For the first time in what felt like days, Twilight was actually getting a good night’s sleep. That was, of course, as long as she ignored the fact that Spike was trying to wake her. She knew that she had probably slept in, so she figured she probably deserved the incessant mumbling she now heard.

“Sbike, I’m sleebing” she hissed, not at her assistant, but rather at the general idea of moving and waking up. Though, it did little to quell her frustration when her words refused to co-operate. Twilight knew that all she needed to do was explain the horrible nightmare she just had, and he’d understand. “Spiiiiiike, I hab a roubf day…” Twilight grumbled. But instead of having Spike quiet down, Twilight’s mumbling seemed to just make him more insistent.

Twilight tried to piece together what Spike was carrying on about, but the most that she could make out was something about a coma, or maybe a comma? She honestly couldn’t tell, it wasn’t like him to be so incoherent. “Five more minutes. Come on, Spike.” She pleaded.

He responded immediately, but the inability to discern what he was saying was wearing Twilight’s patience thin. ‘I taught you better articulation than this, Spike.’ She sat up and rubbed at her eyes with a groan. “There, I’m up, what’s so important, Spi—” Twilight blinked a few times and jerked away slightly in surprise at the unicorn stallion that was brought into focus instead.

Spike. Her former realization stunned Twilight somewhat as she stared blankly ahead through the stallion before her. Slowly she managed to arrest control of her attention and articulate a coherent, if not slightly panicked, question.

“W-where am I? What happened? Where’s Spike?”

The doctor paused, mouth open, before recomposing himself. “Miss Sparkle, I’m going to request that you calm down. Can you do that for me?”

“Yeah... yeah, okay.” Twilight mumbled, she slowly lay back and stared at the ceiling, jerking to an upright position when something poked her back. She looked at the mattress behind her, only to find two lavender wings affixed to her back.

Twilight’s heart skipped a beat. The details of the last few days began to slowly trickle in as she laid back. She glanced over at the doctor, who was very obviously real, then to her wings, which shouldn’t be. Twilight shook her head and took a better look at the doctor, noting the symbol on his coat.

“Canterlot Intensive Care?” She asked. She looked around the room with squinting eyes and a wrinkled nose. The walls were a glaring shade of white, made no easier to look at by the harsh lights in the room. There were no wooden walls or musty tomes. Everything looked and smelled sterile.

“Ah, yes. You were rushed here a few days ago.” The doctor replied as he set his tablet off to the side. “Miss Sparkle, what do you remember?”

Twilight shook her head gently, trying to rid the fuzziness still lingering in her thoughts. “I remember a fire, and a train, and Celestia, she…” Brief images of Celestia standing over her, spear poised to strike flashed through Twilight’s mind. “Where is everyone? Where’s Spike? Where are my friends? How did I end up here?”

The bespectacled stallion nodded slowly as he studied her heartbeat monitor. "You remember your altercation with the Princess then? You passed out in the throne room. Celestia herself brought you here, and you’ve been comatose until early this morning."

The machine began beeping loudly as Twilight's eyes went wide. "C-comatose? There wasn’t any permanent damage was there?"

"That is why I'm here now, actually. Judging by your articulation and general alertness, I'm willing to guess that nothing serious is amiss. But medicine is not a field of guesswork: there are a few things I’d like to check before I give an all cl—"

A thunderous rumble echoed through the room, leaving both Twilight and the doctor staring at her stomach in bewilderment.

The doctor pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Hungry, Miss Sparkle?” He chuckled. “ I will see to it that you're brought something to eat as soon as I'm done here."

"That sounds really good right now, actually.” Twilight said sheepishly. “Well, how can I help, doctor—?" Twilight blinked absently a few times. “I don’t think you ever told me your name.”

The kind-looking stallion pulled himself out of a drawer and blinked a few times. "Hmm? Oh, yes. The name is Suture. Doctor Karma Suture."

Twilight cocked an eyebrow at the odd name, but quickly dismissed it as her stomach protested again. "So what do you need me to do?"

The doctor walked to Twilight’s bedside, and looked her straight in the eye. “I’m going to remove this magic inhibitor from your horn. I don’t know that you’re fully recovered from whatever dementia was affecting you, so just know that if you try anything other than what I ask of you, Celestia herself will intervene. Understand?”

Memories of Celestia from a few days ago lept to the forefront of Twilight’s mind. She slowly nodded with a timid, “Uh-huh…”

“Good.” Suture undid the magic dampener from Twilight’s horn as he continued. "Well as you and I both know, some patients that suffer from a comatose state, run the risk of permanent brain damage."

