twilight to take a look at these later,' she started to think, 'Nah! She'll just insist that I give them back before trying 'em out.' At that point she was rubbing her chin in thought. 'Well, I better give it a go!' And with that she took off again at top speed, this time going through the practiced motions of her signature move.

The chaotic slideshow was back again, this time it was as if the whole thing was like a shaken snow-globe. None of the frames were obscured this time, but they whizzed by so quickly that he could not tell what was going on in any of them. The sounds were so completely mixed now that it was more like white noise than anything else. He tried to block them out, unsuccessfully at first, but then they started to fade.

What was left behind was confusing to say the least. He seemed to be upside down, a panorama of dark orange sandy dunes and a bloody red sky adorned his vision as he slowly rotated, hanging by one of his back-hooves. It sounded like he was giggling. The only problem was that it did not sound like him, it sounded like … a young colt or filly, one too young to be able to easily distinguish the gender by voice alone.

He looked around briefly before his eyes finally came to rest on the silhouette of a large pony that appeared to be holding his hoof in its teeth. The first thing that struck him was the lack of visible detail, there was no reason for its form to be silhouetted, there was more than enough light to see the desolate landscape around him and yet ... he just could not make out a single detail of this mysterious figure.

"Where did mommy go?" his altered voice asked of its own accord. What seemed to have been a happy moment vanished in an instant.

"THAT-" the thick, gravelly voice coming from the silhouette erupted in poorly contained fury. He hit the sand when he was suddenly released from the figure's hold. He heard himself start to sniff, as if he was about to start crying. The figure sighed heavily and then began again.

"That mare is not your-" it paused for a moment then tried once more. "A mother does not abandon her child," the figure said in a curt and quiet, yet icy baritone. "You have no mother; you will forget that I ever mentioned her."

"B-b-but-" he blubbered, his vision tearing up.

"YOU WILL FORGET!"

He heard himself start to cry for a moment before two red, glowing points appeared in the proximity of the figure's head, an unnatural fire burning within them. Then he really started to bawl, especially as the whole silhouette contorted into one giant, nightmarish vision, a horrible visage of decay, rot and death that he was being drawn into. Its gaping maw was an endless inferno from which the deafening screams of a thousand tortured creatures filled his ears!

3: What Happens in Hospital, Stays in Hospital!

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What Happens in Hospital, Stays in Hospital!

It took three earth ponies to hold down the screaming young stallion before doctor Heartstrong rushed over, a glowing syringe floating after him, to sedate the strange new occupant of Ponyville's only hospital. All despite laying as he was, face-down on the operating table without much to use as leverage! He had been brought in just as the caregivers were doing their early evening rounds. The mare that appeared with him in the middle of the lobby-full of surprised hospital staff had a story almost outrageous as the patient himself. Apparently she had brought him from a fallow field over at Sweet Apple Acres, with a ridiculous tale about finding him at the bottom of a crater.

'A crater! Of all the wild stories these days, this one just took the cake, the platter and the whole darn bakery while it was at it,' the doctor thought to himself. He would have suggested psychiatric evaluation for the mare if not for the horrible condition the poor colt was in, and then there were the other four mares that showed up later to corroborate her story. It was definitely the strangest day that he had had since the night that crazy Pegasus broke in - to steal a book of all things!

He wrinkled his yellow-orange nose at the sight as he took a peak beneath the latest set of bandages and pushed his glasses back into place, brushing a lock of his brown mane out of his eyes. It was a bit much, even after all he had seen, and yet it should have been much, much worse. Whoever this young stallion was, he was very lucky and had a great healing factor. It was a good thing that he was covered in so much dirt or those mares may have never made it to the hospital without losing their lunch in the process. Cleaning him up to the current state was no easy task! After hours on the operating table, even with the assistance of his magic allowing him to operate several tools at once, the whole ordeal had left him in a rather unkempt state; sweat and tiny flecks of blood staining his normally pristine white shirt, his stethoscope long discarded in the confusion.

The one thing that bothered him though, the one thing he could not quite figure out, was the horn he had discovered right after he had finished stabilizing the stallion's broken wings in order to safely lay him on his back and begin work on the head injuries. Only Heartstrong knew about it at that point since it was hidden under a crusty clump of mane, dirt and coagulated blood by the time he was able to take a look. Somehow it was small enough to miss under the stallion's lack-luster orange mane, even without all the mess, much smaller than any unicorn his size. If he did not know any better, the doctor would have sworn he was dealing with an Alicorn. But that was preposterous, surely … there were only two Alicorns he knew of and both were uninvolved Princesses! At least … he thought they were uninvolved …

The doctor shook his head dispelling the treasonous thoughts that attempted to invade his mind. 'No. This has to be a birth defect. Something passed down in the genes surely!' Until he could find out more, he was working on a Pegasus with a birth defect, plain and simple. 'Well, no matter,' he thought dismissively. There would be plenty time to talk about that when his patient woke up again; he definitely was not going anywhere in a hurry. Hopefully they would not have to sedate him the next time around. He had never seen such adverse reactions to bad dreams. They must have been extreme! Today had been full of firsts for him it seemed.

"Nurse, please notify me as soon as he wakes up again. For now just keep him on the I.V. and monitor his vitals closely," ordered the doctor.

Earlier that evening

Four mares and a baby dragon strolled into the hospital reception area, all talking at once. They seemed to be casually arguing about something until they noticed Twilight Sparkle with a doctor, waving her fore-legs in apparent frustration. As they got closer they caught the last bit of her latest plea for credulity.

"… telling you it was a crater as big as Sugarcube Corner! Just come over to Sweet Apple Acres and see for yourself!" she ended with an exasperated groan.

"Now Miss Twilight I'm sure there is some logical explanation for the hole, but you of all ponies should know as well as I that there is just no way that any young stallion could have made it and still be alive!" replied the doctor, then sighed in exasperation. "In any case I'm due for surgery soon. I probably won't be able to leave 'till after midnight!"

"She ain't fibbin' doc, that there hole in the ground was a big one alright," Applejack spoke up. "Why ah couldn't believe mah eyes either, but there he was, smack dab in the middle of it like he dun just fell outta the sky like a barrel o' apples!"

Fluttershy had just finished whispering something to Pinkie Pie, who then interrupted the doctor before he could reply. "Oh-oh-oh, and the BOOSH," she did her best to replicate the sounds, "and don't forget the BIG BADDA BOOM! And we were all like WHOA! And then ZOOM went Rainbow Dash-"

"What Pinkie Pie is trying to say is," Twilight cut her off, noticing the deepening confusion on the doctor's face, "minutes before we got to the scene we heard what sounded like a sonic boom in the sky just above us, but before we could even wonder what it was there was a huge explosion that rocked the trees. So unless you're trying to say that thin air caused that crater and somepony just happened to fall in-" she sighed loudly. "As a student, and researcher, of magic I've learned to stick with the simplest conclusion available that makes the fewest assumptions. At this point I can only hypothesize that it had to be that pony who is responsible for the hole."

"Yes but surely you understand how outrageous that sounds. I'm certain I've already mentioned that the odds of anypony surviving an impact like that are next to zero!" replied the doctor this time becoming even more puzzled by the new witness' affirmations of the events.

"I'm not going to pretend to know how it happened, but I will get to the bottom of this, sooner or later!" Twilight added the last word with a stomp of her hoof.

"Circus pony!" Pinkie Pie burst out randomly.

"What?" asked Twilight and the doctor at the same time.

"We had some ideas about what might have happened as we were walking over here," Spike spoke up.

"Pinkie thinks he was part of that garish circus act where they shoot a stunt pony out of a cannon," Rarity stepped in, rolling her eyes as she started, "but surely he was just trying out a new method of searching for gems," she finished with glazed over eyes and a grin on her face.

"That don't make a lick o' sense- obviously, he was testin' out a fancy new ploughin' technique an' couldn't resist tryin' it in mah lovely field!" Applejack chimed in, stomping both her front hoof on the floor to add some sort of finality to her contribution.

"Or maybe," even Fluttershy had something to add, though everything after the first two words was mostly inaudible.

"What was that sugarcube?" asked Applejack.

"He could be a shhhfsher-" Fluttershy tried again, her face drawing lower and lower to the ground with each word. The others craned their necks, hooves to their ears making it embarrassingly obvious that they still had not heard her. "A BIG SCARY SHAPESHIFTER- maybe, possibly, if you don't mind thinking about it …" she erupted then trailed off in embarrassment, trying to hide behind her own mane, avoiding everyone's eyes as nearby staff turned to look in their direction. Everyone blinked a few times before Spike spoke again.

"C'mon girls, it's gotta be some kind of alien from outer space!" With that everyone present burst out laughing, a few rolling on the floor, loud at first then quieter as they remembered where they were thanks to several fervent shushing sounds from a few passing nurses. The doctor just rolled his eyes and turned to leave.

"I'm needed at the operating table. Do try to keep those wild imaginations from running rampant in the meantime, will you?"

After a while they all settled down, the snickering at Spike's serious frown finally subsiding. "Well we still got the food in these here picnic baskets. What say we all chow down?" Applejack asked as she grabbed the picnic gear slung over her back with her teeth and walked over to the waiting room door. "By the way, has anypony seen Rainbow Dash?"

A muffled boom shook the windows. Though the sound was dampened and slightly delayed, a dazzling multicolored display instantly brightened up the dimly lit room, originating from somewhere out in the darkening Equestrian skyline.

Rainbow Dash was hovering just above the ground, panting hard. She had never been so exhausted from doing just a single Sonic Rainboom before. Not even that time she used it to save four ponies all at once! Something was definitely happening, but it was not helping at all. Quite the opposite in fact. She ripped off the shoes, too frustrated to notice the tiny flash as the first one parted from her hoof, and was about to hurl them away in a random direction with all her strength just before she remembered their owner. That was when the idea hit her.

'I got it! I'll wait until that showoff recovers, then give them back to him. He'll be so overjoyed to get them back that he'll be more than happy to tell me how he did that trick!' she thought doing a backwards loop in the air, a ridiculous grin on her face and the shoes gripped to her chest as if they were worth a million bits. But she would have eagerly paid any price for the chance to show off such an amazing new move for the Wonderbolts.

Giggling like a schoolgirl, Raindow Dash flew off toward the hospital with a renewed vigor, despite her profuse sweating and quite possibly another in a long line of half-baked plans.

"What the hay is that filly up to this time," Applejack muttered under her breath between mouthfuls of apple pie. Everyone else was sitting around in the, not uncomfortable, sofas that lined the walls of the waiting room. The blanket they were going to lay out on the ground earlier that day was thrown over the large but short table in the center of the room and already covered in various food bits as they all munched on their favorite treats.

"Well let me be the first to say, Happy Birthday Twilight. I'm just so sorry it couldn't have been under better circumstances," Rarity said. Pinkie Pie sounded a blowout, hiding it quickly before a rather irate receptionist stuck her head in through the door and eye-balled the pink pony for a moment before slowly withdrawing back into the other room all while Pinkie grinned ear-to-ear.

"Thanks Rarity, I really appreciate it, but I don't mind. After all if we hadn't been out there today that poor pony might not even be around right now," Twilight said, rather pleased that she had helped someone out in a time of need. "Besides, technically this is still a picnic, right?" she grinned, levitating another daffodil and daisy sandwich from the table with her magic. She always did love a good 'D&D'.

"As long as yer happy, that's all that matters sugarcube," Applejack said with her cheeks stuffed and pie crumbs jettisoning themselves from her lips with each word, smiling with her eyes all the same. Suddenly, Rainbow Dash burst into the room, still panting from her ordeal, drawing puzzled looks from everyone present.

"Dash? Are you okay?" asked Twilight with one eyebrow in the air.

"Is he better yet?" Rainbow Dash asked, completely disregarding Twilight's honest concern.

"We're still wait'n on word," Applejack sprayed a few more crumbs all over Spike, his slightly annoyed expression never dropping as he brushed himself off with practiced precision, "but just what in the hay were y'all up to out there?"

"Honestly darling, isn't it a bit late for those barbaric practice sessions of yours? And just what is that lovely pair of shoes you have there?" Rarity added, completely changing her tone from that of everyday condescension to one of almost lustful interest.

"W-what are you talking about?" Rainbow Dash asked, feigning ignorance as she whipped the objects in question behind her back and started to whistle, her gaze immediately shifting to some nondescript corner of the ceiling, shifting back every now and then to see if the others were still looking at her.

"Oh don't try to hide such things from me Dashie! There is no way I could possibly miss the immaculate glimmer of such a perfect diamond finish!"

"Eheheh, well uhhh, oh you mean these old things?" Rainbow Dash stammered at first, slowly withdrawing the shoes from behind her back. "I just found 'em laying arou- okay look, they belong to mister mystery-colt in there and I'm going to be the one to give them back, got it?"

"Rainbow's got a coltfriend, Rainbow's got a-"

"What? Nooooo, it's not like that- don't be weird, I only just met him like an hour ago!" she stammered out hurriedly, cutting off Spike's playful derision. "Look if you all must know, I'm hoping that he'll share the secret of that new trick he was doing out there. That had to be the fastest time from sky to ground I've ever seen! Err … heard."

"Psh, everyone's got a theory," Spike muttered to himself.

"Oh but Rainbow honey you simply must let me take a look at these, the ideas for new matching designs are absolutely bristling right now!" Rarity trilled in excitement, now mere inches away trying her best to grab the shoes as Rainbow Dash nimbly, yet effortlessly, kept shifting them out of her reach.

"Oh fine, but just remember, I'm giving them back to him, got it?" she said just as Rarity used her magic to slip them out of Rainbow Dash's hooves.

"Who's up for PUNCH?" yelled Pinkie Pie. You could almost hear the sound of glass shattering as the receptionist's face instantly appeared around the corner again; the white of her eyes now a bulging patchwork of veins.

"Sorry!" they all whispered simultaneously as, yet again, she ever so slowly receded back into the lobby, her gaze not leaving Pinkie Pie until it was completely obstructed by the wall between the rooms.

"Aaaaaai think I'll pass thank you," Twilight said, giving Pinkie a distrustful look for a moment before turning it on Rainbow Dash, as an afterthought. Everyone started getting into a more spirited mood as they continued the Frankenstein of a picnic party in Twilight's honor.

A few hours later

The emergency room door opened and doctor Heartstrong stepped through, slowly peeling a stained face-mask off as if in heavy thought. Immediately everyone perked up, their attention completely diverted from the game of cards they had going, most looking worried by his grim expression.

"Doc, is he gonna be okay?" Spike asked, breaking the ensuing silence. The doctor looked like he had just snapped out of a trance.

"Wha- oh right, yes well- where to begin?" he asked rhetorically, rubbing his face while trying to gather his thoughts. "The patient has suffered five fractured ribs, one broken. Both wings are broken and three of his fetlocks were sprained. And to top it all off, he has a grade four minor traumatic brain injury that will likely result in anywhere from a few days, to a few weeks of post-traumatic amnesia." Twilight gasped in shock, but everyone else looked more confused than not. "There was also quite a bit of soft tissue damage, strained muscles and other minor concerns, but as I was finishing up I noticed that all of those things had already begun to heal at an abnormally increased rate …" the doctor trailed off as he finally made it over to one of the sofas opposite the group and sat down just as slowly, absently returning to his thoughts.

"Can y'all translate that for the rest of us Twilight?" asked Applejack. She had put down the half-eaten apple tart, the latest victim in a line of apple-based delicacies, and finished swallowing while the doctor had been talking.

"Ummm … basically, it's a miracle he was even conscious, let alone still alive when we found him and … he might not even remember his own name when he wakes up," Twilight summarized as best she could, "but he's going to be okay by the sound of it." The doctor looked up suddenly as if he just had an epiphany.

"Miss Sparkle, you are Princess Celestia's apprentice are you not?" he asked.

"That's me! Well, student would be a better term," she grinned with pride.

"I need to speak with you … privately," he added the last part with a cursory glance at the other occupants of the room. Twilight's expression changed to one of intense curiosity.

"Uhhhh sure, I guess?" she said getting to her feet after laying her cards on the table. When they had gotten out of the room (a chorus of disappointed sounding ponies following them as they realized Twilight had the winning hand) and down an empty corridor, Dr Heartstrong looked around like a shady character from one of the darker alleys in Canterlot.

"Do you … did the Princess ever mention … being in a relationship with anypony?" he asked as tentatively as possible.

The shock on Twilight's face quickly turned to embarrassment as she stammered out a reply.

"D-doctor, surely this is an unprofessional line of ques-"

"Oh no-no not-" he cut her off and sighed with his face in his hoof before trying again, "I'm asking for purely medical reasons I assure you. I'm interested in the possibility that she could have had … foals … a colt-"

"Are you suggesting that the pony lying in there fighting for his life could be- doctor I'm sorry but it seems the shoe is on the other hoof here. Now it is you who is proposing the impossible. I mean … if Princess Celestia ever had a foal, all of Equestria would know about it!"

"Well yes … unless …"

Twilight gasped as she caught on to what he was implying.

"Doctor!" she started in a loud voice before realizing the painfully apparent need for quiet. They both looked around cautiously, as if they were about to open up trench coats lined with stolen items. Twilight got a bit closer before continuing angrily, in a whisper this time, "There is no way my mentor for all these years would be involved in something as- as ...scandalous as conceiving out of wedlock!" Her face was red with a burgeoning anger this time and her eyes gripped his in a piercing gaze. He looked visibly shaken but still managed to stammer out another question.

"W-what about Princess Luna?" he asked. Twilight's eyes could not have gotten any narrower.

"I refuse to stay here and listen to this … this … sland-"

"Wait!" She was cut off by his sudden request as she started turning around to leave. "There is something you must know. You are the most capable pony I can think of for the task at hand," he paused for a moment, choosing his words carefully as she turned back to face him again, her curiosity getting the better of her once more. "No one else has seen it yet but …"

"Just spit it out before I die of suspense!" she commanded, genuinely holding her breath.

"It is possible that the young Pegasus in there is actually a young Alicorn," he said bluntly. Twilight just stood there dumbfounded with her jaw hanging loosely. "I'm not a hundred percent certain just yet, after all it is technically possible that this is just a birth defect and he can't actually use magic but … he has a horn Miss Twilight."

"Wayyyy-way-wait, hold on," she started with her fore-hooves held up in front of her as if trying to deflect some of the shock she was presently being bombarded with. "How … but that doesn't make sense, we didn't see any horn when we found him. Even when I was right next to him for the teleport spell I didn't see one."

"Yes that is the main reason I suspect that it may be just a birth defect. You see, it's actually quite small; about two inches if I'm generous. His mane was also quite a mess on his forehead when you brought him in, I'm not surprised that you missed it. Of course, all of that probably wouldn't have mattered much since it was barely hanging on by a thread before I managed to reattach it with-" Twilight shivered at just the thought of it.

"Please- doctor, spare me the details, that particular topic of conversation doesn't seem to be agreeing with my dinner," she said looking a shade paler than usual. "Has there ever been any such … birth defect in recorded history?"

"While I have studied various kinds, I do not remember coming across one this specific. I know there have been cases of earth ponies born with malformed or stunted horns or wings, but both? Nothing in modern medical literature mentions anything like that. This is exactly why you are perfect for this task. Can you dig deeper into the archives on this issue, see what you come up with?"

"My good doctor, now you're talking my language!" Twilight grinned, forgetting her earlier state of anger entirely. "I'll let you know as soon as I find something!"

"Actually …" he began, then blushed with embarrassment, "if it turns out that this is not a medical condition, would you … could you just forget we even had this little conversation? I really don't want to be caught up in the middle of-"

"I can't believe you!" Twilight nearly shouted again. "If it's not medical, then I'm sure there's still a perfectly reasonable explanation for this. Stop jumping to conclusions!"

"Miss Sparkle, please understand! I could lose my medical license over something like that!" he started desperately before continuing in a more measured tone. "Could you imagine what it would be like to lose your right to do what you loved the most? I just want to help ponies Miss Twilight, surely you can understand that?" he appealed to her emotions in earnest.

Twilight's expression softened a bit before she grudgingly agreed. "Fine … sure whatever," she sighed then remembered, "anyway I really should head back to the library and get started on this, so if there's nothing else?"

He heaved a sigh of relief, "No that was about it … the patient should be awake sometime tomorrow at the rate he appears to be healing- if there are no complications of course." Twilight turned to go back to the waiting room. Just as she reached the end of the corridor doctor Heartstrong called out to her.

"Oh and … thank you! Your understanding on this matter means a lot to me." She just waved a hoof absently without turning around, already lost in thought over the new information she had just swallowed, a bit too quickly.

'Princess Celestia would never punish such a kind gentlecolt over something like this would she? Well … she did banish Princess Luna to the moon for a thousand years … but according to the books she was threatening the safety of all of Equestria … and in any case that was a long time ago. No, the Celestia I know is the epitome of kindness!' she thought. In all of her life she had never witnessed her mentor do anything that could have been construed as unfair or unkind. 'The doctor is probably just being overly paranoid because he doesn't know the Princess that well. But enough of that, there is research to be done, and research waits for no pony!'

Twilight Sparkle re-entered the room just as a hushed game of pin the tail on the pony was getting started. With snickers and giggles instead of laughter, and smiles all around, a blind-folded Spike was hobbling his way over to a crudely drawn picture of a pony with an 'x' where the tail should have been, holding a rather flamboyant tail in his claws as he went. Everyone, except Spike, turned to look at her as she shuffled past toward the lobby door, still lost in thought.

"Where are you going Twilight? There's still more PARTNIC to be had!" exclaimed Pinkie Pie, taking a deep breath as she was about to use the blowout again, just before Applejack snatched it away. The sound of a short scuffle came from the lobby followed by hushed arguing.

"Sorry girls, something really important came up and I just have to get to the library," Twilight said, stopping briefly to look back at them as she spoke.

"Does this have anything to do with that magic triangle dynamite you were talkin' about earlier?" Applejack asked. Twilight Sparkle's eyes went wide as she suddenly recalled her previous obligations.

"Oh ponyfeathers, I completely forgot about my dissertation on transverse mystical dynamics!"

'Ooooooh what am I going to do,' she thought to herself, chewing her bottom lip. 'I really want to start research on birth defects but my dissertation is due tomorrow! If I miss the deadline, I'll have to wait until next year to submit it!'

"Twilight, are you okay?" Fluttershy asked softly, hovering over to her as she started to trot in place nervously, and placing a hoof gently on her lower neck.

"Ye- n-no … maybe?" Twilight jabbered. "I can't make up my mind! Spike! Let's get home quickly; we need to get started right away!" Spike had just lifted the blindfold from one eye to peer at his handiwork. Much to his disappointment, ponies were actually not in the habit of growing tails out of their noses. Perhaps if the game were called pin the moustache on the pony he would have won.

"Awww but Twilight, we still haven't tried your birthday cake," he said with his all-too-familiar tone of disappointment. Before he could protest further however, a slice of cake magically ended up stuffed into his mouth as he was levitated onto Twilight's back.

"Sorry everypony, this is really important, you understand right?" she grinned with what sounded like a foal's toy being squeezed. She started to trot through the door again; the last thing she said to them was, "We can do this again after I get the paper sent off to Canterlot if you want, I promise!" And with that, a pony-sized cloud was all that remained of her in the room while five befuddled friends sat around wondering what had just happened.

"Oh that Twilight," Pinkie Pie giggled, "she seems happier studying than having cake and presents on her own birthday! Isn't that just the silliest thing you ever heard?" she finished in her usual flare, firing off five blowouts simultaneously and spinning two noise-makers.

"THAT IS IT! OUT! THIS INSTANT! ALL OF YOU!" yelled the enraged receptionist as she appeared instantly, her chest heaving in an extremely exaggerated manner.

"SSSSSSSHHHHHHH," all five mares went at the same time. The receptionist would probably have started foaming at that point if Applejack had not stood up.

"Keep yer britches on lady, we were just leavin'," she said as she started to pack up. "Ah don't know about y'all but ah've had quite a day. Ah reckon it's about time ah hit the hay, them apples don't buck themselves y' know!"

"Yes well, I do believe I have a date with my drafting table," replied Rarity, daintily standing up with the unique shoes magically hovering over to her side.

"Hey! Just remember our deal Rarity, you only get them until he wakes up!" piped up Rainbow Dash. Rarity just rolled her eyes as if it was simply unthinkable to break her word, both of them strolling out the door.

"Oh dear, I forgot to tuck Angel into bed, he's going to be so mad at me when I get home," Fluttershy suddenly remembered. Pinkie Pie, on the other hoof, was pre-occupied making as much noise as possible while two security ponies were in the process of half-escorting, half-dragging her out of the building while she sang some strange song about the merits of laughter for getting well.

Minutes to midnight

"Doctor? You should come and see this," a nervous intern interrupted doctor Heartstrong as he was finishing up the paper-work for the day.

"Oh, has our patient come to?" he asked, casting off the lack of sleep evident in the dark rings under his eyes with a renewed interest.

"Well … not quite. It would be best if you saw for yourself sir," said the intern in a tone the doctor found quite suspicious.

With a raised eyebrow and a hovering folder shoved hastily into a nondescript filing cabinet, both ponies left the office at a canter. The now dark and empty halls were almost eerie at this time of night. The security pony that normally did the rounds was probably on another floor at the time. None-the-less, they both managed to arrive at the ward where the patient in question was staying without bumping into or tripping over anything; a credit to the fine janitorial service.

Two nurses were just outside the door whispering between themselves, eyes slightly widened and making an extraordinary effort not to poke their heads through the door for much longer than was needed to ensure nothing dangerous was going on inside.

"What's this all about then," asked the doctor as he slowed to a halt beside the jumpy mares. Without saying another word they both pointed at the doorway, propped slightly ajar by a slippery-when-wet sign that sported an abstract image of what would pass for a puddle and a pony stick figure in the middle of a nasty fall. Shaking his head in disappointment at what he guessed was probably just more superstitious nonsense, doctor Heartstrong pushed through the door with his chest stuck out in a little show of bravado, but he was not quite prepared for what he saw when he entered the room.

Hovering just above his bed, the young stallion who had only hours ago been on the operating table, was glowing a faint yellow. His eyes were closed, legs simply hanging limp with a blanket still clinging to and covering most of him. The rise and fall of his chest indicated the steady breathing pattern of a restful sleep, but the strangest thing was the constantly repeated words that were flowing from his lips without pause.

"Pain endured begets anger. Anger contained begets fury. Fury controlled begets power. Power harnessed becomes absolute. Pain endured begets anger. Anger contained …" he droned on and on, almost like it was an incantation, or litany, or ... something. The doctor was a bit disturbed at first, but then remembered his responsibility for the safety of all the patients under his care and walked cautiously up to the bed with its less-than-normal occupant. He quickly looked around the room, noticing that there was no other patient sharing this particular ward with him, just as he had asked. 'Thank Celestia for that,' sighed to himself. The last thing he needed were hysterical patients to complicate things more than they already seemed to be.

"Has anypony el-" he began to whisper, then realized with a start that the other three caregivers were still back at the doorway, their three heads the only visible sign of them, arrayed one above the other. He rolled his eyes and shook his head again, turning back to the matter at hand, only to gulp at the unnerving sight before him. The young stallion was no longer over the bed, but now hovering upright directly in front of him, his face mere inches away from the doctor's. He was still chanting, though it was a bit quieter then, his eyes still closed, limbs still hanging limp but the blanket was now a crumpled heap on the floor.

Dr Heartstrong was barely aware of the strangled sound of fright that came from the doorway as he reflexively brought his fore-hooves up in surprise. But one of them brushed the levitating stallion, and just as a single one of the doctor's hairs touched him, a blinding flash filled the entire room!

4: To Be, Or Not To Be

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To Be, Or Not To Be

The thunderous crash shook the entire hollowed-out tree that was Ponyville's library. Twilight Sparkle burst out of one of the larger piles of books strewn around the entire ground floor of the structure that also passed for her home as she sat upright. Her eyes were bloodshot and her mane more resembled a controlled demolition than anything else, rouge hairs sticking out at every conceivable angle, as if there was an army hidden beneath the mass of fibers, sticking their weapons out of whole creased sections, while others were splayed out like a fan.

There was another less severe thump at the door just before an envelope slid beneath the door. Had Twilight been a little more than slightly coherent she would probably have guessed that Derpy the mail mare had just added a tad more character to the previously blemish free exterior of her front door as she delivered a single envelope, which promptly slid under the door.

Stretching with a yawn that could swallow the cosmos, Twilight somehow managed to get to her feet without tripping over the uneven clutter adorning the normally pristine floor; weeks of practice from previous all-nighters finally starting to pay off.

"Spi-" she croaked before slamming her mouth shut, eyes fully open now, a bit too wide. 'Bathroom' she thought sheepishly. 'A voice like that could probably have vanquished Nightmare Moon all by itself!' She hobbled up the stairs and through a door. A smaller pile of books began to rustle as gargling sounds started to emerge from the bathroom. Spike slowly shook the randomly assorted reading material off himself, eyes still closed and drooling slightly.

"Mommy?" he mumbled absently rubbing his eyes.

"Spike can you get that mail at the door?" gurgled Twilight, still in the process of fixing her parched throat.

"Not mommy," Spike retorted with a sigh. Twilight felt a pang of sorrow, just barely catching his retort, even though she knew it was not meant to be taken seriously.

"From the desk of doctor Heartstrong, Poneyville General Hospital," read off Spike in his most formal voice, "Dear miss Twilight Sparkle, it appears my fears were well-founded. It would be best if we spoke in person. Please come to see me at your earliest convenience" he ended, turning the letter over in his claws and then poking around in the envelope again in case he missed something. "Sounds pretty important Twi, are you-" he called giving up his search. Twilight appeared next to him in a whirlwind of loose pages and scrolls. She snatched the letter out of Spike's claws with her magic and started to read it herself, eyes rapidly combing the rather brief compilation of words.

"Oh dear" she said curtly after re-reading the letter for the third time before tripping over a tall stack of tomes on her way to the front door.

"Uh, Twilight?" Spike spoke up. She looked at him quickly as she got up and groaning.

"Spike there's no ti-" she stopped herself when she noticed Spike pointing at his head. Between the bit of morning fog still trapped in her head and the present level of distress she seemed to be experiencing, Twilight did not understand at first and gave him a quizzical look.

"Your mane" he mouthed at her, grimacing as he really got a good look at it. She levitated a hand-mirror over to her face from a random shelf. She made a sound of disgust as she grabbed a brush, opened the door and donned her saddle bag, all in the same magical fashion as with the mirror.

"Spike get a head start on cleaning this up, I still have to put the finishing touches on my paper when I get back!" she called, marching through the door at a gallop.

"Twilight look out-" Spike yelled from the doorway, a little too late.

'Ugh' he thought recoiling with a grimace borne out of empathy. 'One Derpy is more than enough!'

Ponyville General Hospital

Doctor Heartstrong stood lop-sided in the ward with its solitary occupant. His back right leg was in a sling and a band-aid plastered just above his right eye, surprisingly seeming almost as worse for wear as his patient. His attire was creased and dirty with sweat stains showing through in key areas and his mane was only hastily patted down.

"Can you stand?" the doctor asked, the confusion on his face was palpable. The fact that this pony was able to sit up was the first bit of shock for the morning, but it was only when he managed to examine the remaining wounds that he really started gawking.

"I can try …" said the pony in front of him as it sat with its hind legs hanging over the side of the bed, fore-hooves reaching extended backward to prop it up right. It slowly slid off the bed, testing the ground as if it were possible that there could be quicksand instead of the solid hard-wood floor beneath it.

It took a whole minute, but finally the young stallion was on his feet and no longer wobbling unsteadily. A smile breached his impassive expression as he realized his accomplishment considering what the doctor had let on about just how bad a condition he was in when he was brought in.

"This … this is good … right?" asked what could easily have been mistaken for a pegasus, even with his wings still in bandages.

The doctor made an exasperated noise before replying, "Good? Son we weren't sure if you would ever wake up when they brought you in!" At that the pony's gaze was cast down to the floor, the same serene expression returning before becoming one of slight depression.

"I … I don't remember what happened … I don't remember anything at all … is that good?" he asked not bothering to look back up, knowing at least the answer to that question. The doctor sighed.

"It's … well this is to be expected with the damage you sustained to the head," he ventured in hopes of reassuring the oddly calm pony, "Do you at least remember your name?"

The young stallion looked around the room for a few moments as if it might help sort out the muddle of grey that resembled anything close to actual memories.

"… Rrrralabrlthhhh" he started.

"Well Rala … brolath? Did I get that ri-"

"No, I … it's- I can almost … right on the tip of my tongue … I just can't seem to … Riiiigah-bleh … " he tried again, ending up with his tongue stuck out.

"Hello mister Rigley!" Twilight Sparkle burst through the door panting with a security pony in tow.

"Sir I tried to tell her that she couldn't-" began the guard, but was promptly stopped with a raised fore-hoof from the doctor, his eyes never leaving the current bandaged wing he was scrutinizing.

"Its fine Night Stick, I asked her to come in this morning" he said dismissively. The dark blue hoof let go of Twilight's tail as Night Stick got back to his feet in a hurry, apologizing one too many times before leaving, his neon yellow tail twitching nervously on his way out the door.

"Not Rig- argh! I can't remember!" the patient exclaimed in frustration, "Can I lay back down now, this is getting a bit uncomfortable" he added starting to sound depressed again.

"Oh yes of course! Sorry about that, this is just so … fascinating!"

"What's that doctor?" asked Twilight making her way over to the bed as its previous occupant climbed back in, grimacing now and again as bruised areas made contact here and there.

"Miss Twilight I'm so glad you are here. I should probably fill you in on what happened last night- err … early this morning"

Roughly eight hours earlier

Doctor Heartstrong was sent careening into one of the beds and its nearby monitoring equipment, a decently heavy E. K. G. walloping him over the head as it fell off its stand. He got out a grunt of pain as he realized something had definitely gone wrong with his leg. He brushed a hoof over the quickly growing bump on his head and looked at it. A small streak blood was barely visible in the once more dark room. He was still breathing heavily from the jarring experience that had just occurred as he pulled himself up into a limp, squinting at the crumpled form of his patient against the opposite wall, the bed he was previously laying on askew as if he had clipped it before coming to rest as he was now.

The doctor became aware of a stifled whimpering coming from the doorway and looked back to see one of the nurses curled up in a fetal position, pin-prick pupils set up her massive eyes and biting down on the hoof stuck in her mouth. He limped over to the door and looked up and down the corridor, not spotting the other two caregivers that were previously around.

"Nurse … nurse …" he tried at first, "Nurse Joy!" he almost bellowed shaking the cyan mare briskly. She slowly removed the hoof from her mouth and with ragged breaths attempted a response.

"Y-y-y-y-" she stuttered In terror.

"Nurse get up, it's okay! I'm fine- look at me!" he whispered harshly.

"D-doctor?" she stammered, finally beginning to calm down.

"Can you stand? I need you to give me a hand over here, the patient has fallen off his bed"

"N-no! Please I-" she jumped at first, "please don't make me go in there doctor!" She seemed to be on the verge of tears.

"Oh for crying out lou- look, just … go get an orderly for me, I need help moving him, I don't feel strong enough to use my horn right now." She nodded thankfully and quickly turned to leave. "Oh and please get those other two that were with you and report to my office when you're done, I need to have a word with all of you about what happened here"

"Y-yes, of c-course doctor" she said before disappearing down the hallway, glad to get as far away from that room as possible. Sighing again, doctor Heartstrong stood back up slowly, grimacing in pain as he accidently put weight on his injured leg. He limped back over to his patient, only a tad apprehensive now. He had heard of sleepwalking unicorns doing strange things with their magic before … but this was a bit more than he had bargained for.

Leaning down to examine the mostly bandaged pony he cursed himself for not turning on the light while he was still near the switch at the door. He probed very gently at areas he knew were especially bad only to be surprised by the lack of blood that should have been staining the freshly applied bandages. He hooked one on the edge of his hoof and lifted it carefully.

'Horsefeathers, I could really use some-" he was cut off as the light came on and a relatively alto voice spoke up behind him.

"Is everything alright down here?" the voice asked. The doctor looked back briefly to see a slender security pony standing in the doorway with a concerned look on his face.

"Ah finally, I was starting to think we weren't paying you ponies enough! Give me a hand here" he said, positioning himself carefully to attempt a lift.

"I'm not sure I'm qualified to-" began the obviously younger stallion before being cut off as he trotted over to the doctor's side.

"Don't worry son, he's not as bad as it looks, you don't have to worry about hurting him" the doctor reassured him.

"Yea but-"

"What's your name son?"

"Night Stick … sir"

"Look mister Stick, if anything happens I'll take full responsibility, okay?" And with a curt nod from the nervous stallion they hoisted the patient's still unconscious form back onto the bed, setting it back into its original position while they were at it. "Thanks son. Now see if you can clean up that mess a bit," the doctor motioned in the direction of the fallen equipment he had escaped from only a few moments ago, "don't worry too much about where it should all go, the orderly will take care of that, but make sure there's no broken glass or anything laying around. I really don't need more anymore work on my hooves right now."

Doctor Heartstrong grimaced as he absent-mindedly came down on his bad leg again while pivoting back around the bed to examine his patient further. He unwrapped what should have been a minor scrape only to find perfectly unbroken skin, though the fur her not yet grown back over the spot leaving clear evidence of what had previously been a gradually scabbing-over cut. Both puzzled and extremely curious now, the doctor unwrapped a slightly more severe injury and examined the area with similar results; perplexing to say the least. By the time the orderly he had sent for entered the room he was almost tearing the bandages from most of the patient's body.

