A familiar window, a familiar moon.

A familiar bed, left too soon.

A familiar book, a familiar vase.

A familiar look on a familiar face.

This face.

A special face.

I know this face

Just as I know this place.

For this familiar place is my home.

And this familiar face is my own.

At my reflection I do stare.

In my reflection is a mare.

In it’s eyes I do behold.

A world of wonders.

New and old.

Wonders great.

Wonders bold.

Yet I fear

Of horrors told.

It’s terrible cunning.

Emotions cold.

It is I but is not.

For I am it but am not.

Away

Away

Away I run

Through the door

Down the stairs

Into a room

Where the carpet flows

And the curtain blows.

Where the books are trees

With words for leaves.

These words are knowledge

But they are not smart.

These words are empty

For they are not truth.

The bust is singing

~Twilight~ Its words ringing.

A lonely chorus.

~Please, don't cry for me.~ In this empty forest.

And yet

~I know you never meant for this.~ All too quiet.

The clock ticks.

~I love you,~ The clock tocks.

A Tick.

~Completely~ A Tock.

Tick.

~Just remember that~ Tock.

Door. ~If I should leave you now,~

A door.

The door. ~Then in my final hour,~

It calls.

I answer. ~I pray this message finds you well,~

Out the door.

Darkness... ~Before it all goes to hell.~

Darkness...

All around. ~He could never cage the world.~

Broken land

Like grains of sand ~It's too big for anyone,~

Cast about in this sea of hearts sorrow

~And soon the dark will pass.~ Broken homes

Islands of brome

~I want so much to be with you~ Strewn about in this land of no ‘morrow.

Darkness...

~But in my heart I know, Twi,~ Darkness...

Doom abound.

~This planet needs you now!~ Burning one.

Burning all.

Burning tree.

Burning back.

Burning hope. ~This planet needs you now!~

Another turn upon the rack.

Darkness...

Darkness...

No escape.

An Alicorn

Of justice she shines Twilight,

Horn of light

~This planet!~ With which she fights

And wings of change

On which she rides.

Darkness...

Darkness...

You’ve sealed your fate.

When you see Lyra Drifting, flitting

Falling, flying ~This planet!~

There is no up

No down

No solid ground

Into darkness

Into despair Tell her to wait for me.

~This planet!~ Into nothingness

Twilight bolted upright in a cold sweat.

‘Quill. I need my Quill.’

She tossed her bed sheets aside and dove frantically into her drawer. Over and over the images played out in Twilight’s mind as books, feathers, and assorted nicknacks fell to the wood floor. ‘Can’t forget, where is it?’ A frigid shiver crawled up her spine as the fleeting images of her dream faded away by the moment, overshadowed by a nagging feeling. She scratched her back briefly as she focused on the dream, trying to piece it all back together. She looked to the side as she saw a mirror, and walked up to the reflection.

“This face, a familiar face...”

‘No, stop. Focus. I can’t let myself forget, this is important... Where did I put my quill?’

The clock on the wall glared down ominously at her as it taunted her with it’s constant tick-tock, tick-tock. ‘Statue was singing to me, someone I know, I knew, or will know?’ Time was racing against her. ‘Library on fire, Singing statue, broken mirror.’ Off to the side Twilight noticed a stack of tied paper and a small bag.

‘Spike restocked while I was gone! I knew I had him do that for a good reason!’ Twilight Quickly ran over, ripping the packages open and throwing them onto her desk. ‘Burning mirror, broken statue, singing library.’ She pulled out the stopper to her inkwell and heedlessly threw it across the room. ‘Mirror, Statue, Library.’ The quill tip plunged into the ink, and hovered over the paper in a purple aura.

‘Mirror... Statue... Library?...’

The quill trembled as as droplets spilled onto the page.

Twilight’s room was completely silent.

‘... Buck, what was I going to write?’

“What was all that noise just now?” Spike chanced a few steps forward into the room and tilted his head quizzically. “Twi, are you okay? What are you doing?” A pair of green eyes peered over the edge of the desk. “You were looking for a quill and paper?”

Twilight grit her teeth and groaned out loud, “No, no, no, no! I can’t forget! There were trees... no, it was in the library. I remember the bust, it was singing...”

“Twilight?” Spike furrowed his brow and shook Twilight’s shoulder. “What are you talking about?”

“Dream! Shh! Was that Luna? Or Celestia? Ugh...” The quill fell to the table as Twilight cradled her head in a hoof and rubbed her back against the seat. “They told me when I see... They told me to tell somepony... Tell them to wait for Luna, or was it Celestia... Who was it?” The barely legible scrawl dripped down the page, overshadowed by a distraught mare with shaking hooves. “Ugh, forget it.”

“Twilight, relax.” Spike reassuringly pat Twilight on the back as she leaned into his claw. “You’ll remember eventually. I’m just glad you’re alright.”

“Sorry for worrying you, Spike. I guess you’re right. Still, I wish I could remember what was so important.” Twilight flopped her ears back as she levitated her hairbrush. “Anything happen while I was asleep?”

“Well, we somehow managed to completely run out of food overnight.” Spike scratched his head with a rolled up scroll sealed with the mark of Celestia. “Oh! Right, Celestia wrote you back. That’s why I came to find you.”

‘Hm, she wrote back already. That was really quick.’

Twilight set down her comb and gently took the scroll from Spike’s claws. As she opened it, a small smile played at the corners of her mouth. ‘I wonder what she has to say’

To my faithful student, Twilight Sparkle,

Life should never be taken for granted and I am most certainly glad that you realize this. Misfortune happens upon all ponies at some point in their lives. I am extremely glad that you are well and that you have recovered completely and swiftly.

Yesterday, a Ponyville weather squad entered Canterlot and requisitioned an emergency response cart and set out to find your escorts. They returned with neither Biggs nor Wedge however. The report that they submitted stated that there were hoofprints leading toward the Everfree Forest, but the rescue team was unable to determine where in the forest they are.

We plan to send out search teams later today. If there was any sort of information you could offer to assist with the search, please let me know. However, if you feel that your memory is impaired, I’d rather you take time to rest. Please write me after your recovery; I’d prefer that you not worry yourself with a response.

Concerning your mention of the storm, the report I mentioned before stated that the Ponyville weather team saw the storm “go poof”, as they said. I have no doubt that this storm was of unnatural cause, I will do what I can to find the responsible party.

Signed,

-Princess Celestia

Twilight slowly rolled up the scroll and set it next to her bed, turning to face Spike.

“Well?” The little dragon leaned forward slightly. “What did it say?”

“Well...” Twilight fidgeted and gently scratched at her back. “The two guards that were bringing me back to town seemed to have made their way to the Everfree to make camp, but now the rescue team can’t find them.” Twilight paused and put a hoof to her chin. “At least they couldn’t find them yesterday, it probably got too dark to find them. The Princess is sending out another search party today.”

“Huh, well I hope they’re alright.”

“Me too, but there really isn’t anything we can do.” Twilight rubbed her hoof against her assistant’s head. “Princess Celestia has it under control.”

“Well, alright.” The dragon darted off to the corner of the room, grabbing a fresh quill and paper from the desk before dashing back to Twilight’s side. “Ready when you are, Twilight.”

Twilight couldn’t help but giggle a little as she left her room. “Not today, Spike. Princess Celestia told me to not worry about the letter unless I could remember anything important.” Twilight furrowed her brows for a moment. “And to be honest, I can’t remember anything that would help them find Biggs and Wedge. I don’t think we need to send her a letter just yet.”

“No... Letter?” The quill twirled about in Spike’s grasp slowly. “Drats, I even got the good quill out too.”

“Oh, don’t worry.” A mischievous grin crept across Twilight’s face as she skipped downstairs with Spike in tow. “We’ll find a chance to use that quill soon enough. But first, breakfast!”

“Hehe... Well...” Spike seemed rather interested with the tree rings on the kitchen floor as he wrung his claws behind his back. “Not really, it seems your friends aren’t the only thing that disappeared overnight...”

“Clever.” Twilight deadpanned. “But seriously, what do you mean? It’s just breakfast, you know: Buttered toast...”

“Nope, bread has been banished.”

“Apples?”

Spike shook his head, “Annihilated.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” Twilight facehoofed and sighed, “Any vegetables?”

“Vaporized. And before you ask; the condiments were consumed too.” Spike frowned softly as he spoke.

“What? I thought you were kidding.” Twilight tilted her head and stared at Spike a moment. “And since when did you become so verbose?”

The response that Twilight received was not a verbal response, but a gaping mouth and a disbelieving stare.

“Twilight, we’ve lived here for over a year.” Spike blinked slowly at the unicorn. “In a library.”

“Eh heh heh... Right, sorry.” The air hung awkwardly still for a few moments as Twilight clacked her hooves together. “Anyway! Woo, derailed train of thought! Back to the issue: what happened to all our food?”

“I was hoping you could tell me about it.” Spike shrugged, “You were up last night.”