"I didn’t even feel that thing.” Twilight mumbled, “Anyway, you think I’ve got some sort of mental damage?”

Suture procured a small orange ball and cradled it in his hoof. "I said that it is a risk, and we do not know how that has affected your magic. To test that, I will need you to pick up the ball, please."

Twilight politely nodded and grabbed the ball from Suture’s hoof with her own.

Karma Suture smirked, “Very clever, Miss Sparkle. Now, could you please pick the ball up with your magic this time?”

Twilight gave the doctor a sheepish smile and focused on the ball. She apprehensively drew on her magic, taking care not to have any more magical mishaps on her account. Panic washed over her as she found herself having some difficulty tapping into her magic, and even more worry when it felt, off.

Despite the strange feelings, she raised the ball from Suture's hoof with far less effort than she expected. The doctor smiled as she placed the ball back into his hoof. "Well, basic magical function is still intact." He remarked. "So how did it 'feel' when you lifted the ball? Better? Worse?”

Twilight wasn't sure how, but she managed to suppress the savage growl of her stomach and formulated a response.

"It felt... different. Easier, but strange."

"It's common for unicorns that have experienced extreme stress to have issues with their magic, or expressing discontent about how their magic 'feels', as is the case with you." The doctor grabbed his clipboard from the counter and scribbled a few notes. "I prescribe time to 'cool down' to most patients, it's just one of those things that ought to clear with time.

Twilight nodded, then froze as her stomach rumbled loudly. She sheepishly glanced up at the doctor who simply pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his muzzle.

"I'll get the nurse to bring you some breakfast. We can finish the tests after you’ve eaten."

“Thanks, I could really use something to eat right now.” Twilight said gratefully.

The doctor grabbed his notes and gave a small bob of his head in acknowledgement. He then turned to leave, but stopped in the doorway as if to talk to someone.

Twilight focused on the door intently. She wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting. Actually, she knew what she was expecting, she wasn't sure what to expect after the fact. With Doctor Suture out of the room, all she was left with were her thoughts; A companion she had recently been spending too much time with. Even so, she knew it was only a matter of time before she was released, and would have to face her friends again.

Twilight cringed. She couldn't help but wonder how Rarity, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rainbow Dash would react. She figured they'd most likely be confused, or upset. They might be angry with her, or just glad to see she was okay. Twilight shook her head and scowled. She couldn't afford to beat herself up with uncertainty; she didn't want to think that way. She just wanted things to stop being so taxing and painful.

Thankfully, a throng of familiar voices stole Twilight’s attention.

"What do you mean 'not right now'? Doc', listen. We've been here for days because she's needed her friends. I'm not going to take no for an answer!"

'Rainbow?' Twilight scooted up in her bed, ears perked with interest.

"I know how hard this must be for all of you, but Miss Sparkle has only just woken up and—"

An unmistakably elegant and persuasively smooth voice drifted into the room beneath the door. "Doctor... Karma, was it? I know that you're an upstanding and well respected expert in your field. But we are all on the edges of our wits about this entire situation. I promise you that there will be nothing done to Twilight that could bring her any harm. We simply wish to see our friend, whom we desperately wish to know is alright. You understand, don't you?"

Twilight couldn’t hold back her growing smile. She could practically hear the batting eyelids in those last few words.

"I, uh, well... I suppose that there is no real reason to withhold visitors, especially those invited by the princesses themselves."

"Thank ya kindly, Doctor Karma. I can't begin to tell you how much this me—"

"Can we go in? Can we? Is he saying we can?" A familiar voice chattered.

"Yes, Miss Pie, I will allow it given the special circumst—"

There was no warning. There was no way Twilight could have braced herself. It was something that she knew would happen, but at the same time, knowing never seemed to help her when it happened.

The room exploded in a multicolored tornado of streamers and balloons, the latter quickly sank to the floor as Twilight sat, staring into two enormous, happy, but tired blue eyes.

Just as Twilight was about to say something, Pinkie Pie swung her forelegs around Twilight and hugged as tightly as she could. The rest of the group filed in after her, some smiling, some wearing looks of concern. All of them looked exhausted.

"Twilight's awake guys! She's awake!" Pinkie squealed. "Oh, Twilight! I came as fast as I could! I was in Hoofington, helping a friend with a super mega ultra urgent party set up! It was code: kiwi, Twilight.”