"Doctor! This is highly irregular!" the mare all but screeched from behind him.

"You're telling me- come take a look at this!" Doctor Heartstrong indicated what had been a particularly bad area of the patient's chest. "Just an hour ago this was area here was missing most of the skin!"

"With all due respect sir, perhaps you should go home and get some rest, today has obviously been a long one for you" the orderly said after a particularly awkward silence. He was about to protest when he remember the need for secrecy about the patient's … odd circumstances.

"Yes yes of course, you're probably right" he said nervously, realizing he had almost made things a lot worse for himself. "Could you see to it that he is hooked back up to the monitors for me? It seems they became detached when he fell out of bed during the night." He turned to leave with a passing glance at Night Stick as he was lifting the heavy E.K.G. monitor back up to its stand, a dent in the screen but otherwise unharmed … unlike his head. "Oh and could you help this young stallion clean up this mess, I'm sure he has his rounds to return to" he added, looking back at the orderly as she had just begun to re-attach the probes.

"Of course doct- oh my! You might want to take care of that" she said indicating to a spot just above her right eye.

"Yes well … I'll be in my office a while longer if anypony needs me" he said, slowly walking down the still deserted and gloomy hallway, deep in thought. 'This is not good … he really is an alicorn! What … what does this mean? Maybe I can get a new job in Fillydelphia when they fire me for participating in a major cover-up' his thoughts took a less-than-rational turn.

When he got to his office doctor Heartstrong was slightly surprised at first, having forgotten his previous orders to have the three caregivers meet him there. They stood around nervously; the superstition hanging in the air was almost tangible. The doctor snorted in disgust before starting to speak.

"Now I know what you think you saw in there, but I assure you there is a perfectly logical explanation for that. Tomorrow I'm having an expert come in to investigate the incident and we'll all be able to breathe easier once we know what's-what. In the meantime I want you all to forget what you saw in there-"

"But-" started one of the more vocal ponies.

"No buts! You will not breathe a word of this to anypony under any circumstance. I will have no unfounded rumors spreading around this respectable institution, or Ponyville for that matter! Is that clear?"

"But-"

"IS THAT CLEAR?" he almost bellowed, the lack of sleep evident in his unusually short temper. The three ponies looked at him with a renewed fear in their eyes. He could only imagine the rumors of how he had been possessed by some malevolent spirit or something going around Ponyville by morning. "Look … I'm sorry- it's late, I'm extremely exhausted and it's obviously affecting my judgment. Please understand that the last thing we need is reporters getting under-hoof trying to find some kind of story out of nothing but superstition and old mare's tales. I really like my job here and I don't want to put that at risk by inviting scandalous news articles to ruin the good reputation we have built up over the years. I'm asking you all, as a friend, not as your superior, please just keep this between yourselves?"

They all nodded in assent and left the room shortly after the doctor dismissed them for the night. He collapsed in his armchair, glad to ease the strain on his three tired legs. He was lost in thought again, mostly daydreams about being dragged from the building by Night Stick and some other security pony. Before he knew it he had drifted off into strange and unpleasant dreams.

"So if I have this straight … his wounds were healed in only a few hours and … only those present in this room know about … the horn?" Twilight Sparkle whispered the last part of her question after doctor Heartstrong finished his story.

"Yes and yes- well … not quite … his most severe injuries are still on the mend. His wings and rib are now simply fractures and the stitches I used to keep his … you know what … in place were taken out earlier when I realized he no longer needed them but he says it still hurts when he touches it. Whatever it was that happened this morning, while incredible, does not seem to be without its limits however. His blood-sugar levels were so low that when I was awoken earlier the concerned nurse informed me that she had to up the dose on the I.V. drip far beyond the normally recommended levels. We only just-"

"Awright, clear out you lot!" came a loud and heavily accented voice from behind them. "Oi! We'll be 'aving none uv that wish-wash at breakfast! Bugger off now, the patient needs 'is vit'als!" A faded burgundy colored mare with a dingy grey mane and particularly large and uneven front teeth protruding from her mouth stepped through the door wheeling a tray of hospital food into the room. She ploughed right through the middle of them and parked the tray next to the occupied bed. "Come on luv, we got-ah get yuh right 'an beh-ah" she said in a motherly tone, setting up the special stand over the bed and laying the tray on it.

"Please forgive Bedside Manor, she's not from around Ponyville and is starting to dote a little in her advancing years but she's the most passionate caregiver we've ever had here," the doctor explained in a whisper, looking back over at the pair from the doorway, "all of our patients love her to bits … and not to mention she's taken quite a shine to our young friend there" he added with a smile as he watched her trying explain how to use a spoon before actually feeding him a few first mouthfuls as example.

"WOW, this is so good!" came an uncharacteristically exuberant outburst from the bed's occupant. "What is this called? It's amazing!" Everyone in the room stared in disbelief as the young stallion started shoveling the usually less than palatable broth that was fed to patients just coming off a drip. He quickly abandoned the spoon, which he still had trouble using, and picked up the bowl, gulping down the rest of it in less than a few seconds. "Can I have mo-" he started with the same enthusiastic voice before dialing it back to a timid low. "May I have more?" he smiled sheepishly.

"We'll 'av yah stuffed big as plum luv, jest you wait" said Bedside Manor, smiling happily to herself as she replace the tray and wheeled the stand back out of the room.

"Gee, I wish I could cheer up all my patients with a simple bowl of soup. Do you remember anything about what you normally eat?" asked the doctor, his thoughts returning to his duties.

"Ummm … no? But if I'm sure I would have remembered if I ever tasted anything that good!" he ended with a grin.

"Must've been a hard life … where-ever you came from … " Twilight muttered to herself with a pained expression on her face. She had tasted hospital food once … it was … far from stellar, to put it nicely.

"Hey, I remember you!" he piped up pointing at Twilight, his mood quite a bit more energetic now that he had something enjoyable to look forward to. Doctor Heartstrong's expression changed to that of relief and hope, while Twilight's only became more puzzled.

"But I've never met you in all my life" she said.

"Well, I mean, that is to say, I remember your voice. You were the one who tried to comfort me when I was panicking as some weirdo was lifting me out of that crater yesterday right?" he was grinning while he spoke until he realized Twilight expression had deadpanned.

"That weirdo was me," she said with just a hint of annoyance, "unless you think it would have been better that we left you out there, as bad as you were." He was blushing in embarrassment and rubbing the back of his head with one hoof, the doctor's hopeful expression falling as he realized no progress was made at all.

"Eheh," he gulped, "uhhh … let me try again," he ventured, hopping out of the bed with unnaturally renewed vigor. "Thank you for saving my life" he said, bowing as if Twilight were royalty. She blushed a little at the gesture feeling completely self-conscious even with just the three of them in the room.

"N-now now, there's no need for that. I'm sure you would have done the same thing had our roles been reverse" she said indicating for him to stand back up. It was at that point that she noticed the marking on his flank.

"That … looks very familiar …" she said slowly in a distracted manner, reaching out as if touching the pattern would help to jog her memory. He side-stepped her touch awkwardly, bumping into a table and knocking it over in the process. Various small medical instruments were scattered across the floor and he quickly started to pick them up, willing to do anything that would divert attention from his embarrassing clumsiness.

Twilight's expression deadpanned again, "When I said I wouldn't hurt you yesterday, I meant ever you know" she said.

"I'm sorry … I just … " he tried and failed to explain.

"Yes he seems to have some implicit memories related to touch, unpleasant ones as you can see. It took me half an hour just to get him to relax enough for me to check his wings. Where ever he came from … he was not treated well, that much is evident" said the doctor with a grim expression. For a while there was only the noise of small object dropping back into their original location on the table.

"And you say you can't remember your name?" asked Twilight now in a voice riddled with sadness. She had been trying to imagine just what he must have gone through to shrug away from the touch of another pony like that. Although the details were just about impossible for her to conjure, she still had a rough idea and it stirred some very strong sympathetic feelings within her.

"It should be the last thing one would forget, you know? And yet …" his voice had returned to its original emotionless state.

"Centus … Center … Centauri! Alpha Centauri! That's it!" This time it was Twilight everyone was staring at in confusion while she smiled proudly.

"Wha-"

"The marking on your flank represents the binary star known as Alpha Centauri! It was previously thought to be the third brightest star in the night sky up until recently, but with the aid of very specialized astrometric magic a great unicorn astronomer by the name of Constellus Huddle was able to discern the presence of separate solar bodies orbiting each other!" Twilight finished one of her usual almost-as-if-read-straight-from-a-book monologues. The young stallion was sitting up on his haunches, contorting himself oddly trying to get a better look at the dancing fireball pattern, rubbing at it experimentally as if he thought it might be a practical joke painted there while he was asleep. "So how does it feel to have the third brightest star as your cutie mark?" Twilight asked with a grin.

"My what now?" he looked at her with a blank expression, still contorted to the point of absurdity. By this point the doctor's jaw was just about on the floor as he contemplated how much recovery had occurred in the space of only ten hours.

"Your cutie mark, you know, the mark that you get when you discover that certain something that makes you special."

"Huh? Sounds weird" he said dismissively, resuming his previous circus act and poking at his flank.

"Well that's the only way I know of that a pony gets a mark like that, and I've studied quite a bit on the topic. Hey … we need something to call you- at least … until you regain your memory. What do you think about Alpha Centauri? Or Alpha for short?"

"Uh, I guess so. Sounds kinda neat, sure why not?" Alpha had gotten bored and stood back up at this point. He went over to the window and looked outside. "Why is everything so … colorful?" has asked with a tone of deep confusion.

"What do you mean Alpha?" asked Twilight, walking over to the window beside him, careful not to get too close. In the distance were various buildings, trees and the road. Nothing in the scene looked particularly interesting one way or the other.

Alpha just stared for a moment longer before speaking, "Oh right that's me isn't it? Sorry still getting used to the name. I mean … I dunno, everything is … so green, and yellow, and blue and- and … well just amazing!"

"What did you think you would see?"

"… something … orange … and red … and more orange. Is that weird?"

"I certainly can't think of a place where those might be the only colors to see … a volcano maybe? But even then the sky is always blue …"

"Blue … mmmmmm … it's okay I guess. And why does everything smell so nice?" he switched subjects suddenly. Twilight gave him an incredulous look before rolling her eyes and looking back out the window.

"Oh come on, is there nothing to smell where you come from either? We're in a hospital for Celestia's sake-"

"Celestia …" Alpha said in a low hiss.

"So you at least remember our Pri-" she stopped herself finally getting a good look at him. His eyes were had lost their happy glow and his stare was now so unwavering as it pierced some poor non-descript cloud that she honestly thought it would burst into flames.

And then she noticed it, something she was not even sure was possible. From somewhere within the depths of his chest she could hear a low rumbling and as she listening closer she realized he was growling!

5: A Pound of Flesh

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A Pound of Flesh

"… and over here you can see the royal-" Princess Celestia dry sneezed mid-sentence, "Excuse me! My goodness, this is simply not my week!" she laughed, quickly dispelling the nagging feeling that accompanied her outburst and trying to make light of the interruption.

She was in the middle of giving her esteemed guest a tour of the castle that morning. The young bison girl strolling beside her was called Little Strongheart by her people. After learning about an ... altercation that almost became a serious incident in Appaloosa, the Princess had formally invited a representative of the girl's tribe to join the yearly delegations. Strongheart, as young and inexperienced as she was, had been the only one to volunteer.

Since meeting her, however, Celestia had grown quite fond of the little bison; perhaps due to the close resemblance to her little ponies. In spite of feeling extremely out of place among the other more ... cultured delegates, the girl managed to remain cordial, for the most part, only causing a minor fuss at the banquet when she unwittingly demonstrated how to eat without utensils.

Out of all the others, the Princess quickly found Little Strongheart to be the most enjoyable company, and they ambled on through the ornate corridors, laughing about this and that, quickly forgetting the matter entirely.

Twilight Sparkle slowly reached toward Alpha Centauri, a mixture of curiosity and fear clashing for control of her facial expression. "Alpha … are you alri-" she squeaked in pain before she could finish the question. Just as she had touched him, in the blink of an eye he had grabbed her hoof and twisted the entire fore-leg ninety degrees in the wrong direction, a bit further than it was meant to go. Twilight's knees buckled as she twisted her body reflexively, turning in the same direction in an attempt to ease the discomfort. By the time she had snapped her head back up to look at him his other fore-hoof was an inch away from her face, frozen as if he had stopped himself or- had expected something decidedly unfriendly to occur at that point.

Blinking back a tear from the pain as emotions she had never felt before erupted in response to his sudden unprovoked attack, her horn lit up with its magical transparent purple glow as she levitated him into the air causing his hold to slip and releasing her twisted limb. But he was accelerated too quickly, crying out as his still healing wings were squeezed between his body and something she did not see. At first Twilight was just glad to be free of his grip but then it dawned on her just how much she had lost control of her magic when she looked up to see him flatted against the roof, his expression was now one of complete confusion and hurt, the innocent glow had returned to his eyes as he started to mouth the word 'why', still surrounded by the purple glow.

Twilight jumped nervously, eyes wide and irises tiny, when she felt a hoof on her shoulder. It was just doctor Heartstrong looking at her worriedly, but in her state of elevated stress her magic failed and in the same moment Alpha began to plummet to the floor. Twilight was still staring at the doctor with the shock and confusion of the moment when his own horn lit up and he caught the young stallion just before his face could break his fall.

Twilight had been in dangerous situations before, even ones where she was attacked without provocation like that time with the Hydra, but never by another pony and she had never hurt another creature in her life. She looked back and forth between them nervously before attempting to speak, "I- I …" she stuttered slowly standing up. Tears began to well up as she broke into a gallop and bolted out of the room whimpering.

"Sunspots! What happened to her?" Alpha spoke up rubbing his tender appendages once he had been released. The doctor had followed her retreat with his eyes, but now brought them back to his patient.

"A better question, son, would be what just happened to you," he stated with a hard but professional expression.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Alpha asked in confusion. Doctor Heartstrong looked at him carefully for a moment, searching his face for signs of deception.

Finding none he tried a different approach, "What do you recall happening in the last few minutes?" he asked.

"Ummm … well I was talking to … err … what was her name?"

"Twilight Sparkle."

"Right right, I was talking to her as I was looking out the window and then next thing I know I'm looking down at both of you with what looked like the same crazy glow around me as that time when she lifted me out of the crater!" The doctor rubbed his chin with a frown on his face for a moment, but quickly stopped as he nearly lost his balance when he was left standing on only two legs.

"So you don't remember attacking Miss Twilight?"

"What? No I- why would I ever do that? She saved my life! Look, I don't know where I am or how things work here, I don't even remember where I came from, but I get a very strong feeling when I think about the debt I owe to her!"

"Well you're off to a pretty bad start if you intend to make good on that debt son … so you don't remember nearly breaking her fetlock joint with those fancy moves of yours?" Alpha's expression just became one of stark disbelief, his jaw worked uselessly as he tried to say something but he brain wasn't quite in sync.

"I … did that?" he asked in a far quieter tone, his expression slowly changing to one of deep sorrow.

"And you also looked like you were about to smash her nose in the same fluid motion, but for some reason you stopped your hoof a hair away from her face. I've never seen anypony move like that before …" at this point doctor Heartstrong was convinced that no one could fake the emotions playing out over Alpha's face as it shifted between sorrow and distress while he was listening to the doctor's recalling of the events that had just transpired.

Alpha scrutinized the floor with his gaze for a full five seconds in silence before his head snapped back up. "I have to go talk to her … I have to make her understand I didn't know what I was doing-" he blurted out as he bolted for the door.

"Hang on," the doctor said calmly, lifting the Alpha off his feet and back over to the bed as they worked furiously in the air. "I haven't discharged you yet, I need to take a look at those wings after that little tussle. I also want have you sit down with a friend of mine for a little talk."

"Oh come on, this is important! Can't all of that wait until later?" Alpha asked in a frustrated manner.

"I'd feed a parasprite before I have any patient of mine running around with untreated injuries!" he exclaimed with finality. Just at that moment Bedside Manor came through the door rolling in a tray with two bowls full of soup and a few other new dishes even doctor Heartstrong wasn't aware were available in the kitchen.

"Ready f' round two luv?" she called with a cheery tone in her usual loud voice.

"Well I guess I could stay just a little while longer," Alpha grinned sheepishly as his stomach started to growl.

Rainbow Dash yawned and stretched. She had been camped out on a cloud above the hospital the whole night, tossing and turning unable to sleep properly as she dreamed up one fanciful idea after another about what kind of maneuver she was going to learn the next day.

Today was that day, but the lack of sleep was plastered across her features like the ill-begotten product of a frustrated abstract artist and several cans of paint. Dark heavy rings were under her eyes and there was a streak of dried saliva snaking its way down from the left corner of her mouth, taking several erratic turns as it reflected the tossing and turning she had been doing. She flew uncharacteristically slowly over to the nearest raincloud- and then right into it.

The cloud-pony hybrid emitted random noises one might hear from a shower stall after a big hoofball match for a few minutes before a refreshed Rainbow Dash burst free in a flurry of water droplets and dissipating cloud guts, all four hooves pointing out in opposite directions.

"Alright, time to become twenty percent more awesome!" she said to herself with her usual flare, pumping a hoof in the air before doing a back flip and speeding down to the hospital. When she trotted in with what could have been perceived as a disturbingly wide grin on her face, she noticed that the place looked quite different from the previous night. There were nurses pushing wheel chairs with ponies in casts, elder ponies ambling around shakily on walkers, friends and relatives were sitting, standing or hovering here and there interacting with the others. A few heads turned to look at her when she entered but quickly went back to what they were doing.

Rainbow Dash made it to the front desk and knocked on the counter to get the attention of a completely different receptionist from the previous night. The pale blue receptionist looked up and smiled, for some reason finding it particularly amusing that their coats were similar in color.

"How may I help you today," she said pleasantly, the smile never leaving her face and the paperwork she had been doing through laid one-side.

"Yea is he up yet?" Dash asked.

The receptionist tilted her head sideways, "Is who up yet honey?"

"That stallion we brought here last night," Dash replied impatiently.

"Name?"

"I don't know, he was out cold before we could ask him," her impatience was starting to become frustration.

"Time?"

"Night time! C'mon how many half-dead patients do you get in the middle of the night?" the level of Dash's voice was beginning to draw attention as the receptionist, still smiling, started looking through some papers on another corner of the counter she stood behind. There were two distinct colors for the papers that made up the stack and only one of them as the other color – the top one, but for some reason she started from the bottom of the pile.

"Are you kidding-" Rainbow Dash started almost at a yell now, but then stuck her hoof in her mouth as everyone in the room stared at her now. "Listen lady," she began in a whisper, "I don't wanna tell you how to do your job, but maybe could you check that top one first?" she ended indicating the pink sheet at the top of the pile.

"Okay," she replied never dropping her smile as Rainbow Dash began to think about how this mare could give Pinkie Pie a run for her bits. She skimmed over the information quickly before speaking again, "Seven-fifteen, John Doe, Ward B4 … does that sound like your coltfriend?" she asked innocently.

"HE'S NOT MY-" this time she bellowed and everyone in the room hissed there shushing noises at her. Rainbow Dash raked her hoof across her face and zipped through a doorway, only to return five seconds later. "Uh, where exactly is Ward B4?" she asked sheepishly.

"Well it looks like you got lucky again son, there doesn't appear to be any further damage to your wing bones from your little dance with the ceiling, but you're going to have to stay off them for a few weeks until the fractures heal … although, the way your body heals it could be a few days … we'll have to wait and see," Doctor Heartstrong finished, wrapping Alpha's wings back up in fresh bandages.

"Mmmhmm," was all Alpha got out with his face buried in a bowl of Brussels sprout and oatmeal mash.

"Is he awake doc?" came a voice from the door. The doctor looked up to see Rainbow Dash zipping around the corner and into the room. "Aha! Now I've got you right where I want you!" she exclaimed with a scheming grin. Alpha was still holding the latest bowl of mash to his face, gulping and slurping at it hungrily, too busy to notice what was going on, or even that he was the intended participant of the conversation. "Hey!" she landed on all fours and marched over to him stomping every hoof along the way. When she was within leg's length of him she just stopped and stared, expecting that by now he would have finished eating … but he kept going; bent on licking the bowl clean while wearing an extremely contended expression.

Rainbow Dash raised a hoof and knocked on the bowl still held up to Alpha's face. He jerked it away as the noise generated so close to his ears was almost deafening from his perspective. When he realized there was a new pony standing in-front of, and staring at, him he looked at her and blinked a few times with a quizzical expression before he burst out "I remember you!"

Rainbow Dash fell over startled before hurriedly fluttering back up into a hover, "W-well of course you do! Is there anypony who hasn't heard of the amazing, stupendous, one-hundred and twenty percent awesome- Rainbow Dash, future captain of the Wonderbolts?" Alpha's head just twisted to one side in confusion.

"You nearly killed me in that crater yesterday!" he blurted out, doctor Heartstrong who had been listening intently from the word 'remember' now planted his face in his hoof before quickly trying to regain his balance.

"What?"

"You nearly gave me a heart-attack! Is that how you wake up people here?"

"Pfft, c'mon don't be a lightweight. Besides, if I hadn't flown up to see where you landed you might have really been in trouble in the time it would have taken for the others to get there! The way I see it you owe m-" at that point she realized he was bowing in front of her, "What are you doing?" she asked becoming both amused and gratified simultaneously as Alpha prostrated himself before her.

"It seems I have another debt to repay for my life, thank you," he said humbly, still bowed. Rainbow Dash rubbed her chin thoughtfully before landing on her hoofs.

'This is perfect! He'll do anything I want now, including telling me about that trick he did' she thought with an evil grin. She rested a hoof on his shoulder in her best impression of royalty and started in the most official tone of voice she could muster, "Well now, let's start with something small shall we? Tell me just how you did that trick out there yesterday."

"Trick?"

"Don't play dumb with me mister, you owe me remember?" she said removing her hoof from him and picking up his face to look straight into his eyes. "The move, the maneuver- tell me …" she regarded his confused stare for a moment before letting go of him entirely and rubbing her face with a hoof while hovering over to the window. "Oh come on! The sonic boom, the crater, the shockwave! There had to be some trick to all of that! I saw where the sonic boom came from and it was way too far up for you to reach the ground that fast! No pony is capable of that so there has to be some trick to it! Even if it was a flop … I mean- you weren't supposed to hit the ground and nearly die … right?"

"Wha-"

"I know! You need those to do it don't you? Wait here I'll be right back!" Rainbow Dash had disappeared through the window before anyone else could say another word. They all blinked in silence.

"With all due respect … are all ponies here weird?" Alpha's remark caused the doctor to laugh for the first time in two days.

"You seem to bring out the … weirdest in them," he chortled.

"Sunspots! I almost forgot- I've got to go talk to Twilight!" said Alpha hopping once before bolting for the door only to be levitated back to the middle of the room, upside down no less.

"Eh-eh-eh! There's still the business of that little chat to get out of the way," said doctor Heartstrong.

"B-b-but- this is important!"

"So is this," the doctor said grimly, looking over alpha with a critical eye. "But I suppose we can make an exception-"

"Yessssss-"

"IF- and only if, you promise to come right back when you're done!"

"Okay, yeah sure whatever, let me down now?" at this point he was squirming like a beetle trying to right itself.

"And I need to have someone escort you there … hmmm … oh you know what, Night Stick's shift should just be about over and I think he lives in that direction. I'll ask him to go with you."

"Okay okay! Can I go now?" Alpha asked impatiently. The doctor slowly brought him back down to the floor on his feet.

"Come with me then, let's get this sorted out- and by the way … a little friendly advice. I don't know about that 'make her understand' stuff you were saying earlier but, you may want to try starting with an apology."

"A what?"

The doctor looked at him quizzically; surely he did not hit his head that hard! "Say you're sorry?"

"I don't follow."

"What do you do when you have wronged somepony?"

"Fix it."

"And what if the wrong was not physical, what if it's on the inside?"

"You mean … like pulling a muscle?"

"No! Not-" the doctor sighed in frustration, "Her feelings boy, you've hurt her feelings!"

"Is that like … what did you call it earlier … a fetlock joint? But you said I nearly broke it, did she suffer some other injury as a result?"

"You can't be serious … ok how about this: when you think about not being able to remember anything … what do you feel, what do you experience?"

"… I don't like it."

"And what about when you woke up in that hole yesterday- besides the pain from your wounds … what did you feel then?"

"Well I really didn't like that!"

"That's something like how Miss Twilight probably felt when you attacked her, except she may still think you did it intentionally … so in a way it's actually worse."

At this point Alpha looked the doctor square in the eyes with his mouth open, understanding finally beginning to dawn on him. Alpha followed him out of the ward down a few corridors and into the lobby in silence, twitching fretfully all the way there while deep in thought. Night Stick was at the counter scribbling on a piece of paper, probably filling out a report and signing out, just finishing as they approached him.

"Mister Stick?" called the doctor. Night Stick looked around.

"Sir?" he responded respectfully.

"I know you've just gone off-duty but could you do me a favor?"

Being new to the job, only two weeks in to be precise, Night Stick was eager to prove himself and gladly accepted when the doctor explained the situation to him. But just before they left he was pulled aside hurriedly, the doctor whispering to him as Alpha started to walk outside and take in his surroundings. The first thing that he noticed was the air; so rich and full of life. Then there were the sounds; wind in the trees, the birds singing- the sounds of life itself! He quickly became overwhelmed and fell back onto his haunches with a sound of amazement escaping his mouth. But as amazing as he found it, the moment was short-lived when he remembered the task at hand.

Looking back at the two ponies still in the open doorway he called, "Are you coming?"

Rarity had been up early that morning, her overflowing enthusiasm driving a level of creativity she had never before achieved. Various design sketches were strewn around the room; draped over furniture and sticking out of every nook and cranny. Everything from shoes to hats to corsets was sketched hastily on the clutters of paper. A particularly complicated design for a stallion's outfit was pinned up on the central workbench and Rarity was cutting out patterns to fit to one of her wooden model ponies. The diamond-plated obsidian shoes were already fitted to the model and every now and then she glanced at them adoringly.

Rainbow Dash crashed through the door in a flurry of wooden bits, hooves and loose design sheets caught up in the commotion. She came to rest, tail-end up in the opposite corner of the room, emitting a sound of pained apology.

Rarity cringed and without turning around and mumbled to herself, "Oh dear, is it that time already? Couldn't you possibly wait another day Dashie darling?"

"Hey! We had a deal!"

"Oh but look at all this wonderful inspiration they've given me," Rarity exclaimed waving a hoof around her shop, "How about an hour longer? Five minutes?" she put on her most endearing grin. By now Rainbow Dash had recovered and stood with a deadpan expression and a hoof out indicating that Rarity should hand over the shoes. Reluctantly she levitated them over to Rainbow Dash who promptly grabbed them with her teeth.

"Well I think I'll at least come along. I'm going to need some measurements for one of my newest creations!"

There was a knock at the library door as Spike tip-toed on a ladder trying to get the last of the books back onto the higher shelves. When Twilight Sparkle had arrived earlier she went straight to her room without as much as a word to Spike. There were few things that could keep Twilight away from her studies, even fewer when she had a deadline to meet and Spike had been extremely concerned. When he knocked on her door without getting an answer he had decided she needed to be alone for a while and did his best to finish cleaning up in anticipation of the biggest study-fest they had ever done when she inevitably tried to drown … whatever it was that was bothering her in piles of books.

Another knocked broke Spike out of his thoughts but unfortunately did not break his fall as he crashed to the floor when he lost his balance, the books he had tried so hard to place smacking him in the face. He groaned, not at the potentially painful experience his tough scales had all but negated, but because he knew his clean up job was now still unfinished.

"Coming!" he called, getting up as his new literary helmet slid from his brow. When he opened the door he was doubly surprised; first by the almost fully healed pegasus in front of him, and again by the security pony next to it. "Uh … can I … help you?" he asked unsure what this house call could possibly be about. Had Twilight done something wrong?

"Is Miss Twilight Sparkle home," asked Night Stick in an official tone. Now Spike was really getting worried.

"Uhhhhhhhh," he delayed, betraying a look over his should toward her still shut room door, "She's … busy … right now, is something wrong sir?"

At that point Alpha's impatience started to get to him and he deftly stepped past both Night Stick and Spike into the library. "Twilight? Are you here?" he called as they both stared him, surprised by his audacity and just plain rude behavior.

But before either could protest, "Please go away!" Twilight Sparkle's muffled voice came through the door but the words were clear enough.

"Alright you heard the lady, come-" started Night Stick, walking in past Spike toward Alpha, but stopped when he saw Alpha leap nimbly over to the door where he'd heard the voice coming from, "hey-"

"Twilight please hear me out!" Alpha yelled at the door before putting his ear to it, hoping for a response. After a few moments of silence he continued, "The doctor told me what happened, I don't know what … why …" he began to trip over the words. "That wasn't me, I swear!"

"Who was it then?" came another muffled reply.

"I … I don't …" he was really messing this up and he knew it, but the words in his head were just such a jumbled mess. 'Maybe I should have thought a bit more on what I wanted to say on the way over here' he contemplated to himself. He jumped slightly when he felt a hoof on his shoulder. When he looked behind him Night Stick was looking at him in pity, but made it clear that it was time to go. Alpha defiantly shifted to open the door and managed to push it slightly ajar before he was yanked away.

"That's enough, come on buddy, back to the hospital with you," Night Stick asserted, pulling Alpha along with a firm grip.

"Twilight … I … I'm sorry," he managed to remember the doctor's advice, not putting up much resistance anymore. Words had failed him, or he failed at using them … either way there was nothing more he could think to say at that moment that would not sound completely stupid. He barely understood what had happened between them himself.

'Cursed memory loss! Why couldn't I have broken my legs or something instead … in fact … why did any of this happen in the first place? I must have been pretty bad at … whatever it was I was doing … maybe a fresh start is a good thing … but now I seem to be screwing this up too!' he chastised himself mentally. Just as they had reached the front door again Twilight stepped out from behind her door, her face still streaked with half-dried tears.

"Wait-" she called. All eyes turned to look at her now. Night Stick just catching on to what was really going on and Alpha looking just as withered as he did back in that crater, Spike on the other hand was taken aback by her appearance and after a moment of putting two and two together he turned an angry stare on Alpha.

"Hey! What did you do to her?" Spike demanded angrily his protective instincts kicking in.

"Spike … it's alright. In fact … I should be the one apologizing right now," Twilight began.

"Don't be silly, it was I who-"

"Quiet!" commanded both Spike and Night Stick simultaneously. Alpha tried to make himself as small as possible. Twilight wiped at her face with a hoof, staring at the floor the whole time.

"No I should have remembered what the doctor said about you being sensitive to another pony's touch … and I overreacted … I could have seriously hurt you with my magic- I've never hurt anypony in my life! I just … I panicked and I overreacted and I hope you can forgive me for that and how rude I was just now after you came all the way here to talk about it," she finished now looking up at Alpha who just sat there by the door, dumbstruck.

Night Stick gave him a soft kick in the side, breaking him out of his spellbound trance, at which he quickly got to his feet and walked over to Twilight. "I'm sorry I nearly broke your hoof … and nose … even if I don't remember doing it," Alpha started as both Spike and Night Stick stood gawking behind him, "I would never intentionally hurt the pony that saved my life, that's about the only thing I can say with confidence despite this whole memory loss thing. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you … anything at all- just name it!" She giggled at that.

"You're sweet but … unless you know anything about the nature of magic caught in a cross-stream then I don't think there is anything you can help me with today," she said looking into his eyes with a smile.

"Oh I'm sure I could help out some other way ..." Alpha looked around the library at all the books, "I could help you find books on … whatever that was you sa-"

"Sorry bub, that job is already taken by yours truly," interrupted Spike, thumbing a claw toward himself with a smug grin on his face, "Twilight's number one assistant for life!"

"Well how about cleaning-"

"That's me again."

"What about food-"

"Me."

"Maybe I could get-"

"All me."

"Look Alpha I really appreciate the offer, but Spike is pretty possessive about his job," she smiled at the baby dragon, "And unfortunately too many cooks spoil the broth as the saying goes. Still I'm glad you came by … maybe you could come by tomorrow or something but I really have to finish my paper by this evening," said Twilight.

"Oh … well … okay … see yah," he sighed dejectedly.

"Goodbye Alpha," she said gently, closing the door as they left.

Would he ever be able to repay these kind ponies for all they had done for him? Would he ever be able to repay his growing debt to Twilight Sparkle specifically? These thoughts constantly troubled him as Night Stick escorted him back to the hospital, taking his express orders not to let Alpha Centauri out of his sight very seriously.

6: In the Mind's Eye

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In the Mind's Eye

The door to the library had only just closed with Alpha Centauri still lost in thought with his eyes focused on the ground when a rainbow blur whizzed past him only to stop and hover just in-front of that same door, poised to knock and looking back at the two stallions. Rainbow Dash and Rarity had gone to the hospital earlier looking for Alpha only to be informed that he had gone to the library by doctor Heartstrong.

"There you are!" exclaimed an excited Rainbow Dash, "I almost thought you were trying to avoid me," she finished with playful smile. "Here, I found these back at the crater!" With that she shoved the stylized shoes at Alpha just as he had looked up at her. His eyes went wide when he saw the offending objects however.

"Gah!" Alpha jumped back as if he had been slapped in the face, "Not those again!"

"Wha-?"

"They assaulted me! You were there, don't you remember?" Alpha made a motion as if he was going to smack himself in the eye but stopped just before actually doing it. Rainbow Dash frowned.

"Are all the stallions just big colts where you come from?" At that remark Alpha shifted his gaze to stare off in the distance, sitting back on his haunches.

"Oh leave the poor dear alone Dashie, he's still recovering from that nasty spill, isn't that right my handsome wittle runway model?" Rarity had just caught up in time to catch the last part of the exchange and had started scribbling down numbers on a hovering pad while a glowing measuring tape snaked its way around different sections of Alpha's body, much to his discomfort, and completely distracting him from what could be construed as Rarity's reference to his size, despite standing a little taller than she did.

"Wh- what?" he asked in a distracted tone, trying in vain to catch the tape between his fore-hooves.

"Oh darling you simply must try on my newest creations for the males, you have the perfect figure for a fashion show, young and lean with this spotless white coat of yours that goes with any color! And all of it is thanks to those!" Rarity finished, indicating the shoes still sitting in Rainbow Dash's care with a wave of her hoof, not missing a beat as she finished up taking the measurements. Alpha finally managed to grab the tape just as the magical glow around it subsided and he started to shake it for no good reason before realizing everyone was staring at him. Grinning in an attempt to stave off embarrassment he handed Rarity back her tape before speaking.

"Uh … yeah I don't really know what that is but I'm not sure if I like the idea of putting on anything that tries to put my eye out."

"Hey, you're supposed to be teaching me those moves! I brought your trick shoes that you couldn't possibly have done it without, now stop stalling!" Rainbow Dash spoke up, her frustrations with being ignored finally getting the better of her.

"I was going to tell you the first time back at the hospital but you flew off before I could say anything … I can't remember anything from before my … accident … so I really have no idea how I did … whatever it was I did!" Alpha tried to explain. Rainbow Dash landed in front of Alpha before replying.

"Likely story! You're telling me that you've almost completely healed but conveniently don't remember anything? I bet you want to keep it a secret don't you? I bet you want to try out for the Wonderbolts too! It all makes sense now-"

"Actually Miss, he does have amnesia, doctor Heartstrong said so himself. And as a matter of fact he has to be getting back to the hospital right now- doctor's express orders," Night Stick cut in, starting to get concerned about being delayed in his first 'extra-curricular' assignment. Rainbow Dash made a sound of frustration before a familiar glow encapsulated the shoes and floated them back over to Rarity.

"Oh come now mister uh … ?" Rarity began.

"Night Stick, ma'am, hospital security," he said in an official, and rather proud tone.

"Night Stick- what a handsome name, oh and you're so fit too, do you work out?" Rarity asked as she gently brushed a hoof over his cheek.

"W-w-well-"

"My my, a fine specimen of a stallion like yourself must have been in several fashion shows already! I'm sure you won't mind if we just took a small detour over to my boutique so that you strapping gentlecolts can have a look at one particular design that I'm sure will change his mind … won't you?" Rarity finished after having walking back in front of Night Stick, turning her head to look over her shoulder at him and fluttering her long eyelashes.

"I s-suppose there's no harm in a small detour," Night Stick said grinning bashfully, completely ignoring the fact that Rarity's boutique was in the opposite direction.

Rainbow Dash was still fuming over her plans gone awry when the other three walked off, leaving her deep in thought. 'So he wants to play it that way huh? Amnesia- bah! I bet that's a made-up egghead word and that other guy is a friend he brought along to make his story sound better … well two can play at this game! He can't keep up that act forever. If I keep my eye on him I'll probably catch him practicing again, then I'll definitely see how he did it!' She smiled maniacally to herself before fluttering off to join the others.

"So what exactly is this … fashion thing you speak of, and who are you showing it to?" asked Alpha as the four ponies walked through the village on their way to Rarity's shop, the Carousel Boutique. He couldn't stop looking around at the many interesting sights; stalls with ponies selling various wares, freshly baked goods cooling by the window of a ridiculously colorful building, pegasi moving around the clouds, houses of all shapes, sizes and colors. Despite all the distractions he still managed to construct the question coherently enough for the others to understand even though the puzzled expressions on their faces might have suggested otherwise.

"Oh the travesty!" Rarity began, laying the back of her hoof over her forehead, just above her horn, "I would have at least expected there to be some sense of fashion where you came from, but to not even know the word- of all the worst things that could happen this is THE. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!" she finished with wide eyes. Rainbow Dash, knowing her friend all too well, was glaring holes in Rarity's back when Alpha spoke.