Twilight shook her head and furrowed her brow, “What? I was? When?”

“Well, when you got up last night, you weren’t exactly quiet. You nearly fell on your face when you got out of your bed.” Spike snickered until he met Twilight’s stare.

“And did you see when I got back...?”

Spike shook his head and scowled, “Nope, I crashed pretty hard after you left. No idea what happened then.” He paused for a moment. “You were eating a lot yesterday, maybe it was you.”

‘That sounds like a cover-up to me.’ A grumble emanated from Twilight’s stomach in protest. ‘Well, that rules out breakfast. Maybe I can grab some lunch from Sugarcube corner while I go shopping today.’ “Eh, I suppose it doesn’t matter, we need to get started on getting the library all set up.”

“But... But... Today is the Running of the Leaves! The library is supposed to be closed today...” Spike groaned. “Can’t we just take a break?”

Twilight scooped Spike onto her back as she cantered into the main lobby area. “Nope! Because the library is closed today, it’s the perfect day for...”

With a gentle bounce, Spike was tossed from Twilight’s back onto a small throne of knowledge. Twilight twirled about on her rear hooves as numerous books levitated from the floor.

“Organizing!”

“Oh, come on! Not this again!”

“Spike, grab that quill. We’re going to need some checklists!”

The scene was superb. The picture of perfection. The very magnum opus of order itself. Stacks of tomes towered along the inner walls of the library with Twilight and Spike at its center.

“Fiction?”

Spike dashed over to one of the stacks, eying it for a moment before turning back to Twilight. “All accounted for!”

Twilight rubbed her back against a bookshelf as she peered over the thick scroll with a smile. “Excellent! Fiction: Check! How about the history books?”

The sound of skittering paws across a wood floor was followed by an enthusiastic: “Yup!”

Another check mark. Twilight smiled and looked up at the pillars of paper; She organized the library almost bi-weekly. She knew she didn’t need to do it, but something about making sure everything fit in it’s proper place was therapeutic at times. “One last category, and we should be done.

“Alright.” Spike settled into a half-crouched stance and twitched his claws, poised to attack at his caretaker’s command. “Which one?”

Twilight grinned at the little dragon, giggling as she drew out her words. “Find...”

“Yes?”

“Me...”

“Yes?”

Twilight leaned forward and half-closed her eyes with a devious smirk on her face. She leaned her muzzle down by Spike’s ear as she whispered, “Reference guides.”

Spike gave a quick salute and disappeared into the forest of stacked books. Twilight bobbed her head side to side, hoping to catch a glimpse of purple amongst the multi-colored pillars. “Spike? Spike, did you find it?”

“I’m having some trouble, Twi. Give me a m- Ah-hah! Found it!”

A check mark dashed its way across the square next to the entry labled: Check each pile after sorting books to make sure that all genres were accounted for when sorting. “... And check. Alright, Spike. Let’s put these away.”

“Aye, aye, Admiral Sparkle!” Spike walked out from between the stack of foreign culture guides and the manuals on astrology, nearly knocking them over. He quickly wrapped his tail around the astrology stack and hugged the guides to him as they both stopped wobbling. “Heh heh... Whew.”

Twilight cocked an eyebrow at her assistant and chuckled. “‘Admiral Sparkle’? I thought you would have gone for ‘Sergeant Sparkle’ since you seem to like alliteration so much.

“Curses, I knew there was a better match for that.” Spike started shelving the astrology almanacs and chuckled “But hey, I tried at least. I can’t come up with perfect line every time!”

“Whatever you say, Spike.” Twilight hummed to nopony in particular as she levitated another pair of medicinal manuals to the top shelf. She reached a hoof back to quell the burning sensation on her back, toppling a very large book off of a stack. Twilight paused and picked up the massive tome. ‘Medical Mysteries and Odd Afflictions: A Comprehensive Compendium of Uncommon Illness. Huh. I wonder if they have anything for itching along the spine...’ Twilight pulled the book out and began flipping through the pages.

Somewhere between tap-dancing tooth decay and the clown cold was where she became completely immersed in the book. Twilight found the numbers on the pages growing faster and faster, not heeding the time or the shrinking piles of books around her. She stopped as she saw the word “itch” numerous times across the page. She leaned forward, studying the text for any clue that could relate to a progressively worsening itch, when a soft triplicate of solid taps shattered her focus.

Twilight whirled around abruptly as the book she was so intently invested in was sent hurtling through her front door. The reading-material-turned-ballistic missile flew into the distance behind Fluttershy’s head. A bag from Sugarcube Corner lay on the ground in front of the pegasus‘ hooves as Twilight assessed the situation. Fluttershy stood on trembling legs, looking at the wooden fragments that now adorned her mane.

Fluttershy stared at Twilight. Her eyes growing wider as she looked over her shoulder and watched the book achieve low orbit, then back to Twilight. “Nice to see you... too?”

Twilight balked at the situation, any number of responses would have filled the appropriate quote for nearly taking your friend’s head off with high-speed literature. But, ultimately, between her empty stomach and the aroma wafting from the bag, Twilight’s vacant stare traveled down to the cinnamon roll laying on the ground.

“You going to eat that?”

A short while later after a few nervous laughs and a speedy reshelving, Twilight was happily devouring her third strudel of the morning from the bag Fluttershy brought. The pegasus and Spike sat on the couch opposite Twilight in awkward silence.

“So... um... anything new happen so far, Twilight?” Fluttershy tried with a gentle tone, “Still having... uh, problems with your magic?”

The last bit of strudel number three disappeared into Twilight’s mouth as she rubbed her back up and down against the chair she sat in. “Yeah, magic is still acting a little crazy. But everything else seems fairly normal.”

“Ha!” Spike interjected as he jumped up. “Normal? You ate all the food in the library!”

“Now hold on a second.” Twilight flopped her ears back and huffed indignantly. “We can’t prove that it was me.”

“Oh... oh my, still having hunger issues then?”

It took Twilight a few moments of blissful silence and rubbing her back against the chair to realize that Fluttershy was directing the question at her. “Uh, yeah. Hold on a moment. I’ve got an itch I want to finish scratching.”

She resumed her rubbing her back against the seat in uninterrupted silence for a full half minute; far too long for any length of silence. When she opened her eyes, she was rewarded with varying degrees of confusion from Spike and Fluttershy. The looks they gave her bore nothing judgemental, but carried plenty of concern.

“So... um, how long have you had this itch?” Fluttershy furrowed her brow and quickly crossed the room to Twilight’s side.

“Not too long,” A pair of hooves prodded at Twilight’s back as she spoke. “I’d say since this morning?”

Fluttershy first gently poked, then rubbed the spot that Twilight had been scratching, stopping only when Twilight’s leg twitched and she let out a small sigh. “That’s perfect, Fluttershy. A little higher perhaps?”

“Uhm... Sure?” Fluttershy turned to look at Spike, all he gave was an indifferent shrug as she stepped back, leaving Twilight a bit bewildered on the couch.

“Aww, that felt great; why did you stop?” Twilight half-drooled with a dopey grin plastered on her face.

Twilight tilted her head as Fluttershy’s lips moved, but didn’t utter a sound. “Um, Shy?”

“Huh? Right, I’m sorry... I’m not sure what the itch means. It seems to be pretty minor, but your magic is still acting up.” Fluttershy lightly brushed her hoof across the floor. “Perhaps you should come with me to Zecora’s house... She may know something about what’s going on. That is, uh, if you aren’t busy...”

“Well...” Twilight stole a glance at the doorway, still fragmented in tiny chunks scattered around on the ground. “I’d like to fix the door first. I’m not so sure th-”

“Just go, Twilight.” Spike grinned and shook his head. “I’ll take care of it, it’s not like I haven’t replaced the door before.”

Twilight blushed softly and nuzzled Spike’s head. “Right, right. Don’t need to remind me about that. I’ll be back in time for the Running of the Leaves, okay?”

Two claws pushed against Twilight’s haunches as Spike chuckled. “Go! Get fixed up. I’ll be waiting for you to come back.”

One last loving smile was shared between Spike and Twilight before she followed Fluttershy outside. She gingerly picked her way between the wooden fragments littered about and out into the sunny day. A cool fall breeze was whirling about the town as Twilight walked through town toward the park.

“So then, nice day isn’t it?”

“Well, yes... It’s...” Fluttershy looked around with a tiny smile. “Nice.”

The two continued on in an awkward silence as the conversation died down as quickly as it started. Twilight wasn’t exactly sure what to say; half because she was trapped in the ensorcellement of an open-ended pause, and half because she was enjoying the quiet.

Eventually, Twilight decided to try again. “So... How’s Angel? Still being as pushy as ever?” She chuckled. The part of her that was compulsively trying to initiate conversation was now being bludgeoned to death by self-criticism.

“Well... um, he’s fine I suppose. Keeps being more picky than pushy I’m afraid.” The pegasus chuckled quietly and smiled softly. “Why do you ask?”