Pinkie grabbed Twilight's cheeks and pressed their foreheads together. "Code. Kiwi" Pinkie stated emphatically, as if Twilight would know what she was talking about.

Twilight had no clue, but she nodded her momentarily empty head in agreement.

Pinkie rubbed her eyes with a foreleg and continued unabated. "I got the letter from the Princesses. They said you were really super-duper sick, so as I was coming to… to see you.” Pinke said with a small yawn. “I thought: 'what would make Twilight feel not super-duper sick'? And you know what I came up with?" Pinkie smiled expectantly.

Twilight managed a small smile. "A party?"

"A PAR— ohhhhh, you're gooood." Pinkie clapped her hooves together a few times, then jumped right back on her train of thought. "So I got here and I had all the party stuff ready to go, and I was so excited because I was going to throw you a party and you weren't going to be sad and sick anymore!"

Twilight gave Pinkie a smile of acknowledgement, but Twilight’s mind was elsewhere. She had been watching Rarity step halfway out of the room, as if talking to someone, for the last few minutes. Twilight was more than a little curious, but she turned her attention back to Pinkie Pie and the mystery that she presented. Twilight was incredibly glad that she was wrong, and that Pinkie was alive, but that was only one mystery solved.

"... And so I asked the doctors if I could throw you the party, and they said no.” Pinkie murmured. “They said you were sleeping and couldn’t party, you were still really sick." Pinkie whimpered as her ears wilted. "And they told me that the next day, and the next day..." She sniffled, picking up one of the balloons from the floor. "Well, the balloons were nice and bouncy when I got here a few days ago... I didn't think you were going to be asleep so long. I meant to fix them, but I was more worried that you were going to... M-miss your own... Miss your own..."

Pinkie's head fell against Twilight's shoulder as she shook silently.

Twilight slowly drew her friend into an embrace. She’d only seen Pinkie legitimately sad a few times in her life, and it was never easy for Twilight to deal with. She gave the pink pony a gentle squeeze, allowing Pinkie to just get it out of her system for a few minutes until she was calmed down..

Pinkie looked up with misty eyes and a badly faked smile. Twilight met her gaze for a few moments in silence.

"Now come on, you know I wouldn’t miss one of your parties! I'm here, Pinkie, I'm alright."

Pinkie Pie's eyes brightened slightly with a snort of laughter. “Yeah, I know. Some ghosties are harder to giggle away than others.”

Twilight gave Pinkie another gentle squeeze and was rewarded with a genuine, warm smile. She looked up to address the rest of her friends, but before she could say anything, Rarity stepped forward and cleared her throat.

Pinkie looked back at Rarity, gasped, and scooted away from Twilight quickly. "Sorry, I forgot."

Twilight was about to ask what it was that Pinkie was referring to, but her question was answered when Rarity stepped to the side; allowing Twilight full view of her number-one assistant.

Spike stood there for a moment, trembling softly with his claws balled up at his sides. He glared angrily at Twilight for what felt like five minutes. But eventually, his shoulders dropped, his fists unclenched, and he slowly walked toward the bed.

Twilight watched the little dragon hop onto the bed, legs dangling over the side. He looked angry, but that was only one part of the convoluted spectrum of emotions that he wore. Time crawled by as she tried to piece together what to say, until finally, Twilight gave up trying to figure it out herself.

“Spike?”

The little dragon jumped at his name, and turned his head away. “You promised, Twilight.”

Her ears wilted as she looked to her friends for some kind of answer. Unfortunately, they were shooting each other the same confused glances that Twilight herself wore. “I promised what?” Twilight inquired tentatively.

Spike turned, his emerald eyes lit with the passion of someone betrayed. “You said you’d be there for me! You nearly died a few days ago!” He growled. “You told me you’d always be there for me, and within the same day, you broke that promise!”

At this point, Twilight had started piecing things together. She knew that trying to defend herself after all that had happened, would only make hurt her in Spike’s eyes. Twilight resigned herself to Spike’s anger, and braced herself. “What happened, Spike?”

The young dragon’s brow furrowed. “Rarity and the girls come to the library, frantically asking where you were. I told them I hadn’t seen you all day, and they tell me that you were really sick!” He got up and stood in Twilight’s face. “The very next morning, Luna tells us that you’re crazy and dangerous! Do you have any idea how worried we all were? How worried I was?”