"This sounds serious! I hope-"

Rainbow Dash fell over laughing behind them causing Alpha to look back at her in confusion.

"Don't mind her," she began when she finally got back in control of her heaving sides, "She makes everything related to her work sound serious."

"Pay no attention to these barbarians … err … what was your name again?" Rarity asked.

"I can't remember … but Twilight Sparkle said that this pattern on my flank looks like some place called 'Alpha Centauri' so … we kinda went with that," Alpha explained with a half-hearted smile.

"Delightful! It does suit you quite well you know," Rarity beamed in an attempt to brighten the mood.

"Uh … yea I guess so?" Alpha replied quizzically.

"Fashion my dear Alpha," Rarity continued on with her usual flare, "Is the very essence of life! Why without it we would still be living in caves and covering ourselves with mud for festive occasions- could you imagine? Mud! And-and … berry juice!" At this point Rarity made a face like she was about to show everyone what she had for breakfast, just as they were approaching her boutique. "No-no-no, this simply won't do of course. Now mind you, I have only just begun the design, but the sketch is very detailed. One peep and I'm sure you'll be just dying to try it on when it's finished," she ended with a smile, her horn lighting up as she opened the door and led the way inside.

The others were looking back and forth between each other shrugging as they walked in. Alpha lost his footing, lurching forward suddenly before regaining his balance as he slipped on one of the many design sketches still strewn around the floor from earlier.

"Oh dear my apologies, Dash was in such a hurry when she came by that I had no time at all to clean up!" Rarity explained, magically picking up most of the sketches and bringing them together in a neat stack by the door to the inner rooms. Alpha nearly fell again as the sketch beneath his hoof was snatched away by the uncaring whims of the levitation spell, Rarity not even noticing as she walked calmly over to her main work station with a proud smile on her face.

"Behold! My greatest creation ever!" she reared up on her back legs and waved toward the highly detailed sketch with a flourish of her fore hooves, sparkling magical lights popping out of nowhere like miniature fireworks.

The other three ponies looked at the design with a mixture of astonishment and marvel. Despite its lack of color in certain places, purposefully so by indication of arrows in the diagram clearly stating that they could vary in those areas, the uniform depicted was indeed a work of art by any standard. It actually looked quite a bit like the Wonderbolts uniform, but instead of a mostly blue jumpsuit, it was black, and instead of lighting patterns there were varying patterns of flames along the sides and legs. There were no goggles shown in the diagram, nor did it look like any would be necessary as there was a complicated spate of scribbling that, while it did little to explain what the shaded eye sockets meant exactly, still managed to indicate that something interesting was going on there. Had one looked closer, one would have seen that the flame patterns on the fore-legs were slightly enlarged versions of the patterns on the obsidian shoes themselves and would give the effect of an enhanced glow once they were adorned with the uniform. And finally, there were fire opals and rubies at the 'source' of each flame, stuck onto the paper by some means instead of drawn … perhaps for added inspiration or simply as a work-in-progress.

Rarity opens one eye after she had held her pose for the first few seconds in silence, worried that the quiet was because no one present liked the design, worst of all, Alpha. She was pleasantly surprised however when she found Rainbow Dash gawking at it with what she recognized to be pure adoration, but had an instant mood swing when she noticed Alpha's head was twisted to the side as if he could not quite understand what he was looking at.

"So … is this fashion? It looks … hot …" he managed to get out.

"Why yes I suppose one could call it that," Rarity joked to herself in relief. For a moment she thought it would be the Grand Galloping Gala dress debacle all over again.

"No I mean … it seems like wearing it on a sunny day would be very … uncomfortable," Alpha tried to explain.

"Oh no, the measurements I took earlier will ensure that my first one is sized just perfectly for you my dear. And the material I intend to use is quite breathable, I assure you!"

"Um … okay but what does it do … exactly? I mean … would it be any different from … you know … not wearing it?"

At this point Rainbow Dash was giving Alpha an incredulous look, soon joined by Rarity for albeit different reasons.

"Are you kidding me? This is just about the coolest uniform I've seen, ever!" Rainbow Dash erupted. "I can understand not knowing fashion, but don't you even have a sense of coolness?"

"Ummm … huh?"

"You know flying through Ponyville and everypony's staring at you because you just look so awesome? Heh, yeah I do that a lot," Rainbow Dash added the last part with an unimpressed expression.

"Can't say I know what that's like."

"Well don't you worry Alpha, when I'm done with this you will be the talk of Canterlot- neigh, the talk of Equestria!" Rarity beamed in renewed delight.

"And that's … good, right?" Alpha asked, not quite following. Rainbow Dash made a frustrated noise as she turned to the door, casually walking away.

"Look I have places to be and clouds to nap on, I'll see everypony later," she said as she took off through the doorway.

"Oh Alpha, it's as if you have never truly lived life before." Rarity could not have guessed just how close she was to the truth. "But don't you worry hun, when we become famous you'll have all the bits you'd ever want at your disposal to really enjoy life! Why, you could even hire somepony to take you on a grand tour across all of Equestria!"

Alpha looked thoughtful for a moment and then looked up with a happy expression, "Does that mean I could repay my debt too?"

"Debt? Why … yes I'm sure you could repay just about any debt when we get to that point. But what is this debt you speak of? Have you remembered-"

"I'll do it!" Alpha interrupted, grinning happily.

"Marvelous! Oh this is just wonderful- but please, enough chit-chat I must get back to work! Shoo now, everyone out, these things take absolute concentration you know," Rarity rambled on, nudging the two ponies back to the door. "Come by tomorrow evening, I'll have something by then," and with that the door slammed in their faces, a faint and happy humming slowly receding behind it.

Alpha looked to Night Stick for an explanation only to get a shrug in response.

"Come on, let's get you back to the hospital, I've got to get some sleep before my shift starts this evening," Night Stick said, looking up at the sunny late morning sky.

From the desk of Doctor Heartstrong, Ponyville General Hospital

Dear Dr Tintenflecks,

It is with great urgency that I write to you on this fine morning. I have a very strange case of a patient that you may find quite interesting.

Last night he was brought to me in critical condition and it took me the entire evening in surgery to stabilize him. But this is where it gets interesting! By some miracle of what I presume to be magic, he is not only almost fully healed but up and walking about this morning! Now you must be wondering why I would be writing to such a prominent psychologist about this, but despite my patient's amazing recovery he still has come out of it with a severe case of amnesia.

I have heard many accounts of your success with memory regression techniques and given the few cases of amnesia ever recorded I thought you might want to give it a try in this case to see if your techniques could be of any help.

Given the severity of the injuries to the brain, any normal pony would take weeks to recover from this kind of problem. However as was clearly demonstrated this morning, my patient is anything but normal. I regret to also inform you that (and this is why I must plead with you to make a journey to Ponyville as soon as you can) he had a … violent episode. Luckily nopony was seriously hurt and it only lasted but a few moments, however I am concerned about repeated occurrences. I understand that your time must be limited, but please consider my request.

Professionally yours,

Doctor Heartstrong

It was early evening by the time doctor Heartstrong came to see Alpha. He was asked to stay in his ward when he was escorted back to the hospital that morning and had spent most of the day staring out the window, admiring the lively bustle of Ponyville's citizens, even at that distance. But even this had lost its appeal by the time Bedside Manor came in with the afternoon meal. Unfortunately she could not stick around to keep him company for very long since she had to attend to the other residents.

"How are you feeling Mister Centauri?" the doctor spoke up as he entered the room, interrupting the game Alpha had made out of counting the cracks in the walls.

"Three hundred and seven," Alpha said absent mindedly, getting up and stretching laboriously.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"Um, nevermind. So can I go now?"

"I am truly sorry to have to keep you here so long, but please trust me when I say that it is absolutely necessary for your own good … and the good of everypony else," Heartstrong muttered the last bit under his breath.

Alpha's expression would have broken Bedside Manor's heart had she been present at that moment, but quickly changed when the doctor continued on in higher spirits.

"Luckily for you my boy, it seems that the pony I wanted you to have a chat with found your case to be just as interesting as I did, maybe even more so! And who knows, maybe he will even be able to get your memory back- now-now," Heartstrong raised a hoof to calm down the now overly excited young stallion, his balance on only two hooves unwavering through a full day of practice with his leg still in the sling, "Don't get your hopes up too high. His methods may be impressive, but this has never been tried as a cure for amnesia before."

Alpha froze in the middle of what might have been considered a victory dance before returning to all fours and speaking up, "At this point I'll do anything to be able to get out of here- no offense but I can only see so much from the window," he finished with a weak smile.

Doctor Heartstrong just smiled with understanding, "Well come along then, we'll get you comfortable in the interview room while the good doctor gets settled from his train ride." And with that, Alpha followed doctor Heartstrong through the doorway, almost bouncing in his steps, though not quite as vigorously as a certain pink pony.

"Vhat do you see now?" Alpha was staring at a white piece of card with what looked like paint dropped onto its center. Holding the card was an older green unicorn stallion with a salt and pepper mane and a slightly curved horn of average length. He made no attempt to hide his thick accent; the love of his home town of Hufenstadt bordered on obsessive despite his more permanent residence in Canterlot ever since he attained Equestria-wide renown in his profession.

"A rock?" Alpha answered for the fifth time in a row. The green stallion rubbed his temples in frustration before dropping the stack of cards onto the only table in the room, the resulting sound echoing off the undecorated walls. It was one of the few rooms in Ponyville's hospital that had no windows and it more resembled an interrogation room in the police station of one of the large cities than a psychiatric evaluation ward.

"Forgiff me mein friend, but I am inklined to belief szat he is doing szis on purpose," he said to doctor Heartstrong who was standing off to the side while they were seated on either side of the table.

"Alpha can you explain to doctor Tintenflecks what I told you before coming in?" doctor Heartstrong asked politely. Tintenflecks was Equestria's foremost pony psychologist and expert in the field of equine mental health. After the worrying events that occurred the previous night, Heartstrong made sure to send out a letter to him shortly before writing to Twilight Sparkle. To his surprise, the good doctor took the earliest train from his office in Canterlot and had arrived that late that afternoon, heading straight to the hospital without so much as opening the only bag he had brought with him.

"He said the more I co-operated the faster I could get out of here … don't get me wrong, this place is nice and all, but after going outside earlier I can't wait to get back out there!" Alpha answered as completely as he could.

"Vell szen ze only conclusion from szeez tests is szat you haf been livink einen cave your entire life. But enough of szat, tell me more of szis incident szis mornink," urged doctor Tintenflecks.

Alpha groaned at having to retell the tale again. "I was talking to Twilight Sparkle by the window and the next thing I knew everyone was staring at me as I hung from the ceiling-"

"Yes yes but do you remember vhat it is you shpoke about?"

Alpha crossed his forelegs on the table and donned a look of intense concentration. After a few moments he began hesitantly, "The scenery … the colors to be specific … and the smells-"

"Vhat kindt of shmells?"

"I don't … I can't put words to them, it all seemed completely new to me … the air that came through the window was … alive? Does that make any sense?"

"Yes yes, please go on."

"There were so many scents mixed together, each one so very new … well except maybe the dirt, I got really familiar with that yesterday, but … even that seemed … alive! The smells from inside the room were also very interesting … oh and that's when Twilight made an interesting remark about not having any smells where I come from … could that be true?"

"Yes yes, vhat happened next?" the doctor asked, dismissing Alpha's question with complete indifference.

"Ummm …" Alpha began, but then furrowed his brow in deep thought again. "There's a gap- when I try to think of anything in that space of time … everything becomes … silent, that's the best word I can think of. After the gap I'm stuck to the roof," Alpha finished shaking his head in frustration.

At this point doctor Heartstrong had ambled over to doctor Tintenflecks and they were whispering to each other. Alpha's frustration was starting to become annoyance. The irrational thought that they knew what had happened to him and were with-holding the truth crossed his mind, but he quickly pushed it away. These ponies had shown him nothing but kindness since he woke up, apparently even before that considering his brush with death. Not only that but they seemed genuinely perplexed by the circumstances of his 'appearance' in that crater. It might have been plausible to think that one or two ponies could conspire to keep a secret and were able to put up such a convincing show of it, but when there were so many involved the likelihood dropped rather quickly. On top of that, what would be the point of asking him for information they already knew?

"Alpha?" called doctor Heartstrong for the second time, finally breaking Alpha out of his thoughts.

"Yes?"

"We want to try something to see if we can reproduce the same reaction you had earlier today with Miss Twilight, would that be okay with you?"

"B-b-but … you said I hurt her … what if I hurt someone else?"

"This is why we are asking your permission before proceeding. You see we would like to restrain you first- you will of course be released as soon as we have determined that it is safe to do so."

Alpha looked to the floor glumly. He did want to get some answers, but he didn't much like the idea of being unable to move. He liked the idea of hurting someone else even less.

"If we can ensure that you won't involuntarily hurt another pony I would have no more reason to keep you here Alpha. It means you would be able to go outside without someone escorting you around," doctor Heartstrong added, attempting to 'sweeten the deal' even though it was the truth and he was going to follow through regardless. At his words a smile came to Alpha's face and he nodded vigorously.

"Ferry good szen," Tintenflecks spoke up with a quite a bit more enthusiasm than anyone else in the room. With that they tied Alpha's legs to the chair and asked him to test the bonds. After tugging with all his might Alpha simply shook his head at them, indicating that he could not pull free. Doctor Heartstrong watched as Tintenflecks moved his own chair around to be directly in front of Alpha's and pulled out a rather ancient looking watch from his pocket. It was one of those antique fold-up models with a, now tarnished, gold finish and attached to a chain. He levitated it up in-front of Alpha's face.

"Szis iz ferry nice watch don't you szink?" he made it twirl on its chain while watching Alpha's expression carefully.

"A … watch? It looks pretty enough, I suppose. What does it do exactly?" Alpha asked slightly confused. The doctors looked at each other for a moment before Tintenflecks turned back to Alpha and continued.

"Szat is … unimportant right szis minute, please if you would, keep your eyes on sze watch undt listen only to sze sound of mein foice."

"Uh … ok?"

"Let yourself feel relaxed, allow all of sze anxious energy to flow from your body …" Tintenflecks started in a slow, practiced voice, "Let all of sze muscles relax … feel your eyelids getting heffy, szis iz good, ferry good." He continued his line of suggestions until Alpha appeared to be asleep. At this point the doctor re-pocketed his watch carefully, while continuing with a new line of suggestions. "Continue to listen to sze sound of mein foice, szere is only peace now. Allow yourself to feel sze flow of time around you like sze wind as it gently caresses your mane on a cool day. And now sze wind is shifting, it slowly shtops and begins to blow in sze opposite direction. As it brushes past you imagine sze hours flowing in referse, watch as sze sun moofs backverds across sze sky returning gently to sze dawn only to giff way to sze darkness of sze prefious night. Let sze days flow pasht you as sze wind picks up its pace …"

Doctor Heartstrong caught himself nodding off and jerked back to wakefulness with a start. He rubbed his eyes thinking about the few hours he managed to sleep that morning. Deciding it was time to remedy that situation he moved silently to the door of the room, miming the act of drinking something in Tintenfleck's direction only to be curtly waved off without even a look. He shook his head and quietly pushed through the door, trying his best not to make any disturbing noises.

Tintenflecks continued as if nothing had happened, progressively following the methods he had developed from earlier versions of the memory regression technique. Every so often he would ask Alpha what he could see, but the first few attempts only resulted in Alpha giving a single word response like 'Darkness', or 'Nothingness'. Each time he would attempt to regress further. It was only when he had taken Alpha back to what should have been somewhere around a few years ago that something new happened.

"Vhat do you see Alpha?"

"… darkness … and fire, a great inferno!" Alpha started to get agitated, his breathing increasing rapidly.

"Listen to mein foice Alpha, sze fire cannot hurt you, it feels like sze warm water when you touch it …"

"… mmmm … warm …." Alpha calmed down considerably.

"What else do you see? What can you hear?"

"He's here … he's calling to me … he wants me to go over to him, I've done something wrong again." Alpha started to became uneasy again.

"Who is szis Alpha? Vhat have you done?"

"I don't want to go, he'll hurt me again," Alpha sniffed, his voice wavering badly now and his heart-rate increasing quickly, "You won't see it, but it hurts on the inside … he's coming!"

"Alpha listen to mein voice, szis pony cannot hurt you, he has no-"

"He's really mad this time! I have to get away!"

"Alpha listen to me, I am going to count to sree-"

"No! I can't get away!" Alpha was pulling at his bonds now in stark terror, "Don't come any closer! Please, I didn't do it on purpose!"

"Vhen I get to shree you vill return to sze present time and awaken."

Alpha started to bawl like a newborn foal at this point, his crying interrupted at regular intervals by a sudden jerking and clenching of his muscles, almost as if he was being struck repeatedly despite nothing coming into contact with him at all.

"Van, Two-"

Suddenly Alpha's body went completely limp and he was completely silent. His head drooped causing some more of his dull orange mane to fall over his face.

"Sree!" Tintenflecks exclaimed with a slight panic to his voice, clapping his fore hooves together for emphasis. He regarded Alpha's form worriedly, noticing the adverse change as he now sat there breathing very slowly as if in deep sleep. Tintenflecks reached over to Alpha tentatively but stopped when he noticed a very low mumbling. He instead bent closer to listen.

"… controlled begets power. Power harnessed becomes absolute." Alpha droned barely audible. This time Tintenflecks reached out intending to wake Alpha with a gentle shake, but before he could even twitch, a bright yellow burst of light caused him to cover his eyes instead. When he was able to see again he immediately noticed the rope lying loosely on the floor beneath Alpha's chair. He brought his gaze up further only to recoil in shock as he realized the opposite chair was empty. He looked around the room frantically after jumping out of his own chair, but it was only after seeing no other pony standing on the floor that he looked up.

And there he was … although Tintenflecks didn't recognize the now ethereal flame that was Alpha's mane. Nor did he notice the small horn before, glowing with its transparent yellow along with the rest of Alpha as he kept himself levitated in the air while staring at his fore hooves with an annoyed expression.

"This is going to be a problem." Alpha said to himself with a much more confident voice than Tintenflecks had ever heard from him.

"Alpha? Do you … are you alright?"

Alpha simply glared down at the doctor with blazing eyes, his focus seemed to be elsewhere; the memories of the past twenty-four hours flicking by in only a few seconds. Then his eyes narrowed in thought before his head jerk toward the door as if he'd heard something.

In the blink of an eye Alpha landed next to the doctor and grabbed his head between his fore hooves.

"Vhat are you-" he began, more than a little afraid now.

"Shhh …" Alpha moved one hoof over Tintenflecks' mouth as the hoof still at his temple began to glow brightly.

7: The Calm Before the Storm

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The Calm Before the Storm

"Aaaaand send!" Twilight Sparkle exclaimed in exhilaration, throwing herself backward into a waiting pile of pillows just as she finished wrapping up the last of her work. Her mane was a mess again, completely neglected through a hard day of study and steady authoring on one of her finest works to date. She could hardly contain her excitement as her imagination ran overtime, conjuring up images of her acceptance speech for the Ponybel prize in Magic.

Spike picked up the carefully bound and sealed container of research material, including a letter of apology to Princess Celestia for the 'terrible imposition' Twilight was about to make on her. Indeed there was no way the package, if dispatched through the normal mail service, would ever have made it to the submission office in Canterlot before the deadline in a few hours. But Twilight was banking on her mentor's kind-hearted nature and the fact that she sent her regular letters about her experiences with the magic of friendship (that was in fact the majority of the letter, with the apology and subsequent begging for the favor sneaking its way in toward the end) to grant her the much needed favor of making the submission on her behalf. Or, more likely, having one of the castle's servants do it.

Now one would normally have been horrified to witness the result of weeks of effort go up in flames, but after living with Spike and his unique ability to send objects to the Princess with his enchanted dragon breath, Twilight did not so much as bat an eye at the feat while she reclined in her fluffy make-shift bed. The green flames completely transformed the package into ashes which, instead of simply falling to the floor, promptly swirled around once before streaming toward the nearest open window and whisking away into the steadily darkening sky.

Twilight was looking forward to a quiet evening catching up on all the sleep she had lost over the past few days. Unfortunately for her, such was not going to be the case if a certain pink pony had anything to do with it.

There was a quick and heavy knocking at the door. Three times to be exact. Twilight Sparkle groaned, covering her face with a pillow as Spike ambled over to the door to see who it was.

"MrR umfrfd!" an ever energetic Pinkie Pie tried to say with an envelope in her mouth. Spike reached up and took it from her.

"Try that again?" he asked looking at what appeared to be an invitation.

"You're invited to the Alpha's-All-Better -and-Twilight's-Belated-Birthday-Party-Extravaganza!" From her head and back mounted, semi-automatic, gas operated, glitter encrusted, pink party cannons Pinkie Pie fired off confetti and streamers with a quick hop - the huge grin never leaving her face. "Two down, four to go!" she added cheerily spinning around and beginning to trot away.

"Wait!" came a muffled call from inside the library. Twilight stumbled out of the door in less than graceful manner, a rogue pillow clinging to her back. "Pinkie! Did you say … has Alpha been discharged?" She had found his recovery just as miraculous as doctor Heartstrong did, but she also remembered the time Rainbow Dash was laid up with a broken wing. The doctor had kept her in bed until it was fully healed, meaning that either Alpha had displayed another miraculous spurt of self-healing, or … the doctor had gone easy on him?

"Well of course silly billy," the party mare beamed, looking back at her, "We can't have a party for him if he can't come to it! I just came from the hospital, he was the first pony I invited!" she finished with another big grind. Twilight's expression changed from astonishment to confusion then deadpanned.

"Pinkie how long were you waiting there?"

"Since I got off work this afternoon of course!" Pinkie trilled as if it was the most obvious thing in all of Equestria.

"Wasn't that … three hours ago?"

Pinkie looked up into the sky with a look of intense concentration, as if the answer lay somewhere among the stars. "Uh-huh!" she exclaimed, looking back at Twilight again, wide grin. "I gotta go give Apple Jack, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy and Rarity their invitations so see yah later alligator!" With that Pinkie bounced off merrily, leaving Twilight and Spike rolling their eyes.

"The party's tomorrow Twi, we're going right?" Spike asked after quickly reading the invitation, looking up at Twilight with pleading eyes.

"Well I did promise …" she began, thoughts starting to wander a bit before she snapped her head up at a sudden realization, "Of course we're going! We have much to celebrate; after all I did finish my paper on time!" she smiled to herself, then at Spike before turning to go back up to her room. "And of course you know, there will be much sleeping tonight! Can't party on empty, can we?"

"Alright! Hey do you think Rarity will-" Spike flopped into Twilight's pillow pile, instantly asleep and snoring in mid-sentence. She giggled before giving him a quick kiss on the head and levitating a blanket over his lower body.

"Goodnight my number one assistant," she whispered before stumbling drunkenly up to her room, yawning with her eyelids feeling like they weighed a ton. 'I wonder where Alpha's sleeping tonight,' was her last thought before drifting off.

Earlier that day

A grinning pink pony walked into the hospital. Not more than five minutes pass before a scowling pink pony landed flank first in the dirt after being tossed out of the hospital. The mare made a face at the closing door, sticking her tongue out.

"They didn't have to be such mean meanie pantses about it," she grumbled crossing her forelegs over her chest. In another instant the mood passed and she stood up, her expression now one of deep thought after realizing her previous plans were foiled. She had found out the pony she sought was still in there, but it seemed that one of the receptionists recognized her before she could go looking.

With a sudden epiphany, the pink mare proceeded to bounce in circles around the nearest tree while humming happily to herself.

A few hours later

Doctor Heartstrong nudged open the door with his flank, walking backward into the room while sipping his coffee. The eerie quiet was the first thing he noticed before turning around, the next was the rope loosely piled on the floor beneath the chair he had left Alpha sitting in. He pulled the cup away from his face with a start, his head snapping up to look at the other two occupants.

Alpha was standing in front of doctor Tintenflecks with a confused expression on his face. The doctor was simply staring blankly at him. Alpha raised a hoof to wave in-front of the doctor's face, a gesture that Heartstrong immediately reacted to with paranoia.

"Whoa there son, what's going on here exactly?" he asked with a bit of the nervousness seeping into his voice as he took long strides over to the two ponies. Alpha looked around with a start, not realizing another had joined them.

"Wh- oh, it's you. I dunno, I opened my eyes a moment ago and he was just … standing there. Is this part of the procedure?" Alpha looked at Heartstrong still confused but showing a bit of concern at the same time. The doctor placed his cup on the table and used the free hoof to reach over to Tintenflecks, resting it gently on his shoulder.

"Doctor?" After getting no response for a few seconds he shook the green unicorn gently. "Doctor Tintenflecks can you hear me?" With that the heavily accented doctor blinked furiously, jerking out of his previous state with a snort and shaking his head.

"Vha-? Yes?" Tintenflecks finally said after getting his bearings.

"Are you alright doctor? Did something happen?"

Tintenflecks blinked some more, trying to recall the past few minutes before his expression went blank and he began in a monotone, "Everything is fine, there is nothing wrong with the patient."

Heartstrong frowned heavily then looked back at Alpha who simply shrugged, still looking quite clueless. He looked back at the doctor again. "Are you … certain? Were your methods successful?"

"I was not able to restore his memory," Tintenflecks droned.

"What about reproducing the … reaction we are looking for?"

"The patient does not appear to be violent in any way"

At this Heartstrong's frown deepened. In the short time that he had known the doctor he had come to expect a certain eagerness to work with this case. Quite the opposite of what he was showing now. It almost seemed as if he was in a hurry to be rid of his patient. And that voice … the way his accent had just about completely disappeared …

"Not even with … the trigger phrase?" Heartstrong asked, referring to something they had only whispered among themselves up until that point. Ever since the incident he had kept a clear memory of the last few words he overheard Twilight saying to Alpha before he … snapped.

"See for yourself," Tintenflecks state flatly, holding out a hoof toward Alpha. It had been a constant mental excersize for him, going over and over those words, picking out everything that was said before and since then with no reaction, and it all came down to one thing;

"For Celestia's sake …" he almost whispered when he'd finished staring holes into Alpha, trying to decide if it was a good idea to try without him restrained. Apparently … Tintenflecks was correct. Alpha just blinked at him slowly.

"Who's Celestia?" asked Alpha at length, an eyebrow hiked up in the air. Doctor Heartstrong breathed a heavy sigh of relief. For the past few hours since he'd realized that this was the only phrase that could have triggered Alpha, he had been entertaining all kinds of crazy ideas about Alpha's origins. Everything from griffon spies to minotaur assassins had passed through his mind. But clearly now, however, it seemed his fears were completely unfounded.

'Too many late nights spent in various works of fiction,' he thought to himself.

"Can I … go outside now?" Alpha asked after not getting an answer to the previous question, realizing that things were started to get rather awkward with the two professionals remaining silent most of the time.

Doctor Heartstrong looked back at Tintenflecks, his facial expression set as if to ask his opinion. "The patient does not appear to be violent," Tintenflecks replied again in the same monotone. "I must go now, there is nothing left for me to do here," he added, turning in a robotic fashion and walking toward the door. Tintenflecks' behavior still deeply troubled doctor Heartstrong, but when it came right down to it, Alpha did not appear to have changed in any way or exhibit any abnormal behavior when he heard the trigger, so there really was no reason that he could give to keep him any longer.

Hearstrong moved over to Alpha's side and began to probe gently at his wing with one hoof. "How do your wings feel now son?" he asked as the door swung back closed after Tintenflecks' departure.

"A little sore, but alright I guess"

Heartstrong began to remove the bandages very carefully. "You're still going to need to stay off them for a little longer – can you managed that or will I have to prescribe something for you?"

Alpha tried to move the first un-bandaged wing as the doctor ambled around to his other side. It was stiff, and actually quite difficult to get it to even twitch, but when it did the dull pain that began made him quickly abort the attempt entirely. "No, I think they're providing all the incentive I need," he replied with a sheepish smile, one eye squinted.

"Okay son, now you make sure to come right on back if you have another … episode, alright? Oh and make sure you pay Bedside Manor a visit before you go, I'll never hear the end of it if she doesn't get to say goodbye herself!"

This brought a smile to Alpha's face. Not just because he had grown a bit fond of the only pony that had been able to visit him the most during his stay at the hospital, but also at the hope that he might be able to get another great meal at the same time.

"That sounds like a great idea!" he exclaimed with a grin. Heartstrong had just finished un-wrapping the last of the bandages and stepped back to look at Alpha.

"Oh, one last thing," he added, coming back in close to Alpha's face, "this," he began, brushing away the tuft of dull orange mane that usually covered Alpha's horn and nudging it gently, "may cause you more trouble than you'd like. You see … we don't have many … ponies like you in Equestria. There are plenty with wings and plenty with horns, but only a few with both. It would be a good idea if you keep this hidden beneath your mane like that, okay?"

"Wh- is it … am I a monster?" asked Alpha, looking extremely distraught all of a sudden.

"What? No! Oh goodness no boy, nothing of the sort I assure you!" Alpha sighed in relief. "No it's just that … well until you remember everything … you may want to keep that part a bit of a secret, alright?" The doctor still had his doubts. But no matter what the case was, the last thing either of them needed was a bunch of wild gossip spreading around Equestria.

"Um … okay, I guess …" Alpha mumbled, still more than a little confused about the whole thing.

"Are you … able to use magic?"

"Magic?"

Doctor Heartstrong had been expecting that reaction, and so he levitated his cup from the table and brought it to hover between them. "Like this"

"Oh … uh …" Alpha turned and looked at the stack of cards, the only item left on the table now. He started to concentrate on it, imagining it was going to float up into the air … but nothing happened. He tried again, this time sticking out a hoof toward the stack. Still nothing. After a few more tries with varying flourish involved he gave up. "Am I supposed to be able to use this … magic?" he asked looking a little disappointed.

"Well …" Doctor Heartstrong considered telling him about the night before but quickly decided against it. If Alpha couldn't will his magic to work then perhaps it was for the best. Nothing drew attention like a glowing horn, even from under that tuft of mane. "I don't know Alpha. Perhaps you'll find out when you regain your memories – something I'm sure should happen in a few days."

"I hope so … being so clueless about everything doesn't feel so good at all."

"Well off you go son. Try to stay out of trouble okay?"

"Thank you doctor, I will," replied Alpha cheering up at the thought of finally being 'free'.

It was almost dark outside by the time the hospital door opened and a grinning Alpha Centauri trotted through it looking as if he had just consumed a feast. The pink pony, still hopping around the tree in what was now a six inch track carved into the dirt around it, stopped suddenly when she noticed him and let out a huge gasp. A moment later there was only a cloud of dust where she once stood.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie, what's your name?" she exclaimed, suddenly appearing next to a rather startled Alpha.

"Gah- oh come on! Does everyone around here try to scare the spots off everyone else?" he exclaimed, frustrated with himself for being so jumpy.

"Only on Nightmare Night silly! Besides, you don't have any spots to scare off"

"Wha- oh, is that tonight?"

"Nooooooooo," she cooed with a giggle, "That's two-hundred and fifty six day from now," she added with a grin. Alpha just blinked at her.

"I'm sorry … have we met?"

"Yes! No. Maybe? Both? What's your name?"

"… Alpha Centauri-"

"Well then Alpha, you're invited to the Alpha's-All-Better -and-Twilight's-Belated-Birthday-Party-Extravaganza!"

"W-wait … you just made that up, didn't you?"

"No silly," she giggled as if it all made perfect sense, "It's a party for you and Twilight because you're all better now and Twilight's birthday party got crashed yesterday!"

"Party? Birthday? I … don't know what these strange things are you speak of Miss P-"

Before he could finish Pinkie Pie let out a huge gasp again. "You don't know what a party is?! It's only the bestest most amazingest super duper fun thing EVER! You're gonna love it!" Pinkie was now beside herself with excitement. Deep down she knew it was her chance to once again bring joy for the very first time to a pony that had never experienced it before, just like she had with her family back at the rock farm.

"A-and … you said Twilight's party was … crashed? Was that … my fault?" Alpha asked starting to put the pieces together; his mood sinking a bit as he began to think about how much trouble his arrival had been for everyone- especially Twilight.

"Yes. No! Kinda both? Definitely both! We were gonna have a picnic in the orchards but then BOOM and WHOOSH- BANG! And we ran and ran and ran and there you were in the bottom of this big hole! It was HUGE! Well maybe not that big, but it was big enough for a whole bunch ponies, and then we saw you in there and Applejack called out to you and Twilight pulled you out, but that was after you met Rainbow Dash and then you were all like-" here Pinkie gasped loudly, "And then," then she pantomimed feinting in much the same way Rarity would in one of her overly dramatic moments, "And then Twilight took you to the hospital and then-"

Five Minutes Later

"… and that meanie receptionist was all like 'GET OUT' and Applejack was like 'we were just leaving anyways'," Pinkie finally finished her story, beginning to pant heavily as she began to breathe again since she started. "Wow," she gasped for air, "That's the first time anypony ever let me finish a story." Alpha had just stood there taking it all in with great interest. He had been unconscious during most of the story and having no memories to go on he thought he might be able to learn something that would help. Unfortunately all it did was deepen his already saddened mood as he learned that he'd ruined things for Twilight three times since his arrival.

His thoughts began to descend into an even darker realization, 'Perhaps everyone would be better off if I wasn't here …' he was thinking when he realized Pinkie's face was so close to his that their noses almost touched.

"So are you coming?" she asked, staring right into his eyes. Alpha jumped back, completely uncomfortable with the invasion of personal space as he was jolted out of his broodings.

"W-what? Coming where?"

"To the party of course!"

"Oh, ummm … I dunno …"

"C'mon, you can't miss your own party! Especially when it's your very first party EVER! I'll make it the best party anypony's ever had ever,promise!"

"Well~ …" Alpha was sitting on his haunches looking off to the side while rubbing the back of one of his forelegs with a hoof, "I guess …"

"There's gonna be games, and party hats and streamers and cake! Oh and fudge! Can't forget fudge! Have you ever had fudge Alpha?"

"Um, no I can't say that I have"

"Ooooooooo it's the bestest most amazingest food EVER!"

"Food?" his ears perked up at that last part. "Is it anything like what they gave me in there?" he asked, waving a hoof back toward the hospital doors.

Pinkie gasped for the third time that evening, "It's a hundred times- no, a thousand times- a MILLION times better!" All of a sudden she got very serious and zipped over beside Alpha throwing a leg around Alpha, her mane deflated to a completely straightened state as she leaned in conspiratorially while casting her gaze off to the side. "Wanna hear a secret?" she said in a low voice.

Alpha squirmed a bit but managed not to freak out at the sudden contact. "O-o-okay?" he replied, his voice a few octaves higher than normal.

"Fudge is even better than …" she stopped and looked around before bringing her mouth to his ear and whispering, "cake."

Alpha just looked at Pinkie with his jaw hanging loosely open as she now stared Alpha square in the eyes. He was simultaneously confused at Pinkie's theatrics and intrigued by the idea of a food that could taste even better than what he had eaten earlier.

"I-I'll come!" he said at last.

"Great!" Pinkie grinned returning to her usual bubbly self, mane popping back to its original curly state, and started bouncing away from him. Alpha stood there for a few minutes more trying to sort out what had just happened before he ambled off down the dirt path, his previous thoughts forgotten for the time being as he looked around Ponyville with renewed wonder, enjoying the sights in a much more casual fashion than when he had been led directly to the library by Night Stick that morning.

She was running and she didn't know why. Heaving breathes indicated that it had been for a while, but in the darkness it was difficult to make out where she was going or came from. There were trees, that much she could discern, but only their silhouettes cast against a dimly moonlit sky gave any indication of this. There were no colors, just pitch black shapes against a dim grey sky.

Just as she was considering slowing down she heard it, the sound of galloping behind her. Instead of slowing down she kept going but looked back quickly, her eyes going wide as she saw a pair of glowing red beads of light gradually gaining on her.

She became aware of her heart hammering away in her chest as it kicked up another notch. Looking around frantically, trying to literally will detail into her surroundings to no avail, she just keep going trying to think through the abject terror she was now feeling.

'How did I get here? Where is here anyway!' she managed to squeeze these thoughts in-between raw survival instincts. Then another thought occurred to her and she tried to focus on a spell but quickly noticed that there was no familiar purple glow. It was as if the darkness all around her was simply drinking away all the light … all except for those glowing red points behind her.

Whatever was chasing her was now close enough that the glow began to faintly illuminate the ground beneath her hooves, just enough to see that it wasn't the dirt or leaves that she had assumed, but a writhing mass of worms, or snakes or some such creepy crawling thing.

In renewed panic and now revulsion, she began to lose her steady pace as she became much more aware of the feel of this strange ground under her hooves, squishy and uneven, causing a huge lump in her throat to form while unsteady hooves tried to pick their way through the mess as quickly as they could manage without tripping.

Suddenly she became aware of a low growling. Despite the new levels of terror it brought she couldn't help but feel that it sounded so familiar. She stole a quick glance behind her again, finding the glowing to emanate from the silhouette of a pony, right around the region where the eyes would be. Their illumination lit up a familiar mane, though its color appeared blood red in the light instead of the dull orange she was thinking of.

Looking back in front of her again, her breathing turning into desperate gasps for air as the physical exertion took its toll, she realized that she was coming up to the edge of a cliff. The closer she got, the more she realized there was only that awful grey all around and beneath the edge, something her senses would have told her was completely impossible if not for the fear overriding any possibility of analytical thought.