“Uh, no reason really. Just wondering how things were while I was gone.” Ears pinned back, Twilight returned the smile and quickly looked in the other direction when a soft melody caused her ears to perk up.

~...el something inside

When I start to realize

The Elements of Harmony...~

Twilight tilted her head and looked around the park for the source of the energetic music drifting through the air. “Huh.”

“What is it, Twilight?” Fluttershy slowed down and walked near Twilight while looking around.

“Do you know who normally sings here at the park? I’ve never heard them before.”

“Well... No.” Fluttershy gave Twilight a quizzical stare. “The only real musician we have native to Ponyville is Lyra, she’s usually up by that bench ahead.”

As they continued onward toward the Everfree, the music seemed to grow louder as they approached a turn in the path.

~… Together...

Together...

Together...

We'll save everypony!~

As the final notes of music faded away, Twilight and Fluttershy rounded the corner to see a mint-green unicorn sitting on a bench putting her lyre away. Wordlessly, she levitated her saddlebags and began to trot back toward town.

“Awwww, she’s already done?” A few steps away Twilight turned to Fluttershy with a smile. “So, that was Lyra?”

“Mhmm! I really like her, she’s really good with that lyre of hers.” Fluttershy smiled. “She can play all kinds of music with it!”

Twilight nodded, “I agree, she’s a really good singer too.”

Fluttershy stopped in the middle of the path and tilted her head at Twilight. “Um... I’m going to let you finish that thought. But um... Twilight, uh, you do realize that’s impossible, right...?” She chewed her lip a while in awkward silence. “She’s mute.”

Eyes wide, Twilight spun to face her friend and then whirled around to catch a glimpse of Lyra’s mane disappearing around the bend. Twilight turned to Fluttershy with her brows furrowed and hushed her own voice, “What do you mean mute? I heard her singing! Heck, I heard it from all the way down the path!”

Fluttershy backed away a little bit and squeaked in surprise before quickly sputtering a response. “Twilight, mute ponies don’t talk! I think your brain just got knocked around a little by the lightning stri-”

“I. Don’t. Have.” Twilight closed her eyes and half-screamed, half-whispered, “Brain damage! I’m telling you I heard her singing! I’ll prove it to you!” Twilight whirled about to face the park, only to find the lyre-wielding unicorn already gone. “Forget it. Doesn’t really matter anyways...”

“Come on, Twilight. The sooner we get you to Zecora’s and fixed up, the better.” Fluttershy gently tugged Twilight’s mane and nodded her head to the entrance of the forest off in the distance. “You can prove me wrong when you’re all fixed up, okay?” Fluttershy looked around nervously. ”But right now, you’re sick and need help. So just come with me a-”

Twilight sighed, “I’m not one of your animals, Fluttershy.” She flopped her ears back and glared back at the empty bench. ‘I know I heard you speak, Lyra. I’m not crazy, I’m right!’ Twilight lifted her head to face Fluttershy. “Just, ugh, let’s go. We’re wasting Princess Celestia’s daylight.”

Fluttershy slowly nodded and headed down the path toward the forest with Twilight in tow.

“It’s actually really nice out here in the Everfree today. It’s usually really dark and...” Fluttershy swallowed as she looked around. “Scary...”

Twilight had been less than talkative after the incident at the park. The entire fifteen minutes they had spent in the forest consisted of Twilight trying to ignore how she had an outburst, ignoring the burning itch on her back that had traveled down her sides, and ignoring Fluttershy making a small jump at every noise she heard. “Yeah, it is kind of nice I guess.” She replied.

The overgrowth only became more and more dense as they trudged onward into the forest. Unknown sounds danced along the edges of hearing and eventually gave way to silence which Fluttershy promptly broke.

“Twilight?”

Twilight blinked to attention a few times and looked to her friend. “Yes, Fluttershy?”

“Are you... um, are you...” Fluttershy hid her eyes behind her mane and whispered only barely audibly. “Upset, with me? About the whole, um...”

“Right, that.” Twilight scratched at the ground awkwardly, taking the start of the conversation as an opportunity to utilize a nearby tree branch as a makeshift back scratcher. “No, not upset. I’ve just been thinking about... things.”

“Oh, I see.” Fluttershy met Twilight’s glazed over gaze and quietly turned down the path again. “I don’t think that it’s... Um, much farther to her home. Do you need some more time, or are you ready to go? We can wait as long as you need, I don’t mind.”

Twilight stopped rubbing her back against the tree and gave herself a small shake. “Sure, I’m ready.” She cantered over toward her friend. Twilight cocked an eyebrow at Fluttershy when she noticed yet another odd glance from the pegasus. “What?”

“I-I’m just worried about you is all.” Fluttershy turned her face forward and kept her eyes that direction. “Not to say there’s anything wrong, but uh... You just seem really distracted and scattered.” She paused a moment, “How’s your itch? Getting better?”

The mere thought of the itch seemed to make it even worse than it was. “Worse.” Twilight sighed, “I really wish I knew what this was. Maybe I have bedbugs at home. Between the magic fluctuations and this itch, I can hardly stay focused.” Head hung, Twilight stared at the wisps of fog lazily curling around her hooves as she trudged along beside Fluttershy.

“Twilight, it’s not so bad. I’m sure that Zecora will have just what you need to fix you up and get you in running shape by the time we-” A huge wall of fog blew in and smothered the two mares as they clung to each other in a moment of fear. “Get... back. Maybe... I should take back what I said about it being a, um... Nice day.”

“No kidding. Where did this fog even come from?” Twilight looked around, dismayed at density of the fog around her. She nudged Fluttershy and pressed herself close. “It doesn’t matter. Just don’t wander off, I can’t see any further than you are. Do you still know the way to her house from here?”

“M-maybe? Let’s just follow what little path we can see an-”

Twilight was not granted even a moment of warning as a shrill scream shredded her eardrums and sent her mind reeling in confusion as she stared at the offender. “Fluttershy? What was that about?” A hoof pressed to her own temple did nothing to ease the throbbing in head as watched the fog swirl away from Fluttershy. “Why would you scream like that?”

“S-s-something... b-brushed by m-me...” Fluttershy’s pace quickly accelerated and her eyes darted every which way. “I’m sorry, Twilight, I’ve always been jumpy... It’s the fog, and the forest playing tricks with me.”

“It’s fine, just don’t run off.” Twilight felt Fluttershy press close to her, trembling hard enough for both of them. Each step forward felt like the fog was pulling her hooves down. “I can’t even see you.”

“It’s so strange...” Fluttershy whispered, “The fog usually doesn’t roll in this quickly. It usually has some sort of warning before it gets this bad...” The air grew silent in the noiseless mist for a few minutes as the two mares pressed on, only to start seeing the density of fog beginning to lift. “Oh good, I think I see the end of the fog bank up ahead, maybe.” Fluttershy gulped and looked around. “I hope...”

Unaware she was even holding her breath, Twilight heaved a great sigh of relief. “I hope so, that fog was just as unnatural as that thunderstorm yesterday. Do you think Zecora is much f-”

Flashes of white, blue, and green filled Twilight’s vision as her heart pounded. She knew this feeling. She hated this feeling. She knew exactly what was happening.

She was falling.

All Twilight could do was scream as she felt weightlessness grip her. Images of everypony she loved flew through her mind at breakneck speed. She wanted to cry, but there was no time for that, somepony was telling her to stop screaming and stop scaring them. But how could she stop? Twilight was no pegasus, so either the voice was mad or...

Twilight opened her eyes and slowly quieted her screams. She looked at Fluttershy with dilated eyes and the most confused expression she could muster.

“Fluttershy?”

“Yes, Twilight?”

“Am I dead?”

“No... Twilight.”

Twilight looked around, seeing the fog roll away and the flat expanse around them.

“Fluttershy, where did I fall off of?”

The yellow pegasus looked toward the retreating mist and then back to Twilight. “Well, I was walking next to you, and then I saw the fog clearing up. Then you took a step forward into a hole in the fog, and you just started screaming... It, um... Well... Looked like you were walking on the fog.”

Twilight’s eyes went wide. “I thought only pegasus can do that!”

“W-well, what about that cloud-walking spell you used?” Fluttershy squeaked. “You could have accidentally, you know... cast it.”

As her heartbeat slowed, Twilight sat back on her haunches. “So I didn’t die, I didn’t fall...”

“Well, no and yes?” Fluttershy tilted her head at Twilight. “You seem perfectly fine to me, I’m sure it’s just your magic acting up ag- um, T-Twilight... Wait!”

Fluttershy’s voice grew distant as Twilight skipped happily through the forest reveling in the realization that she didn’t fall to her demise. Only to realize that she was now struggling to slow down. She opened her eyes to see a small, unassuming rock in her path. As she spent what felt like an eternity watching it draw maliciously nearer, Twilight could only think one thing:

“Oh, horse-apples.”