Spike’s shoulders dropped, his whole body shaking with what Twilight could only assume was rage. He brought the back of his claw up, causing Twilight to flinch a little, only to watch as he drew it across his eyes with a deep breath. “Three days ago… Three days ago, Celestia sends us all a letter telling us to simply come to the castle immediately. When we got here we learned that you weren’t waking up.”

“Spike, I’m sorry, I did a lot of things th—”

“No. I don’t wanna hear it.”

Twilight quickly fell silent. She watched as her assistant glared up at her intently. She felt heavy, so horribly heavy as she perceived the pain and worry in his eyes.

Twilight suddenly felt herself attacked by a frightened embrace. “Just stop being so reckless, please?”

Twilight slowly returned the hug and nuzzled Spike’s head. “You know I can’t control everything that happens. But I promise to be safer with the things I can control. Okay?”

“I’m going to hold you to that, Twilight.”

Twilight mentally heaved a sigh of relief as she playfully rubbed Spike’s head. “Are you going to be alright?”

“For now,” Spike nodded. “But I can’t speak for everyone.”

“Nope! But I can speak for myself!” Rainbow Dash turned to Applejack, and fidgeted in place. “Mind if I go next?”

Applejack rubbed the back of her head. “I don’t see w—”

The door creaked open, drawing seven pairs of eyes to the nurse holding a breakfast tray.

“Am I interrupting anything?”

Rainbow Dash quickly snatched the tray from the nurse and set it on Twilight’s lap. “Nope! Thanks for bringing her some chow, have a good d—”

“Rainbow!” Rarity exclaimed before turning to the stunned nurse. “I’m terribly sorry, we’ve been waiting three days to talk to our friend here. I assure you, we’re all very grateful for your generosity.”

The nurse shook her head and gave a grateful smile in return. “Well, if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask one of the staff.” She gave a small bob of her head and quickly left.

Twilight winced at the explosion of noise that followed the click of the door latching shut. All at once, questions battered her from every side.

“Are you okay, darling? Is everything— how does one put it tastefully? Alright ‘upstairs’?”

“Oh my gosh this is going to be, so, cool. I can’t wait to teach you how to use those wings! Fluttershy, move over, I wanna get a better look.”

“Rainbow, just wait a moment, I’m not leaving this spot until I’ve given her wings a good check-up.”

“Whoa! Hold on everypony.” Applejack chuckled, bringing silence to the room. “Don’t ya’ll think Twilight’s more than a little overwhelmed ‘bout all this?” Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Rarity gave each other awkward glances as Applejack continued. “How about we take things slowly. You know, one at a time?”

Rainbow Dash grinned mischievously. “Great idea! OneTwoThree, me first!”

Everyone in the room glared disapprovingly.

“What? I was totally just kidding, I don’t have to go first.” Rainbow said with a sheepish grin, wilting beneath the stares.

“Well, I do think you need some time to simmer down a bit.” Applejack said flatly. “Fluttershy, you’ve been awful quiet. You wanna go first?”

“Oh, well actually, I was telling Rainbow that I just wanted to check up on her wings if that’s alright.” Fluttershy looked to Spike, then back to Applejack. “I know they have the best doctors here at the castle, but I mean… I’d still like to make sure it was done properly. So, um, I really can’t think of anything to say right now… I just wanna make sure Twilight’s okay.”

Applejack nodded. “Alright, if you insist.”

“Thank y— Oh. My.” Fluttershy gasped. She stared at the fully outstretched wing before her and blinked. Rainbow squealed excitedly in the background as Fluttershy looked back to Spike. “Um, Spike? If you don’t mind, I’d like to teach you a few things about wing care. Twilight’s not going to be able to reach some parts of her wings, so I’m going to show you what you’ll need to know.”

Spike nodded and hopped down off the bed as the rest of the group formed a semi-circle around the bed.

“Well, see’n as Fluttershy has other things on her mind—”

“It’s my turn, right?” Rainbow said with an expectant gleam in her eyes.

“... ‘fraid not, sugarcube. You really need to learn some patience.” Applejack smiled and shook her head. Rainbow promptly sulked as Pinkie sat down with her at the end of the bed, and before long, the two were lost in a conversation of their own. “Well, I guess that leaves you ‘n me for now, Rarity.”

Rainbow’s ears immediately stood at attention. “Hey! How come you both get to go? Why can’t I get in on this?”

“Because I don’t have a bad habit of talking over other ponies when ah’m in a group.”

Rainbow Dash raised her hoof, and opened her mouth, then remained motionless for about two seconds. She finally rolled her eyes with a defeated sigh, “Fine, I’ll give you that one.” She said with a quiet, exasperated groan.