She didn't need to glance behind her to tell that whoever or whatever was chasing her was almost within biting distance of her tail and with nary a conscious decision she ran straight into a leap right off the edge of the cliff. As time itself slowed down, she twisted around in the air just in time to see the silhouette resolve itself through the strands of her mane still slowly splaying out in front of her eyes, and she realized in horror that she had been pursued by a twisted form of the very stallion she had given a name just hours ago …

Twilight Sparkle bolted upright in her bed, covered in sweat with her mouth wide open in what must have been a silent scream. She was breathing heavily with wide eyes as her head jerked back and forth, anxiously trying to figure out where she was but only vaguely aware of the soft bedding beneath her at first. In the darkness of her room, every shape and shadow cast by the moonlight flowing in from her window seemed like it a malevolent entity about to pounce on her woefully vulnerable form as she pulled the sheets up to her face with the childish notion that they might protect her from harm.

After a few minutes of silence and stillness, her thoughts began to take on more coherence as her scholarly mind kicked back in, finally released from its prison of terror. By now the sheets were a balled up mess that she had been gnawing on up until a few moments ago and she threw them across the room at one of the more ominous shapes, frustrated at her delayed cognizance after the nightmare. She had not had that sort of reaction since magic kindergarten and she definitely considered herself way too old to be repeating that kind of behavior, but … the dream had felt so … real.

With an involuntary shiver she quietly got out of bed, glancing over at Spike's basket now that her eyes had adjusted to the dark. In a brief moment of panic she realized that it was empty, only to remember that he had fallen asleep in the pile of pillows downstairs. She was thankful for this now as she realized she must have been making some rather disturbing noises during her nightmare, probably enough to wake up even a heavy sleeper like the baby dragon.

She slowly made her way over to the window, opening it and peering up at the moon. Luna always did do a wonderful job on the night sky, it really was a shame so few ponies seemed to appreciate it. Subconsciously she had begun to identify the stars and constellations she knew, becoming aware she was doing it only when her eyes came to focus on the star she knew was actually two. With a start she began to think back on the nightmare and about how the pony chasing her had looked so much like Alpha.

Intellectually she knew that the mind could do some very strange things with dreams. In her studies she had read that they could be the mind trying to organize itself, sorting out all the information it had gathered during the waking hours. Perhaps this had just been her way of dealing with the strange encounter she had had with Alpha that morning. Thinking back on it now, she became curious about something he said. She had not thought about it in the moment, but now that she did it seemed a little strange. He said that it was not him when he had tried to explain his behavior at the hospital.

'What could that possibly mean?' Before she could ponder any more heavily on the topic, however, she realized that she was staring right at the stallion in question. Her gaze had wandered down from the sky and was now resting on a grassy hill a short distance away from the library. Lying on his back on that hill, forelegs behind his head and a back leg crossed over the other was Alpha himself. He appeared to be awake, staring up at the sky, and she could almost make out a serene smile on his face.

Levitating a coat over herself Twilight quietly made her way down to the front door. Spike was still sleeping soundly in the soft pile, but the blanket she had laid over him was now being hugged closely to his chest and face as he slept on his side with a thumb claw stuck in his mouth. She smiled at the image, feeling the protective instinct most older siblings did when they looked upon their vulnerable counterparts, even though she was in no way related to him by blood. Twilight pulled the door shut as gently as she could and adjusted her coat as she half-walked half-trotted over to the hill where she had seen Alpha laying.

The night air felt good on her coat as the sweat from her previous experience finished drying. She became acutely aware of how different the air smelled at night. Less … mixed smells, more nature. The grass, the trees, even a hint of the stream near Ponyville was present.

"Couldn't sleep either?" she asked, coming up quietly behind Alpha. He twisted over onto his side, muscles tense, startled by her sudden presence, but quickly relaxed as he realized who it was before averting his eyes, an embarrassed blush coloring his normally snowy cheeks.

"I … ah-heh … hello again. I'm sorry, I still have not gotten used to … surprises- not to say … I mean … I don't-" Alpha stammered, trying in vain to translate what he was thinking into understandable sentences.

"I'm guessing you didn't spend a lot of time with other ponies before your accident," Twilight tried to help him out, staring down at him from where she stood by his side now, pulling her cloak tighter around herself with the cold night air finally bringing her post-nightmare body heat down to normal levels.

Alpha turned his head to look in the opposite direction, suddenly finding a distant tree of some interest as the subject of his state of memory came back up again. "That's probably a good bet," he said sheepishly. "To answer your first question … I slept last night and most of today … right now I feel like I could stay awake for the rest of my life." He looked back at Twilight as she was settling down on her haunches and then into a complete sitting position, head turned to meet his gaze. "How about you?"

She tried to put on a convincing smile, "On any other night I might be up right now studying … but tonight I did turn in early." He tilted his head, regarding her words carefully before she continued. "I'm a bit embarrassed to admit it but … I had a bit of a nightmare," she finished looking down and poking at the grass.

"Night … mare? But … Pinkie Pie was it? She said nightmare night was … a long time from now-" Alpha was cut off by the mare's giggling. Ordinarily he might have felt like he was being made fun of but for some reason he actually enjoyed the sound and smiled despite himself.

"I'm very curious about if it's the amnesia or your past that causes of your lack of vocabulary. Nightmares … they're like bad or scary dreams- you know … those things you experience when you're asleep?"

Alpha found he rather enjoyed her playful ridicule, if nothing else it at least felt like he wasn't being treated like he was fragile. Bedside Manor meant well, but sometimes her view of her charges as foals, regardless of their age, made him feel … less masculine.

"I know what dreams are Twilight Sparkle," he started with a smile on his face, "maybe I just never had a nightmare … until yesterday …" he trailed off, his smile morphing into a slight frown as he sat up on his haunches, looking at the grass beneath him.

"You … had bad dreams?"

"Bad would be an understatement … honestly I dreaded the idea of closing my eyes again. I was not entirely truthful about what I said earlier … although I am not particularly tired right now, it is just that fact alone that keeps me up."

She looked at him with eyes full of sympathy. To have awoken in that hole yesterday in pain, disoriented and without any memory, and on top of all of that to have horrible nightmares every time you close your eyes … just imagining it brought shivers to her not borne of the cold night air.

After a moment of silence and failing to find anything comforting to say she switched the topic a bit, "Aren't you cold?"

He noticed the concern in her tone and smiled to himself. Even now, after ruining her … party … and attacking her, this mare still could care for his well-being. He silently wondered if every pony was as kind as the few he had met so far. "I seem to be … used to it," he said, shrugging.

"It must have been … difficult … whatever kind of life you led before this," she thought aloud, her gaze sweeping slowly across the landscape before them. Alpha was looked back up at the sky now, laying back into his previous position from before Twilight arrived.

"Though I remember next to nothing about it, somehow the sky looks so very familiar." This piqued Twilight's interest and she found herself staring at the underside of his head in wonder while he gazed upward. He began to point at different star formations, describing them as best he could and she followed up by providing the 'official' name for each of them. They started to get into a rhythm as the game progressed until his hoof stopped on a lone bright star he did not recognize.

"I … don't remember that one." Twilight tried to follow where he was pointing but could not figure out which one he meant from the angle she was sitting. Absent-mindedly she shimmied over to him, bringing her head close to his as she tried to align her sight with his pointing hoof. Alpha tensed up at her sudden close proximity and she noticed this, quickly pulling away, a little out of fear but mostly out of concern.

"Sorry I … was just trying to …" she found herself stumbling over her own words for the first time in a while. "It's you."

"You're right, I am the one who should be sorr-"

"No I mean … that star- or I should say, those stars … they are Alpha Centauri," she interrupted.

"… oh …" was all he could get out. The celestial body looked so foreign to him, and yet …

He chuckled lightly to himself. "It seems this is all I am good for huh?"

"What do you mean?"

"Awkward moments … poor conversation … boring you to death with my pointless stargazing-"

"Are you kidding?" her mood picked up a bit, "this is the most fun I've had outside of my studies in a while! Do you know how hard it is to find ponies around here that can appreciate astronomy the way I do?"

He turned to look at her again and realized she had been staring at him for some time. He smiled a bit, "Really?"

"Alpha you have no idea do you? If it's not about bucking apples, the latest fashion, poor defenseless animals, flying or how to throw an amazing party … there's just not that much in the way of deep conversation with my friends. My teacher is way too busy running Equestria, not to mention she's all the way over in Canterlot, and Spike … well he tries but … he's still a baby after all, his attention span lasts about as long as Fluttershy's confidence," she sighed in exasperation. "I mean, these last few months with the others have been great and all but … when it really comes down to it, books are all I've ever had …" she trailed off, a mixture of fond memories and lonesome nights vying for control of her facial expression as she stared down at her hooves now.

Alpha tried to guess what was going on in Twilight's head, but having absolutely nothing to work from he just gave up in a few moments. "It sounds like we may have much in common … if only I could …" it was his turn to trail off, the only emotion he felt winning uncontested to produce the frown he now wore. "But you didn't come out here knowing that things would turn out like this did you? There must have been some other reason that brought you out- not that I mind or anything, I mean this is your home after all, who am I to say where you can and cannot-"

"Shhhh," she moved her hoof just in-front of his mouth without touching it and he tensed again, very briefly this time. "You're doing it again," she smiled after letting a small giggle slip out. "But you're right … none of this was on my mind when I decided to come over here. Actually … it was something you said … this morning when you came by …"

He looked at her in confusion at first before jumping to conclusions, "Oh did I not do it right? The doctor said I should apologize but I was not quite sure how mmf-" This time Twilight did touch his lips as she laid her hoof against them. Alpha's eyes went wide but for a different reason this time. Her touch was so … different … he was not quite sure what it was he was comparing it to but this time it felt … gentle … not at all as unpleasant as his own inner fears had dictated. Gradually his expression softened as she just stared at him silently, carefully examining his reaction, ready to act if he lashed out again.

"It seems we'll have to work on that," she smiled weakly, referring to both his verbal diarrhea when nervous and his reaction to another pony's touch. "You said that … it wasn't you," she began again, removing her hoof and tucking it back underneath herself as another shiver briefly racked her body, "What did you mean by that?"

Alpha looked at her for a moment trying to collect his thoughts before raising an eyebrow in question.

"Yes, now is good," she giggled, involuntarily bringing another smile to his face only for it to quickly fade as he tried to organize his response properly in his head this time.

"When you left … the doctor had to explain to me what happened because … I didn't know."

"Huh?"

"I had absolutely no memory of doing any of the things he described to me, I had to imagine it all, and I am ashamed to say … he had to help me understand exactly what I'd done to you even though you were physically unhurt." He had looked away from her halfway through, unable to meet her eyes with the intense emotion he was feeling. "If not for doctor Heartstrong, I may have just ended up making things worse between us …"

Twilight was too busy trying to puzzle out what could have caused his lapse in conscious memory to notice his state of mind at that point. She was replaying the events of that morning over and over in her head but gaining very little insight for her trouble.

"… Twilight?" Alpha called patiently for the third time.

"Huh? Oh sorry, I seem to have gotten lost in my thoughts there, what were you saying?"

"You asked me for forgiveness this morning, but truly it is I who should be asking you. And I meant what I said … about making it up to you I mean," here he sat up and looking very serious as he gazed at her. "There is little I can think of that could ever repay you for this life that you have saved, but I am sincere when I say, if there is anything … anything at all I can do … you need only name it!"

Twilight just sighed at him. "I don't know where you got this idea that you owe me anything Alpha, but here in Ponyville we don't keep score. If somepony needs help … you help them. It's as simple as that. If you really feel you must do something for me then … follow that creed. And no more spazzing out like this morning, okay?"

The fact that she could make light of the incident comforted Alpha immensely. He still wanted to do something for Twilight specifically, but for now he decided to just go along with it and nodded at her as they both began to smile in unison.

"I don't think we have to worry about that anymore. Doctor Heartstrong made it pretty clear that he wasn't going to let me out until he was sure I wasn't going to do that again … he even had some strange pony come in that Shpvoke lvike vziss oond shvowed me stchrangecht peekchoors," he made a complete mess of the accent, although to Twilight his honest attempt seemed like the funniest thing in Equestria as she broke into a giggle fit. Recounting the events was frustrating at first but when he noticed how Twilight reacted to his impersonation of doctor Tintenflecks he found himself grinning like a ninny.

"Schktop lawfink acht mein, I am sze fverry schmart dochtor!" One or two lights appeared in nearby windows as Twilight's laughter pierced the night on a particularly loud squeal before she tried to contain herself.

"Get a room you two!" called one of her neighbors sleepily before pulling her window shut as the lights went back off. They were both trying desperately to stifle the remainder of their laughter as their sides heaved and they tried to catch their breaths.

"Wh-" Alpha tried to say before take a couple more deep breaths. "What did she mean by that?" he asked still trying to completely get over the snickering that threatened to take over again if he lost control. At the question Twilight's cheeks turn a rosy shade as she tried to figure out just how to answer that.

"Uuuhhhhh- I'll e-explain that s-some other time," she managed to stutter out while averting her eyes. Before she could speak again she started to yawn before laying a hoof over her mouth, barely remembering her manners. Alpha just looked lost. Twilight tried changing the subject.

"Maybe you could tell me what you remember so far … it might help jog your memory," she ventured. Alpha turned his attention back to a random blade of grass, his expression quickly turning to a frown.

"I remember laughing like that … a long time ago … but whenever I try to remember anything else about that time … well that's when the dream turns into the nightmare …" Twilight remained silent, laying her head on her fore-hooves at an angle that allowed her to see his face. "That's the only way I can remember anything it seems … in terror as I stumble through one bad dream after another …"

"It's only been a day Alphaaaaaa~," Twilight began sleepily, breaking off into another yawn as she said his name, "These things take time … you'll remember eventually." She had gradually closed her eyes as she said this.

Alpha, still staring at that single blade of grass, continued without noticing, "Yea well … sometimes I wonder if it might be better to just stay this way. I mean … most of the time I'm frustrated with being so … purposeless … not knowing why I'm here or what I'm supposed to be doing … but then on the other hoof … with all these nightmares I keep having I wonder … do I really want to know?" He looked up at the sky again searching for answers. "Does that make any sense?"

Instead of an answer, Alpha was met with silence and, as his ears adjusted, he was able to discern the steady but barely audible whistle of the slow, rhythmic breathing that was characteristic of a sleeping pony. He looked down at Twilight with a quizzical expression before it melted completely into a look of content as he regarded her peaceful form.

The moment was interrupted, however, when he noticed her shivering despite the coat she had wrapped around herself. He still found it odd that she was shivering while he felt the same now as he did during the day, but he pushed those thoughts aside as he nervously contemplated what to do.

Both picking her up to carry her back to the library and trying to keep her warm with his own body heat involved a level of contact he was still not quite sure he was ready for. But it pained him to see her suffering like that on his account. After all, the only reason she was out here in the first place was because of him.

Opting for the latter, he slowly edged his way closer to her, tentatively reaching out to put a leg around her shoulders as he settled down beside her, trying hard not to shrink away as their sides touched. He adjusted her coat as gently as he could manage to cover more of her opposite side and then laid his head down in the grass beside hers, not knowing what else to do. It was all very awkward but, at the same time, a peace unlike any he had ever felt before began to descend on him and with it, a deep restful sleep that he had almost lost hope of ever enjoying again.

8: On the Wings of Awkwardness

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On the Wings of Awkwardness

Rainbow Dash awakened earlier than usual. And her usual was definitely not what anyone would ever consider 'early'. She finished off her cloud clearing duties for the morning in record time before flying off in search of a certain white-coated stallion. Last night she had nodded off while waiting to see if he would get out of the hospital that day or not and by the time she awoke it was already late at night. She had guessed he was still in there and had flown off to her home in Cloudsdale to take shelter from the cold night air and address her grumbling stomach.

Flying low on her way over to the hospital now, keeping an eye out as she went, she overheard something interesting as two mares engaged in a back-and-forth of the latest gossip. She stopped abruptly in mid-air and floated slowly down nearby to listen.

"… it was the cutest thing I ever saw, the two of them asleep like that. But who is that new stallion? I've never seen him before!" a dark grey earth pony was saying.

"I saw him walking through town yesterday evening, rumor has it that Twilight Sparkle and her friends saved him from an angry Ursa Major!" her mint green pegasus friend replied.

"That would make sense, did you see how scrawny he looked? I'd be surprised if he could even fly!"

"Oh hush, everypony knows you only have eyes for the bigger stallions. He didn't look that bad, but it did seem like he hadn't eaten in a while-"

"Excuse me!" Rainbow Dash interrupted and walked over to them when she decided she had heard enough as the conversation devolved into unwanted details. "I couldn't help but notice you were talking about a … friend of mine. Could you tell me where exactly you saw him?"

"Uh oh, looks like he's in for it now," cooed the earth pony to herself as the pegasus began to answer, being more familiar with Rainbow Dash.

"Oh hey Dash. I think he was over by the hill outside the library. Isn't that right Honey Sprinkle?"

"Mmmmhmm," was her only reply as she regarded Rainbow Dash with a raised eyebrow.

"Thanks, later!" Dash called behind her, already in the air and zooming over to the library.

She thought she might have to look around a bit more to find him but quickly found herself quite mistaken as a number of mares had gathered along the road near the library and were chatting amongst themselves while pointing and giggling at the two ponies still asleep on the grassy hill.

Rainbow Dash smirked at first then started snickering as she drew near enough to see them both in full detail. At some point during her slumber Twilight had ended up sprawled unceremoniously over Alpha's neck and shoulders, one of her hind knees poking into his cheek and causing a very comical distortion of his facial features. He, on the other hand, had remained in the exact same position except that the leg he had laid around Twilight was now comforting a patch of grass beneath them.

At just that particular moment Alpha sneezed, causing them both to wake at roughly the same moment as Rainbow Dash fell over, completely losing control and bursting into outright laughter. Twilight raised her head slowly with a yawn, eyes still mostly shut as she clumsily tried to bring a hoof up to rub them, also succeeded at elbowing Alpha in the other cheek.

"Ow," he muttered, his voice thick with sleep. He sniffled quietly before gradual opening his eyes and pulling his head to the right in an attempt evade the foreign object that was rubbing against his teeth and ended up smacking it against Twilight's head as she had craned her neck down toward the general direction of the sound she had failed to identify. They both exclaimed in pain as hooves flew up to cradle the sore spots on their respective heads, Twilight rolling off of Alpha and onto the grass behind him.

"Never thought you had it in yah Twi," wheezed Rainbow Dash, still trying to catch her breath while a tear leaked from one eye, "I mean the guy only just got here like two days ago- only got out of the hospital yesterday and already you're all over him, literally!"

Twilight had just finished taking in her surroundings and was beginning to realize the implications of what had happened. "Wait I- this is not- Dash stop laughing!" Twilight snapped as Rainbow Dash broke down all over again when she started stammering in embarrassment. Between the growing bump on her head and the rude awakening she was pretty annoyed, even for her. "I fell asleep out here by accident- what's everyone staring at!" she almost bellowed at the onlookers near the road, most of which promptly turned back to their previous tasks with various expressions ranging from slight amusement to a pinch of envy and no shortage of snickers and chortles.

"Y-yeah? Did you accidentally roll around in the grass with him too?" Rainbow Dash was really going for a record this time; longest spate of laughter in Equestrian history perhaps. Alpha was just watching them both, the whole situation completely lost on his miniscule understandings as he rubbed the forming lump.

"D-d-did I do something wrong?" he asked politely, still trying to figure out what the joke was. At this Twilight's eyes widened as she remembered drifting off with Alpha still awake … talking about … something- she couldn't remember right at that moment, nor was she about to try as her thoughts were now focused on the wisdom of being so trusting around a pony that had attacked her just the day before.

"Actually … what did you do after I fell asleep?" she asked, something in the back of her mind told her she was being too accusing, but her paranoia was getting the better of her just at that moment.

"Wha- nothing! I- What do you mean?" Alpha was getting extremely nervous under the sudden scrutiny. He was still quite puzzled by all of the strange behavior that the ponies here exhibited and feared that he may have done something to make them hate him. Rainbow Dash rolled into and out of view every now and then, still unable to control herself as the situation reached new heights of hilarity.

Twilight regarded Alpha with slits for eyes for a moment before speaking, "After I dozed off … why didn't you wake me up? Were you up to something?" she asked, poking a hoof into his chest with each question. She was being silly and she knew it, but she could not stop herself from pressing him on this. What would the Princess think if she found out her star pupil was sleeping outdoors with strange colts!

"I … actually … did not think about that," Alpha started sheepishly, "you looked so peaceful … I did not want to disturb you- but I would never- I did not do anything to hurt you- this is the truth!" he said, slowly backing up now as Twilight moved toward him almost menacingly.

"Then why was I-" she stopped, trying to find words that would not sound so … indecent, before continuing, "so close to you when I woke up?"

"Well I … I mean you were …"

"Uh huh?"

"I just … you were shivering a lot and ..." he spoke progressively quieter, "I did not want you to be cold that's all …" Twilight's expression softened at his admission. She felt foolish for jumping to conclusions so easily. Of all ponies she was always the first to stop and think things through.

'But whenever I'm around him …' she began to think before shrugging it off. No! No more assumptions!

"Alright, fine. But next time you better wake me up! Not that there will be a next time … I mean …" she groaned in exasperation, planting her face in her hoof, "Now I'm doing it too. Look I have to go check on Spike, he must be worried sick since he woke up," she said, turning to head back to the library, levitating her crumpled coat over her back as an after-thought.

"Hey wait," called Alpha, leaving Rainbow Dash to 'cool off' in the grass, "I wanted to ask you something." Twilight did not stop walking but Alpha caught up to her and matched her pace easily. "Yesterday the doctor asked me if I could use m-ma- ... what was it again- magic! Right, that … do you know what that is?" Twilight could only grin at the irony of the situation. Here was a pony asking her about the very thing that was her cutie mark represented. "I mean … I think you said something about it before but … you used many words I do not know that morning," he finished looking down at the dirt as it flitted by beneath them.

"As it happens, you couldn't have asked a better pony about the subject," Twilight spoke up proudly. "See this mark right here?" she had stopped just long enough to indicate the cutie mark on her flank before continuing on. "That is a symbol of my life-long specialty … Alpha?" His eyes had initially alighted on her cutie mark but for reasons beyond him they had begun to … wander … and along with them, his attention.

"Huh- what?" he stumbled a little when he realized she had stopped moving again, but regained his balance as he pulled to a stop just ahead of her.

"Did you hear a word I said?" she asked with an eyebrow in the air.

"Ahem, yes, right the uh … s-symbol of your … life?"

"Life-long specialty …" she continued to walk, clearing her throat with slight annoyance. Perhaps she had been wrong about being able to have meaningful conversations with him. "I specialize in magic. I don't just use it for little things, I study it, research it, learn and test new spells, and someday … I hope to write a few of my own," she added that last part with an almost smug smile, dangerously close to drifting into a daydream.

"So … yea, okay that sounds amazing. But … I might find it even more amazing if I knew what it was. Doctor Heartstrong did this weird thing where he moved an object without touching it and said that was magic-"

"The little things. Yes magic can be used for simple telekinesis; manipulating objects by thought. This is the most common manifestation of magic. It has allowed unicorns to achieve things that few other species ever will. But this is not the only-"

"Right but I could not do this …" She looked at him in disbelief, then in confusion when she looked to where his horn would be before remembering just how small it was. The story the doctor had told her about his … experience with Alpha's manifestations of magic, while chilling, did seem to indicate that he was capable of using it. But this new information was puzzling … perhaps he had no formal exposure, or training, or, "Am I … broken?" he asked, cutting into her thoughts.

They had just arrived at the library and she turned to face him, moving aside the bit of mane hanging over his forehead to get a good look at his horn. She was surprised that he did not react to her touch this time but thought little more of it as she looked at the smallest horn she had ever seen on a young stallion … or was he? "I don't suppose you remember how old you are?" she asked, prodding gently at it. Alpha just shrugged. Twilight frowned as she turned to the door and pushed it open. Unless Alpha was a freakishly large child (a possibility she did not rule out entirely given his behavior, but one that she found highly unlikely) then maybe he had some kind of stunted growth problem. None of this, however, should stop him from using magic … and this was what she found perplexing.

"Twilight!" Spike exclaimed, coming out from the bedroom door with a tray on his head, "Where were you? I made breakfast for you but you weren't in bed, I thought you might have- oh," he abruptly stopped when he noticed Alpha come in behind her.

"Sorry Spike I … um …" she wracked her brain for an explanation … or at least a good excuse, "I went out to observe the stars before sunrise." Well it was not a complete lie … she was looking at the stars after all, and technically it was before sunrise … that day.

"But … you didn't carry a telesc-"

"You remember Alpha right Spike?" she asked suddenly, cutting him off.

"Yeah I remember him alright," he started with a frown, laying the tray down on a table, "he's the one who messed with you yesterday right?" Alpha was taken aback by the smaller creature's menacing tone and he found himself lingering by the doorway as Twilight made her way over to the tray, suddenly feeling the after effects of oversleeping on her stomach quite acutely. Alpha almost yelped when the door swung back in with the wind and hit him on the flank, skittering forward a bit when he snapped his head around in the same instant to glare at the door.

"Now Spike, be nice. He's explained himself and apologized already, besides … it was nothing I couldn't handle," she chastened quietly.

"Yeah well … I'm keepin' my eye on you, Mister," Spike warned, looking at Alpha as he walked toward a bookshelf only to trip and fall flat on his face. The only two ponies in the room chuckled good-naturedly as Spike sat up rubbing his face. "Just as soon as I figure out how to look in two directions at once," he grumbled to himself.

"Duly noted brave guardian of Twilight Sparkle," Alpha embellished, trying to restore some of Spike's lost dignity, "but tell me … what exactly are you?" Alpha asked with newfound curiosity. Spike just looked at him with a frown.

"Are you- Twilight is he making fun of me?" Spike asked in a sour mood, looking over at Twilight as she munched on a fresh blueberry tart. "Are you making fun of me? Seriously that's just low," he had turned back to Alpha when he realized Twilight would not be able to answer him for another minute or so with her mouth full as it was.

"I did not mean- well you see- it's just that-"

"He's a dragon, and a very rude one right this moment," Twilight cut in, giving Spike a scolding eye, "speaking of which, I completely forgot my own manners; are you hungry Alpha?" she asked, levitating one of the treats over to him at which he began to drool.

"Ooo," was all he could get out before snatching it out of the air with one bite and ravenously scarfing it down.

"I'll take that as a yes," she mumbled watching in horror as crumbs flew all over the floor.

"So good!" Alpha got out even with his mouth full. Spike positively beamed at this remark and completely forgot what he had previously been grumping about.

"Heh, yeah I made them myself," he said coolly, rubbing the back of his claws on his chest and holding them up as if to inspect them.

"Forget magic, you are amazing! How did you even do that? I cannot even begin to imagine-"

"Unfortunately we actually can't forget magic just this moment," Twilight cut in, "before you overinflate Spike's ego let's get something out of the way." Spike was grinning happily to himself now as he began to clean up the crumbs. Alpha looked over at Twilight questioningly. "There's a mystery here and we need to get to the bottom of it. You have a horn and so far I've never met another horned pony that could not use magic. Let's figure this out," she had walked over to a bookshelf and was now going through the titles searching for one in particular … there. She pulled out one entitled 'Lost and Found – Detection Spells for the Curious or Absent-Minded' and laid it on the table after shoving aside the breakfast implements. "Now I know I saw it in here somewhere," she muttered, eyes picking through the pages as they flipped themselves at a steady rate. "Here we are!" she exclaimed, stopping on one particularly colorful page.

Her eyes moved back and forth methodically, absorbing all of the information contained therein before looking over at Alpha as he poked around the shelves trying to figure out what the objects on them were for.

"Okay, hold still Alpha, I'm going to try this out …" She closed her eyes and her horn began to glow. Alpha stared at her with growing amazement as her horn shimmered faintly at first then suddenly ramped up in intensity right before climaxing with a bright flash of light. When everyone opened their eyes Spike found himself suppressing a laugh.

"Twi is he supposed to be all green like that?" he asked as Alpha rubbed his eyes from sudden glare of bright light he was not expecting.

"Uh, oops? Hang on I think I missed one tiny little …" she trailed off, re-reading the entire page again. "Ah, here we are. This time for sure!" she announced optimistically, starting to repeat the process as Alpha rubbed one hoof on his now light green leg as if it was just some kind of paint he could scrub off. This time when the flash ended he was surrounded by a very faint green glow. It ebbed toward his forehead, gathering into a dull green point at the tip of his horn before dissipating as a sphere of fine green mist in all directions from it.

Twilight grinned with elation at mastering yet another spell, "Ta-da! Now we can see the flow of magic within you. All we need now is a point of reference … me for example," and with that she cast the spell again, this time targeting herself instead. She walked over to a mirror to make observations. The green glow was many times brighter around her body, but instead of gathering at her horn it was evenly distributed and circulated around her in a closed loop. She noticed there was also no dissipation occurring anywhere and this gave her an idea. "Hmmm …" she looked back at Alpha, then to herself again, "well without a few more unicorns to study I can only speculate that you have a leak Alpha."

"I'm leaking?" he asked in a bit of a panic looking at himself in the mirror. He brought a hoof up to his horn in a vain attempt to 'plug the leak' only to become more panicked as he realized that the 'green stuff' was completely unaffected. "What happens when it's all gone?!" His only experience with leaking things was bleeding … and that was not a comforting comparison.

"Calm down, it doesn't work like- here, let me explain. Magic using races generate this energy within themselves naturally, a lot like body heat. Actually, that's a perfect analogy! Just like body heat, magic is supposed to remain within one's body, like it does in mine as you can see. When some is lost, or used up, your body adjusts to produce more if possible. So as long as you're alive and well, you will produce magic and won't 'run out'," Twilight finished studiously.

Alpha let out a sigh of relief, but then looked at her in confusion. "So … what does it mean then? I can't use magic because it's leaking?"

"Honestly … I've never heard of anything like this before. I'll have to read up on it and get back to you but … normally to cast a spell one would draw upon the magic within, focus it with one's horn and release the spell. Maybe …" she trailed off with a hoof rubbing her chin thoughtfully. "Maybe you could manage a really small spell, something that doesn't require much more than the ambient amount constantly being released from you right now. You could try levitating a feather-" she looked around the room for a moment, "Spike can you-"

"Here you go!" he interrupted, holding out a quill for her while grinning.

"Oh-ho-ho! Look at you, getting all predictive on us, are you sure I didn't accidentally cast a future sight spell on you?" Twilight asked, playfully ruffling the soft spines on Spike's head while they both grinned happily at each other. Alpha felt strange looking at the small display of affection, like a weight had just been dropped on his chest. Something tickled the back of his mind as old memories began to stir just as Twilight levitated the feather over to Alpha and waved it in front of his face.

"Anypony home?" she asked with a trace of worry. She could not help noticing that he tended to drift off once in a while and wondered if it might have something to do with his recent head injury.

"Wh- oh sorry, I was just …" he cleared his throat, Twilight noticing his eyes seemed to glisten a little more than usual just then, "so I just have to try lifting the feather?" he asked. The detection spell had begun to wear off, evidenced by the green glow around them both becoming proportionally fainter as time went on, but one could still see how the usual magical glow of Twilight's horn mixed with the green to form a rather unique color of its own as a thin green line extended from her it to the feather before mixing into the rest of that new color once more. The connecting line reminded Spike of … mucous. He stuck his tongue out in an expression of disgust while the two ponies worked.

"Yes. I'll just lay it down on the table here," she allowed the quill to fall to the table and the snot-like thread connecting Twilight to it broke, the color around it dissipating quickly but in a uniform manner. The detection spell ended. "Now you try."

Alpha struck a pose again just as he did back in the doctor's office. This time both front hooves held over his head and arced toward the quill as he stood on his hind legs with his tongue stuck half-way out the side of his close mouth in an expression of intense concentration.

Beads of sweat began to appear after a few seconds of nothing happening, but just as Twilight was about to suggest a lighter object a very strange thing happened. A barely visible transparent bluish grey sphere- or at least the bottom quarter of one- began to fade into existence beneath the quill as it rose very slowly.

Alpha managed to get the object about three inches off the table before the semi transparent 'bowl' disappeared and it dropped back to the table as he let out the breath he had been holding the whole time in one loud sigh. He crumpled to the ground, breathing heavily, but grinning profusely. "I ... I'm not ... broken," he said, gasping panting between words, feeling like a million bits all the same.

"Bravo," Twilight cheered with a smile, resting a hoof on his shoulder, "are you okay? Need some water or anything?" she asked.

"More of that great food from earlier would be nice," he looked up with hope in his eyes, making Twilight laugh.

"I'm afraid that's up to Spike-"

"On it!" he called happily as he skittered into the kitchen.

"It seems you managed to make another friend despite the rocky start," Twilight said with a smile as she gazed toward the kitchen door. "Anyway!" She exclaimed suddenly, snapping out of her little reverie, "We're not out of the woods yet, as the saying goes. I'm going to get right into those books and see if I can find anything on your … 'condition'."

"Sounds good. Um … Twilight?"

"Yes Alpha?"

"Thank you … for everything!"

"You're welcome," she said smiling at him before using her magic to rip the books off the shelves, making them dance in a line as they flew by her while she read each title and separated them into two piles, one to be checked, the other to be replaced on the shelves.

"Really … I don't think I could ever fully-"

"Oh no, don't you start that again!" she scolded light-heartedly, "Remember what you promised me?"

"Oh yea," he smiled sheepishly.

"Good!"

He smiled despite himself, watching her work for a few moments before a thought hit him. "By the way, about this … thing … Pinkie Pie invited me to … would you go with me?"

Twilight's magic faltered a bit and a few books dropped out of the air as she blushed suddenly. Was Alpha asking her out? She had never been asked out by a stallion before and she had no idea how to respond. She was sure if she just had a few hours to read up on it she could … but this was happening right now! She began to mumble incoherently as she dug through the pile of discarded books, looking for one in particular she thought she would not need to read for a long time.

"Twilight? Are you okay?"

"Ye- I- hang on- I just- hmnfrbldymrf"

"You're starting to sound a lot like me when I'm- wait … are you nervous? Did I say something strange?"

"Just a … almost found it," she got out on the edge of panic.

"You see I do not know where it is … or what it is … so I was hoping I could follow you … or something?" he offered in explanation. Twilight's head bolted upright as her magic completely stopped and everything that was in the air fell to the floor.

"Oh" she said plainly. "Heh heh, yeah, that's … fine," she ended with a saddened tone. Twilight shook her head suddenly and turned around with a rather forced smile on her face. "Actually that's perfect. By that time tonight I should have figured this out and I can tell you what I've found on the way there."

"Great! I am really hoping I can fix this, magic seems like a lot of fun!"

"Oh yes I can be- IT can be!" she was blushing again as she turned away from him and resumed sorting through the books, "I just wish we could get Rarity over here so I can use the detection spell to-"

"Rarity! Sunspots I completely forgot!" Alpha exclaimed before rushing out the door. Spike walked in just then with a tray of freshly baked goods held over his head proudly.

"You're gonna love these Alpha, they- Alpha?" Spike looked around confused. "Twi did you turn him invisible or something?" he asked.

"I wish I was invisible right now," she mumbled, still blushing in embarrassment.

Alpha burst into the Carousel Boutique panting from the all out sprint he had taken from the library. "Rarity I'm so sorry I-"

"Take it easy darling, what's the rush?" she asked, slightly amused but mostly saddened by his sweaty and unkempt visage. She was right in the middle of adding the finishing touches to the uniform he had seen only in drawing the previous day, gems floating from the drawing they were previously stuck to over to the actual product adorning one of the ponnequins that now occupied the center of the room.

Alpha tried again after catching his breath, "I completely forgot about yesterday evening, I'm so sorry about that I was just-"

"Oh I'm sure you had much more important things to be doing hun," she looked back at him and winked knowingly, "Think nothing of it. As it turns out, I was able to use the uninterrupted time to get this far! What do you think?" she asked, laying the final gem in place and turning to face him with a look of immense pride.

He didn't get a chance to be confused at her previous remark as he looked in awe at the amazing creation before him. It was … shinier than the drawing, much more vibrant, 'and it smells nice too,' he thought, sniffing the strange material as he walked around the wooden figure taking in the sight of the outfit from all angles. "Wow!"

Instead of waiting for a more verbose response, Rarity magically opened the locked chest she kept her gems in and lifted out the pair of shining black shoes then levitated them over to the ponnequin and fitted them perfectly onto its fore-hooves. Just as the sketch had hinted the flame patterns on the suit's legs accentuated those on the shoes giving it the intended effect.

Rarity stepped back to admire her own handiwork only to have her view blocked as Alpha walked in front of her suddenly. He was facing the ponnequin, reaching out towards the shoes. "Hey I was looking all over the place for these! Where did you find them?" he asked.

"I'm sorry … what?" Rarity queried, thinking she had misheard him.

"Yeah since … I can't remember how long, I've been trying to find these," he reiterated, slipping them off the wooden pony and onto his own hooves one at a time- much to Rarity's horror.

"W-well actually darling, if I'm n-not mistaken …" she stuttered, one of her eyes twitching at the thought of the dust and sweat on his naked hooves mixing into those pristine objects of pure fashion excellence, "y-you didn't want t-to t-touch them with a t-ten foot pole yester-"

"Oh no, you must have me confused for some other pony, I could never part with these!"