The rock caught Twilight’s hoof and sent her tumbling down the hillside, bouncing off of rocks and battering her sides and back with bruises from all angles. Slowly she rolled over, clutching her forelegs around herself and groaning. A gentle flapping drew near as time went on as well as the words, “Oh my goodness.” repeated over and over.

“Fluttershy?”

“Yes, Twilight?” Fluttershy’s voice was shaking in fear.

“Am I dead now?”

A sigh.

“No, Twilight. You just tripped.” Fluttershy nosed Twilight gently, causing her to wince. “Can you get up? We need to get you to Zecora...”

“A scream I heard from yonder hill.

You’ve brought me Twilight, be she ill?”

Both Fluttershy and Twilight cheered and groaned, respectively “Zecora!”

“A fall so large may cause a sprain.

Tell me Twilight, is there much pain?”

Twilight worked her hooves beneath her and found herself able to stand with only slight effort. “Actually, it doesn’t hurt as bad as I thought it would.” She took a few steps, her knee buckled. Twilight closed her eyes and braced for impact, only to be caught by Fluttershy and Zecora.

“My home is quite near, friends. A rather short walk.

Save your strength, Twilight. We shall make time to talk.”

The door to Zecora’s shack opened with a creak as it always did, the masks on the walls saying ‘Hello’ and ‘Welcome’ in their own special way. Off in the corner lay Rainbow Dash; passed out on a hammock.

Fluttershy and Twilight looked at Rainbow, then to each other. Twilight stumbled in and half-collapsed in a seat near the cauldron.

“The second pony I’ll be treating today.

What problem caused you to come this way?”

Zecora walked to her fireplace and retrieved a kettle and some cups. She poured tea for for the three of them as Rainbow Dash began to stir. “Whuh? Huh? Oh hey, Twilight. Fluttershy.” Rainbow stretched her wings and legs as she yawned. “When did you girls get here?”

“Oh... only a little while ago.” Fluttershy replied. “We figured Zecora would have something to help a unicorn with, uhm...”

“My magic is acting up randomly.” Twilight groaned with a monotone inflection.

“Errant spells and drifting thoughts?” Zecora gasped, “Do you know when it was caught?”

Twilight scrunched her face as she recalled the day prior. “It started yesterday after my ride to Ponyville got hit with a lightning storm.”

“And then I rescued her!” Rainbow interjected before Zecora could reply.

“Rainbow shared a story of you.

at first I did not think it true.”

“Hey!”

“But now I see with my own eyes

The words she spoke; not boast or lies.”

Twilight chuckled softly as Rainbow scowled from the corner. “No, she was telling you the truth. She carried me all the way back here to Ponyville by herself.”

“Which is why I’m here in the first place,” Rainbow groaned. “My wings and back have been sore and cramping up like nopony’s business.”

“Same.” Twilight replied, drawing odd glances from everypony in the room. “I mean about the soreness; not wings, obviously.”

Rainbow tilted her head and cocked an eyebrow as she got up and joined the group. “What’s your deal? You were fine when I dropped you off yesterday.”

“Well...” Fluttershy clacked her hooves together slowly, “There was this book that broke a door... and the itching... and this fog... and then the hill...”

“Indeed, she tumbled down a hill.

From what I saw; was quite the spill.

So added to your muddled brain,

Your muscles suffer aches and pains?”

Zecora turned to her cauldron and threw a menagerie of plants and extracts inside.

“This bitter drink is what you need.

T’will grant you clarity and speed.

For the muscles; a poultice I suspect.

But to be sure; Twilight, I should inspect.”

“Well, alright,” Twilight shrugged. “You’re the one with all the healing know-how after all.”

Zecora chuckled and began to prod Twilight’s shoulders and neck gently. Her stare intent as she searched for injury.

“You’ll need to tell me where it smarts.

These pressure points are not my art.”

Zecora’s hooves pressed lightly against Twilight’s back and sides, trying to provoke some sort of response from her. Twilight gave a few short gasps and hisses of breath between her teeth as the hooves pinpointed the most severe bruises.

Fluttershy could only sit nearby and give Twilight an empathetic stare as the unicorn squirmed under the examination.

“What is this, my friend of purple?

Such a bruise upon your curple.”

Rainbow stared at the ceiling for a moment with her mouth hung open slightly. “Wait, isn’t purple one of those words that doesn’t rhyme with anything?”

Twilight gave a small jerk as the hooves worked down her back to her sides. “Gentle, gentle...” She turned to Rainbow with gritted teeth. “N-normally, that would be the caahhhh... case; there is no word in our language that rhymes. But curple is slang for flank in some cultures.”

“Ah, right you are, my wise friend, Twilight.”

Zecora smiled, moving her hooves down to the good sized bumps on Twilight’s sides

“Be still, lest you wish for pain to bite.”

The moment Zecora applied pressure, Twilight yelped and grit her teeth. Fire poured through her veins as every muscle in her body contracted. She sucked air through her teeth and slammed her eyes shut as she slowly curled into a ball.

On the opposite end of the room, a bookcase sheathed in a light purple aura, slowly crumpled as Twilight curled into a ball. The sound of splintering wood echoed throughout Zecora’s hut until the only thing that remained was a small wooden marble, suspended in the air.

The four mares looked awkwardly at each other when suddenly the wooden dot dropped, shattering the wooden floor and leaving a small crater in the dirt. The group got up and walked to the little wooden sphere.

“What magic have I seen this day,

that makes my shelving act this way?”

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Twilight got up and frantically trotted in place with her ears pinned back. “I didn’t mean to, you just hit a nerve and the next thing I know is I hear wood splintering...”

“Rainbow, stop!”

Everypony looked to Fluttershy who had her hoof outstretched toward Rainbow Dash. Rainbow, in turn, had her hoof mere inches from Twilight’s side and a guilty expression on her face. Zecora, Twilight, and Fluttershy stared at Rainbow until she spoke up.

“What?”

“I see intent inside those eyes.

I do not think your actions wise.” Zecora deadpanned with an icy stare.

“But... But... Crushy button...” Rainbow whined. “It was so coooooool~!”

“As interesting as it was to see.

I’ve lost some precious property.

These symptoms do cause me alarm,

I do not wish my home more harm.”

Twilight whimpered softly. “Zecora, really... I’m sorry.”

“Why wear a frown upon your face?

‘tis nothing I cannot replace.”

Zecora trotted over to the cauldron and ladled out some of the mixture into a cup for Twilight. Twilight stared into the swirling mixture, taking a sniff out of curiosity. The smell punched her in the face with the strength of Applejack bucking a tree, but the smell wasn’t bad, just potent. She took the cup and guzzled it down, shaking her head.

“That was nearly as bad as when I stumbled into Celestia’s liquor cabinet that one time...” Awkward silence and wide eyed stares met her own. “I didn’t know better! Trust me, I learned a great many lessons that day...” Twilight giggled, “Like learning what the conversion rate between proof and alcohol by percent...”

Both Rainbow and Fluttershy gawked at Twilight, then each other, and back to Twilight,

“Whoa, wait.” Rainbow sputtered “You drink?!”

“On occasion.”

“The Princess has a liquor cabinet?” Fluttershy blinked a few times and stared at Twilight.

“It’s hidden, but yes.” Twilight grinned. “Uses it frequently during the nobles’ appeal sessions.”

“You’ve never told us about this before,” Rainbow inquired. “Why didn’t you tell us you were so... crazy?”

“Well for starters, I’m not crazy!” Twilight pointed her hoof accusingly. “Secondly, you never asked! It’s not a habit, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

Zecora smiled and stood between the Twilight and Rainbow.

“Indeed it is a potent brew.

I made it special, just for you!

It’s task was simple: to clear your thoughts.

So tell me Twilight, what has it wrought?”

Twilight closed her eyes and explored her mind. No longer the foggy clouded mindscape which she had grown accustomed to battling through. Everything came to her so easily. Every thought, every spell, every memory rushed to her command. “It worked great! I feel like I’m operating at peak mental performance!”

“That is good news, very good news indeed

but there is one last thing you’ll both need.

For your aching muscles, some herbal paste.

We must hurry, lest you miss your race.”

“Oh horse-apples!” Rainbow immediately bolted upright and began trotting in place. “We need to get moving guys; it’s gunna start soo- mmm...” Rainbow’s magenta iris fought valiantly against her eye-lids as Zecora pressed some paste against her wings and slung a steaming cloth over her. “Zecora, you’re amazing.”

Zecora only chuckled at Rainbow as she dabbed her hoof into the jar of paste and began to brush it against the sore and bruised spots. Her hoof carefully traced back over Twilight’s side, pausing a moment as Zecora furrowed her brow and continued. Moments later, a second steaming, white cloth fell across Twilight’s shoulders as her back untensed and even the persistent itch eased up.

After another round of tea and ten minutes of warm, soothing bliss. Zecora lifted the towels from both Rainbow and Twilight’s back.