“Now then,” Applejack rolled her neck gently and shared an apprehensive glance with Rarity. “So, you’re feeling better then, Twi? I mean, we were there when you, uh… Well you get what I’m tryin’ to say.”

Twilight gave a slight shudder as that same moment replayed in her mind. “I’m doing much better now.” She gave the wing that Fluttershy wasn’t working on a small flap. “It healed really quickly, though. Really quickly.”

“Well, I suppose that one should be grateful for that!” Rarity chuckled nervously. “I can’t begin to imagine the stress you felt. Tell me, darling, what happened after you, hm, went into hiding?”

"I'm... Well, I'm not entirely sure, to be honest," Twilight said with a hoof pressed to her forehead. "It's still kind of blurry. I remember... Trixie. She was in the library when I got back."

Applejack sighed. "I remember 'the great and powerful' Trixie, alright. Hog-tied me in front of the the whole town! I didn’t care for her, still don’t."

"Well to be fair, Applejack, she seems far more agreeable this time around." Rarity tapped a hoof to her chin, glancing up to the corner of the room. "Though, I've only seen her a few times around the town since Twilight ra—went into hiding."

The soft murmur of conversation drifted in under the door as the three continued. Twilight sat there in silence, allowing herself to relax a bit as Spike’s claws slowly ran through the feathers on her wings, guided carefully by Fluttershy's instruction.

Applejack smirked and gave a soft chuckle. "Well, I'm curious how you managed to sneak by everypony and get to Canterlot so fast."

"And darling, whatever happened to your hair?" Rarity pried. "I've been meaning to ask you since we first saw you two days ago."

"Haha, that's a weird story." Twilight rubbed the back of her head nervously.

She didn't particularly care to recount the horrifying events of the last few days, but honesty was the best policy; especially when Applejack was involved. "It involves me, and a chase through the town, a house on fire—"

"That was you?" Rarity blurted out.

"Easy, sugarcube, Twi just said that it was involved, not that she caused it." Applejack kept her hoof on Rarity's shoulder. "You didn't, right?"

Twilight's ears wilted as a guilty expression washed over her face. "Well, maybe? I don't really know, it's all kind of fuzzy."

"I don't think t'was you. A fire could'a happened to anypony."

"Yes, well. Darling, do go—"

Rarity's voice shrank to mere whispers as the door to the room slowly opened. Everything in the room seemed to focus into a single point. Part of her still wanted to run, but she quelled that foolish impulse and remained composed, even if she was still scared at what might be said.

For across the room, stood Princess Luna and Princess Celestia.

Rainbow Dash was instantly by Twilight's side, watching the two new guests intently. Celestia and Luna looked to each other and smiled softly, then turned and shared that smile with the rest of the group.

"I'm so glad to see you awake, my faithful student." Celestia glanced to Luna, "we both are."

"If you're so glad to see her, why'd you try to kill her, huh? Explain that!" Rainbow Dash growled.

"They what?" Spike half-shouted.

A momentary silence fell over the room, broken by Applejack's accusatory tone. "Rainbow!"

Fluttershy scooped Spike up and placed him onto her back. "Come on, Spike, let's get you some breakf—"

"No." Spike hopped off the pegasus’s back and backed away with a scowl.. “I’m not some little kid! This affects me too.” Spike turned away from Fluttershy. “I don’t need to be protected, I want to hear this.”

“Don’t be too eager to grow up, Spike.” Celestia cautioned in a gentle voice, before responding to Rainbow Dash. "Your concern is well placed; it is one of the many things that has been occupying my mind as of late."

"Princess?" Spike paused and furrowed his brow. "Is Rainbow telling the truth? Did you really try to kill Twilight?"

Celestia turned and shared a look of concern with her sister. She took and deep breath, and a slow exhale before answering. "I was prepared to defend the nation of Equestria, and the citizens that call it home. That said, yes, I was armed and capable of killing Twilight in the throne room."

"So why didn't you?" Twilight felt all eyes suddenly fall on her as she slightly hid behind the blanket. "You told me that I was dangerous, and I understood that. But you spared me, why?"

"The actions I took against you were not chosen merely due to your actions alone; it was not a choice of reaction, but experience," Celestia replied. "There has been a situation similar to this one, and it ended..."

The Princess stopped mid-sentence, then shook her head. "It is of no matter. Luna and I were able to deal with my former student's behavior."