9: Politics, History and Bubble Baths

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Politics, History and Bubble Baths

The shoes she had no choice but to watch be defiled, they did belong to him after all, but there was no way she was doing to allow the same to happen to her own belongings. "There is absolutely no way you will be touching my greatest creation ever in a state like that!" she exclaimed with finality. Alpha looked craned his neck to look back at the rest of his body, searching for some clue as to what she meant. Finding none he simply shook his head at her and shrugged. Rarity rolled her eyes. "Please don't take this personally darling but, you're filthy! When was the last time you had a bath?"

"A bath?" He had been there for almost two days and as yet had to even touch water, let alone clean himself with it. Sure they had cleaned him up back at the hospital, standard procedure and all, but a sponge bath while lying incapacitated on a bed was a far cry from the real thing.

Rarity's eyes bugged out and her jaw dropped open. After a few awkward moments of silence, Alpha blinking and idly pawing at the floor, she broke out of her shock with new resolve. "Well that settles it! Come along Alpha," she levitated a few things into her waiting saddle bag in the corner and then pulled it on, "today you become a new stallion - and it all begins at … the Spa!"

"Excellent! Now that we have put that final bit of business behind us, I'd like to officially bring this year's discussions to a clo-"

"If I may just add one more thing?" a rather elegant female griffon suddenly spoke up, interrupting Princess Celestia. Inwardly she sighed to herself, but on the outside she remained cordial.

The yearly diplomatic meetings were almost a complete waste of time. There was never anything of great importance to discuss; mostly it tended to be about trivial things like the performance of the student exchange programs, requests for assistance with various large wild fauna, requests for aid in regions that did not have their own weather control pegasi (or whatever race they happened to have do the job) and, very rarely, there was a border dispute between members of two different races. These issues were just about always resolved in the same way, Equestria taking on the brunt of the requests, and Celestia could barely remember the last time one was turned down. A millennium of rule was a very long time, even for an immortal, to recall the finer details.

"Of course Annis, please go ahead," said Celestia politely. The Princess did not dislike Annis, she was pleasant to look upon and was actually quite soft-spoken for a diplomat, especially for a griffon, but as a result she tended to keep her country's issues to the very end, usually just as Celestia was bringing the discussions to a close, like just then. No she didn't dislike the griffon girl- just her habit of making a really long and tiring day of debate go on longer than she wanted, especially when she had been dreaming most of the said same day about taking a nice long relaxing flight above the clouds to wind down.

"Just one thing actually." Big surprise there. The griffons usually brought up the most frivolous of issues, though she was sure Annis was just as loathe bringing them up as Celestia was hearing and dealing with them, she was still saddled with the task of representing her nation, "our stargazers noticed a meteorite on an intercept course with the planet a few days ago. According to the latest observations it has touched down within the Equestrian border. We humbly request a sample of the remaining fragments, if any- for research purposes … of course." Annis reminded Celestia of an older more experienced version of one of her student's friends … what was her name again? Fluttershy? She did not stutter- in fact she was quite sure of her words at all times, probably due to her training for such an important position, but her excessive politeness was an obvious improvisation of what was actually written on the sheet of paper in front of her. A proud race such as the griffons never would have used such words as 'humbly' … or 'if' for that matter. Nothing was ever expressed by their ruling class that did not carry with it their full confidence … even when it was completely wrong.

"Of course, Equestria is always happy to collaborate with her neighbors in the interest of … research," Celestia replied with her usual warmth and smile, even as her mind raced. Griffons did not do 'research' in the sense that one might think. Most of their society was built on a harmony with nature. The kind of harmony that ensured their 'exotic' food supply did not go extinct.

It was one of the many skeletons in the closet for the Griffons; the ruling class' delight in eating other living things. It had been over fifteen hundred years since the magic had been developed to allow plant foods to be transmuted into forms that the carnivorous race could digest. Yet no matter how much more nourishing or easy this substitute was to come by, there were those who still enjoyed the thrill of the hunt and … the kill. It was never a pleasant topic for the Princess to think about, but sometimes the truth could be unpleasant, as it seemed this new one might be … when she figured it out.

The agreement made had been simple yet profound. Griffons were never to hunt a sentient creature and never to cause any species to go extinct. In return, they would be allowed to hunt in any non-populated area of the signed countries- a measure they were forced to resort to as a result of centuries of wild-life depopulation in their own lands before the laws were instituted and enforced.

In light of all of this, the griffon stargazers usually just made observations for superstitious purposes or to predict weather patterns for their cloud shaper class, as they called them. Any research they might do was almost always related to that. This was an anomaly and everyone at the table knew it, but hid their own initial reactions as any good diplomat usually did. The fact that Annis stumbled on this last bit was a testament to the fact that she was still young by comparison and had had trouble wording the request in such a way to avoid suspicion.

"I will have a squad of the Royal Reconnaissance Pegasi dispatched immediately and enlist the help of one of our most promising astrophysicists. One team from each interested nation will be allowed to attend and conduct observations on-site. I trust this will not be a problem?" she asked looking around the table at each attendee. They all nodded, except the minotaur diplomat who simply sat back and stared out the window. Minotaurs had little interest in anything even remotely scientific - and anything relating to good manners apparently.

"Is there anything else?" Celestia's expression never faltered, continuing to exude the warmth and kindness she had become famous for in her early years of leadership.

Annis shuffled a few more sheets before replying, "No, that is all. Queen Lynette thanks you for your continued … kindness in these matters," another unused word, especially by the Queen of the griffons. Annis had a few more years to go before her words flowed naturally and without pause, but at least she never misspoke.

"Well then, I hearby bring this year's discussions to an end. Please enjoy the remainder of your stay at Canterlot Castle. As always, chariots will be available at your request whenever you are ready to depart."

"Interesting …" Twilight Sparkle mumbled to herself, eyes rapidly flitting across pages as she devoured tome after tome.

"Whatcha studying this time Twi?" Spike asked as he went about replacing the books from the discarded pile around Twilight.

"Hmmm?" her focus was intense, not unusual for her when the topic was one she enjoyed immensely. But then … was there any topic she did not enjoy?

Spike walked in close to her before asking again. "Whatcha studying?" he said directly into her ear.

She whispered inaudibly, finishing the last sentence she had been reading before responding. "Spike this amazing! Princess Cadence has such a rich family history!"

"Huh?"

"Hang on, I was just about to find the first … here. One Princess Mona, the first Alicorn to marry a non-Alicorn thousands of years ago," she said, continuing to read as she spoke, "wed the pegasus Prince Night Prancer. Their first attempt to have foals ended badly when-" she gasped, "stillborn …"

Twilight began to tear up as she imagined the pain that such an experience must have brought to the royal couple, but she continued on. "In her weakened state from birth, Mona was unable to use her magic to help. It was declared a day of mourning … Mona was unseen for months as Night Prancer continued to run the kingdom.

"After many years and much research, the royal couple made another attempt to procreate with a team of highly trained unicorns monitoring every step of the process. They succeeded in giving birth to Prince Neptunus. The foal's wings were stunted from birth but he was otherwise healthy. Through-out his lifetime, the Prince could never fly but his magical aptitude far surpassed that of normal unicorns.

"The royal family, fearing more severe birth defects, decided to abstain from having any more foals until research could be perfected to guarantee a completely healthy birth. Sadly, this research was not completed until Night Prancer was bedridden with old age.

"Poor Mona … having to go through all of that …" Twilight drew a shaky breath and wiped her eyes, before continuing. "The following is the family tree starting from Prince Neptunus- wow," she lifted the tome and the page unfolded, spilling onto the floor as it opened up, "that's … a lot of ponies!" Both she and Spike were wide-eyed as they regarded the huge list.

"So … yeah … here at the bottom is Princess Cadence's grandfather. Magic was needed continually to prevent birth defects, but occasionally there were instances where an Alicorn would elope and have foals without the properly trained royal physicians to ensure there were no problems. Sometimes a pegasus would be born, sometimes a unicorn, but never a flawless Alicorn."

"Is that why don't we see so many Alicorns?" Spike asked.

"No, actually that is the result of Alicorns being actively discouraged from having more than one foal. Some references say it was out of respect for Princess Mona, others say it was a physical limitation of the magic involved. In any case, if you look closely you can see this tree doesn't branch out much at all." Indeed the few branches that shot off to the sides of the parchment never got far before ending abruptly. It was almost exclusively one for one all the way down to the end.

"Oh hang on; here it says in fine print that this tree only records Alicorns. Well I guess that explains why I can't find any reference to Prince Blueblood's heritage."

"Eh, sounds a bit shady to me," Spike said, wrinkling his snout.

"Watch it mister, that's my foal-sitter's family you're talking about- and royalty I might add," she warned half-hearted, still reading.

"Oh yeah … I hope I don't get banished," he pulled his tail to his chest as if it would protect him.

"No one's getting banished, now hush … listen to this," she had another book open now, "A few centuries ago a Princess Storm Singer was born with a stunted horn. She was unable to cast even the simplest spells until one day when one of her more persistent admirers gave her a strange bracelet as a gift. It was found that when she wore it for any length of time her magic became stronger and could be used in sporadic bursts to cast even some of the more complicated spells. The bracelet was made of a shiny dark stone, almost perfectly black. It accidentally fell and broke one day and could not be reformed. The stallion that gave her the gift vowed to make another if she married him and when she agreed he journeyed to one of the more active volcanoes around that time, mount Buckatoa." Twilight's eyes widened as she looked up at the baby dragon.

"Spike! That's the volcano that caused untold destruction when it erupted centuries ago, could …" her head shot back down to read the rest of it.

"The unnamed stallion is thought to have been lost when the volcano erupted while he was gone …" she finished in a shaky voice, unable to continue. Spike rubbed her side trying his best to comfort her. "This … now I remember why I stayed away from ancient history … there was so much tragedy back then. I can't imagine how ponies of that era got by from day to day …"

"There there, it's all in the past Twi, let's focus on right now. That black bracelet helped Princess Storm Singer. Any idea what it was made of?"

"Hmmm …" she turned her focus completely to the task at hand hoping to put that last bit of unpleasantness behind her, "Well volcanic rock is black … but it certainly wouldn't break from simply falling. It would have to have been some kind of dark glass or …"

"The shoes Rainbow Dash was-"

"Yes, that has to be it! Those are Alpha's shoes, they must have been made for him for specifically that purpose! Well that was easy," she finished smiling, "All we have to do is let him know that all he has to do is put them back on. Ooo I can't wait to see what the magic detection spell shows when he uses them!"

As Twilight began to move to the door Spike belched green flame and a scroll dropped to the floor sporting the royal seal. He picked it up and began to read, "Dear Twilight, as you may already have noticed, a meteorite has touched down in Equestria. What you probably don't know is that our neighbors are interested in studying it. I have granted them a chance to do just this and I formerly request you oversee the operation as soon as the Wonderbolts have located the exact impact site. I know how much you love astrology and I am looking forward to a full report when the task is complete."

Twilight let out a huge gasp, "Yes! Spike do you know how incredible this is?!"

"N-"

"I've only dreamed about a day like this! Such an amazing opportunity to further my studies! Can you imagine? An object that has been hurtling through space for what could be uncountable centuries- and I get to look at it FIRST!" By now she was prancing around in circles, giddy with excitement. It reminded Spike of a certain Pink mare.

Spike didn't really get it, but he was happy that she was happy and smiled at her. "Well I hope you don't get mad at me for wishing they don't find it until tomorrow, it would be a shame to miss the big party tonight."

"Oh yeah … that …" her mind wandered a bit as she thought about her embarrassing fumbling with Alpha earlier. 'He didn't seem to notice though,' she thought to herself, 'I'll just pretend that never happened. I wonder what he's doing right now …'

Alpha's head burst up out of the massive tub and he gasped for air. It was an odd sight to say the least. Despite Rarity's best efforts she had been unable to convince him to take his shoes off before getting in and now he was trying, with very limited success, to wipe the water from his eyes. After a minute of careful prodding he used his bare knees instead, finally getting his eyes open without blurred vision and realizing that Rarity and the two mares that ran the spa were staring at him.

"Wh- what? Is there something on my face?" he asked, pawing at his cheeks and nose.

"You … could say that … Alpha are you … is that a horn on your forehead darling?" Rarity asked in shock from her casual sitting position at the side of the tub where the floor rose to meet its lip. The water had completely deflated his mane and the bit that used to hang over his forehead, hiding the horn, was now clinging to the left side of his face where he had pulled it out of his eye and the horn was poking straight through the paper thin layer of wet hair.

"Uh n-n-no, that's um, a … rock?" he sighed in defeat. "Yes," he mumbled, sinking slowly back under the surface of the water, bubbles appears as he exhaled slowly.

Rarity's face had begun to change slowly into an ever-growing smile. "A Prince? Are you really a Prince, Alpha?" You could see the sparkles in Rarity's eyes as she her imagination ran wild. A Prince wearing her designs would all but set her for life.

'I might just have to steal this one away from Twilight,' she thought deviously to herself for a brief moment, 'Prince Blueblood turned out to be a complete waste of time but Alpha … he doesn't act anything like that! Though he did lose his memory … what if he turned out to be- bah! What am I thinking. There's no way I could do that to Twilight. As tempting as it is …'

"Um … I don't … I can't remember," Alpha replied, pulling Rarity back out of her day-dream. "But please, can you-" he stopped suddenly looking around at the other two ponies, "Can everyone keep this to themselves? The doctor said it would be … troublesome if others found out about this and … I've had enough trouble these past two days," he finished, batting at a soap bubble with a sad look on his face.

The mares looked at each other before nodding, "Of course Alpha, I'll … try my best," said Rarity, still a bit giddy from the implications of her discovery. "It's so small though … I don't think I've ever-"

"Yeah yeah, the doctor said the same thing. As it turns out I cannot really seem to use magic. The best I can do is-" he began to concentrate; his front hooves held in a cup shape, half submerged in the water. To his surprise, they began to glow a soft yellow. Or more specifically, the shoes began to glow. "Sunspots … this is … new," he had stopped concentrating to look closer at the shoes and they stopped glowing. After a moment of scrutiny he resumed his attempt. This time when the glow appeared again, the quarter sphere appeared beneath the water and slowly began to rise, lifting a bit of the liquid inside of it. This time, however, he realized the sphere was slowly completing itself, growing to half, and then three quarters as it rose, finally becoming a complete sphere with the liquid inside beginning to divide and particulate (much like a lava lamp) as gravity lost all influence on it. "Whoa …" he whispered, hooves held out underneath it as if he expected it to fall at any moment.

"Well you certainly don't seem to be having much trouble with it now," Rarity mused watching the strange bubble the likes of which she had never seen before, "Maybe you are a Prince and don't yet know it," her expression turned into a smile.

"B-but … just a while ago in the library …" he never finished as he began to manipulate the sphere, causing it to grow then shrink slightly, testing his command over it. Then it darted around the room, following his every thought and he let out a little laugh as he deftly guided it through smaller and smaller formations; under tables, behind plant pots and through the rafters- and promptly popped. Rarity had dunked his head into the tub with a bored expression on her face, breaking his concentration and destabilizing the spell.

"Enough showing off you, there's still much to be done," she said when Alpha came back up coughing and spluttering. Before he could adequately catch himself two pairs of hooves, one pink and one blue, were upon him, lathering and scrubbing away with practiced precision.

"A-are you s-sure this is … healthy? It feels … uncomfortable," he managed to say without getting soap in his mouth, squirming and whimpering under the ministrations of these new strangers.

"My dear Alpha, this is the pinnacle of good hygiene! And I'll have nothing but the best for my soon-to-be star model!" Rarity smiled at him before sipping from a straw protruding from an open coconut with a tiny umbrella poking out of it.

"Yea but aaaAAAHaaaaiiii-" his voice pitch topped out and cracked, eyes wide as he looked down between his back legs, then at the pink mare before scrambling over to the opposite side of the tub. She just shrugged and grinned.

"Apologies, you are second male customer ever," she said, thinking back on when Pinkie Pie had brought in Cranky. If memory served her correctly, he did not seem to mind their attention much at all. In fact it was like he was a million miles away.

She offered him the brush. "I-I t-think y-you just about covered it. Thanks," he said, squeezing his legs together and looking back at Rarity, "very uncomfortable!"

Rarity's face turned a light shade of pink and she looked away, trying to remain lady-like, "I'm sure it was an honest mistake," she started, a hoof on her mouth attempting to stifle the giggles, "Come on, let's get you loosened up, I'm just positive that will help," she added picking herself up and walking over to the massage beds with the two beauticians in tow.

Alpha attempted to pull himself out of the tub- only to drop back in with a splash. "Um … just … give me a minute?" he asked, blushing furiously as he sank back into the water again. The girls could contain their giggle fits no longer.

Alpha was sparkling - literally. As he and Rarity walked slowly back to her Boutique the air was filled with crinkling and crackling sounds. "Tell me again why I'm walking around like this?" he asked. The late afternoon sun was glinting off of the stiff transparent material that was tied to Alpha's legs, scattering the light in every conceivable direction.

"Do you want to try on your new outfit or not?" Rarity asked bluntly.

"Yea but-"

"Then you must be spotless! I will accept nothing less"

"So-"

"Those disposable coverings will keep your hooves clean until we get back."

Alpha sighed in defeat. "I am starting to think this is more trouble than it is worth"

Rarity looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Alpha can I ask you something personal?"

"Personal?"

"How do you feel about Twilight Sparkle?"

Alpha's expression wrinkled in thought. "She … has helped me so much … since I awoke. Before I met her- all of you … before I saw how you are all so willing to help another pony without knowing anything about them … when I think about it I have to admit I probably would not have done the same. But after being in such a hopeless position … after feeling what that is like … I think I understand now.

"Twilight really put the words to it though. She made me promise," he smiled at the memory, "'When you see a pony who needs help, you help them.' I feel like I owe her everything. From what the doctor told me … I would not have made it if not for her. If you think about it … I should not be here. I should be buried and lifeless in that same hole out there …" His gaze was unfocused as he became lost in his thoughts.

"Honey," Rarity nudged, causing him to stumble slightly to one side but they did not stop walking, "What's in the past is in the past, okay? There's no point in thinking about how bad the stitching was on your first designs, it won't make them any better, or you for that matter. What matters is you're here, now, and you're stronger for it."

Alpha looked at Rarity with renewed vigour. "Yea I guess you are right. Still … I know I promised her but, I feel like I will never be the same until I repay Twilight in some way." He made a dismissive sound and looked away. "Listen to me. It almost sounds like I know what I was like before all of this, does it not?" Rarity smiled.

"They say there are some things that can't be forgotten, but who knows? Maybe you are exactly as you were before you lost your memory; a nice colt with a talent for charming book-loving young mares," she finished with a grin and winked.

He had to think about that one for a second, "Wait wh- what?"

"Come along darling, we still have so much to do!"

The light was fading fast and the crickets had begun their mating rituals, filling the early evening with a steady chorus of chirping. Twilight was pacing back and forth in front of Spike as he sat near the library door fiddling with the bowtie she had conjured for him along with the rest of his miniature tuxedo, complete with top-hat and cane. He had not opted for the moustache this time since realizing that it did not work with Rarity and Twilight had managed to talk him out of the beard idea.

"Where is he?" she grumbled, staring at the clock every ten seconds.

"Are you sure he said-"

"I know what he said!" she snapped in frustration but quickly sighed. "Sorry …"

"Are you okay Twi?" Spike asked in concern, forgetting his bowtie for the moment.

She sighed again. "Yes, yes I'm fine … I just thought … never mind. It's getting late, we should probably go"

"Hey why don't we leave a note on the door, it shouldn't be too hard to find Sugarcube Corner with some directions right?" he offered.

"Yeah sure," she replied half-heartedly, moving slowly to the door. 'Is this what it feels like to be 'stood up'? I think that's what the book called it …' she thought to herself. Since noon she had been pouring through every book on relationships she could find. Alas, like everything else she read up on, it never completely prepared her for the actual experience.

'Well he did just want directions … maybe it was silly of me to think … bah, I'm not going to let this ruin a nice evening.' Her head rose in resolve as she reached the door. Spike had been scribbling furiously all the while and pinned the parchment to the door when Twilight opened it.

"All set!" he announced proudly, hopping onto Twilight's back after closing the door behind them. "So whaddaya think Twilight? Do I have a chance with Rarity tonight?" She giggled. Spike always managed to cheer her up, even when he did not realize it.

You could hear the music thumping away from a few buildings down. Inside Sugarcube Corner a pale yellow pony (usually mistaken for white) with a blue and cyan mane was working the turntables while the other ponies mingled. A grinning Pinkie Pie was bouncing around making sure everything was going smoothly, completely hiding a nagging worry as she continued to keep an eye out for the, as yet absent, guests of honor.

It seemed as if every pony in Ponyville was present. The doors to the bakery were wedged open with most of the party spilling over into the street. Tables had been setup on the sidewalks in front of the building with the same sugary treats the pink mare had been working on most of the day. One might have called the decorations 'over-doing it' but everyone had come to expect such things from the perky apprentice baker.

"Hoo-wee! Well ain't this sumthin'," a familiar voice exclaimed loudly outside.

Well maybe 'perky' was an understatement. "Applejack!" Pinkie squealed in delight, relieved that at least one of her best friends had finally shown up as she zipped outside to greet her.

"Howdy Pinkie. Looks like you've outdun yerself yet again!" she exclaimed with a smile.

"Thanks! Hey have you seen the others? I know I gave them their invitations myself but I haven't seen them yet. Can't have a party for two ponies if they don't show up can we? I mean sure the party would still be going on, but would it really be-" Applejack shoved a hoof in Pinkie Pie's mouth.

"Alright alright ah getcha. Naw ah haven't seen 'em yet. 'Least not on the walk over from the farm. Sorry ah wuz this late by the way, had to pull some overtime cuz we were in the middle o' apple buckin' the who~ole orchard! And ah still hafta git that crater in mah field filled in!" Applejack exclaimed, trying to sound frustrated but failing.

The farm pony was a hard worker and loved every bit of it. This was not to say that she did not enjoy the benefits of better tools. She had been keeping her ear out on the progress of the steam powered plough since the Flim Flam brothers debacle. There was no way she was ever going to try to improve on the perfection of her family's cider, but there was always room for doing things better in the fields. Just thinking about all of the chores she could get done with the extra time such an innovation would provide made her head spin. Of course she did not get to that point all on her own. It took a lot of her sister's youthful enthusiasm, not to mention persistence in thrusting advertisements for the darn thing in her face, to convince her that not all innovations were a tragedy waiting to happen.

Before Pinkie could comment, they both spotted Twilight and Fluttershy walking up the street and waved. Twilight had to urge Fluttershy forward when she caught sight of the crowded scene, but Spike waved back on their behalf.

"And there yah go, not a thing tah worry about" Applejack said with a contented smile at Pinky.

Pinkie Pie was leaning to one side, then the other trying to get a look behind the pair of ponies come up to them. "Hey where's Alpha? I had an extra special- it's not gonna work if you're not together- awww. Now I have to come up with- AHA!" With that the befuddled group watched as Pinkie skipped back inside.

"Any idea what that was about?" Spike asked, thumbing toward the bakery entrance. Everyone else shook their heads emphatically.

"Who's Alpha?" Applejack asked, a little more confused than Twilight and Spike, "Ah mean ah know the name is on the invitation an' all, but Pinkie didn't exactly stick around tah explain much," Fluttershy looked up, interested in the answer as well.

"Remember the pony we rescued on the day of the picnic? The one we were all camped out at the hospital because of? The one who says one thing and then does another …" Twilight had gradually descended into a low grumbling by the last sentence and instead of nodding the others were just staring at her in almost the same way they had looked at Pinkie a moment ago.

"Funny you should mention him," called a voice none of them ever thought they would hear at a party. Doctor Heartstrong had walked up behind them, back on all fours without the aid of a sling, and stopped just beside Twilight. "I was hoping to ask him something. I don't suppose any of you know where he might be?"

Everyone looked at Twilight for a moment and she twitched visibly, clearly indicating she had been caught up in her thoughts. "What?" She asked, blinking rapidly at them.

"Miss Twilight, it is good to see you again," the doctor smiled warmly, "I was hoping you could tell me where Alpha is this evening. I hear he has been spending time around the library lately."

If it had not been after sunset, one might have noticed the slightly redder shade of purple the fur around Twilight's cheeks had taken on. "Ahem, yes he came to by asking about, uh …" she looked around at the other girls for a moment and then back at the doctor, moving in closer to whisper the next word, "magic."

"Oh, I see." Now it was the doctor's turn to blink rapidly. "How did that … turn out exactly?"

"I was doing some research on it and it seems very likely his … condition actually is a birth defect." By now they had ambled away from the others who had struck up a conversation of their own, quite convinced that whatever Twilight and the doctor were talking about would be far beyond the scope of their own comprehension. "Among many other interesting facts I came across along the way, I found a previous case buried in ancient history and a way to work around it. I was actually hoping to meet him here tonight and give him the good news."

"He wasn't with you all day?" the doctor asked in a tone of voice more suited to a private investigator.

"What? No! I mean … maybe he would have been but he left in a hurry, something about … oh yes, he seemed to remember a previous engagement he had with Rarity." Twilight frowned as she said the name, but before she could slip off into another trance the doctor interrupted her.

"So he was with Miss Rarity the rest of the day?" Again with the voice.

"I'm sorry but you'll have to ask her that," said Twilight, a new edge in her voice now. She shook her head, 'Stop it, stop it, stop! Rarity is one of my best friends, stop thinking such things Twilight! I promised myself I wouldn't let this get to me. Why am I acting like this? I'm helping out a pony in need, nothing more,' she thought to herself. "What is this all about anyway? I thought you discharged him, has there been some complication?" she asked curiously.

"You could call it that." Doctor Heartstrong looked off into the crowd of ponies having a good time, trying to figure out how to word his next sentence. "You probably don't know about this but I had a professional come to Ponyville to examine Alpha on the day he was discharged. The purpose was twofold, though admittedly the second reason was a probably bit optimistic.

"After the … incident between you and Alpha, I was concerned that the damage to his brain may have been greater than I initially predicted. Perhaps he was hallucinating for example. The professional, one Doctor Tintenflecks, examined a number of psychological factors to determine if there was any problem based on the same methods used to rehabilitate patients with violent tendencies. As it turns out he found nothing out of place. Or so he said."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll get to that in a minute. Next, the hope was that he could use his specialist methods of hypnosis to restore Alpha's memory. Now for this part I was only present at the beginning. You see, his method does tend to make an already weary pony … drowsy. So I stepped out for a coffee. Unfortunately I was ambushed by a few small matters requiring my attention on the way to and from the break room and when I got back … well, things did not seem so normal."

"I feel like you're doing this on purpose. Please doc, cut to the chase, what happened?"

"I don't know if you are familiar with the good doctor, but he normally has a very strong accent-"

"Yes yes, Alpha had a ball making fun of it, go on"

"When I re-entered the room the doctor appeared to be … I don't know, in shock perhaps? He was just staring blankly. Alpha seemed to be at a loss as to what had happened. The doctor did snap out of it when I finally shook him but when I asked about the results of his … experiment, his voice was completely different; there was no accent at all – or emotion for that matter. He told me there was nothing wrong with Alpha and that the memory restoration attempt had failed, then he excused himself. It was all very disconcerting I assure you, but Alpha did not seem to be any different and, despite my better judgment, I decided to discharge him."

Twilight blinked a few times. "Well that does not seem too strange. Forgive me doctor but I fail to see the problem here, I have met some very odd ponies before. An eccentric psychologist hardly-"

"Miss Twilight," the doctor cut her off hurriedly with a rather grim expression on his face, "Doctor Tintenflecks is now a patient at Ponyville General Hospital - he's comatose."

10: The Not-So-Final Flight of Icarus

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The Not-So-Final Flight of Icarus

"Hold still dear, just a few more …" Rarity trailed off, horn aglow and deep in concentration.

"My apologies Miss Rarity, I just find this so fascinating!" Alpha replied while balancing on two legs, one back leg propped up on a table and a front leg waving in the air with a glowing hoof. The latest in 'bubble practice', as he came to think of it, was seeing how large he could make and maintain them. The beach-ball sized bubble at the tip of his hoof was growing very slowly now that he had reached a new record in size and it was starting to wobble in a decidedly unhealthy manner.

Rarity was meticulously working his flank- or rather, the flank section of the jumpsuit he currently wore. She had found it too plain and added it to her list of last minute changes; one of which was adjusting the mask to accommodate the newly discovered horn and allow enough of his mane to spill out in order to keep it hidden, as per his request.

"How about now?" Rarity asked, a floating cloth wiping the beads of sweat from her brow. Alpha risked a glance down at the pattern just long enough to take in the latest adjustment in a long line to what was supposed to be an accurate depiction of the Centaurus constellation, made of tiny baby-blue sapphire chips.

Unfortunately for Rarity, she did not share Alpha and Twilight's fascination with the stars and had taken at least ten tries at getting it right. Somewhere around attempt number five she had come to regret the decision to let Alpha decide what pattern to use during an unusual case of 'creative block' and by now she was almost all nerves trying to keep herself from yelling at the completely oblivious young stallion.

"Perfect," said Alpha, eyes already back on the bubble that was now nearly as tall as he was, though the wobbling was so horrible that it resembled a squirming grub more than a sphere. As expected, it popped. "Sunspots," he exhaled along with Rarity, though she was doing so for a completely different reason.

The tired seamstress unceremoniously shoved Alpha's leg off the table and nudged him over to the middle of the room. "Okay, now for the final touch!" she exclaimed with a smile, glad to have the end it sight at last.

Stepping back, her horn glowed brightly as she charged up the spell while a distracted Alpha rubbed his chin, deep in thought and idly stretching his cramped back leg. When the spell discharged in a flash of sky blue light the flame patterns and the lines connecting the sapphires had taken on an orange and blue fluorescent glow, respectively, and the black material shone as if it was made of the finest glass.

"Ta-da! Brilliance made manifest, wouldn't you agree?" she asked, quite please with the overall outcome.

Alpha glanced back at the design again only to do a double take as he realized the change. "How- what- is that- …" his mouth just hung open, jaw twitching with malformed words.

"I know, I know. It is simply too magnificent for words!" Rarity gushed, "But we shall have to save our admiration for later I'm afraid," she looked out the window, "You are one of the guests of honor at the party and we do seem to be pushing the limits of being fashionably late," she ended, chuckling at her own clever use of words.

"Party? Oh! That party. Pinkette's party! I completely forgot." Alpha exclaimed.

"Pinkie," Rarity corrected.

"What?"

"I believe you are referring to Pinkie Pie, not 'Pinkette'"

"Right, yes, what you said, ummm … but I was supposed to get back to Twilight about something we-"

"Oh don't worry about that dear, she's probably already there having the time of her life!"

Twilight Sparkle did not feel well at all. For the entire day she had been tripping over her own thoughts trying to sort out these strange new feelings she had been experiencing and along came doctor Heartstrong to throw another monkey wrench into the works.

"I- I'm sorry, what?" she asked, the implications already starting to sink in but doing little to ease their shocking nature.

"I had some doubts about the results and paid him a visit at the room by the train station boarding house where he was staying this morning only to find him collapsed just inside the door and frothing at the mouth. By the time we got him to the emergency room he was catatonic. At around midday when we stabilized his condition he was clinically comatose as a result of massive hemorrhaging that began in his left temporal lobe," doctor Heartstrong elaborated. Twilight was still staring at him with open-mouthed disbelief. "Up until now I cannot find a cause. It's as if the blood vessels spontaneously ruptured of their own volition!" he exclaimed, finishing his exposition.

"B-b-but that doesn't make sense, brains don't spontaneously hemorrhage ... do they? And even so, it seems quite unlikely that it could have anything to do with Alpha-"

"Oh? What makes you say that?" the doctor asked almost accusingly.

"Well it's obvious isn't it? From what he told me you should already know that he is almost completely incapable of using magic; one of the only things I can think of that might incriminate him in this strange case"

"Almost completely?"

"Oh that's right, he didn't manage to do anything in your office did he. When he … came by … this morning, we took a look at his magic flow and found some very interesting things. I'll have to tell you about the details later but he did manage to lift a feather in a rather unusual way-"

"Unusual you say?"

Twilight furrowed her eyebrows in slight annoyance, "Is that necessary doctor?"

"I'm sorry, I've been spending too much time with my nose buried in detective novels," he said with a nervous chuckle, "but please, go on."

She explained the minor feat that Alpha performed in the library earlier that day. "Basically his command over magic is extremely limited; I doubt he could harm anypony with it - unless they were allergic to feathers maybe"

"Hmmm. While I would normally tend to agree with you there, his show of extra-ordinary healing suggests otherwise. If he was somehow subconsciously using magic to heal himself, perhaps he could do something similar to harm others-"

"Wild speculation! We still can't say for certain that his healing was a result of magic!" The frustration was now clear in Twilight's voice, causing doctor Heartstrong to look at her in confusion.

"Miss Twilight, are you alright?" he asked in concern.

"N- yes … I don't know!" She turned away from him suddenly in an attempt to hide the conflicting emotions playing across her face. Unfortunately for her, the doctor learned all he needed to by the tone of her voice.

"Miss … Twilight I don't want to rush to conclusions either, but I am concerned about the well-being of everypony here in Ponyville, including Alpha. I don't want to ruin what looks like a great get-together you and your friends are having here, but please, I urge you … be careful. At least until we find out more?"

Twilight sighed. She was doing it again. Whenever she had read about other ponies letting their feelings get in the way of logic she had found the notion completely unbelievable. The stories never mentioned how utterly confusing those feelings could be. And here she was, defending a complete stranger who, for all she knew, could actually be responsible for this grievous misdeed. 'Well … not complete stranger,' she thought to herself warmly as she remembered the long talk that previous night.

"Okay," she started, turning a little to look sideways at him, "I get it. I'll keep an eye on him tonight. I just- it doesn't feel right. I know he went a little crazy on me back at the hospital that day but since then he's been nothing but … humble. I just can't imagine him causing serious harm to anypony; I doubt he even could hurt a fly."

"Thank you. I have to get back and check up on doctor Tintenflecks. If anything comes up, anything at all-"

"You'll be the first to know. I Pinkie swear," she added, managing a smile.

"Pinkie sw-"

"I promise."

The doctor nodded and turned to leave. Just as Twilight did the same he looked back, "Oh and Twilight?"

"Yea?"

"Happy Birthday." With that they both smiled and parted ways.

"… and we all remember when she first came to Ponyville, a curious young mare with a mission from Princess Celestia herself! I mean, really, who doesn't remember the Summer Sun Celebration that year? Why without her, we would- oh! And there's our first guest of honor right now!" Pinkie Pie interrupted herself, pointing a hoof in a dramatic pose at the door Twilight had just walked through. A random spotlight illuminated the befuddled lavender mare and she squinted in confusion, lifting a hoof to cover her eyes as she tried to figure out what was going on. The music had been paused and everyone had been listening intently to Pinkie's speech until Twilight entered the room.

Pinkie Pie somehow appeared next to her with a microphone in hoof, "Can we get a word from the savior of Equestria and belated birthday girl?" The mic was thrust at a completely off-guard Twilight Sparkle.

"Uh … hi? Eheh-" she mumbled, ending with a forced cough. The sound system started to echo the crickets before the silence could completely take over.

Pinkie blinked for a moment, "… And there you have it everypony, the bashful student of Princess Celestia herself! Give her a round of applause!" There was a thundering noise as the ponies gathered began to stomp there front hooves and cheer. "And of course we have a new pony in Ponyville tonight, I'll be introducing him to you all just as soon as he gets here. Until then, hit it DJ!" Pinkie was back up on the table in the center of the room again, striking a rock star pose on that last bit.

The music kicked back up and everyone began to dance or mingle again. A few well-wishers crowded around Twilight to say a few words or enthusiastically point out the present they had left on the table set aside for them.

After a while the crowd around her thinned out and only Applejack, Fluttershy and Spike remained. Twilight was just starting to relax when they all heard a familiar voice.

"Excuse me, hello? Is this thing on?" Rarity was up on the table this time, tapping at the microphone. The music faded out, "Ahem, yes well- fillies and gentlecolts if I may have your attention for just a moment; it is with great pride that I give you all a sneak peak at what I hope will be a crowning achievement of my fashion career. Put your hooves to the floor for Alpha Centauri wearing my latest creation, a little something I like to call …" Rarity paused, never missing a chance to be dramatic, "Blazing Midnight!" She struck one of her signature poses, reared back on her hind legs with a fore leg extended high in the air, inclined slightly toward the bakery's backroom where she had snuck Alpha in for the surprise introduction.

The mysterious spotlight appeared on the doorway and the crowd started to stomp but it quickly died down as they all realized no one was coming out. Rarity opened one eye, still in her pose, then the other as she realized something was wrong.

"Ahem, I said 'Blazing Midnight!'" she called out what was supposed to be Alpha's cue again, a little louder this time and with more flourish of her extended hoof. Still nothing. Her expression deadpanned as she came back down to all-fours. "Pinkie you better not ha-"

Two pink hooves shoved a completely unaware stallion through the double doors, his mouth smeared with icing as he continued to munch on a cupcake even as he stumbled forward on three legs, eyes closed in an expression of pure bliss. Rarity dropped the mic and face-hoofed. The crowd began to ooo and aaa, all quite taken with the sight before them. By the time they started to applaud Rarity froze in the middle of hurriedly wiping Alpha's face with a hoofkerchief and scolding Pinkie Pie in a hushed tone from between clenched teeth. She slowly looked around; her face shifting from anger to shock then finally, slowly, a smile.

"Thank you, thank you!" She called, the cloth flying off to the left when she spun around and took a bow. Pinkie Pie picked up the mic and appeared on the table all in a flash.