“Awww,” Rainbow flapped her wings a few times and gave herself a little shake. “Well, I feel a lot better. Besides, I was getting bored of just sitting there.”

Twilight rolled her eyes, and nodded to Zecora. “Thank you, Zecora. If there’s anything you need, don’t hesitate to ask.”

“I simply am glad I could assist in your plight.

come see me tomorrow, if you aren’t well tonight.”

“Sounds like a plan.” The door to the hut opened in a soft purple glow. “I hope to see you under better conditions soon Zecora!”

Zecora ushered the trio out the door and waved from within.

“The same to you, my purple friend.

I hope your wounds will swiftly mend!”

“Man, I feel great!” Rainbow did a quick double-barrel-roll before landing on the ground next to Twilight. “She’s probably got some crazy witch-doctor thing going on.”

“I think you mean shaman...” Fluttershy met with Rainbow’s glare and squeaked.

“For the love of Celestia,” Twilight groaned and stopped in place, half shouting at her present company. “She is an alchemist! Zecora works with plants and natural ingredients; no black magic, no voodoo, no shamanism.” A heavy sigh escaped Twilight as she swung her head between Rainbow and Fluttershy. “I thought I already told you girls the difference?”

“I’m...” A small cloud of dust rose at Fluttershy’s timid hoof-scratching. “A little forgetful sometimes. I-I usually think they mean the same thing.”

Rainbow laughed. “Oh, I remembered, I just love seeing you flip out over the little things. I was just trying to get you to talk, you’ve been awfully quiet since we left.” Rainbow explained as she jokingly bumped against Twilight.

A dull burning exploded from Twilight’s side, up her spine and into her brain as she winced and gave Rainbow the coldest glare she could muster. “Be careful. That hurts. A lot.”

Rainbow back-pedalled briefly, muttering something about a button before slowly approaching. She lowered her head as she approached Twilight. “Geez, no wonder. That looks pretty bad, what exactly did you do to yourself?” She gave Twilight a concerned look. “It looks really bad, it’s all swollen and everything.”

“Well I fell down a cliff, Dash. There were rocks, branches, trees...” Twilight shuddered as she played the experience out in her head. “Among other objects which were none-too-kind on me.”

“Uhm... Girls... It was a hill...”

“Well, yeah. I guess.” Rainbow shrugged. “I still say you’re pretty lucky to have gotten out of that with nothing more than a few scrapes.”

“Girls.”

“You’re telling me, I would hate to have broken something; I would have had to miss the race.”

Rainbow gawked at Twilight. “You’re planning on running?” She pointed a hoof at Twilight’s bruised and swollen sides. “Like that?!”

“Girls!” Fluttershy paused with her legs locked and her eyes wide as she stared at Twilight and Rainbow. “Do you smell that?...”

Twilight paused and gave the air a quick sniff. As she recoiled in disgust as the most foul, unholy, putrid smell assailed her nostrils. It reminded her of the time that the magical safeguards on the castle larder failed. She swore that nothing would smell worse than that.

Until today.

“Oh sweet Celestia.” Twilight gagged as she covered her muzzle. “What is that?”

The nasally, but unmistakable voice of Fluttershy with her nose covered, answered. “I-it’s awful, that’s what it is...”

Rainbow coughed. “It’s freaking horrible!” She blinked away a tear of pain. “Alright, which one of you was it? Fess up; cuz it wasn’t me!”

“It’s probably something here in the forest.” Fluttershy broke into a gallop down the path. “It’ll probably go away when we get out.”

The three mares bolted down the path, coughing and trying to ignore the permeating scent of... Twilight couldn’t put her hoof on it. ‘Nothing alive could possibly smell this bad. But, maybe something that was...’ Twilight’s eyes snapped wide open as her heart raced. For the Everfree, perhaps this was a common scent. But, it was not common to her. For a moment, she was grateful for the nagging itch on her back that was distracting her from the smell. But now that the imagery had been formed in her head, Twilight couldn’t help but analyze every shadow that the group dashed past.

“Ugh, of course.”

Twilight looked up, Rainbow stood before a fallen tree trunk, weathered and beat from years of withstanding the elements. It was charred and blackened, looking nearly as dead as the smell that assaulted Twilight’s nose. She trotted closer to get a better look.

‘These logs in the middle of the path... They weren’t here before.’

Fluttershy gently poked the log and scowled. “I’d suggest going around, but...” Fluttershy looked to the steep cliff overlooking the three mares on the left, and the drop-off into a river on the right. “It seems like the only way forward is to climb over these trees.” Another poke. “But they don’t exactly look sturdy.”

“You know Twi, I would offer to carry you, but I really don’t want to push my luck right before the race.” Rainbow grinned sheepishly.

Twilight loosed another sigh. “It’s fine, I’ll just climb over and we can move on.” She took a breath, only to cough with tears in her eyes. “...and get out of this nasty smell.” She gently placed a hoof on the log, testing it with a small push. When the log held, Twilight put both forelegs atop the tree.

And then everything went mad.

The tree seemingly vanished in a cloud of dark smoke as a malicious voice cackled somewhere in the distance. Twilight jumped back and shouted in surprise. The smoke curled down toward the ground, weaving it’s way between her legs as if measuring her up; observing her. It was at that point, when the smoke began to come close to the ground, that Twilight saw the most horrific thing in her life.

Snakes.

Dozens and dozens of horrible, black, dangerous-looking snakes.

The ball of writhing serpents slid and pulsated like some malignant tumor. Slowly it made its way toward Twilight as hundreds of beady red eyes bore through her. Twilight’s heart beat faster as she backed away, she looked up to her friends; both hovered in the air, mouths agape.

Twilight’s heart jumped into her throat as one of the snakes hissed at her. They moved as one, all focused upon her as they bore fangs far sharper than ever need be for any normal serpent. She continued backing away until she was pressed against a tree. Twilight wanted to scream, but the snakes would be upon her before she had a chance, she did the only thing instinct told her to do.

The next few seconds were nothing but a blur for Twilight. Over and over she pounded her hooves into the ground ahead of her. A wave of nausea shot through her as she heard the sickening crunch of bone, but almost instantly was replaced by the imagery of a hundred fangs rushing toward her.

She felt as if she were nothing more than a piece of driftwood stranded on a beach, caught in a never-ending crashing tide as the sound of the serpents breaking beneath her hooves greeted her with each strike.

But by the time it was over, all that remained were a few small craters and a half dozen or so unmoving snakes. Most were flattened in multiple sections, some even rent by the force of her blows. Twilight backed away and fell onto her rump as she stared at the scene before her. ‘I... what was that? Oh no... Shy? Dash?’ She glanced around for a moment before seeing Fluttershy’s tail from behind a bush. “Fluttershy!”

In the two seconds that it took Twilight to get to her friend, she realized that something was very, very wrong indeed. It didn’t take much to make Fluttershy cry, but it took something horrible to make her unresponsive.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight put her hooves on the yellow pegasus’ shoulder and gave her a soft shake. “Fluttershy, are you alright? Did they bite you?”

“Why?...” Fluttershy whispered.

“What?”

“Why did you kill them?... They... they were running away... you just...” Fluttershy gave a small sniffle and gently lay down the motionless snake in her hooves, turning to face Twilight with tears in her eyes.

“Geez, Twilight.” Rainbow Dash stood there by Fluttershy, blinking at Twilight. “What was that about?... I’ve never seen you act like that before.”

Twilight recoiled as she stared back at where she stood. Her lower jaw quivered as she looked at the good sized indentations her hooves left as she beat back the snakes that were charging at her.

‘They were charging me, right?’ “Girls, I can explain. They just exploded out of that log and started coming at me! You didn’t see the way they looked at me! They wanted to hurt me! I wasn’t just going to let myself get bitten.”

Rainbow looked at Twilight, then back to Fluttershy. “Yeah, I’m glad you’re alright and all... But that was a little unnecessary, Twi. Fluttershy was right, you didn’t have to turn on them; they would have just left you alone.”

“Those poor little snakes...”

Twilight sighed and looked at the shadows surrounding her. The forest seemed like it was out to get her since she entered it, and now it seemed as if her friends didn’t care if she- ‘No. Not Fluttershy. Maybe she’s so upset because... because they were her snakes? Did she set me up? Is that what this is?’

Thought’s raced around in Twilight’s head, spinning further and further out of control until she gave herself a mental shake. ‘What is wrong with me!? They’re my friends, they would never do that.’ Twilight looked up to see Rainbow consoling Fluttershy, who was now on her hooves. ‘But there is a possibility...’ Twilight slowly approached her friends and pawed at the ground. “I’m sorry, Fluttershy. I guess I got a little scared and freaked out.”

“I don’t blame you, Twilight, but...” Fluttershy gagged and looked at the casualties strewn about the path. “It doesn’t undo what just happened.”

Twilight’s heart sank as Fluttershy picked up one of the snakes, a single tear welling in the corner of her eye. Moments after, Fluttershy held a hoof to her mouth and darted into the brush.

Twilight’s heart sank as she tried to block out the sound of retching. She flattened her ears to her head and put some distance between herself and the bush. Twilight looked back down at the snakes, tempted to join Fluttershy as the feeling she felt mere moments ago assaulted her mind. She leaned down and stared at one of her victims, her eyes growing wide as she did.

The snake appeared to have chunks of its scales fallen off, or missing entirely. Others were missing the bottom halves of their jaws or were showing bone due to bites of flesh ripped from them. Twilight realized that her hooves couldn’t do that kind of damage to these snakes. She pressed her hoof against one of the corpses that had a large section of it’s side missing, only to have it dissolve into black goop that slapped against her hoof before dissolving into the ground.

“Hey.”

Twilight nearly jumped out of her skin as she snapped her gaze to Rainbow Dash, who had managed to sneak up behind her.

“You scared me!”

“Sorry about that.” Rainbow replied morosely “Listen; I’m glad you’re okay. I really am. But you’ve been acting really weird lately.” Rainbow’s expression shifted from nervous to authoritative. “The Twilight I know would have just ran and waited for the snakes to leave. I don’t blame you for what you did, but you did that in front of Fluttershy. And that is not, cool.”

The expression on her face shifted to one of concern. “I’ve known Fluttershy since Junior Speedsters, and she’s just not able to deal with stuff like that very well. Just cool off okay, Twi? You’re pretty cool for an egghead, just don’t hurt Fluttershy again.”

Words leapt to Twilight’s tongue, but she swallowed them and nodded meekly as Rainbow smiled and ran off to get Fluttershy. Twilight heard mumbling off in the bushes for a short while, followed shortly by the two pegasi coming into view.

The forest around them was unusually quiet. Fluttershy sniffled and wiped away a tear, “We should at least bury them. We owe them that much.”

Twilight nodded solemnly as she turned around, Rainbow and Fluttershy standing on either side.

The path was devoid of any snakes, alive or otherwise.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“Twilight?”

“Yes, Fluttershy?”

“I think we should go.”

“This just took a wrong turn into freaky-town. Let’s bail.”

“Probably a good idea.”

“...nd when we get to Whitetail Wood, I’m going to drive myself really hard on the uphill. Get some distance between me and AJ so I can just coast down the other side of that one hill. You know the one I’m talking about, right Twi?”

A gentle nudge to the shoulder momentarily snapped Twilight out of her trance. “Whuh? Oh! Yeah, sure.” Rainbow beamed and continued her description of her ‘flawless’ game plan to crush Applejack this year. As intriguing as it was, Twilight couldn’t help but be distracted by other, more interesting things; a large rock on the side of the road, the prickling on her back, two birds chasing each-other. Eventually she ran out of things to half-stare at and turned to Fluttershy, “Does she always ramble on like this about sports?”

“Only when it’s a competition,” Fluttershy giggled softly and returned the whisper, barely audible over Rainbow’s incessant prattle. “I’m used to it though, I’m her cheering squad after all.”

Twilight balked. “You’re not going to race?”

“Nope, I’ve been practicing my cheer.” Fluttershy took a mighty inhale, spreading her wings as she readied for the showstopper.

“Woohoo.”

“That’s, uh, great work Fluttershy.” Twilight chuckled. “Will you be cheering for me too?”

Twilight’s vision was assaulted by a technicolor display of hair, followed by two magenta irises staring intently at her. “Honestly Twilight,” Rainbow shook her head, “I can’t believe you’re going to race in your condition.”

“Well, couldn’t I say the same about you?” Sidestepping Rainbow, Twilight continued toward the banners flying in the distance. “I probably won’t win, but I can at least enjoy it like I did last ye-”

“Rainbow Dash! I got a few choice words for ya, you two-timin’ low-down lazy...!”

Twilight watched as Rainbow ducked behind Fluttershy. “Fluttershy. Hide me.”

“Um... okay?”

Applejack marched toward the group with a scowl etched into her face, heading straight for the multi-hued tail laying on the ground behind Fluttershy. Rainbow bolted upright and faced Applejack with a sheepish grin. “Oh, hey there Applejack. What’s uh...” Rainbow took a hard gulp. “What’s up?”

“Oh, I don’t know Rainbow, why don't you tell me ‘what’s up’? Because the only thing that’s up right now are the apples in those trees I needed your help with yesterday!” Applejack glared angrily at Rainbow who had her wings pinned to her sides and her ears folded back. Twilight took a step forward and poked Applejack in the side.

“AJ, Listen, I’m sorry... I didn’t mean to blow you off...” Rainbow pouted.

“Blow me off?!?” Applejack leaned into Rainbow’s face and threw her hat on the ground. “You’re the gosh darn element of loyalty Rainbow! How does leaving one of your closest friends hogtied embody that in any way, shape or form? Explain that to me!”

“A-AJ... Really. It won’t happen again... I promise!”

Applejack’s nostrils flared as she glared at Rainbow.

Twilight stepped between the earth pony and pegasus. “Applejack, listen. It’s my fault she couldn’t come.”

The earth pony picked up her hat and turned to give Twilight a quizzical look, “What do you mean, sugarcube?”

“Well, I don’t know if you heard. My ride back to Ponyville took a rather... unexpected detour... into the ground.” Twilight looked at Rainbow and smiled. “Rainbow was out looking for the storm we got caught in and found us instead. So she carried me all the way back to Ponyville on her own.”

Applejack glanced back and forth between Twilight and Rainbow. ”Well shoot, are ya’ll ‘right? And Rainbow, why didn’t you tell me? You know I would’a understood.”

Rainbow Dash looked off toward the starting line and fidgeted quietly. “W-what does it matter? You know what happened and I’ll help you later to make up for it. N-no problem!” She took a few steps toward the starting area before Applejack put a hoof into Rainbow’s chest and held her in place.

“There is a problem, Rainbow. You’re a loyal friend, but you know there’s one thing I can’t stand being lied to. T’aint fair to yourself, or to me.” Applejack lowered her hoof and smiled at her. “So what’s wrong?”

Silence hung in the air for far more than a few moments as Rainbow fidgeted uncomfortably. Her lips were pursed as she gave Applejack the most pleading glare she could muster. When that inevitably failed, she turned to Twilight with an equally fruitless attempt. Rainbow swallowed hard, and spoke up in a voice that would have done Fluttershy proud. “I didn’t want to admit to you that I couldn’t handle apple bucking and carrying Twilight in the same day.”

“So ya wanted us to think ya’ll were lazy?” Applejack laughed and put her hat back on, giving Rainbow a friendly pat on the shoulder. “That dun make no sense at all! You should’a just told me!”

The shame that Rainbow wore shattered as a smile finally broke through. “Thanks AJ. Listen, I promise it won’t happen again. But I couldn’t just leave Twilight hangin’.”

“I know sugarcube. Now come on, the race is startin’!”

Twilight smiled as Rainbow followed Applejack to the starting line, talking and laughing all the while. Aside from the itch which had recently started to become fairly annoying, everything was starting to calm down.

“Well, if it’s alright with you, I’m going to go get a seat... Good luck Twilight.”

Twilight smiled over her shoulder at Fluttershy. The pegasus gave a curt nod before heading to the stands; leaving Twilight alone. Twilight stood in the open for a moment before she was able to process what Fluttershy meant. ‘Right! The race is starting.’ She took a moment to locate the staging area in the distance. Twilight galloped up to Applejack and Rainbow, and the three of them continued toward the starting line.

“You’re just lucky it wasn’t a Pinkie promise.” Applejack chuckled. “If there’s anything I know, it’s that nopony breaks a Pinkie promise. If you think I’m harsh on somepony that breaks promises...”

“Yeah, no kidding.” Rainbow smirked, “Speaking of Pinkie, where is she? I haven’t seen her in days. Isn’t she supposed to be the announcer for the race again?”

Twilight scrunched up her face in thought. “You know, Rarity mentioned something about Pinkie missing as well.”

“Nopony knows where she went.” Applejack shrugged, “But if ya’ll really wanna know what I think, I think she’s planning a surprise party for somepony.”

“Must be some surprise.” Rainbow Dash snickered. “I can’t think of any good reason she would miss being the commentator on the Running of the Leaves.”

“Me neither...” Twilight jumped as a nearby loudspeaker blared to life.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, the Running of the Leaves will begin in five minutes! I repeat, the race will begin in five minutes!”

“Geez, we couldn’t have cut that any closer, huh, Rainbow?” Twilight looked around, “Rainbow?” Rainbow Dash and Applejack were nowhere in sight. ‘They must have already gone ahead.’’ Twilight trotted ahead into the colorful throng of ponies gathered at the starting line. The air was alive, it buzzed with the energy to move, to win.

It was infectious. It made her want to move, for the race to start. She filed away looking for Applejack and Rainbow until after the race. The voices seemed to egg her on, feeding to the already high energy levels in the starting zone.