"Ponyville's very own star fashionista, Rarity! And yup- you guessed it; the one we've all been waiting for, brand new to our crazy little town, let's have another round of applause for Alpha Centauri!" The stomping this time was a bit more toned down as many were caught up admiring Rarity's handiwork or figuring out just how they felt about this mysterious new pony. "Is there anything you would you like to tell all of Ponyville tonight Alpha?" she asked, thrusting the mic at his muzzle.

Alpha simply held out the almost finished bit of cupcake and with a huge smile asked, "Whoever Ponyville is, she has to try these!"

Pinkie laughed into the mic, "That's right everypony, he loves to eat yummy food! Don't miss your chance to get to know him better and make a new friend! But hooves off fillies, word coming down the grapevine is he's taken!" she ended with a wink in Twilight's direction.

Twilight had been sitting off in a corner staring at Alpha with crossed forelegs and a hard-set frown from the moment he had appeared. Now she went wide-eyed before thrusting her snout in the air and yelling "IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" and stuffed a confection from a nearby table into her mouth, the steam from her nostrils visible as she fumed silently with the frown twice as deep now, although this time she was glaring daggers into the apprentice baker instead.

None of the others seemed to notice however as the music suddenly kicked back up even louder than it was before and a startled jumpsuit-wearing pony clamped his hooves over his ears and winced, the bit of cupcake tumbling away from him in a flurry of crumbs.

Rarity was too caught up with a crowd of ponies that was congratulating her and most of the others were busy jamming to what was actually a very popular song to notice. Twilight, on the other hand, got up and ploughed through the crowd, making her way over to Alpha. By the time she got to the spot where he had been, however, all she found was one of the double doors slowly swinging. Putting two and two together she pushed through them, passing only a quick glance around the back area before continuing on through the back door exit.

In the moonlit street behind Sugarcube Corner a dark shape was rubbing its ears vigorously. Twilight laid a hoof on its shoulder only to feel a tinge of disappointment as it jumped and pulled away, looking around quickly.

"Oh Twilight, h-hi," Alpha said in an abnormally loud voice, "I did not notice you there."

Twilight tilted her head, "Are you okay?" she asked, forgetting whatever it was she was so mad about earlier.

"What? You will need to speak louder, I cannot seem to hear much right now," he bellowed, "I do not think it is normal for my ears to be ringing like this!"

She remembered the first time she had been to a party with Vinyl Scratch in charge of the music, a jarring experience to say the least when she found herself too close to the speakers. 'Still, it wasn't this bad.' She thought to herself. 'Wait. Could he be ... no that's not ... is anyone that good? The jumpiness, the way he just leaves abruptly ... could this ignorance of even simple words, this memory loss ... all be feigned? What if he really did do it? I could be acting so casually and trusting around a pony more dangerous than any creature I've ever dealt with! Well no longer! I must be prepared! Let's see what protection spells would be most-' she snickered but quickly regained her composure, 'most effec-' more snickering, this time with a snort thrown in.

Twilight broke down laughing at the sight in front of her. Alpha had begun to scratch at his ears with his back hooves. The sight reminded her of Winona and it was, quite frankly, hilarious.

"Wh-" she gasped for air, "What are you doing?" she asked in between gulped breaths.

"What?!" he bellowed back, stopping in mid scratch, ear cocked and beg leg held still in the mid-air.

Twilight could not help letting out another chuckle before casting a spell. When the light subsided Alpha had a look of immense relief on his face and sunk down into a content sitting position.

"So much better," he sighed.

'No pony can be that good,' she thought to herself, 'I don't know what's going on around here but it just can't be his fault.'

"You have got to be the strangest pony I've-" she caught sight of something pink behind her, part of a pattern on the stylized bakery building, "one of the strangest ponies I've ever met," she finished. How could anyone ever forget Pinkie Pie.

"And ... strange is good?" he asked curiously, turning his head to look at her.

"Sometimes. It sure can be funny, I'll say that much," she gave one last giggle before switching subjects, "I like your new look," she said casually, admiring the stylization along the lower legs.

"Oh I bet you will really like this then!" Alpha said excitedly, whirling around and waving his rear in her face.

"Gah-" Twilight reflexively drew back at the apparently vulgar display, "What are you- oh! Is that? I see! Hmmm," she narrowed her eyes, nose only a foot away from the design on his flank, "Is it ... oh I know, it's the Centaurus constellation right?"

"You guessed it!"

"This is pretty close. This star right here," she poked one particular sapphire chip, "needs to be just a smidge to the right. Is this what you and Rarity were doing all day?"

"Oh no, not all day," Alpha said, straightening back up, "she took me to some place called ... uhhh ... 'Spah'?"

"Aaaaah, it all makes sense now," Twilight conceded, rolling her eyes as she remembered their last visit. She sighed, Her mind returning to the business at hand. The business ... what was- "Oh yeah, do you want to hear what I found out today?"

"Found- oh you mean with the magic thing- hey check this out!" The words all came out in a flood as he bolted upright and stretched out a glowing hoof, beginning to form a bubble at its tip. Twilight watched in amazement as it grew quickly to the size of a pony. A pony the size of Big Mac. Then it slowed down and stopped growing, content to just hover there.

Twilight, ever observant, immediately noticed a few things. First, Alpha did not appear to have physically or mentally exerted himself at all when performing this feat. Second, it was not his horn that glowed, as was the case with normal unicorn spell-casting, but his hooves- or more accurately, the shoes on his front hooves. Finally, the bubble she was now staring at was at least one fifteen times larger than the one he had conjured in the library earlier.

"Fascinating!" She exclaimed, walking slowly around the sphere noting its color, viscosity and lack of imperfections. "Can you ..." she trailed off as she poked at it, finding the surface remarkably solid for what looked like something you could make with soapy water if not for the grayish tint. Finally she turned and looked at the young stallion who was grinning with his chest puffed out and beaming proudly. "Can you do that again? Except, this time let me use the trace spell, I need to see what's going on inside you!" Her horn began to glow, already expecting a positive answer as she cast the detection spell.

"I see no reason why not. I was practicing this all day!" he exclaimed happily, dismissing the first sphere with a wave of his other hoof. There was a short and low hiss as it faded out of existence.

Twilight observed the faint green aura around him even before he began. It was flowing mostly down into his front hooves now. But instead of the dull green point she observed earlier at the tip of his horn, the shoes were glowing pools of intense green light. The feeling of elation was satisfying as she began to realize her earlier hypothesis had been correct.

There would be time for that later however, as she gasped when Alpha stretched forth his hoof once more and the magically visible green light mixed with the normally visible yellow glow as the second bubble began to form, that snotty link between his hoof and the bubble quickly straightening into a rigid beam of green light as the magic flowed from his hoof tip into the newly forming sphere. When he finished, the link went slack again, making Alpha emit an involuntary sound of disgust as he turn his hoof to look at it as one would look at gum stuck to the bottom of one's shoe.

"Fascinating!" was all Twilight could say while Alpha scraped his hoof along the ground and looked back at it every now and again. She had never seen magic used in this manner before. And of course, at the same time, she had never seen an external object (or objects in this case) used as a focus for magic. Receptacle? A bit of both, really. "It looks like your shoes are acting as a trap for the energy that would normally be leaking from your horn! Ooo I wish I'd brought something to write with!"

Alpha watched Twilight with a contented smile on his face. He could not for the life of him figure out why, nor was he trying to, but whenever this lavender-furred pony in front of him was happy he felt a strange warm fuzzy feeling that he was completely unaccustomed to. All he could tell for certain was that he wanted to keep feeling that way. And that is when he had his first great idea since waking up days ago.

With a flourish of his front hooves he reversed the growth of the sphere until it was once again just one tenth complete, resembling instead, a curved platform. Lowering it to the ground he stepped onto it, or, over it? Well what happened next was a little disconcerting to say the least. As he moved himself over the grayish platform, inch by inch, each section of his body that entered the area just above its surface felt weightless. None-the-less, after a bit of awkward, leg-wobbling moments, he managed to climb all the way aboard without losing his balance. Very strange. Anything more than a few inches above the platform still felt normal and it was actually quite difficult trying to stay upright when there was nothing touching his hooves. Like riding an invisible scooter.

Looking over at Twilight he realized she was still rambling on gleefully, staring off in a different direction. 'Hmmm,' he thought, 'not quite what I was- what if ...' and with a gentle yellow glow he slowly began to reform the sphere from the bottom up. Every inch upward made it easier and easier to remain in a standing position until half-way completed he realized the world was tilted. 'Wait that is not right ... oh I see!' He realized he had ever so slightly begun to rotate while he had been concentrating.

Leaving the sphere half-complete he tried to get himself oriented correctly again, but no matter how much he waved his legs he just kept gradually rotating in the same direction. By the time Twilight's view happened to return to the scene at hand, Alpha was floating up-side-down and wiggling profusely. The ensuing laughter echoed from nearby buildings.

"Help?" Alpha asked in the meekest voice he could muster, stopping and staring at her with puppy-dog eyes and legs tucked under himself.

"Have you tried using the wall of the bubble to maneuver?" she asked.

"I ... I am afraid to touch it"

"What? Why?"

"What if it pops and I fall?"

'This is what I was afraid of? An over-grown baby more prone to hurting himself than anypony else?' Twilight thought to herself as she rolled her eyes despite her smile. She walked underneath the platform and looked up. "I'll catch you, okay?"

She did not plan on becoming a pony sandwich if he did fall, she fully intended to use her telekinesis if it became necessary, but she figured that standing there would be assuring enough to get him to try it. And, as usually was the case, she was right. Alpha reached out slowly and prodded the inside wall of the half-sphere. Immediately he stopped rotating and gentle rose to the top of the cup-shaped conjuration, splaying his legs out in all directions to wedge himself firmly still in the middle of it.

"What does it feel like?" Twilight asked; her ever-curious nature kicking in once more.

"It is like- well ... like ... I do not have words to describe this. Do you want to come up here and try it?"

"Omigosh yes!" Twilight did a short hop in excitement. She never thought she would be able to experience weightlessness in her lifetime. Not the kind of weightlessness that came with being levitated by another unicorn, or Alicorn Princess in her case. That was not even weightlessness, it was more like being hoisted around in a stretcher or something.

Alpha reached out to her with both front hooves over the edge of the half-sphere, his lower half still hovering parallel to the ground. Rearing up on her hind legs Twilight reached out and grabbed Alpha's hooves then used her back legs to thrust herself off the ground and into the bubble only to end up making a floating pony sandwich.

As it so happened, that was the precise moment that everyone's favorite pink pony stuck her head through the back door in search of her two missing guests. "Twilight! Alph-Oh!" she started to yell with her eyes closed at first, only to cut herself off when she opened them and found a weightless tangle of purple and black body parts and two sets of blazing crimson cheeks - one hidden under a jumpsuit mask.

Immediately the two started scrambling to untangle themselves, Twilight stammering unintelligible things as she did so.

"If you two were going to have a private party all along you could've just said so!" Pinkie said with a grin. "Don't worry, I'll cover for you in there," she thrust a hoof back toward the bakery and turned to head back inside but not before adding in a whisper, "Go Twilight!"

"No, wait! You don't understa-" Twilight began even as the door slammed shut. She groaned, absent-mindedly pushing a black-clothed appendage out of her face. "I give up," she mumbled in resignation.

"It seems I keep embarrassing you," mumbled Alpha, finally managing to completely separate himself by throwing his fore-legs back over the edges of the sphere, like one would in a tub or Jacuzzi.

Twilight sighed. "It's not your fault. Some ponies around here just can't keep their minds out of the gutter," she grumbled, copying Alpha.

"All the same ... here, let me make it up to you. Tuck yourself in, I'm going to try something," he said with a grin, pulling his forelegs back in from the edges as Twilight did the same with a very quizzical look on her face.

Alpha's shoes started to glow again as he concentrated and the bubble began to complete itself.

"Wait!" Twilight exclaimed, a hoof slamming against the inner wall with spate of panic. "What about air? Will we still be able to breathe?" she asked, realizing what was about to happen.

"Ummm ... I think so ... I mean I feel like I have done this before. I do not think I would have done it if I would suffocate," he said scratching the back of his neck. They both looked up at the frisby-sized hole above them for a moment. Twilight remember how he simply waved his hoof earlier to dispel the first bubble.

"If anything goes wrong you'll take it down right?" she asked.

"Of course- Twilight the last thing I would ever want is to bring harm to you!" he exclaimed with wide-eyed astonishment, as if she had just suggesting swallowing hot pokers. She blushed a little at his admission. It was the first time she had heard him express such great concern for her wellbeing. With a brisk nod they both watched as the hole closed up with a sucking sound. Then silence.

All in all it was a snug fit. There was just enough room for them to float without touching. Of course in practice, it was nearly impossible as the weightlessness tended to keep them bumping into each other. A few awkward moments later, however, they managed to orient themselves facing in the same direction, leaning against each other with a hoof or two pressed against the inner wall to keep them from floating off-center.

"So far so good," Twilight mumbled to herself, taking deliberately deep breaths. "What now Canta Nova-" looking down now she realized their entire ensemble had drifted a few feet above the top of the four-story building that was Sugarcube corner. With a high-pitched squeak she completely abandoned the stability they had worked so hard to achieve and threw her legs around Alpha, snapping her eyes shut.

"You are ... afraid." Alpha said, matter-of-factly. "Have you never flown before?" he asked, turning his head to look back at the young mare holding him from behind in a death grip.

"Y-yes, but at the time I had a nice solid basket to stand in," she said in a panicked voice, remembering her trip to Cloudsdale in the hot-air balloon, "or the occasional carriage from Canterlot."

"Hmmm. I know what'll make you feel better," he said to himself, feeling particularly confident for the first time. With a slight gesture the bubble hovered over the party-goers at the front of the bakery. Still too high to be seen, unless any of the ponies below happened to be admiring the sky that night. It could happen, if it were not Ponyville, and not a Pinkie Pie party. Alpha none-the-less spotted what he was looking for. A few gestures and a moment later Twilight felt something soft rub against her nose and she opened her eyes again only to realize her vision was partly obscured by the pink icing.

"Hey!" she half-laughed, half-exclaimed in mock agitation. Alpha looked back and realized what he had done. But instead of apologizing he lapped it up and grinned. Twilight reflexively rubbed at her tickled nose, managing to hide a slight blush at the same time. "I'm going to have to remember to ask Applejack to introduce you to her pet," she said, accepting the treat he held up while still holding on tightly with her other three legs.

"Ready?" he asked, still grinning.

"For what?" she asked around the bit of cupcake currently occupying her mouth.

Without another word, he fully stuffed his face with his own treat and got into a superman pose, pointing straight up. Twilight wondered what he was doing for a moment but then noticed out of the corner of her eye that the color and light were receding, along with the muffled thumping of the music. Looking down her eyes went wide as she saw the landscape getting smaller at a much faster pace than she had ever seen before.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves as they danced, talked, played and mingled. Spike was quickly becoming the main attraction as he really started to 'boogey' on the dance floor. Pinkie Pie was patting herself on the back for another successful soiree when her ears twitched as she picked up one conversation in particular.

"... by the way, has anyone seen either of them?" The voice was Rarity's. She was standing next to Fluttershy and Applejack, a cup of punch hovering near her face with the tell-tale faint blue glow.

Before any of the others could answer, Pinkie Pie appeared next to them. "I know, I know, oh-oh-oh, pick me, pick me!" she babbled, waving a leg in the air like a filly trying to get the teacher's attention in school.

"Well git on then, tell us," said Applejack.

Pinkie took about five straight seconds pulling in a massively deep breath, "I can't," she said simply and grinned. Applejack and Rarity groaned, rolling their eyes.

"Why not?" the farm pony asked dryly with a deadpanned face.

"I pinkie promised! Well, they didn't see when I did because I had already come back inside but it still counts even if the promisee doesn't see the promiser- wait, are those even real words? Who decides what words are real or not anyway! I mean really-" she was cut short by multiple loud groans.

"Okay, alright darling, we get it. But ... what about Rainbow Dash? Now that I think about it ... I have not seen her all day!" Rarity thought out loud. They all turned to look at Pinkie Pie, who just shrugged.

"I-unno," she mumbled, stuffing her face at a nearby table.

It was only a matter of seconds before they were above the low-hanging clouds and Alpha felt Twilight's grip tighten. They slowed and stopped just as fast as they had taken off.

Swallowing hard he downed the horribly under-chewed confection and took Twilight's fore-hooves in his own, gently coaxing them loose and pulling her around to face him. She had instead resorted to curling into a fetal position with her eyes closed.

"Twilight," he called gently.

"..."

"Twilight Sparkle," a little more firm.

"..." one purple eye cracked open just a bit and fixed its gaze on his. The strange material Rarity had used for the eye pieces of his jumpsuit made it easy to see his eyes in all their splendor, yet it would probably take a hammer to break. She noticed an unusually determined look in them and slowly opened both of hers, shifting them back and forth between his vermillion orbs.

He lightly rested his hooves on her shoulders before beginning, "I promise you, I will never let any harm befall you as long as I live. You saved this worthless life of mine-" she opened her mouth to protest but he quickly laid a hoof over it, and she closed it again, "I know what I promised before, and I will keep that one too, but I will never feel right about this unless you let me do this much as well ... please?"

Her eyes searched his, even as she slowly began to uncurl herself. "On one condition," she said softly.

"Name it!"

"Don't ever call your life worthless again!" she snapped, poking him in the chest.

He smiled warmly. "Has anyone ever told you how kind you are?"

She blushed, "Well technically Fluttershy is the element of kindness but, statistically speaking, I suppose there's a first time for everything," she babbled, evidently not used to compliments from young stallions. She held his hooves in hers, "But thank you."

"Are you ... is something wrong with your breathing?" he asked, pulling away to look at her in concern. While she had been talking Alpha kept hearing a wheezing sound.

"Ah HAH!" exclaimed a slightly winded Rainbow Dash, causing them both to 'jump', or whatever the equivalent of that would be while floating weightlessly. Apparently flying all the way up there on only wing-power was a little tiring, even for the staunch athlete.

"Dash?!" Twilight exclaimed in disbelief. "What-"

"I've found your secret at last Alpha Centauri! You're a big phony!" she proclaimed proudly. Alpha raised an eyebrow in a quizzical expression while Twilight frowned, quickly looking back and forth between them.

'Hold on a moment- did she find out something that incriminates Alpha in doctor Tintenflecks' case?' Twilight wondered worriedly.

"I do not know what-" Alpha began, only to be swiftly cut off as Rainbow Dash began a lengthy monologue.

"I've been following you around all day since yesterday and now, finally, I've caught you in the act! You just travelled three MILES in ten seconds flat! I KNEW it! There was just no way you could do that without magic! I'm still the fastest flier in all Equestria!" she finished as she began doing her little victory dance on the cloud she had alighted on with a silly grin on her face.

Twilight's eye was twitching. 'The entire day? That was unusually patient of Dash. But then, when she was determined Dash could do just about anything. Hold on a moment- again. Since yesterday?'

"Dash ... did you see Alpha go anywhere near the train station?" she asked.

"Hmmm," Dash stopped dancing and begun rubbing her chin, "Nope! Why?" Both she and Alpha looked at Twilight questioningly.

"Eh, no reason," Twilight responded, smiling sheepishly, "Three miles huh? That must've been a hard flight Dash," she quickly changed the subject.

"Bah, foal's play my dear egghead," she replied with a smug grin. "But now that you mention it, I almost gave up to go join the party before you guys took off. I've missed so much already, no way I'm sticking around up here with you two lovebirds when there's punch to spike!" she exclaimed, rubbing her hooves together mischievously and rearing up for the return flight. Twilight blushed deeply but did not attempt to say otherwise this time.

Instead, "Wait, Dash!" she called just before Rainbow Dash took off.

"Sup?"

"If ... if Spike falls asleep in the middle of the party again can you or one of the other girls take him home and tuck him in for me?" she asked.

"Sure Twi, gotcha covered- oh and Alpha, still a pretty cool trick," Dash said good-naturedly with a wink before disappearing in a colorful blur. They both watched as only a few seconds later the sky lit up with the aftermath of a sonic rainboom.

"Ooo, that is pretty," Alpha idly commented, face pressed up against the wall of the bubble.

"You never did see that before, huh? Someday I'll have to tell you the story about the first one she ever did," said Twilight, looking over Alpha's shoulder.

"Why not now?" he asked, lightly pushing away from the wall.

"Because right now, I really want to know ... just how high can we go?"

Alpha grinned. He had been wondering the exact same thing a moment ago, but had stopped for her sake. Now, realizing that she had gotten over her fear, it was like the training wheels had been removed. "We will soon find out," he said in a determined voice, reaching a hoof out for hers. She took it with a smile as the bubble began to rise again, the two ponies in it looking up at the stars, side by side.

After only a moment Alpha's hooves were glowing fiercely and Twilight realized that there was a streaking yellow trail behind them when she looked down. It was hard to tell how high up they were or even how fast they were going. The ground beneath them was so far away at that point that its slow recession could have been hundreds of miles per hour, maybe thousands! The only thing Twilight could be sure of was that it was the highest and fastest she had ever been. And the view! Both below, and above ... it was breathtaking to say the least. She could see both Ponyville and Canterlot simply by turning her head - and if she looked really hard she was pretty sure she could see a few lights at Appaloosa far in the distance. Above them the stars were so clearly visible now that she was starting to regret not bringing one of her (many) telescopes along. 'Well ... there would always be next time,' she thought, looking over at Alpha.

"Has anyone ever told you how amazing this is?" she asked with a giddy smile. When he looked back at her, despite his smile, she noticed with a start that he looked a little different. His mane seemed a bit more lack-luster, and hung a little straighter. He also seemed to be breathing harder and the only exposed part of his body, his muzzle, seemed a bit paler than usual (says a lot when you are covered in a white coat). And it might have been her imagination but she could swear the glow around his hooves was getting fainter. "Alpha stop."

"Huh? But we just got started," he replied between breaths. Twilight squinted as she took a closer look at him. She was pretty sure these were the signs of exhaustion she had read about - well except for his mane ... that was just strange. She thought a moment before replying, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

Looking up again she said, "This is fine, look," she reached up a hoof to point at the sky as they slowed to a halt. And he did. It was really something. No clouds to obstruct their view, the moonlight clear and bright. No lights, no sounds, no interruptions; it was an astronomers wet dream. But Twilight being Twilight was positively quivering with excitement. "Besides," she continued, "if you spend all night flying this thing we'll never get a chance to really enjoy the moment."

"It is pretty amazing," he agreed slowly catching his breath. "I can see way more stars from up here - look at all those tiny ones over there," he added, motioning. "Maybe if I practice enough I can bring all of your friends up here too, we could have a stargazing ... party. Is that a thing? Do ponies around here do that?"

Twilight smiled as she reminisced briefly, "I did something like that with my friends recently. We had a moonlit picnic and watched some meteor showers. But you know ... just being up here with the two of us ..." she blushed, "You just might bring out my selfish side."

Alpha looked at her in shock. "You have a selfish side?" he asked with wide eyes. Twilight giggled.

"Hard to believe I know," she said in mock gloating. They smile at each other then looked back up. The conversation continued for a while. They talked about all kinds of things, mostly things related to Twilight since Alpha could not remember much about himself. Her studies, her interests, her friends. Soon the conversation turned in the direction of Alpha's plans for the future and suddenly an awkward silence descended upon them.

"What did Miss Dash mean earlier?" Alpha broke it.

"Huh?"

"What are ... love birds?"

Twilight's blush deepened and she chose to deflect this question instead, "The Lovebird is a species of parrot indigenous to the distant south-eastern reaches of Equestria. It was given that name for its strong, monogamous pair bonding and the long periods which paired birds spend sitting together," she read from her mental encyclopedia.

"Monoga-wha ... but we do not spend long periods sitting together ... I do not understand," he said as his face contorted in the obvious confusion. Twilight looked away, trying to find another topic of conversation. Before she could say anything however, Alpha asked another question, "What is ... love? I have heard this word many times so far but I do not really understand it."

"W-w-well t-that's because," she began with a heavy stutter, "I mean there is l-love for things, l-like food, one could say you love food - a lot. Then there's ..." Alpha could tell she was nervous, about what he had no clue, but he chose not to interrupt, "Well love is when a pony likes something- or somepony else, very very much," she finished with a nod. 'Phew, crisis averted,' she thought to herself. But it was short-lived.

"So ... what Miss Dash meant earlier was ... we like each other as much as I like cupcakes?" Alpha probed further.

"Yes, that's exactly-" Twilight felt bad, she did not want to lie to him, "... No."

"Well now I am really confused. Is it even possible to like something more than cupcakes?"

Twilight giggled. There was something charming about his brutally honest naïveté. Feeling a little more relaxed now she tried to explain, "Maybe not something but ... when it comes to somepony else, well ... it's like ... imagine that ..." for the second time in her life Twilight found it difficult to explain something. The first was the 'Pinkie Sense'. This was ... harder it seemed. "It's ... difficult to explain in words," she said looking off to one side. Her eyes widened a bit when she felt Alpha's hoof on her shoulder.

"If anyone can do it, I know it is you," he said with a smile when she looked back up at him, "How about ... can you show me?" he remembered how the doctor had demonstrated magic to him, but had not completely thought through what he had just asked.

Twilight's whole face turned beet red and her eyes widened with tiny points for pupils. Her mouth felt dry all of a sudden and her forelegs hung limp by her sides. This was completely new territory for her. A problem with no formula to study. An experiment with no well-established guidelines. It was all touch and go from here on and she was feeling the metaphorical butterflies like they were a veritable plague in her stomach. It did not help even a little that Alpha was staring deeply into her eyes at that moment.

'C'mon Twilight Sparkle, it's just another subject to study, you've seen it before in others. Princess Cadance and big brother made it all look so easy though ... after all the princess,' cutie mark was all about this. What chance does a simple magic student like me have? No! I must do this - for science!'

For the life of him Alpha could not figure out what was going through the lavender mare's mind. The mix of emotion playing across her face right then was endlessly confusing to him. He began to wonder if all ponies were this elusive or if it was only Twilight.

"Oookaaayyy well ... y-you asked for it ..." she smiled nervously, slowly lifting the mask of his jumpsuit over his head and gently wrapping her legs around his neck, "Here goes," her voice was almost inaudible as she closed her eyes and her face drew ever closer to his. At this point the only thing that kept Twilight from freezing up completely was the burning curiosity, and somewhere beneath that, a desire that she did not yet even realize was there. For Alpha, it was just the curiosity keeping him from pulling away from this new level of closeness that he was not quite sure he was comfortable with ... that is, up until their lips connected.

Neither of them heard the short hiss as the bubble winked out of existence.

A/N: Okay kiddies, play time's over. The story from here on will get into the serious stuff! No more 'slice-of-life' boredom (ten chapters ... it's about as much as I could take), now it's time for the action. There's gonna be- well ... let's just say I'll really be pushing the limit on that 'T' rating. Stay tuned!

11: Re-Awakening

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Re-Awakening

The feeling was indescribable. He could smell a pleasant scent, one he could not identify, nor did he care to try. He could feel her heart beating against his chest, its nervous patter seemingly vying for first place in a race against his. Every bit of it, from the moment he had wrapped Twilight in his forelegs without any hesitation that time, was pure bliss. The awe-inspiring force of tidal waves, the incredible fury of erupting volcanoes, the unimaginably destructive power of a super nova; all of it paled in comparison to the feeling radiating through Alpha right at that very moment. Even the rush of wind whipping through his mane and the piercing screaming that filled his ears- 'wait ...'

"SNAP OUT OF IT!" a voice yelled, swiftly followed by a stinging sensation in his cheek. He tried to reach up to rub it but found his legs tangled up in something. Something warm and soft and-

"Sunspots!" he exclaimed, eyes snapping open as he regained his senses.

Twilight had pulled away a few seconds ago and had been trying desperately to get his attention, "WHAT?!" she yelled over the whistling wind. Her eyes might have been wide open as well if not for the wind threatening to speed-dry anything not already so, as Alpha soon found out.

'It burns,' he groaned mentally, slamming his eyelids shut again; now he understood what the hood of the suit was for, but it was flapping uselessly behind his head. That could wait; Twilight was not much better off. Squinting this time he was able to make out their exact predicament. They were holding fore-legs, bodies parallel to the ground far, far below and ... they were in free fall!

It might have been some sort of thrill-seeking adventure, if only there were some guarantee that they would not end up as pony pancakes in about sixty seconds. Concentrating he focused on reforming a bubble. His shoes glowed faintly but quickly fizzled and faded out. No bubble. 'Sunspots indeed.'

Twilight had been watching him intently despite her growing fear. What she saw only made it worse. "YOU'RE KIDDING RIGHT?" she yelled. Alpha shook his head with a worried expression building on his face. Panic, accelerated breathing, the cold, the fear; all of these things were distracting her. 'Come on Twi, THINK! It's what you're good at, remember?' she mentally chided herself. Nothing to use telekinesis on, there was no way she would be able to summon enough magic to slow their descent at their ever-increasing speed. Teleporting would not work; though they would change location, their momentum would remain the same, only hastening an ugly end.

' ... maybe stacking clouds beneath them- ugh, if this is the best I can come up with we may as well give up now, only Pegasi can stand on clouds. A wing spell? No, those fragile butterfly wings would be torn off in a second at this speed - even if I could manage it more than once.' She looked at Alpha's wings, "CAN YOU FLY WITH THOSE?" she asked, nodding toward them. He looked back for a moment and tried to extend them but the pain was still too intense to get them to budge even an inch. Just as well, at that speed they would have been broken all over again, as stiff as they were, like an umbrella in a storm. He looked back at Twilight and shook his head.

Her eyes went wide for a split second before narrowing again. 'I've got it! I'll use that. Don't fail me now!' Her horn began to glow and brightened quickly with building intensity. Alpha had to turn his head or risk being blinded at such close proximity, even through his tightly shut eyes.

The spell discharge in a wash of pink light and instantly the wind was still. Taking a quick look around she realized what had happened. They had been reverted back to the state just before they started falling; same position, momentum, everything. But then the wind began to pick up again. Unfortunately there still was no bubble. 'Note to self, fail-safe spell failed. Again!'. She started to groan but it quickly turned into more yelling, the speeding air flow constantly stealing much of her voice, "TRY AGAIN!"

Alpha complied. The result was the same. He looked away, unable to meet her expectant gaze, feeling horrible. Not because death was merely a minute away, that could never evoke the intense emotion he was experiencing at that moment. It had been roughly an hour ago; he had reassured Twilight that he would keep her safe. '... as long as I live,' the words were burned into his memory, but the idea that he might hit the ground first did little to alleviate the agonizing pain building in his chest.

Looking back at her he yelled, "I COULD NOT KEEP MY PROMISE FOR EVEN A FEW HOURS. DO YOU STILL THINK I AM NOT WORTHLESS?" Twilight's hoof struck again, much harder that time. 'Fffffffffffflare, that one hurt!' he thought.

"DON'T TALK LIKE THAT! WE ARE GETTING OUT OF THIS!" she yelled. He tried again. The yellow glow was just a little brighter, but still nothing. "AGAIN!" he heard her yell, even as he shut his eyes and concentrated harder. Nothing. "AGAIN!" Nothing. "Again!" her voice wavered. The glow would not even appear now. It had become clear that nothing was as much as they were going to get.

Alpha pulled her in close and, leaning slightly to capitalize on the speeding air currents, pivoted around to hold her from behind; his head directly behind her head and his fore-legs wrapped just below hers. "What are you doing?" she asked shakily.

"Maybe ... if I wait until the last second ... maybe I can cushion you from the-"

"But even if that were possible ..." she quickly calculated the odds in her head, even if she conjured a giant pillow beneath them, the best case scenario was ... "you'd die!" she cried in horror. She would be lucky not to break every bone in her body. Even with such a miracle, she knew it would still feel as if she did; living on knowing it cost another pony his life.

He could feel his eyes starting to moisten. This was new. Though his memory was still aggravatingly lacking he felt like it had been forever since he had cried. He shifted his head to whisper directly into her ear. "I know."

"..." Her mouth was open in shock as she stared blankly up at the sky.

The ground was beginning to fill their view faster now. They only had twenty seconds left at best. Twilight gasped a few breaths and tore herself from his grip, spinning around to face him. Their fore-legs groped wildly for a moment as they tried to regain a hold on each other. Her right hoof connected with his side but slipped off, only managing to push him away. Her horned glowed as she used her magic to pull him back in closer and she grabbed his neck, bringing his face in close to hers. He was now falling beg-legs first while she went head first.

Twilight had a resigned look on her face, but there was also a hint of something else. "I'm just as responsible for this as you are, I was the one that urged you further upward. If we are going to face this, we'll face it together Alpha Centauri!" she said sternly. But before he could get in a single word she kissed him hard.

Plummeting to one's doom never felt so good. Neither pony heard the clicking sound when their horns connected.

The music was in full swing. There were many fillies going all-out on the dance floor at that point, inspired by a certain purple baby dragon and maybe just one too many cups of punch. Still, none of them missed the cues when ponies started rushing outside. Even Vinyl left her turn-tables unattended and stepped into the street to see what was going on.

An off-balance farm filly, with her brown cowboy hat hanging below her neck, stumbled around on three legs while pointing up at the something. High above them a bright point of light could be seen. It would have understandably been mistaken for a shooting star if not for the fact that it was getting closer by the second.

"But I didn't set up fireworks this time," Pinkie mused out loud.

"Whathuh hay ishat?" Applejack slurred at no one in particular, squinting at what now appeared to be a glowing ball of light with a tail, while Fluttershy crouched behind her, shaking.

"I dunno, but I'm gonna find out!" promised an unusually tense Rainbow Dash. She actually had a pretty good idea what it was. But falling that fast ... she did not want to be right this time. Off like a shot, she flew toward her best guess of at an interception point. The nearer she got with each second the more detail she could make out.

Streaking behind it was a disconnected double helix, one strand glowing yellow, the other glowing purple. Closer still she was able to discern two pony shapes in the midst of the light. Their bodies were wrapped together in the same helical fashion, facing outward, heads tilted backward and ... touching horns? She was not quite sure. If that pair was the same she knew had to be up there, then it did not make sense since Alpha did not have a horn. 'Did he?' Dash wondered. Also adding to the confusion was the fact that it was so much shorter than Twilight's.

Rainbow Dash was pretty surprised when she first saw Alpha use magic behind the bakery, but when he and Twilight took off it fully confirmed what she had suspected all along; a trick with that fancy foot-wear of his. Any other pony might have been excited at the prospect of a non-unicorn using magic but she did not spare an extra thought on it. Her pride had always been in her wings, and always would be.

She pushed herself harder. There were only a few precious seconds left before they hit. She had to adjust here angle until she was flying almost parallel to the ground. She had no idea what they had been doing up there, but somehow they were falling towards the Everfree forest, instead of back into Ponyville. But the despair started to set in. She had crashed too many times not to know when it was hopeless. This was nothing like that time when she saved Rarity and the Wonderbolts. Flying in the same direction as your target was one thing, but at her angle of approach, even if she made it in time to intersect their descent, the most she would do is tear them in half with the sonic rainboom she would have to pull off to do it.

But she was the element of loyalty, and if there was even the smallest chance she could make it work ... she just had to give it a shot. Her life would never be the same if she gave up on one of her best friends without even trying! She just hoped Twilight had something left in her bag of tricks ...

She usually started the maneuver flying downward, and for good reason. This time it took her more than she had ever given to reach the required speed in time, without the assistance of gravity. The muscles in her wings felt like they were going to explode. She bit back the scream that threatened to escape her, along with precious energy that she could not afford to lose. The corners of her eyes began to sting as the tears seeped from them; a little more than usual. The air hammered at her face, warping and stretching it back over her skull.

And then, just when she felt like there was nothing left, that familiar liberating sensation washed over her, as if the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders, and the prismatic shockwave filled her peripheral vision.

'Is this what it's like to die? It feels so ... warm ... I really wish I'd brought my notes,' Twilight cogitated. It was bright. But it did not seem to hurt the- 'eyes?' They were closed. 'Why is it so bright?' Her eyes reflexively fluttered as they open. There was still no pain from the intense light, which she found to be no brighter than before. Eventually they adjusted and she realized she was looking up through a glowing yellow and purple spiral of light, and the world seemed to be spinning at an easy pace.

She became aware of something solid behind her, touching in many places; along her back, from flank to the back of her head, her back-legs intertwined and her front-hooves felt like they were touching another pair- 'who-'

"Alpha?" she asked out loud.

"Mmmpretty," she heard a dazed voice respond. It seemed to emanate from inside her head more-so than from behind her. "T-Twilight? How did you get in my dream? Mmmnever mind, did you bring cupcakes?" There was no doubt in her mind now and a smile slowly made its way across her face. She wanted to look around, but being in that position felt so ... right. Then their entire view shifted. Neither of them moved an inch relative to each other yet, as one, their intertwined bodies re-oriented upside-down to allow them the view that was most relevant; a thick tree line slowly coming up to meet them.

'But trees don't- oooohhhh, we're falling. Hah, is that all? No big deal,' Twilight thought to herself through the fuzzy warmth that permeated her entire being, including her mind. 'No wait, that is a big deal isn't it? Oh but what's that?' she became distracted by a flurry of color from her peripheral vision. Her view shifted slightly and she was able to make out a streak of rainbow, slowly making its way toward them; ever so slowly, just like the trees. It was intoxicating. Most of her did not want to stop. She just wanted to keep feeling that way, 'foreeeeeeveeeeer,' Pinkie Pie's voice reverberated in her head.

"Alpha?" she called again, realizing how sleepy her own voice sounded.

"Hmmmm?" came his similarly drowsy response.

"Try again."

"... do I have to?"

"No ..." she half-chuckled the word with a silly grin on her face, "I mean ... yes. Yes please try again?"

"But this feels so-"

"I know, but ... I forgot the cupcakes," she added with a knowing smile.

Momentarily their whole world turned yellow. It was like a bolt lightning had lit up the sky. One made of cheese. 'Mmmmm cheeeeeeeese.'

"I think ... it worked," she heard his more coherent, but less confident voice clearly reply. They were still falling, slowly, so very slowly, but when she squinted she was pretty sure the trees had taken on a pearlescent yellowish-purple tinge. The whole forest, the landscape around it - everything had. If Alpha had made a bubble, it was huge. But she felt like she was forgetting something. A memory of her tapping a translucent gray surface stole its way into her awareness. It was a very solid surface. 'Oh how quaint, that old small bubble is nothing compared to-' Her eyes went wide as she finally managed to put some of the pieces together.

'That colorful streak, it can only be ... Rainbow Dash! She must have seen us falling and- and the bubble is solid! If she collides with it- Ah, phew, no worries. She's already inside,' Twilight sighed in relief, noticing Dash's pale blue coat was untouched by the bubble's tint.

"Ooo, is that what it looks like up close? It seems like fun!" came Alpha's voice. They had turned a bit while she was thinking and he was staring at Dash in her best flying pose with the whole visible spectrum chasing her. And only a few meters away on a collision course. "Can I catch her?" he asked. Twilight could not tell if he was still mostly oblivious to their situation or if he was just being himself again.

"Aaaaaaai don't think that's a good idea," Twilight said.

"Awww."

They moved slightly off to the side and watched as she moved past them in slow motion. Twilight's pupils shrank as realization dawned. 'Ponyfeathers! She's going to hit the other side-' before she could finish the thought there were multiple flashes of purple and a long line of clouds had materialized between Dash and ... well as far as they could see. 'Whoa!' She now had a clear idea of how big the bubble was as there was a point at which the clouds went from their normal white color to the purple-yellow that the rest of the world was shaded in. It must have been at least a quarter the size of Ponyville!

Dash was so close now that they could see clearly her eyes opening very slowly, becoming wider and wider. She was also shifting her forelegs as if to reach for them. After what seemed to Twilight like a few more seconds, she was completely facing backwards as she hit the first cloud, easily dissipating it, the momentum she had built up still carrying her at full speed, which really did not seem like much with the taxingly slow passage of time. Twilight could only imagine what Star Swirl the Bearded would have said about the effect, but that would have to wait; there was a much more pressing issue here.

In an instant she worked out the math and realized that Dash would not have enough room, as large as this bubble was, to bleed off her excess speed, even with the clouds. Unless they did something soon, all Dash's efforts would earn her is the most intense speed burn she hit the inner wall; if she pulled up in time. Twilight was not about to let her friend lose most of her fur and skin - or worse.

"We seem to be able to move," she began.

"It appears so," replied Alpha.

"I'm trying to right now but it doesn't seem to be working ... how-"

"As one," he cut her off with his mysterious reply, and she realized they were indeed moving.

"Okay then," she mumbled, concentrating on the task at hand. She could swear his voice sounded ... different ... 'bah, not now'. In a few more 'seconds' they managed to get closer to, and match speed with, Rainbow Dash, but not much else was happening. "I want to reach out and-" their fore-hooves extended, her left and his right, to Dash's outstretched pair simultaneously. They connected and held on as Twilight realized time seemed to be returning to its normal pace. The euphoric feeling fading fast.

"Alpha take it down!" she said quickly. Without hesitation he let go of her right hoof and with his left made a dismissive motion in the air. Suddenly the world returned to its normal colors and a previously unnoticed lack of sound was replaced by a flood of low frequency vibrations, like the bass on Vinyl's largest setup, that were starting to speed up.

The light that they had been wrapped in before, helical strands and included, had all but faded by then, replaced by a rainbow-colored contrail as Dash dragged them along behind her. And before they knew it, time had returned to normal. Dash was screaming.

Soarin yawned loudly, deliberately so, "Captaaaaain," he whined.

Spitfire groaned. "What?" She knew what he was going to ask, but she was banking on him getting tired of doing so if he kept having to repeat the whole question.

"Why are we still out here, I can barely see anythiiiiiiiiing," Soarin droned.

"Not yet!" Spitfire was not in a good mood. An entire day of training had gone down the drain when they were asked to go on this ridiculous treasure hunt. She had no aversion to serving Equestria, nothing could be further from the truth. She was happy to do so whenever called upon. But this time it reeked of politics. That meant, in actuality, someone other than the Princess was responsible for this farce. The thought of her beloved leader having to oblige the other nations' petty requests just rubbed her the wrong way.

Celestia was insanely powerful, everyone knew it. If she had so desired, she could have conquered the other races several times over, even the dragons. She still could not understand how that wretched changeling queen had overpower the Goddess of the Sun! 'Some sort of underhanded tactic most likely.' That was all she could come up with and it did no favors for her mood thinking about it. Nightmare Moon and Discord she could understand. Discord was some sort of God of Chaos or ... something - she did not really understand the explanation she had been given. Luna, on the other hoof, was Celestia's sister, it would was not inconceivable that her abilities could be at least equal to her sister's. Well at least they might have been before the elements of harmony 'fixed' her back to normal.

She sighed heavily. At the end of the day, Princess Celestia knew best. That was self evident. There had been lasting peace between Equestria and the other nations for as long as Spitfire could remember. That was not saying very much as she kept falling asleep in history class when she was younger. 'Two thousand years? Wait no that was her age ... I think. Bah whatever!' She dismissed the thought. All that mattered was that whatever their Princes was doing, it was one heck of a job! And Spitfire could find no better reason to pledge her service and loyalty to the legendary 'Princess of Peace' as Celestia was called in some nations; even if it meant losing her day off.

She growled in frustration. "How the hay can we not find a stinkin' hole in the ground for the entire day?!" The rest of the Wonderbolts had left at their usual cut off time that day, but Spitfire refused to give. 'Just a little more,' she had told herself, 'find it today, freedom tomorrow!' She did not normally care so much for off days. Most of the time she spent them training by herself. But this time was different. She had made plans with a certain potential 'special somepony', plans she was desperate to keep. Soarin, well, he was nice and everything, staying behind to search with her despite being dismissed, even with the whining, but ... he just was not her type. In any case, she was pretty sure he would end up marrying a pastry of some sort.

"What if the hole is smaller than they said?" he asked, "Like a pie hole- mmmm pie. Hey do you remember the name of that pretty blonde at the Gala last year? You know the one that wheeled in that-" he was drooling, "dreamy cake?"

"You better shut your pie hole if you don't want me to shove my hoof in it," she warned between grit teeth while squinting at the ground through a tree line. Soarin was a bit too dense to understand the peril of discussing another mare's good looks around one. But Spitfire was taking out her frustration, at everything, on him, and she knew it. Sometimes he deserved it but this was not one of those times. She closed her eyes and came to a stop, hovering above a ridiculously huge apple orchard. Massaging the bridge of her nose, she sighed heavily. "Sorry, I'm just ... tired. Maybe you're right. We could do much better in the morning with the improved visibility."

Soarin pumped a fore-leg in victory. "So ... food time?" he asked hopefully. Before Spitfire could answer however, a bright light flared up high above them. His head snapped up to take a look, quick reflexes were essential in his line of work, "Whoa!" he exclaimed in awe.

"Wha-" as Spitfire had only just opened her eyes she missed the initial burst of light, but followed his gaze and noticed the bright point in the sky. 'Another meteorite? What the heck is going on!'

They were only staring for a few more moments before a brilliant shockwave burst forth in air between Ponyville and the Everfree forest, shortly followed by the delayed thundering noise of the broken sound barrier, with a rainbow colored contrail bee-lining straight for the forest. Spitfire knew exactly what it was, or who it was rather. She was still not quite sure how that mare, 'Rainbow Dash was it?' could pull off such a legendary move. She had only heard second hand accounts of what it looked like from her other teammates on the day of ... her greatest embarrassment. The last thing she wanted right now was to think about that. She had thought they were all exaggerating, but this was the first time she was actually witnessing it for herself and yet she knew that is exactly what it had to be. The stuff of old mare's tales; right before her eyes!

"What do you think they're doing over there?" Soarin asked, still captivated by the spectacle of a light show. Spitfire watched in silence as a 'funny colored sphere' tinted the space around the original light and Rainbow Dash, and for a second they could only see the moonlight reflected off of the whole thing, but just as quickly it was gone and they could only see the rainbow contrail, snake its way up above the trees and back toward Ponyville.

"You know I'm pretty sure our disclaimer says, 'do not try this at home'. Feh, I swear those ponies are all crazy. Did you know they managed to get the water from their reservoir up to Cloudsdale even with some of their Pegasi out sick? I mean barely, but still! Crazy I tell you."

"That Rainbow Dash is pretty good, why haven't we recruited her yet?" Soarin asked.

"Yeah she's good alright, but too headstrong. If anything, she should be leading her own team." The trail slowly faded away, the blue wonder having landed a few moments ago. With the lightshow over and tiredness setting in again, Spitfire finally let out her own loud yawn. "Come on let's hit Joe's, I'm buyin'."

"Yeah!" Soarin cheered. If nothing else, he was easy to please. But if she did not known better, she would have suspected that he stayed out here just for that.

And with that the two Pegasi flew off, back toward Canterlot, not realizing just how close they had been to finding what they were looking for.

"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" Rainbow Dash's voice tore through the night sky all the way back to Ponyville. She probably would not be able to fly straight, if at all, the next day but the immense feeling of elation did a good job masking that fact; the flood of endorphins blocking most of the pain that would normally have accompanied ripping up her muscles so badly.

"Did you see that!" she asked excitedly between breaths, setting the two ponies down on the bridge leading into town and landed beside them, though not able to remain still. "For a second there I really thought I'd missed you!" she went on, hopping around giddily. But she suddenly stopped and stared at them critically, "Omigosh, are you guys okay? I totally thought you would have gotten hurt when I grabbed you! Does anything hurt? Are your legs bending in the right direction? This one time, mine was going in the wrong direction when I landed too hard, and the doctor told me-"

"Dash!" Twilight shouted on her third attempt at getting her attention. The last thing she needed just then was another Pinkie Pie. "We're fine Rainbow Dash, really!" she explained with a smile, although she felt pretty shaken up on the inside. She looked over at Alpha wondering how he was holding up, but his face was turned away, looking over the edge of the bridge into the stream flowing beneath it.

But before Twilight could say anything Rainbow Dash erupted again, "Phew! I was so worried that I'd snap you like a carrot stick! I guess you did some magic thing, is that what those weird flashes were?" Twilight grinned sheepishly and nodded furiously. Not entirely a lie. Magic was involved, but she had no idea how or why any of it happened. And she could not even begin to speculate as to how it might have contributed to their safety from a super-sonic pegasus grabbing them out of mid-air at what was, essentially, a perfect right-angle.

They heard retching sounds and faint splashes. Looking at Alpha they both smirked. "Well, maybe not entirely okay," Twilight chuckled lightly.

"What were you guys doing up there anyway?!" Dash asked.

"Uhhh-" Twilight started in an elevated voice, "nothing! I mean obviously we were doing something but-"

Dash deadpanned. "I mean after the fooling around, obviously." One might have said she was blunt, but that would have been an understatement.

Twilight's face lit up neon crimson, "Hah, hee, ahem! Yes, the uh- well we were uh ... talking and then ..." Twilight's eyes were darting around looking at everything but the sky-blue Pegasus. 'Think filly, THINK!' she squirmed in her embarrassment.

"Twilight was showing me what lo-" Alpha was suddenly silenced when Twilight almost instantly appeared beside him by the edge of the bridge and shoved a hoof into his mouth, another rubbing his back.

"Now now, you shouldn't talk so soon after throwing up like that," she could not decide which was worse, the fact that he almost let the cat out of the bag, or the fact that her hoof was covered in what was once food. "What Alpha is trying to say," she started, pulling away her hoof and looking at the slimy aftermath in disgust, "Is that I was going to show him how to put on the light-show we had planned for the party! Yeah ..." It was a good thing she was not the element of honesty. It might have shattered just then with the magnitude of the lie she had just told.

"That's not-" in went the other hoof, cutting off Alpha once more.

"Yes! That's not how it turned out ... obviously," Twilight's face was a hideous combination of disgust and a grin as she waved the first hoof over the side of the bridge, desperately trying to rid herself of the pungent mess clinging to it. "But luckily you came along and saved the day- err, night. Thanks ... for that, eheh." Dash cocked her head, clearly not buying it. She was about to open her mouth when Twilight began to trot toward her, "Yes, thank you sooooooooooooo much. In fact, I just have to shake your hoof, it's the least I can do!" she gushed with, what she was not aware was, a sadistic grin on her face, holding up the second tragedy that was her right hoof, slick and glistening in the moonlight.

Rainbow Dash backed up in a hurry, the smell reaching her even from the ten odd feet that separated them. "Uh, yeah, that's okay Twilight, I'll let you two ... clean up," she began, scratching the back of her neck while still in retreat. "I-I should go let the others know you're okay, heh- later!" She flew off hurriedly.

Twilight hated having to do that, but she was still too emotionally shaken from the whole ordeal they just went through, to deal with that level of embarrassment. She stared down at her hooves in thought, but the first one that came to mind went something like, 'Yuck!' She almost full-on galloped over to the edge of the stream, upstream from the bridge of course, and began to wash the offending appendages.

"Alpha get over here," she called. His head poked over the side of the bridged. She raised an eyebrow at him, "Unless you're going to try to convince me that you could ever like the taste of it coming back out, you might want to get down here and wash up," she said matter-of-factly. He made is way over to stand beside her.

"Why did-"

"Uh-uh! Wash first. Your breath could defeat Nightmare Moon all on its own!" Twilight stated in a funny voice with her leg draped over her nose. Despite looking confused Alpha complied. 'Nightmare Night, Nightmare Moon ... what was with these ponies and nightmares?' he wondered, catching a mouthful of the cool water flowing briskly past them.

A few minutes, and much gargling, later they sat beside the stream staring in opposite directions. Finally Alpha decided to give it a second try, "Why did you lie to her?" he asked without turning his head. He was met with silence. He started to wonder if she had heard him. Then he wondered if she was even still there and cocked his head to look at her. She was staring off into the distance, a light breeze playing 'patty cake' with her a few loose strands in her mane.

Just as he was about to ask again, she finally spoke up, "Would you really have done it?" she asked. Her voice was low and featureless.

"Done what?"

She turned around entirely and sat back on her haunches staring intently at him. "Would you really have thrown your life away ... just to save me?" It was his turn to stare at the trees beyond Ponyville's border. It was a rare moment; Alpha actually taking the time to think before speaking. But this time he felt confident about what he wanted to say and made sure to forge his reply carefully.

He looked back at her with a smile, "I do not make promises lightly, Twilight Sparkle. A life gladly given to save yours, is a life well spent." They continued to stare at each other in silence, long after the smile faded while he stared at her emotionless face.

"I don't like it," she said in a flat voice, getting up and starting to walk back into the village.

"Wh- what?" Alpha's eyes bulged slightly at the unexpected response. He wracked his brain trying to figure out if he had said something stupid again, stumbling a bit as he whirled around to catch up with her. "What do you mean?" he asked when he pulled up just behind her, matching the slow pace she had set.

"I don't like the idea of you looking for opportunities to just throw yourself into harm's way whenever you feel like it!" Twilight huffed. "I didn't pull you out of that hole just so you could dig yourself a new one!"

"I am not going to-"

"This self-pity of yours is really starting to get on my nerves, just how long are you going to keep feeling sorry for yourself before you get back to living a normal life?"

"I do not-"

"And another thing!" she exclaimed, whirling around and bearing down on him. "Stop trying to do things for me out of that misguided sense of indebtedness!" He cringed. She looked angry. He had never seen this side of her before and he found it quite ... intimidating. "Just ..." her voice and expression softened as she sighed, realizing he was all but quivering in fear, "just be yourself ... for yourself."

"..."

Their eyes remained locked onto each other for a while longer before Twilight turned back around and continued walking. "Come on," she called, "let's go make up for lost cupcakes."

Alpha grinned as he bolted upright and joined her, already forgetting most of what she had said.

For the rest of the night, Sugarcube Corner and the surrounding area were alive with the sounds one might expect of a wild party. Twilight masterfully avoided answering her other friends' concerned questions about the incident, changing the subject quickly or pretending to be distracted by something. It was not too difficult with all that was going on, both inside and out of the highly decorated bakery. Everyone had a good laugh as the six best friends tried to teach Alpha to dance. Something they eventually declared hopeless before moving on to other activities.

Twilight used a much weaker version of another simple spell, one she had employed on herself many times before (nothing beat a good night's sleep in perfect silence), to dampen the sound reaching Alpha's ears, enabling him to enjoy the entire experience without the previous discomfort. Rainbow Dash introduced him to the concept of being 'pranked'. Pinkie Pie introduced him to fudge, with almost disastrous consequences when he tried to eat the entire platter-full after his first bite. Applejack showed him the game of one-on-one tug-of-war, though he could not even come close to beating her or Dash at it. Before any of that, of course, Rarity insisted that Alpha remove her beloved creation, almost causing a scene before Fluttershy suggested they go up to Pinky's room to change. She nearly fainted when she found the insides drenched in sweat.

Rainbow Dash, as it turned out, was the first to bid the others a goodnight; the rush finally worn off and her aching body begging her for reprieve. Usually it was Twilight that left first, partly because Spike tended to fall asleep (somehow) long before any other pony, and partly because she was eager to get back into a good book. That night, however, she and Alpha were some of the last ponies to leave.

Fluttershy had thankfully carried the snoring baby dragon to the library for Twilight, and she and Alpha enjoyed a slow walk back. They were still giggling as they traded various stories back and forth about their experiences at the party by the time they reach the door to Golden Oaks Library.

Twilight sighed contentedly after one last laugh and leaned against the door frame. Her eyes met Alphas for a few moments of silence before she spoke again, "I ... had a great time tonight Alpha. Even if we nearly ... you know."

He smiled serenely, looking down at his hooves for a moment before raising his head and replying simply, "I am glad."

"Do you think we could ... try that again tomorrow- you know ... with Rainbow Dash there to-"

"No," he began with a hoof held up for emphasis. Twilight's expression saddened a bit, but he was undeterred. "Until I can use these again," he nodded toward his wings, "I will not endanger anyone with my carelessness."

"Ohhh, but I was really looking forward to trying out my new catadioptric telescope at high altitude," she pouted, not entirely unaffected by the weakly spiked punch she had ingested a few hours ago.

"Nope," he reiterated.

"Awww," she tried again, attempting one of Rarity's tactics of persuasion. One involving large, pleading eyes and a puffed out lower lip.

"Goodnight Twilight," Alpha said resolutely, still smiling as he turned to leave.

"Wait-" she called, remembering a very important line in the book she had been reading just before going to the party. Quickly drawing up beside him, she pecked him on the cheek, "Thank you," she whispered into his ear, blushing heavily, before hastily running inside and closing the door. Alpha remained still in the same spot for a little longer before lifting a hoof to his cheek. He grinned in the midst of a thoughtful expression and walked off.

Twilight had been leaning against the door the entire time, listening to the dull clop of his hooves against the grass , fading away as he left. She now stared at her own hooves, reminiscing in memories of the night's activities. She heard Spike snoring quietly in the perfect silence common to that late hour. With one last giggle she quietly skipped up the stairs to prepare for bed.

He was running through a field full of colorful vegetation. A taller mare galloped ahead of him, laughing happily. The sun was shining and the sky was a clear blue. His chest was tight, but he realized it was because he too was laughing as he ran.

He caught up to her easily, but just as he was about to nip her in the ear she spread her magnificent wings and flew up, out of his reach. "No fair!" he chuckled happily. She laughed even more. It was music to his ears.

There were no wings to unfold on his own jet black form, but his long horn lit up with a bright red glow as he sought to even the odds. The world became tinted in that same red color as a large, transparent dome manifested around them. He crouched slightly then jumped, pushing himself off of the ground with ease and floating straight toward her.

Her wings flapped uselessly even as her laughter began to take on an urgent tone. She knew what was coming next. They both did.

He wrapped his forelegs around her torso and made a 'burring' noise with his mouth pressed to her vulnerable underbelly. Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes as uncontained laughter turned into hysterical squealing. He knew her weakness all too well.

"Stop, stop! Oh by the suns!" she gasped in between high-pitched screams, "I GIVE UP!" she managed to yell out. He stopped abruptly and looked up at her with a giddy grin on his face.

When she had finally caught her breath once more, he pulled himself up to eye level and kissed her. He extended one of his legs to cushion the impact when they came into contact with the inner wall of the dome, then used it to gently push them back toward its center, never looking up or breaking the kiss.

Out of the corner of his eye he noticed a flash of yellow but promptly ignored it. But then he heard a new voice. A young voice. "Where did mommy go?" it asked. A feeling of emptiness manifested inside of him as the warm sensation of the mare's form disappeared in an instant. When he opened his eyes he was floating above an endless expanse of sand and rock, two harsh solar bodies beating down on him from different points in a yellow sky.

His bottom lip began to quiver as an immense sorrow threatened to overtake him. "To a better place," he replied, looking down at the little white colt staring back up at him. He closed his eyes, trying to hold back the tide of tears but, when he opened them again, he was falling.

Panic replaced sorrow in a heartbeat and he flailed wildly.

"Again!" he heard a familiar voice call. He concentrated and released the spell, but the only thing that happened was a brief flash of yellow in the pitch black void around him. "Again." It was barely a whisper that time and he looked around erratically, desperate to find its source.

His vision filled with more flashes of yellow. But this time they seemed to have a clear source. He brought his fore-hooves up to his face and saw a pair ornate shoes upon them, glowing fiercely, with a very slowly dancing ethereal corona around them.

"Where did mommy go?" The question echoed in his mind. But something else was rising from amidst that loud, reverberating question.

"You will ..." It was barely a whisper at first.

"You will for- ..." It was still too hard to make out anything more with the other words drowning most of it out.

"You will- REMEMBER!" The last word ripped through him like a bolt of lightning. His vision erupted as the shoes flared up, becoming brighter and brighter until all he could see was white.

He was blind.

Alpha woke with a start. His heart was hammering in his chest, breathing hard and ... sweating? 'I hardly ever sweat, what-' his train of thought was interrupted by a flood of memories, seemingly foreign to his mind ... at first. But then it all fell into place. About as 'into-place' as a slightly oversized peg being jammed into its hole, getting stuck half-way and having to be hammered, painfully, the rest of the way in.

The sky was a deep purple signifying the early dawn. A concept lost on him. He massaged his forehead, trying to rub away the growing headache. 'A minor set-back,' he thought to himself, referring to the last few days, 'perhaps even ... worth it.' But everything was different now. Because now ... he remembered!

12: My Little Experiment

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My Little Experiment

Twilight could not sleep. She had managed to close her eyes for an hour or two initially, but from then on she had been constantly tossing and turning, her mind racing as it replayed one of the most intense moments in her life, over and over again. Yet the fact that she could have died that very night was the last thing on her mind, as she stared into the pitch darkness of her bedroom, accompanied only by the sound of Spike snoring.

'To conjure that many objects, at once- that's just not possible ... is it? Sure the Princesses could easily do something like that, they raise the sun and the moon for Celestia's sake, such a feat would be foal's play compared to that but ... I know for a fact that my body does not have the magical capacity to do what I think I did out there. Ugh! This is maddening.

'Maybe ... could I have tapped into Alpha's- no, that can't be it either. Unless he was being a completely horrible pony on purpose? No, I'm positive. I couldn't feel anything from his shoes like I did before ...'

She flipped over and lay on her stomach, pulling the pillows over her head to muffle the frustrated noises that erupted from her. After a few minutes she peeked out from under the fluffy stack to see if Spike was still asleep. His green fin-scales rose and fell in a steady rhythm. She sighed silently, twisting onto her side and staring out the window.

Her brow furrowed as a disconnected thought floated through her mind. She inclined her head just enough to see over the windowsill. She was only partially surprised. There, laying with his legs tucked under him, in the exact same spot as the night before, slept Alpha. She remembered the conversation they had had about that at some point or the other. He said he liked sleeping outside, ' it feels familiar, like ... home', were his exact words.

She blinked slowly. 'Just where in the world do you come from ...' Twilight wondered. She snorted quietly, pushing away the thought. 'One mystery at a time,' she told herself, flopping onto her back again and running through the whole chain of events in her mind, for what felt like the hundredth time.

'Falling, screaming, failing spells, failing bubbles, more screaming, more failing, more falling ... kissing,' she blushed and curled up onto her other side, hugging a single pillow to herself. Unlike Alpha, she had been fully cognizant the instant the bubble dissipated. For her, their ... moment, only lasted for just that. A single, short, moment. Unlike him, apparently, she did not get the chance to really feel it. But now as she lay there, embracing the soft pillow between her legs, she allowed that missing feeling to wash over her.

It had been ... interesting. A completely different experience from pecking Spike's forehead when putting him to bed, as seldom as that occurred anymore. It had been softer, warmer ... she frowned slightly. Wetter. She shook her head. It was more than just that connection between their lips though. Their bodies had been so close. The warmth had been incredible, very different from curling up under multiple blankets as she did in the winter, and ... so comforting. There had been so much touching, even their-

Twilight shot straight up, eyes wide as she whisper, "Our horns!" She stumbled out of bed, too much in a hurry to care that the sheets and pillows got strew out over the room as she went.

'Silly filly! How could you have missed it! The very thing that started my whole line of theoretical inquiry, and I completely missed the resemblance!' she thought as she charged down the steps and into the main study area. She wasted no time in undoing all of Spike's hard work, tossing random items over her shoulder with her magic as she hunted for a quill. The carefully made copies of her thesis lay neatly in a pile on her desk, but only for a moment longer. Paper flew in all directions as she dug into the stack, searching for that one page that began her account of the changeling Queen's defeat. There!

The writing on the topic pertained very specifically to the phenomenon that occurred between Princess Cadence and Twilight's brother, the Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor. As far as she could tell, it began the moment their horns touched. Ever since seeing that magnificent display, her mind had been running non-stop, trying to understand what exactly she had witnessed. And that had begun her most ambitious project to that day; her thesis on transverse mystical dynamics.

Unfortunately, Twilight had very little to go on other than eye-witness accounts, and even those were very limited as a result of the blinding light that had followed. She had quickly found out that it was extremely inconsiderate to pester newly-weds for first-hand experiences; even more so after what Princess Cadence had been through. To top it all off, Princess Celestia had given the couple an extended honeymoon, further prolonging the wait to get the information she really needed; a first hoof account.

But she had not minded, that much. Two ponies that she cared deeply for were entering a new and exciting chapter in their lives, she could not be happier for them. She made do with the strangely miniscule information she could find in her own books, and those at the Canterlot archives. It may not have been enough to convince the judges, but none of that mattered anymore. Not if she was right about what had happened to her earlier.

Her eyes flitted over the words. There.

Shining Armor had admitted to being drained and unable to use his magic, and after what Cadence had been through, she could not have been much better off. Yet when the connection was made, the magic output between them was far greater than the sum total brought into the equation to begin with. This leads me to believe that a magnifying effect occurred when the two different streams interacted, the nature of which needs to be studied in-depth before ...

The rest went on about safety. She had mostly written that in to give the appearance of responsibility, but anyone that new her well enough also knew she was a risk-taker when it came to magic. At least, when it came to new and exciting magical phenomenon that could change the face of Equestria.

Still, there was much that needed to be done to prepare for the first test. Observations had to be made, readings taken, measurements recorded- yes, much to do indeed. But there was plenty of time for that. She would never be able to get back to sleep now. And, after all, Alpha was not going anywhere.

Alpha's mind was in almost complete disarray. It was as if an entire section of memories had been ripped out, shuffled like a deck of cards and tossed back in. He tried to reorganize the mental aftermath, starting from the last thing he remembered - impending doom.

'His magic is stronger than I ever guessed,' he thought to himself, 'The bubble must have absorbed most of the impact or ... I would not be here.' He frowned at the grass beneath him, his eyes unfocused as he attempted to recall anything from the gap between that and him waking up in the hospital. His nose wrinkled, 'It seems there are some things I may never remember,' he grumbled inwardly, after what ended up being five frustrating minutes.

There he was on a planet alien to him. His body and mind gone through the grinder, wings battered and unusable, and of course there was that lovely headache; it was enough to drive an ordinary pony mad, or to depression at least.

The doctor had made it sound like he was knocking on death's door when they found him, and yet ... . Whatever had happened, it came as a surprise even to him. Just why was it that he was not still laid up in a bed, being spoon-fed by. 'How demeaning,' he thought.

He found the place completely overwhelming. The vibrant colors, sounds, smells, tastes ... the sensory overload might have been too much, had it not been for his untimely 'accident'. It had given him time to get used to it all before ... things got complicated again.

And then there was them. Or more specifically, her. He had been told there would be others. That had not prepared him in the least for what he had experienced since arriving. He had been fully expecting hostility, an all-out pony-hunt the moment he arrived, instead he was stuck muddling through many new, and very confusing, feelings.

But perhaps the past few days were not a waste after all. A wealth of information had been gathered, and if his target was among these weaklings, his task might just be completed far more easily than he had expected.

They took everything they had for granted; clean water, pure air, rich food - it truly was paradise. But as far as he could tell, there was nothing to prevent its destruction. He had seen no pony trained in any sort of defensive or offensive capability- 'Well, nothing that could be considered a problem,' he thought, remembering the 'security pony' at the hospital. 'How is it that things have remained so perfect? Anyone with magic and half a brain could wipe these simple ponies from existence. I must be missing something ...

'So far the biggest threat I've encountered is Twilight Sparkle, and she's ...' his thoughts trailed off unexpectedly. He caught himself daydreaming, or was it night-dreaming? The sun would rise in another hour or so, if he remembered the cycles accurately. Morning-dreaming? 'Cursed distractions,' he scolded himself internally, 'I've already lost precious time because of this nonsense.' He made a dismissive noise and shook his head.

Well at least the suggestion he had placed in his subconscious during those fleeting moments of clarity had worked. Recovering his foci had helped his mind recuperate from that annoying memory loss business. Just as he had hoped. A shame about that other doctor. That strange way of talking was something he had hoped to find out more about. That would be impossible now though. He did have to use that, after all. It was anything but subtle ... or gentle.

'The accented pony is probably dead by now.'

Spike woke up with a start, his eyes snapping open instantly and his head darting back and forth. His body may have been alert, but his mind was still 'defogging'. He had no idea what had caused him to get up so suddenly as the silence was all he could hear or remember, right up until a muffled noise of frustration came from somewhere below him.

Glancing at the window as he climbed out of his basket and rubbing his face, as if the sleepiness was something tangible that he could just wipe away, he noticed that it was still dark outside. The sky was a very dark purple, hinting at the oncoming sunrise. He stretched and waddled down the stairs, still massaging the sleep that clung to his face. His entrance into the main library area was greeted with a string of expletives, varying from the usual 'pony feathers' and 'hay' to some new words he was not quite familiar with.

"Twilight?" he called in the midst of a yawn. He looked around at what now bore more resemblance to the workshop of a mad scientist, than a public haven for students of the literary arts. In the middle of the mess of wires, tubes, pipes, plates and random unidentified contraptions, Twilight Sparkle was standing upright on her back legs, propping what looked like a giant transparent tub of jell-o above the metal frame of what could pass for a shower stall.

"Spike! I woke you up didn't I?" Twilight asked, ears folding back as an apologetic expression appeared on her face, "Hehe, sorry. But, now that you're up, could you lend me a hoof- err, claw?" she asked, sporting one of the most strained grins ever concocted, beads of sweat creeping down her forehead. Spike rushed over with the ladder he usually used to reach the higher bookshelves, quickly assisting Twilight in getting the 'tub' in place just before she collapsed from overexertion of underused muscles. A few more minutes later, they both lay on the floor panting, everything finally set up just the way she wanted.

"So ... why didn't you just use magic to make this all so much easier?" Spike asked.

"Can't use magic yet," she took a few more breaths before continuing, "It would contaminate the results."

"The results of what? What is all of this for anyway?"

"Oh Spike!" Twilight giggled giddily, kicking her legs in the air a few times before her abused muscles gave her a reality check, "If this works ... I'll have direct evidence to prove my theories! Do you have any idea what this means?!"

He deadpanned, "I wouldn't be asking if I did."

"My thesis Spike! You did help me write most of it, don't you remember anything about it at all?"

"Twilight, you had to spell half the words for me. It's not like I had time to look them up!"

She groaned. "When separate sources of magic intersect at a close enough distance, the aether streams are magnified as a result of the-"

"Stop," he placed a claw on her mouth, effectively cutting off what would have been a very long and tiresome regurgitation of her entire theory. "I'm not even going to ask what aether is, but I think I get the gist of it. Magic becomes more powerful when you mix it with another unicorn's. Is that about right?"

Twilight looked a bit disappointed at not being able to get right into the heart of her explanation, but she took solace in the fact that at least he got the basic idea. "A very watered-down version, but ... yes," she replied.

"So ... getting back to original question. What is all this for?"

She bolted up right, eyes wide, "Oh that's right! I haven't told anypony. Or any dragon," she added with a smile in Spike's direction. "And you were asleep when it happened, weren't you?"

"When what happened?"

Twilight spent the next few minutes recounting the night's occurrences, starting with the moment that she touched horns with Alpha. As a result of her excitement, she had to backtrack a few times to explain earlier events in order to alleviate confusion. And of course she left out, what she consider to be, the embarrassing details.

"Do you see now? It's not just additive, it's not even linear- it's ... it's exponential!" the epiphany hit her like a freight train. She scrambled over to the writing desk, a glowing quill and scroll popping into existence as her horn glowed, and she began writing furiously.

"There you go again with the big words," grumbled Spike, finally picking himself up off the floor and slowly making his way over to the kitchen. "You still haven't explained why you couldn't just levitate all that stuff into place," he called from the other room.

"The more magic I bring into the equation, the more we get out," Twilight mumbled absently, as she continued her relentless scribbling.

'Bah- enough lollygagging.' He shook his head and stood up, then began pacing. 'Focus! Step one; gather as much information as possible. I've learned quite a bit. Let's put a tentative check next to that one. Step two; gain her trust. Sunspots. I don't even know where she is,' he facehoofed. 'Back to step one.

'Let's see, they don't know I've regained my memories, that could prove quite useful. No point in drawing unwanted questions. On the other hoof, if I go around asking about stuff I'm not supposed to remember- sunspots.' He stood still, blinking slowly at the deep orange crescent emerging from the horizon. 'Well no matter. After all, what difference will it make if I take a few more days? Two thousand years. What could she possibly do differently in a few days?' he thought to himself, wandering off as he started to formulate a plan.

"Nothing yet Princess, but we have already covered most of the area. I have no doubt we will find it within the next few hours," said Spitfire, bowing before Princess Celestia in the main throne room.

It was exactly as she had suspected. A few griffons of various shapes and sizes were arrayed off to the left of the Princess, two of them sporting protective eye-wear, similar to her own goggles, but a bit more ... 'egg-headed' somehow. They were there for the prize that her team was about to go back out in search of, and now her morning was ruined too. It was everything she could do to hold back a dirty look at the 'guests'. But she managed to get it out while facing the floor at least.

There was perhaps one thing that could turn her day around, and she was looking forward to it. Thus, when the Princess nodded and dismissed her, she flew like a bullet back toward her team over Ponyville with a burning desire to get the whole thing over with as quickly as possible.

"Carriages have been prepared, and the train will transport your equipment to nearest town. If there is anything else you need, please don't hesitate to ask," Celestia said with her usual smile, once Spitfire left. The griffons nodded curtly and shuffled out, all except for Annis, who looked at Celestia with worry written all over her face.

"There is nothing you can say about it, is there ..." the Princess asked, finally breaking her smile and casting a slightly concerned sidelong glance at Annis. The diplomat just shook her head slowly after a moment, then bowed low walked out after the other griffons, her manicured claws clicking on the polished marble with each step.

Celestia stared through the nearest window, lost in thought. Could there really be anything to worry about? She had seen many hardships throughout her years. Each time, they had crept up on her, taking advantage of the false sense of security brought on by long periods of peace. Periods just like the one Equestria was currently experiencing.

She was on the verge of giving up hope that there could ever be a truly lasting peace; the wisdom needed to maintain harmony, never acquired quickly enough within the relatively short life spans of the sentient life forms that shared this world.

'Who am I to judge,' she chuckled grimly to herself, 'Even with all I have experienced, I still could not find an adequate solution when Luna-' she shivered imperceptibly as her thoughts were interrupted by a hoof on her shoulder. She did not have to look.

"Thou broodest deeply," came Princess Luna's gentle voice, "Dost thou care to share thine thoughts with thine own sister?" Luna tended to revert back to the old tongue when she was worried. 'Having to practice the new tongue muddles my thoughts,' she had explained to her sister. But she would adapt eventually. She just needed to get out more, spend more time with others. 'The castle staff don't count,' Celestia had scolded her playfully. Still, the worry she showed warmed her sister's heart.

Celestia continued to stare out the window. She had always found the morning sun pleasant to look upon, relaxing even. "It's ... probably nothing," she said absently, but turned to face Luna once she managed to replace her smile. "Have I mentioned how much I've missed you?" she asked, nuzzling Princess Luna's neck in a rare show of affection. Anything to take her mind off her troubles.