Run.

The voices died down after a few minutes as again the loudspeaker blared to life.

Sprint.

“The Running of the Leaves is about to commence! Last call for all participants! One minute remaining until the Running of the Leaves!”

Move.

Silence washed over the crowd as Spike walked to the side of the track, holding a green flag high in the air. Twilight couldn’t help but tilt her head as her faithful assistant scowled at her.

“On your marks!”

“Get set...”

Go.

“Go!”

The throng of ponies leapt ahead of her as she raised an eyebrow to Spike who running along side her to keep pace with her brisk trot.

“Slow and steady, huh?” Spike flatly commented. “Same as last year?”

“Mhmm,” Twilight nodded, “I don’t really feel like I should be pushing myself too hard, but I’ll run a little toward the end. See you at the finish line!”

“Yeah, good luck, see you there.”

With that, Twilight picked up her pace, always keeping the main pack in sight as she trailed a short distance behind. Twilight looked at the ground ahead of her and watched her hooves gallop forward.

Before long however, she heard her own hoofbeats joining others. Twilight looked up to see the main pack was significantly closer than she had expected. Every step brought her closer to the group, with every second the road seemed to open up before her as ponies began to fall behind her. Step after step fell. She saw blue and orange hooves ahead of her, blocking her way. She slowed, weaving left and right, trying to find an opening, trying to keep moving forward.

Suddenly the orange and blue broke way to an empty brown dirt path.

Twilight bounded ahead to the front of the pack as she saw the road open up before her. Trees, like so many explosions and fireworks, dotted the landscape and lined the path. Every manner of orange, yellow, and red imaginable bloomed before her as her hooves flew down the path.

It wasn’t long until Twilight felt each and every hoofbeat in time, a repetitive melody that lulled her into steady pace. She held her breath for a moment, the timing had to be just right or she would ruin her rhythm. Every last bit of the melody, her melody, depending on the harmony between herself and the path.

She breathed deeply and pushed herself a little faster.

Leaves flitted and danced around her as she galloped onward. The cool air tickled her skin beneath her coat, driving her mane back as it whipped in the wind. The edges of her vision began to blur as Twilight focused in on the road. The sound of her breathing, the beating of her hooves and heart unified as the road turned; and she turned with it.

Nothing could stop her! Her breathing remained measured and precise as she rocketed past the first checkpoint, chancing a look at the blanched face of a stallion looking at his stopwatch. Twilight couldn’t help but laugh as she turned back to the path, lifting her hooves and dropping them. Each repetition moved by a little quicker, each second seemed to move a little slower. A smile grew on Twilight’s face.

Everything she felt fit its own niche in her world. There was nothing more important to her than matching the road, outrunning its length and conquering it’s turns one step at a time. The blur encircled her vision save for the area immediately in front of her. The constant companion of the wind in her ears only grew louder as she ran.

For no reason at all, Twilight threw her head back and laughed.

A deep profound feeling of freedom washed over Twilight as every breath of air bit into her lungs. Every pebble, every leaf, every twist and turn lay before her as they turned to multicolored blurs beneath her hooves. The wind in her ears grew louder, chanting to her with each step.

Faster.

Faster.

Twilight felt herself beginning to falter, but she pushed harder. A straightaway greeted her after she departed a corner. Twilight lowered her head and closed her eyes, trusting herself to the rhythm she created.

Step.

Step.

Breathe.

In.

Step.

Step.

Breathe.

Out.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Breathe.

Step.

Step.

Step.

Breathe.

Twilight’s hooves met the path on instinct as she leaned into the corner, unbidden by the need to open her eyes. Head bobbing, she pressed forward as her inner monologue goaded her onward; ever faster.

Step.

Step.

“...Coming around the bend!”

Step.

Breathe.

Step.

Step.

Step.

“...Don’t believe it! She’s leading the pack by a...”

Breathe.

A cool sensation pressed against Twilight’s muzzle for a split second before leaving as quickly as it came. Her eyes snapped open and looked around, trying to find what ran into her.

Without warning, Twilight found herself hoisted into the air with a dozen hooves supporting her and even more voices chanting her name. She flailed her legs, wanting to run, wanting to be put down.

Until the announcer called out Applejack and Rainbow Dash for a second place tie.

Twilight’s mind finally caught up with her body. “Put me down! Put me down!” The pony’s cheering quickly died down as Twilight found her hooves meeting solid ground. Pieces started to fall into place as Twilight looked behind her to see both Applejack and Rainbow making their way toward her. They looked haggard, exhausted, and...

Perplexed?

Twilight began walking toward her friends when Path was cut off by a throng of ponies making their way to the podium. She turned back to try and go around, only to get caught back in the mob she just escaped. She felt suffocated, a bump into one of her bruises caused her to reach into her magic for a small barrier spell to keep everypony away from her sides. The group pushed toward the podium as questions roared in her ears.

A few minutes passed and eventually Twilight heard her name being called up to the podium. She made her way to the stage to see Applejack and Rainbow already wearing their medals. Spike held a gold medal off to the side; smiling as Twilight ascended the steps. A soft rhythmic tapping caught Twilight’s attention as she looked over at Rainbow; a scowl was etched into her face as her hoof tapped against the second place podium.

“Congratulations, Twi! That was amazing!” Twilight shook her head at the voice as she looked down to see Spike slipping the first place medallion over her head. The audience roared as Twilight smiled, watching from the corner of her eye as Rainbow pinned her ears back.

Twilight fidgeted on the stand as Mayor Mare rambled on about something concerning ‘traditions’, the environment, and possibly what the food court was serving. Twilight couldn’t help but lightly trot in place. For having just ran a race, she didn’t feel out of breath or even fatigued. Thankfully, the sales pitch only lasted a few minutes and the mayor dismissed the three of them from their pedestals.

“Good work, Twilight.” Applejack smiled. “Didn’t know you had it in you.”

“Neither did I. I guess I just got c-” Twilight stumbled forward and caught herself with her hooves, face nearly touching the dirt as she looked back at Rainbow Dash. “Geez Rainbow, what was that abo-”

Twilight backed up as Rainbow stomped behind the curtain. “What the heck?” She looked at Applejack who responded with a shrug. Twilight flung the curtain aside and stared at the sky-blue pegasus. “Rainbow, what was tha-”

“You’re the reason I lost!” Rainbow shoved a hoof into Twilights chest as she raised her voice. “Because of you, and that stupid storm, I blew my chances at winning.”

“Rainbow! Calm down!”

“If it wasn’t for that stupid cramp, and having to go walk to Zecora’s, I would have won!” Rainbow locked eyes with Twilight, wings spread. “You didn’t spend months training for this race! You probably used your stupid magic to help you win!”

Applejack shoved herself between Twilight and Rainbow Dash. “Whoa nellie! Twilight wouldn’t cheat to win a race.” Twilight watched Applejack’s expression sink as their eyes met. “I am curious though; how did you end up beating us?”

Twilight looked between the soft, concerned face of Applejack and the stern glaring gaze that Rainbow Dash was shooting her as she backed up a step. “I don’t know. I just ran.”

“Liar! You could barely trot when we left Zecora’s place!” Rainbow growled.

“That true, Twi?”

Twilight held her head in her hooves as she sat on her haunches, trying desperately to figure out an explanation for her friends.

“See? She’s cracking under the pressure, AJ. I told you she cheated.”

That was it.

Twilight stood up and scowled at Rainbow. “Listen here Rainbow, I don’t know what in Equestria makes you think you have the right to judge me just because I won, but here’s a little fact for you.” Twilight leaned forward and locked eyes with the pegasus. “You are not perfect, you can’t just push your failure onto somepony else to make yourself feel better! I don’t deserve this from you, and you can’t use me to justify your shortcomings!”

Applejack stared at Twilight with her mouth hung open. Rainbow sat petrified under Twilight’s heated gaze as Spike and Fluttershy approached. Twilight huffed and turned away, storming toward Spike.

“Twilight, wait.” Rainbow whispered.

Twilight shot a glare over her shoulder. “Spike, we are leaving.”

“What happened? What’s going o-”

“Leaving. Now.”

Twilight stomped out of the tent with Spike in tow, leaving Fluttershy, Applejack, and Rainbow staring at each other with looks of confusion.

The sunset was nearly receded over the mountains as Twilight passed the town square. The day played out in her mind over and over, reliving all the things that had happened. It troubled her, and she just wanted it all to be over. She had had too many strange things to deal with in such a short time. When it all boiled down, it basically left her no other choice.

‘If anything else happens today. I’m going to scream.’

“Twilight, you haven’t said anything since we left!” Spike tugged at her mane softly, only to be gifted with a death glare. “You’re freaking me out Twi. What's going on?

“It's just... I mean... ugh. It’s nothing a little dragon like you should worry about.” Twilight groaned.

“I’m not that little you know.” Spike half-grumbled.

The few moments of silence that followed were nothing short of a blessing for Twilight as they continued toward home. Unfortunately those fleeting moments of serenity were robbed from her by a voice.

“Have you seen Twilight Sparkle?”

‘That voice.’

“Listen here! The entire town is in danger and Trixie needs to fi-”

‘No, nonononono... not now! I don’t need this.’

“Twilight Sparkle!”

Twilight glared at the cobblestone and trudged along as the sound of hoofbeats drew near. ‘Ignore her, you’re almost home.’

“Tw-Twilight Sparkle! Trixie finally found you...!”

“That’s nice.”

“... Trixie thinks you seem... edgy?”

“How very observant of you.” Twilight deadpanned.

Trixie kept pace but remained silent for a few seconds. “W-well, regardless. Trixie needed to find you because Trixie... Trixie is unsure what to do, and needs your help a-and would appreciate it if you gave Trixie a moment or two to explain herself!”

Twilight stopped dead in her tracks and gave a half-lidded stare at the blue unicorn opposite her. “Let me explain something to you, Trixie. I have been hit by lightning, thrown down a cliff, and attacked by snakes; all in the last two days.”

Trixie’s eyes went wide. “Tr-trixie is sorry to hear that but th-”

“No, Trixie.” Twilight continued walking, picking up Spike and setting him on her back. “No, I am not. I want to just go home and pass out. I am done with today, I am done with all the crazy random stuff that has been dumped on my plate, and I'm done with this conversation.” Twilight half-sneered at Trixie. “Sorry.”

Twilight’s hoofsteps beat faster as she moved into a trot. She was so close, so near to escaping the insanity of the day.

The unicorn matched her pace, eyes darting around frantically“But! But! Trixie isn’t trying to ask for help! I am trying to warn you!” Trixie’s breath became rapid and shallow.

Spike leaned forward to Twilight’s ear just as she was about to open the door. “Twilight, give her a chance.”

Twilight groaned and left the door half opened. “Fine, what is so important?”

“R-really?!?” Trixie took a few deep breaths. “Trixie was in the f-forest and there was a storm and Trixie had to get out of the rain so I... I... Then that night... Trixie heard a noise, and it scared me, and I went to look and there was something attack-”

Twilight held her hoof up to Trixie’s muzzle. “Stop. Just, stop. ‘Something’? Really?” Twilight scoffed. “Trixie. If it were any other day, I might try to care. But there are so many weird things in the Everfree that are ‘dangerous’. It’s not that big a deal Trixie, leave me alone.” Twilight walked through the door and slammed it behind her.

A short snack of a half-dozen apples later, Twilight stumbled up the stairs dragging her hooves as she went. The door to her room opened with a gentle squeak, an audible token of security for her. A soft purple glow engulfed a candle on her desk, breathing to life a flickering trail of flame as it bobbed up and down clinging to the wick much like Twilight was clinging to consciousness.

She looked out over the room, balking at the sheer mess she had made that morning. Books and feathers were scattered everywhere. For a moment she considered questioning where all the feathers came from. Ultimately however, she simply sighed and moved on; she had dealt with enough for one day.

She stepped over plumage and tools to the drawer where she kept her journal and brought it to the table. She flipped to random pages and half smiled at how simple things were, how things used to be. ‘When did everything get so complicated and crazy...?’ Her smile died when she reached her latest entry. As of recently, she realized there was something very wrong. Everything so far had been out to get at her or hurt her.

To this end, Twilight adjusted the cloth bags that held ice in them, scowling as they continued to fall off of the swollen bruises on her sides. She gave them a tentative poke, recoiling as the slightest touch was reciprocated with intense discomfort.

A quill hovered gently above the page as Twilight fought to gather her thoughts.

Dear Diary,

Where do I even begin? Today was one of the most ridiculous, insane days I have ever had the displeasure of living through.

This morning I had a dream, something I can’t remember because I couldn’t write it down in time. I really wish I had written it down, but I got lazy and disorganized and let my room fall into disarray. (Again)

Twilight tickled her nose with the quill for a moment before scribbling on a notepad: “Organize and reorder room.”

Immediately after that, I read a letter that Princess Celestia sent me. Apparently the guards that took me home got lost and headed to the Everfree. I really hope that they’re alright. (I thought that Wedge stallion was kinda cute actually)

We had to skip breakfast since I apparently ate everything in the house in the middle of the night. (Still think Spike did it.) Spike and I reorganized the Library instead. Fluttershy showed up to check on how I was doing. I was feeling pretty good right up until the point that she let me into the bag of goodies she brought from Sugarcube Corner. (Side note, need to try the strudel more often)

Twilight rubbed her eyes and yawned, itching her back against the seat.

After a late breakfast (And a large one at that), Fluttershy and I headed out to go see Zecora since she might know what to do about my magic acting up. I’ve developed some manner of crazy itch that refuses to go away. On our walk through the Everfree, we got blindsided by some fog that lasted a few minutes; My magic flared up again, I cast a fog walking spell by mistake (warrants further research). All the more reason to get to Zecora.

Which happened, but not after I managed to fall down a hillside. I think I sustained some severe bruises, though. I say this because they’ve only been swelling up since then; even after Zecora used her medical knowledge to fix me up.

We crossed paths with Rainbow at Zecora’s. Which actually doesn’t surprise me that much considering the amount of strain she put herself through to help me.

While getting a physical examination, I accidentally squeezed one of Zecora’s bookshelves into the size of a marble (dig out the ‘dampen magic’ ward spell, again. *Recommended* *Strongly recommended*). I haven’t misused magic this poorly since foalhood.

Zecora was more than glad to help us both and send us on our way after that. Whatever she gave me for the magic fluctuations seems to have worked wonders, because I don’t feel any disruption at all now.

After a quick good-bye, Fluttershy, Rainbow, and I headed back to Ponyville for the Running of the Leaves. But were delayed by a log that had fallen in the path.

I still don’t know what to think about this. The whole area reeked of death and decay, Fluttershy was especially jumpy because of it. In retrospect, it was no accident, I’m sure it was a trap. (Who? Why?)

Anyway, I had made up my mind to climb over the log so we wouldn’t be late for the Running.

Huge mistake.

Snakes, snakes everywhere.

A chill shot through Twilight from her head to her hooves.

At least thirty snakes burst out of that log, and I couldn’t backpedal fast enough. I panicked. I’m not proud of what I did, but I don’t regret killing those snakes. They looked at me like they wanted me and me alone; they ignored Rainbow and Fluttershy completely. I have some suspicions about Fluttershy and Rainbow setting something up for me. (Motive?) I’ll need to just watch them and see what they do, I’m sure it’s just me getting caught up in the moment.

We moved on, and agreed to put the whole fiasco behind us. By this point, Zecora’s medicine was starting to wear off, and I can distinctly remember the bruises starting to swell again.

Twilight hissed gently as she prodded her side with a hoof.

They’re pretty bad now. I don’t know how I was able to participate the Running as banged up as I am. Just moving or brushing against the bumps hurts a lot. I put some ice on the affected areas to try and help, but I’m going to the hospital tomorrow if it doesn’t get any better.

Back to the Running. I won. I don’t know how, but I won first place by a landslide. It was scary, I just zoned out at the start of the run and subconsciously ran. It was all I wanted to do, all I could do. I felt like I wasn’t in control of my actions, like some part of me was telling me to run and I couldn’t say no.

Rainbow thought I was cheating because of it. She accused me of using magic to give myself an edge. I don’t know why she thinks it’s okay to blame me for her poor performance. Sure, she helped me out yesterday, but that doesn’t make it right to use me as an excuse. Even if she likes winning that much, it doesn’t change what’s already happened. I could tell she was listening, maybe I was a little hard on her, but that means she probably learned something from it. You can’t let jealousy get the best of you.

And then as I hadn’t had enough to deal with today, I ran into Trixie. Of all the days for her to show up, she had to pick the day I wasn’t prepared to deal with her or her crazy egotism.

Twilight stared at the page a moment and shook her head as the quill struck through a few words.

...or her crazy egotism. She caught me off guard though. Even though I upstaged her when she was last here in Ponyville, she actually seemed concerned about my well-being. (possible act?) I let her have a chance regardless. Huge waste of time. She kept rambling on about some ‘danger’ that’s in the Everfree, and that it needs to be stopped before it attacks the town some such nonsense. Maybe she found an actual Ursa Major. (Haha, wit.)

Maybe I should have let her explain more, maybe I shouldn’t have slammed the door in her face. But I’m so tired, I didn’t want to deal with it. Maybe I can track her down in the morning.

Other than that, the rest of the day was (thankfully) uneventful. When I got back to my room I found it filled with those same feathers I found in my sandwich yesterday. If I wasn’t so tired, I’d try to figure out where they’re coming from, and what to do with them. (New pillow maybe?)

Nothing left to say,

I’m going to bed.

-Twilight Sparkle, Nov 27, 1001.