Luna raised an eyebrow, a smile making its way across her face at the sudden change of direction things took. "Not oft enough. Though this feeling ... mmm, this I hath missed even more," she replied, returning the gesture perhaps a little too eagerly. Celestia turned away, knowing all too well where things were going. She sought the comfort of the sunlight once again, staring through the window and hiding her sorrow.

Luna sighed heavily. "Thou hast still not given up hope?" she asked, immediately cringing at how insensitive her words sounded, wishing she could pluck them back out of the air. "I-"

"I know you didn't mean it that way," Celestia cut her off before she could make things any worse, her voice uncharacteristically heavy with emotion, "but no, I have not- I cannot, until I know their fate for certain ..."

"More than two thousand years hath past," Luna started in a much gentler tone, "Doth thou not think this ... unhealthy?" The goddess of the sun remained silent. "I only ask out of concern, you know I have experienced such loss many times-"

"Have you?" Celestia said in a very low voice, "Do you know what it is like to be the very cause of such loss?"

"Thou knowest I did not mean-"

"But that is the truth. I don't know what it's like to lose as many as you have, but I can't imagine it could be any easier than living with this guilt-" Celestia took in a shaky breath, "Enough. I have duties to attend to." She stood up, eyes closed as she brought her breathing, and emotions, back under control. She could not afford to show weakness. There was no other that could understand her pain beside Luna, or vice versa. If she had to be the stronger one, then so be it, emotions be damned.

"I am sorry to have brought such sadness to mind," Luna said softly, staring at her hooves as she remained standing behind Celestia.

"We have spent enough time on apologies, sister," she spoke with regal force behind her voice, "Let us leave the past in the past. Come, there is breakfast to be had before the day takes us!" Celestia's smile was back. That same, forced smile that fooled all but a few. A smile that, just recently, only became genuine in the presence of a certain lavender mare.

"It's time! Buhuhahahahahaha-"

"What are you doing?" Spike deadpanned, putting the question to the rather disturbing visage of Twilight Sparkle. He had just walked out of the kitchen with a modestly packed breakfast tray in his claws, only to stop and stare at her for a few distressing moments.

"Aheh, nothing- never mind that," Twilight coughed and cleared her throat, "All preparations have been completed!" she exclaimed proudly, ticking off the final item off her checklist. "Now I just have to get the star of the show," she added with a grin. "Ooo, this is so exciting! I just can't wait any longer," she made her way to the door, being extra careful not to knock over any of the equipment that now filled most of the library's main room.

"Not even for pancakes, with that special syrup we bought the other day?" asked Spike in a silky smooth voice, his eyes half lidded with eyebrows bobbing up and down. Twilight froze mid-step, eyes wide as she contemplated the choice that lay before her. A moment later she started to shiver, but then did an about face before making her way back toward him.

"You drive a hard bargain mister," she said with a chuckle, "But I think I'll take you up on that offer. Another ten minutes couldn't hurt anypony, right?"

Alpha had been sneaking through the town as best he could. A difficult feat, considering it was the middle of the morning. The brightly colored streets, buildings and decorations did nothing to help either. He had even thought about using the rooftops, but there were so many Pegasi around that it would actually have made things worse. So instead, he had settled for using an empty barrel as camouflage, making his way slowly toward the Carousel Boutique.

He fully understood that he did not have to sneak around, since the residents of this community were already familiar with him, thanks to the previous night's party. However, with what he had in mind, it was better that he was not seen at all.

The plan was simple. Sneak into the white mare's shop. Grab the jumpsuit. Sneak out. He had realized just how much of an asset it could be for completing his objectives. Sneaking around on a moonlit night, when your coat was all white, tended not to work out so well. On the other hand, a pitch black change of clothes would work perfectly. Sure some modifications would be needed; mostly ripping off all that unnecessary garbage that the fashion pony had put all over it, but that was a small matter.

And so the plan had been set in motion. None of the busy ponies noticed the barrel moving ever so often along, remaining as inconspicuous as it could while completely unaware of its identical companion, following quietly along.

When there was only one more building between him and the boutique, he crept into a dead-end alley-way and stopped to listen. The usual sounds of a busy Ponyville morning were all that could be heard, dampened as they were at the back of the alley-way. He lifted the cover of the barrel just a smidge and peeked out, only to realize he was staring right into a pair of large blue eyes, framed in pink.

The barrel fell over as he leapt backward in surprise, tumbling into a roll and coming up against the opposite wall, hooves up, ready for a fight. But when he was able to return his focus to the barrel he was just in, all he saw was its twin, laying on its side in just the same manner, now beginning to roll off on its own.

"What the-" he began under his breath, but stopped short as he heard stifled giggles beside him. His gaze snapped to the side and he realized the pink party mare was leaning against the wall right beside him, having perfectly mimicked his stance.

He rotated quickly to face her, muscles tense, expecting a blow to land at any moment. She simply mirrored his movements, all except for the silly grin on her face and what was now incessant giggling.

'She mocks me!' he thought, eyes wide and annoyed at the apparent derision. 'Let's see what how funny she thinks I am when she's eating that mane of hers.' His left hoof shot out, aiming for her nose, but to his surprise it was met half-way by her right hoof, producing an echoing 'clop' sound.

Alpha hastily withdrew his hoof, getting back into stance. His eyes could get no narrower without obscuring his vision. Was this what he had been missing? Did all of the ponies here have combat training, but simply kept it to themselves? 'Time to test that theory,' he thought darkly, unleashing a flurry of blows. None were particularly well-aimed, as he concentrated on speed over accuracy. However, in the two seconds it took to throw all ten of them the pink mare not only managed to block them, but did so by meeting each one with its exact mirror, resulting in some strange perversion of tap dancing.

He shook his hooves as if they were on fire, no longer able to hide the pain that striking another hard object that hard tended to inflict. Much to his displeasure, the pink one was still grinning, even as she mocked him further by copying his attempts to shake away the dulling ache.

"Grrr," he growled, lowering his stance for his next attempt.

"Grarrr!" she copied, adding her own flare to it.

The next flurry of blows involved using his back legs in an attempt to sweep her own from beneath her. But right after throwing out two feint attacks intended to distract her, met again by her own of course, he quickly found himself on his back with the wind knocked out of him, vision jarred by the sudden impact.

"Oopsie!" Pinkie Pie giggled, "Sorry Alpha, I kinda got ahead of yourself there," She extended a hoof to help him up. He stared at it in contempt for a moment before getting his bruised ego back in check and took it. "That was fun! So whatcha wanna play now?" she asked, bouncing up and down as Alpha brushed himself off, still perplexed as to what had just happened.

Pinkie's tail began to twitch intensely, but Alpha was too busy being confused to notice. "How did you-"

"Look out!" she cried, pulling him over to her side of the alley as a plant pot came crashing down, right into the spot he had just been standing. They looked up and saw a wrinkled old, faded-orange face, peering out from the second story window of the house.

"Oh dear, are you fillies alright?" came the old mare's voice.

"We're fine Mrs. Crab Tree!" Pinkie yelled happily.

"Well stop making all them strange noises down there, getting an old mare like me all worried. Now I have to go find another plant pot to put back out here," she grumbled, retreating back inside.

Alpha was starting to become increasingly agitated. It was supposed to have been a stealth operation, but now he had been seen. Twice. Judging by the old pony's question, she probably could not see well enough to identify him, but the pink one was a problem. He hastily shoved his growing curiosity to the back of his mind, the questions about her uncanny ability would have to wait.

"So Punky Pit," he began.

"It's Pinkie Pie silly!" she giggled.

"Right. Why don't we play a new game?" he asked, faking a grin of his own. He would not enjoy what he was about to do, but there seemed to be no other way.

"That sounds great! What did you have in mind?"

" Turn around and count to ten really slowly."

"Hey, this kinda sounds like tag. Are we playing tag?"

"Uh, n-no. This is very different from ... that game. The object of this game is to ... uh, get all the way to ten without stopping," he nodded smugly. "But-" he quickly added, remember an important detail, "But you can only win if you count out loud!" He stopped and thought a bit more. "Oh! And I'm going to try to make you stop, yes, that's the game," he finished, the new grin at least twice as insincere.

"Ooo, that sounds like fun! Here goes!" she exclaimed, turning around and covering her eyes as she began to count.

'The pink one has proven quite formidable. But in the end, this bubbly naiveté of hers has become her undoing,' Alpha thought grimly as he reached for her neck.

13: A Thief in the Dawn

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A Thief in the Dawn

There was a sickening crunch as the atlas and cervical vertebrae were crushed with a sudden, precise strike. Honed from years of practice, it ensured that no suffering occurred.

Though Queen Lynette did not particularly care either way when it came to the suffering of her prey, she did pride herself on the aspects that made her a superior hunter. Speed, strength, precision and efficiency. There was nothing sloppier than prey writhing in agony after an intended lethal blow. To produce such results would be a personal failure - such a thing she deemed unacceptable, under any circumstance.

One had to be patient when hunting the smaller mammals. The mountain hare, laying lifeless beneath her talons, was particularly challenging. It required the Queen's two armored escorts to remain still for much longer than they were used to. Both sighed inaudibly as they landed behind her, glad that the 'ordeal' was finally all over.

Griffon infantry were mainly trained for quick, tactical strikes. As such, the soldiers were usually issued armor made of lighter materials. Heavily woven cloth, hardened leather, even thin chain mesh were used depending on the strength of the soldier in question. The Queen's personal guard, however, were an entirely different breed.

Selected from the strongest and largest of fighters, they exclusively wore the much heavier full-plate armor. Everything that could be covered, was. The helmet provided sight through six slats - three for either eye - and allowed a pointed beak to protrude, but left little to be seen of the individual beneath. The rest of the body was similarly hidden beneath the polished steel. All except for the heavily muscled wings - larger than most griffons - and razor sharp talons.

But as ominous as they both looked, neither dared let their impatience show. Any griffon that worked closely enough with royal affairs knew better than to get on the Queen's bad side; a dreadfully easy thing to do. A few of Lynette's advisors assured her, on too many occasions, that there was little nutritional difference between fresh game and 'MagiSynth' meat (often referred to as 'Smeat'). Those advisors no longer had their titles, but ones more applicable to those who cleaned the capitol's waste disposal systems.

A particularly annoying advisor was stripped of more than just her title. But then, she had suffered about as much as the hare - and not too far away from that very spot.

Still, the sensations that rushed through her with each clean kill made the wait entirely worth it. Sensations she enjoyed far more than most experiences available to one of her stature - even those involved in the conception of her only two daughters.

Lynette would have liked to think that it was in the genes to be a good hunter, a cunning warrior, and eventually a strong leader. Unfortunately, the genes tended to do strange things. Producing a daughter like Annis was one particular strangeness that she disliked, even more so than the putrid Smeat that passed for food. Sure they could make it taste like almost anything, but never quite like the real thing.

The Queen could not help but care for both her daughters, hormones had a way of working like that, but they were the offspring of the Griffon Empire's two greats hunters and warriors. That fact alone should have given them both at least a fraction of that prowess. And yet, there was not a single aggressive bone in Annis' body.

Where most Griffons would not hesitate to cut an insect from the air, if only to test the sharpness of their talons, Annis was different. On one stomach churning occasion, Lynette had caught her playing with a butterfly; cooing to it and taking great care not to harm even one leg on the useless insect. She had even cried when the Queen showed her the quickest way to make six butterflies out of one. Or pieces thereof.

No, Annis was never going to be the Queen that Clawdor needed. Luckily they did manage to find a use for her - one that only she could do; sucking up to that cursed alicorn ruling over Equestria. She had turned out to be better at it than any trained delegate ever sent to Canterlot since the peace treaty was signed. The little annoyance even preferred being over there more than her own home; something the Queen found particularly confounding.

But she was starting to lose faith in her second daughter as well. Gilda had the instincts alright, but that was about all she had. Lynette was still unable to decide if the decision to send her to Cloudsdale, as part of the (then brand new) student exchange program, had been a sound one.

When she left her homeland, Gilda had been a fiery example of a young griffon huntress in the making. When she came back, she was lazy, aloof and rebellious. All the qualities of a typical Griffon teenager.

But that was exactly the problem - she was not a typical Griffon teenager. She was Princess Gilda of Tallon - Queen Lynette's first born, direct heir to the throne; unless the Queen chose another successor. And that was an option she abhorred even more than a badly executed killing blow.

By the laws of Clawdor, Queen Lynette could chose any Griffon of pure blood to succeed her. But she was far too proud for that. Her mate, King Earnweald, was no longer among the living. Though he had been unmatched, both in the hunt and on the field of battle, few could stand against the ravages of disease. He had died at a time when magic was just beyond the grasp of Griffon-kind. Magic that could have saved him from an infection usually associate with an unattended wound.

Of course, there was nothing prohibiting Lynette from taking another mate, but in Griffon society it was a sign of weakness to take a weaker mate. The perfect balance of strength, agility and ferocity that had been Earnweald was difficult to find - especially since the wars ended and peace became the norm.

To ensure that her lineage retained rulership, however, there were few things she would not consider. And though her options were running out, she had not given up on her daughter just yet.

"What?" Gilda asked in her usual, bored tone, as she landed beside the Queen. With a flick of her claw, Lynette launched the small corpse of her prey at one of her guards. The euphoria she experienced during her hunt quickly wore off the moment she heard her daughter's voice. The unusually large escort deftly caught the lump of flesh out of mid-air upon the tip of his weapon, slowly returning to his statuesque position after using the moment as an excuse to stretch his cramped limbs. Neither royal female paid the slightest attention.

"You will address me properly, or you will join that carcass on Beornheard's spear," Lynette said in a low voice, emphasizing her sincerity by completely cleaning the blood from her talons with another deft flick.

The Queen had tried the softer, more motherly approach with Gilda in her earlier years. She often wondered if that had contributed to producing the disappointment that stood before her.

Gilda half-groaned, half-sighed and looked off into the distance. "You summoned me, my Queen?" The words were correct, but the tone was about as disrespectfully indifferent as it could get. On any other day Lynette would have insisted on perfection, but on that particular day she wanted compliance more than anything else - something that became more difficult to acquire from Gilda the more she was pressed.

"There is an important task that I would have you carry out," the Queen began, sitting straight up, head held high as she projected her voice as she was accustomed when conveying her authority. Something that seemed lost on Gilda most of the time.

"You will be returning to Equestria for this task." Gilda groaned. Lynette was almost certain it was because she was being asked to do something that did not involve sleeping or flying around aimlessly. Instead she chose to hold out hope that it was a result of their shared dislike of pony-kind - one of the few things they had in common. "I have sent a team ahead, but I want you to join them."

"So I can sit around yawning at those losers while they work? Pheh, I'll pass," Gilda replied, yawning pointedly as she turned to leave.

"I was not asking you," the Queen intoned icily. "I have allowed you enough freedom since your return. It is time you began to act like the Princess that you are," she added in the most inspiring tone she could muster.

Gilda stiffened up for a brief moment before flopping, much like an invertebrate, onto the grassy hill. After another moment of groaning, she finally spoke again.

"Why do you hate me so much?" she asked in a droll tone, her gaze deliberately pointed in the exact opposite direction of her mother. Lynnette recoiled visibly but recovered just as quickly, loathe to be caught showing even the smallest sign of weakness - even if it was only in the presence of her personal guard.

"If it was hate that I felt for you, girl, we would be having an entirely different conversation - one that does not involve words," the Queen responded with the same frigid voice. "But enough of your nonsense, this is important."

"I think I'll pass," Gilda said with bored indifference, pulling herself up and spreading her wings.

"We are not done here!" the Queen roared. Gilda's body locked up immediately. Lynette's roar had that effect on most. But it was far more effective on her daughters. They had been cowed by that very roar since birth; inducing in them the kind of paralyzing fear that required years of therapy to overcome.

"You will-" she paused, bringing her voice back down to a more civilized level. Gilda began to relax back into a stiff, but not completely motionless sitting position, though she was unable to meet the Queen's intense eyes. "You will oversee the team to ensure that nothing goes wrong. And I expect a full report on your return.

" The team is already in Equestria and should have been dispatched to the site by now. You are to leave immediately." There was a moment of cold silence; Gilda continuing her attempt to burn holes in the grass with her eyes, Lynnette burning holes in Gilda's ego with her own. "Now we are done."

Gilda wordlessly launched herself from the hill and flew off at top speed, glad to be anywhere else. The Queen watched her leave with a scowl on her face.

When Gilda was finally beyond her considerable sight range, Lynnette turned to look at the meal dangling from Beornheard's spear. She regarded the mountain behind her for a moment before taking to the air, her appetite suddenly demanding a much larger quarry.

Twilight pranced up the hill near the library toward the spot where Alpha usually slept. A contented smile adorned her face, and thoughts of buying more of that special pancake syrup mingled with excited anticipation of experiments to be done. A smile that instantly turned upside-down when she realized she was standing alone on that hill.

"Alpha?" Twilight called out in quiet confusion at first, raising her voice with a second try. Although it was still relatively early, there were just enough ponies on the nearby road staring at her to make her feel overly self-conscious. The events surrounding her last appearance on that very same hill only made things worse.

With a sheepish grin she hung her head and trotted off in search of her missing guinea pig.

Clop.

Alpha's hoof hit the wall, passing unhindered through the space that had once been occupied by Pinkie's neck. He flinched and sucked air sharply through his clenched teeth, his eyes bulged in stark disbelief. His focus slowly panned to the left, head unmoving, and there she was. Still counting in that painfully slow and exaggerated manner, Pinkie Pie remained face to the wall.

Alpha looked back at his hoof, still pinned against the wall. He drew his face as close to the point of contact as possible, looking for some clue that would allow him to comprehend what had just happened. He had blinked, just once. The moment before he was staring at his pink victim - the moment after, a blank wall. There was not so much as a single pink hair between his hoof and the wall. He practically threw himself back against the opposite wall, still standing on his back legs, his fore-hooves groping around to ensuring there was still something solid - something normal - behind him.

A growing part of him expected reality itself to dissolve into the seamless void of one of his nightmares at any moment, but the feel of the wall beneath Alpha's hooves remained. Still, his neck did double-time as he jerked his view left, right and finally up at the sky, just to be absolutely sure.

'But if I'm awake, how did ... ?' he wondered, dumbstruck as his gaze returned to the party-mare. The three balloons arranged on her flank give no clue as to how she could be capable of what had just happened. 'Am I hallucinating? Some kind of lasting damage from my accident?'

"Si~x," Pinkie continued unabated. Alpha shrugged off his doubts and resolved to figure this out, quickly constructing a plan in his mind.

He began swatting at Pinkie, keeping himself positioned to prevent her from going in any other direction. Each and every time, she side-stepped quickly to her left, dodging his hoof. There were no fancy tricks this time. At least, not while Alpha forcibly kept an unblinking gaze trained on her. She just continued to slide to her left with the same deft agility he had seen on the dance-floor the previous night.

While he was still taken aback by how she could have known exactly when he would strike, he was certain that what she had done earlier was completely different from the relatively simple dodging she was doing now.

"E~ight," she continued, now in the corner where the alley's dividing wall met the building she was leaning on. Alpha rubbed his hooves together. Finally she was trapped. Or so he thought.

Clop!

"Sunspots!" Alpha shouted. So much for stealth.

He had positioned himself directly behind Pinkie and brought both hooves in along the walls, providing no angle of escape. But he had blinked. And in that slit second, Pinkie had somehow come to be leaning against the opposite building, the beginning of what was supposed to be the number nine suddenly cut short.

"Sunspots? What's that? Oh! I just lost didn't I?" She giggled happily, returning to all-fours and turning to face Alpha. "You're pretty good at this game! And it's fun too! Hey does this mean it's your turn to count now? Huh? Huh? Does it? Does it? Does it?"

Alpha was twitching ever so slightly. He felt like his sanity was slipping away with each word out of the pink mare.

"Excuse me? Have you seen Alpha? You know, that new stallion at the party last night? No?" Twilight groaned in frustration, turning away from the tenth pony she had asked so far. After talking to the three that were near the hill at the time, she had decided to try every pony along the path as she made her way further into the heart of Ponyville.

'How does a pony just get up and walk away without being seen?' she wondered impatiently. She realized that she was trotting in-place and immediately stopped.

'Okay. Let's think this over. What possibly reason could he have to wander off? Hmmm ... he really did seem to be enjoying those cupcakes ... Sugarcube Corner!'

Twilight took off toward the colorful bakery at a gallop.

'What- when- HOW?!' Alpha's mind back-flipped. His eyes and mouth gaped. Unblinking, he stared at Pinkie Pie. 'It's just not possible! She's an earth pony! Earth ponies can't use magic, can't fly. They're supposed to be the peasants that grow food ... They. Can't. Do. That!'

Alpha reminded himself that he was operating on millennia-old information.

'But ... what was that? Does she move that fast? Did she teleport? Maybe she has the same power as him- Nooooo. No, no, no. No pony can do what he can. Especially not a mere earth pony, no matter how much time has passed.

'She's toying with me. All this time I thought that I had her playing my game ... But why? What could she possibly gain from these silly antics? Could this be ... the other one? Disguised as a mortal just for amusement? That's not entirely crazy right? I mean, who knows what immortals do in their spare time, right? But if that's the case-' Alpha realized he was starting to hyperventilate again and attempted to control it.

'Like an ant! That's what I am to her, just an ant ripe for the squashing-'

"Alpha?" Pinkie Pie interrupted the distressed stallion's mental monologue. "You're doing that thing again," she stated matter-of-factly, pointing a hoof at his chest as it heaved relentlessly.

"Th-thuh-th-thing?" he squeaked, now flattened back against the wall as he tried fruitlessly to meld into it. Alpha was absolutely convinced that the pink mare knew exactly what he had intended from the very start, and that at any moment she would unleash some unspeakable punishment on him. Being aware of that made it ten times worse . Or one hundred.

"Yeah, you know that thing you did the first time we met, just before you went sleepy-bye," she finished with a giggle.

'She's doing this on purpose! Of course she is - who else would know better than an immortal just how to make a pony suffer?' Alpha was sweating profusely now. His knees would have started rattling had they been able to shake any more violently.

'There must be a way out!' He whipped his head about, quickly scanning for any avenue of escape. But he was no immortal alicorn - the secrets of space-time itself remained a mystery to him. His bubble tricks would never work in time. There was only one option left.

"Teach me, oh great one!" he begged, groveling shamefully as he hit the alley-way floor, taking a bow so low that his nose rubbed mossy cobblestones.

Alpha would have face-hoofed if he had not been frozen in fear. 'What the flare is wrong with me?!' he mentally scolded, 'I'm trying to get her to spare my life, not make presumptuous requests that might just anger her off further!'

He had not been given any real instructions regarding 'the other one'. Just strong words of warning. "Avoid her presence at any cost," he had been told, "Give her no reason to take interest in you. I have felt her power. It is ... beyond comprehension."

Pinkie's bubbly reply stopped Alpha from attempting to beat his own head into the cobblestones repeated, "Oh silly Alpha," she giggled, "I'm the one who lost!"

'Wait, what?' The colt combed through his jumbled mess of panicked thoughts, trying to regain some context. 'Lost? Lost what? Clearly this fight is over, I can't lay a hoof on her, what is she-'

"So is it my turn now? Huh, huh, huh?" Pinkie was bouncing energetically as she bombarded Alpha with her excited, high-pitched babble.

Alpha fell over, his cramped leg twitching. He started to entertain questions about his sanity for a brief moment before pushing them aside. While accepting the possibility, he concluded that any thought spent on it would be pointless if he actually was trapped in some fevered delusion. The only thing left was to assume it was all real and make the best of the situation.

'Maybe she's some kind of ... lesser mystical being. One still capable of such feats. A tricky ... pony ... thing. Trickster pony? She certainly seems to like games - especially those involving subterfuge. It would be best not to anger her, if I have not already done so, but perhaps I can use this to my advantage.'

"I have a better idea," Alpha began as he got back up, brushing himself off as best he could. "I mean, that is, if you want to learn another new game," he added nervously, still not quite sure how far the 'trickster's' good nature would extend after, he was still quite sure she knew, he had tried to kill her.

The pink mare wore a grin that began to grow slowly, impossibly wide. What Alpha found even more disconcerting was the way her eyes followed suit. But when she started to nod repeatedly, a blur of pink on pink, he nearly jumped out of his coat. Creepy was a woefully inadequate word.

"Okay-" he squeaked at first before clearing his throat, slapping his chest with a hoof and coughing for good measure, "Okay!" Much more colt-like. "Here's how it works."

"Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Cake!" Twilight Sparkle greeted the yellow-coated stallion and his sky-blue-coated wife, smiling as she walked through the door of Sugarcube Corner.

"Why, good morning Twilight!" Mrs. Cake replied pleasantly, her pink mane wobbling a bit as she looked around. She was dancing back and forth with a broom clenched firmly between her teeth, fighting an uphill battle against time to get the bakery cleaned up before it was time to open. Mr. Cake similarly brought up the rear with a mop.

Twilight looked around quickly before asking, "Sorry to be so curt, but have you seen Alpha this morning?" Both baker ponies abruptly stopped and looked at each other, then at Twilight with confused expressions.

"Who?" Mrs. Cake asked.

Celestia's faithful student seems perplexed for a moment. It had seemed like the entire town had been at the party the previous night. With Rarity's flashy introduction it was almost impossible for anyone to have missed Alpha.

"White ali- err pegasus colt, fiery mane, four feet high, hole in his left wing, likes cupcakes- is any of this sounding familiar at all?" The Cakes just shook their heads at Twilight. "You weren't at the party were you," she stated, more than asked.

"Oh goodness no," Mrs. Cake spoke up, shaking his orange mane and balking at the very thought, "When Pinkie Pie invites that music filly- what's her name? Oh you know who I mean, the one who always brings those terribly large phonographs."

"Speakers," Twilight cut in, unable to resist correcting the older mare.

"We usually take a night off to ourselves for those kinds of parties. Off somewhere far away ... from here," Mrs. Cake finished with an apologetic smile.

Twilight just smiled back, "I understand. But ... no sign of anypony like that this morning? Not even a quick glimpse?" she asked hopefully.

The Cakes looked at each other again, before shaking their heads, "Sorry."

Twilight groaned, sinking against the door frame in thought again. It was only a moment before she jumped and dashed out the door with a fading, "'Kay-thanks-bye!" as she galloped off. The bakers just shrugged and resumed their little war on time.

Had Rarity not been caught up in her work, she might have noticed the two noses pressed up against the corners of one her boutique's windows. But she was completely consumed as she worked tirelessly on a rather crude version of Alpha's shoes.

Alpha had no idea what the word 'prank' meant. Pinkie Pie had used it and, as always, he went with it. They were going to 'prank' Rarity by making her new creation 'conveniently' disappear. What Alpha did not tell Pinkie before making a 'Pinkie-Pie-Promise' to let him setup the joke, was that he had no intention of returning the stylized jumpsuit.

"Okay. Do you remember the plan?" Alpha whisper, still staring at Rarity through the glass. After a few seconds without a reply, he ducked below the window and looked toward the spot Pinkie had previously been occupying. The colt's jaw dropped.

'Where the f-' his thought was cut short by another more disturbing one. Had the trickster double-crossed him? His face nearly hit the glass when he whipped back around to look through the window. But his fears were quickly assuaged by the lack of change in the scene before him. Rarity was still completely engrossed in what looked like an attempt to produce the mutant offspring of a diamond and a garnet.

Everything was exactly where it was supposed to be. Except for the jumpsuit.

Alpha's jaw dropped. His gaze swept rapidly about the seamstresses shop. But after finding no sign of the pink mare he ducked below the window sill again, only to yelp when Pinkie Pie tapped him on the shoulder.

"Shhhhhhh," she hissed, one hoof by her mouth, another covering his. The suit was draped over her crouching form. Alpha had little time to contemplate what had just happened before a fresh batch of panic spread itself liberally over his mind.

"Hello? Is somepony out there?" called Rarity. Neither 'prankster' dared peek to see what she was doing. But whereas Alpha looked distressed, head darting back and forth in outright paranoia, Pinkie Pie was fighting to stifle the giggles.

But just when he thought it was all over, a curious turn of events changed panic to confusion. With the ring of the boutique's bell, Twilight Sparkle tumbled through the door.

It seemed no matter how hard she had tried, Rarity could not find a way to marry gems to diamond without introducing some kind of adhesive. A notion she found completely repulsive, gaudy and beneath her considerable talents. But the effort was creating a mounting frustration and she had to bite back a growl, forcing a smile when the bell announced a potential customer.

"Hello and welcome to-"

"Rarity! There you are!" Twilight exclaimed, slightly winded.

"Well of course darling, where else would I be this early in the morning?" Rarity replied cheerily, "What can I do for you on such a lovely day?" Her last few words were forced out between clenched teeth, sounding more like a grunt as she tried in vain once more to unite the gems before her.

"I have something-" she started off excitedly before thinking better of herself, "Oh! First of all, have you seen Alpha?"

"Since the party? No ... can't say I have," she said in a saddening tone. "Is he missing?" she asked with renewed interest, the thought of her precious diamond-plated inspiration disappearing from her grasp changing her perspective entirely.

"Kinda? I mean I haven't seen him in about two hours but-"

"Oh Twilight, do tell!" Rarity teased, gesturing with a hoof.

"What are you- Oh! No! No, no, nonononono," Twilight blubbered in utter embarrassment, her cheeks beginning to rival Celestia's finest work as she caught the meaning of Rarity's comment.

"Yes, of course you are right. A lady never discusses such things in public. But, what do you know? My shop isn't open for another thirty minutes - plenty time for a little girl talk, don't you think?" Rarity asked, smiling innocently. Twilight on the other hoof was trying very hard to take a page from Fluttershy's book. Unfortunately, her mane was not quite as long and she settled for burying her face between her forelegs as she crumpled to the floor.

"Why is this happening to me~," Twilight wailed.

"Why darling, there's nothing to be ashamed of - it's quite a natural thing for a mare and a-"

"Nothing happened!" the lavender mare nearly screamed, desperate to get out of that line of conversation. "He sleeps outside my window, okay?"

"How romantic!"

Twilight groaned. "I don't think that has anything to do with it," she deadpanned, "He said he felt ... more comfortable sleeping outside. Or something."

"That sounds awfully convenient," Rarity giggled, glancing sidelong at the continually reddening student of magic. "So ..." she began, as the awkward silence had just begun to set it, "Have you at least kissed him yet?"

Twilight's eyes widened as her discomfort grew to new heights. She buried her face deep in a prison made of her forelegs. It was answer enough for Rarity, who began to laugh to herself.

"Oh my, I am certainly behaving in a rather unbecoming manner today. But I will say this; I do envy you Twilight Sparkle!"

"You enjoy being fatally embarrassed?" The question took on a deeper tone as it attempted to escape between the tiny gaps in her fortress of fur.

Rarity snickered, "No darling. Being in love for the first time again! Believe me when I say, it's never the same after that," she ended with a bit of remorse in her voice.

"In lo-" Twilight choked after her head shot back up to glare at Rarity. "But ... wh- no, that can't be, it- ... Can it?" the faithful student wondered to herself, regarding the floor in front of her with seemingly intense scrutiny.

"Ah, but that is the best part you see! You just don't realize it at first!" Rarity piped up again.

"No, no, no, no. You must be mistaken! I have so much to do, so much to learn! My studies; Princess Celestia expects the very best from me, I don't have time for this!" Twilight set off trotting back and forth with each new contemplation.

"Honey calm down, we're not talking about marriage here. It's love, not the end of the world." Rarity's words were loud and clear enough for even her unseen audience to hear, but if they had reached Twilight, she showed no sign of it. Instead, her face was contorted in an expression of deep thought.

Alpha was panicking again. Ordinarily (if that word could even be applied to a situation he had never actually been in), he would have been able to arrive at snap decisions without a problem. But as soon as he caught sight of the lavender mare a flood of confusing memories swept away any semblance of logic or reason. Memories he had been pushing to the back of his mind since his 'awakening' that morning.

Suddenly, all he could think about was the fact that he was stealing from this mare's friend, and that made him feel horrible. But such notions had never been a part of his understanding before. It confounded him to no end. It did not help that he was still crouching in the relatively open area behind the Carousel Boutique, the evidence of his crime draped over the pink trickster beside him.

He grabbed the jumpsuit and stared at it. Part of him was screaming the next step. A very small, insignificant part. Holding the evidence just made him feel twice as guilty.

With a start, he realized he was shaking. 'Hide!' his mental scream finally got through. But hide what? How would hiding help now? The two mares were both in the same shop already. And the pink one would no doubt tell them. She was their friend too, was she not? Hiding would just delay the inevitable retribution.

'Hide the evidence you moron!'

He tossed the suit in the air and with a brief glow it was floating weightlessly. The bubble around it shrunk quickly, compressing the contents with a short, high-pitched hiss, and then it darted to the nearest tree.

Pop. The bubble dissipated, letting the jumpsuit fall onto the branch it had been hovering above. It hung there, hidden in the tree's dense foliage.

'Yeah, but now what?!' he mentally questioned himself.

'Just go with the flow. Lie if you have to. If it comes down to it, it's your word against the earth pony's!'

'But she's their friend - they'll believe her before they believe anything I say!'

'You're still supposed to be suffering from amnesia, remember? You're the victim in their eyes! Let's use that to our advantage.'

'But I don't want to be mean to-'

'Shut up and do it you weakling!'

"Alpha!" Pinkie Pie whispered as loud as she could manage.

"Buh- wha?" he gasped in reply.

Pinkie Pie was stifling a giggle again, the other hoof pointing to the window above their heads as they both huddled beneath the windowsill.

Alpha ventured a peak at first, but did a double take as the already confused jumble of emotions and thoughts he was experiencing were turned up-side-down.

"Twilight?" There was no answer. "Twilight," Rarity called a little louder, still no answer. She floated out the few books she owned from a nearby shelf and dropped them right in front of the lavender mare.

Twilight twitched, slightly startled by the sudden disorder, voicing the caboose of her thought train, "... four or five foal- wha- oh my." She immediately set about cleaning up the mess.

"Honey you need to relax. These things have a way of working themselves out," Rarity offered.

"Working themselves ... oh!" Twilight's magic subsided suddenly, allowing the books to fall short of their shelf, "I nearly forgot! Aha, silly me. Rarity! I need to test something, and I need a unicorn to do it!" she beamed, slapping a hoof to the shop floor for emphasis.

The seamstress' face wrinkled in uncertainty, "I see ... Well I'm sure somepony else should be up and about-"

"Oh don't be silly, this will only take a minute!" Twilight squeed, the previous matter entirely forgotten as she trotted closer to the suddenly sweating white mare.

Rarity cringed, "R-really Twilight, I must be getting back to work, there's just so much to-" she faltered as her horn came into contact with Twilight's, "Do~" she moaned with sudden exhaustion. Her legs gave out and she fell into a sitting position, eyelids drooping suddenly.

Unlike Rarity, Twilight had her eyes clenched shut, fully expecting an intense light show, but was otherwise unaffected. One eye opened after a few quiet seconds, then the other as she became fully aware of Rarity's dizzied condition - and otherwise lack of effect.

"Well that was ... unexpected," Twilight said, furrowing her brow.

Rarity's head was still spinning, "Whaza, whosay- huh?" she slurred. She shook her head suddenly and looked at Twilight just as an involuntary yawn escaped. She covered her mouth in embarrassment. "Oh dear, excuse me!"

"I don't get it. What am I missing here?"

"Twi-" Rarity halted, her face contorting as another yawn threatened to unleash itself on her oblivious friend. Said friend was busy pantomiming something Rarity could not figure out, whispering to herself in a decidedly disturbing manner.

"Aha!" the lavender mare suddenly announced, "That has to be it!"

"Aheh, Twilight? You've got that look in your eye again. Twilight, what are you-"

Rarity was cut off when Twilight thrust her face in to the kiss. It was awkward enough to begin with, made even more so by the fact that both their eyes were open; Rarity's wide in shock and Twilight's focused above her head as she tried to line up their horns.

Neither heard the muffled choking sound coming from the vicinity of the back window.

Just as their horns touched again, Rainbow Dash burst through the door, "Hey Rarity have you seen-" and immediately froze in mid-air, wings beating slowly and mouth hanging open. "Whoa~"

Author's Notes:

Apologies to all. Three months for this chapter release is unforgivable. My excuse is that I discovered a fic called Fallout Equestria. Now surely, you would think that couldn't take up all of my free time right? No, no it doesn't. But I've been a huge fallout fan since the very first game, and steam was having a sale ... you get the picture. Hopefully, this next bit of news will make up for it.
My only IRL brony and I had an explosion of ideas over a very epic piece of fan art we found over at twentypercentcooler dot net and have begun work on (what I feel is) an incredibly amazing new fic. Now I don't want to spill anything yet, but I'll say this much - it won't make the teen rating by a long-shot, sorry to any teens reading this story. The rest, stay tuned for that one!
The sad part is, I'll be splitting my time over both of these stories (probably more on that one at first since I'm so excited about it) which means slow updates for this one. But fear not! I fully intend to finish this fic - it WILL happen. There are still many more chapters to go and I promise I'll try my best to keep them coming ASAP!

My Own Flesh and Blood

by NioFox

1: Terminal Velocity

2: Rude Awakenings

3: What Happens in Hospital, Stays in Hospital!

4: To Be, Or Not To Be

5: A Pound of Flesh

6: In the Mind's Eye

7: The Calm Before the Storm

8: On the Wings of Awkwardness

9: Politics, History and Bubble Baths

10: The Not-So-Final Flight of Icarus

11: Re-Awakening

12: My Little Experiment

13: A Thief in the Dawn