Rarity quickly interjected by raising her hoof. "So this, ‘student’ of yours did something similar to what Twilight did recently.” She paused momentarily and tapped a hoof to her chin. “Seems like this student wasn’t a very good one, if they left the sort of impression that warrants an ‘attack on sight’ mentality.”

“Sister, they deserve to know at least a little bit.” Luna shook her head softly. “I know that there were mistakes made, but perhaps it would be beneficial to inform them despite prior faults?

“It was before their time.” Celestia breathed deeply and closed her eyes. “Some things are better left in the past.”

“And some require being revisited— even if it hurts.” Luna replied sternly. “Especially if it’s relevant.”

For a long time the room was quiet, the weight of implication pressed down like a wet blanket, suffocating voices and movement alike. Never in her life had she seen Celestia so torn. The mere fact that Celestia’s answer was not instant made Twilight’s stomach churn. For as long as Twilight had known Celestia, she was always immediate and decisive with her answers, even if the answer was “I don’t know.”

“We don’t know that it is relevant.” Celestia finally said with a sigh. “But it could be. I will concede that point.”

The rest of the group spent a moment exchanging glances in the mutual state of confusion they shared. Finally Twilight managed to utter the all-important question:

“Well, what happened to that student, all those years ago?”

Celestia raised an eyebrow at her sister and took one last measured breath before she began.

“His name was Rich Odds. He was a brilliant student, diligent in his studies, sociable, kind, and easily on track to becoming the next Arch Mage of Canterlot. I had taken students in the past,” Celestia’s brow furrowed slightly. “But Odds was a cut above the rest. He did not display the raw magical potential that Twilight did when he took his entrance exam, nor did he exhibit the command of magic that she does.”

Twilight flushed a little and pulled the covers of the bed a little closer. Applejack reached over and gently shook Twilight’s shoulder with a smile.

“But Rich Odds was clever, inventive, and above all else, curious. He was the leading force behind magical probability. His advances in the field are used even today, by those with the aptitude to cast the spells.”

The name struck a chord with Twilight; she felt like she knew who he was. At least, she thought she had heard the name attributed to a theory or spell somewhere. Twilight chanted the name in her head, slowly, methodically, searching for any sort of reason that she would find the name so familiar. Twilight quieted her mind, and felt a pull in her subconscious, she followed the feeling until she memory finally clicked.

“Teleportation!” Twilight half-shouted. “He formulated the spell for reliable teleportation, and devised ways to eliminate the probability that a teleport would…” Twilight glanced to Spike and gave a nervous chuckle. “... go bad.”

Celestia nodded. “Rich Odds was nothing short of a prodigy when it came to the study of probability as a magical application. Unfortunately, his work began to consume him.”

“Or rather, he tackled something related to his work that was far larger than even he could handle,” Luna interjected, quickly flashing her sister an apologetic smile.

“So, I still don’t get it.” Rainbow Dash stared off into the distance, focusing on nothing in particular. “How is this related to Twilight? And it doesn’t sound like he did anything particularly, you know, bad. I mean, he was an egghead, sure. And he got carried away with some sort of theory-thingy that was really hard, fine.” Rainbow redirected her attention to the Princesses. "But I can’t imagine you guys killing him for working too hard. So what did this Odds guy do anyway?"

"As I was saying," Celestia flashed both Luna and Rainbow Dash a gentle smile, "Odds was obsessed with numbers and probability. It was only a matter of time until he stumbled upon the ultimate improbability: chaotic magic.

"It consumed him. He would spend days dabbling in chaos magic, trying to unravel its inner workings for some method within the madness. Nothing would seem to work, and I cautioned him repeatedly to be extremely careful as he proceded, even though I made my disapproval fairly apperent."

"So, why did you let him continue?" Rarity prodded. "If he was doing something you didn't approve of, why not just stop him?"

Celestia’s entire body wilted almost instantly. "I trusted him. He had done things for the study of magic that his peers deemed impossible. I once believed that if anyone could safely handle chaos, it was him."

"But he couldn't, could he?" Applejack said quietly. "He just didn't listen to ya."

"No, he didn't. It changed him in many ways." Princess Celestia paused for a moment, staring at Twilight. "One of these changes was a pair of wings, another was yellow eyes with red irises. I told him that he was to cease all experimentation with chaos magic until a later time, but he refused. He swore he was onto something big, that he wanted my support to help unlock the secrets of chaos magic. When I told him I wouldn’t assist in something so dangerous, he told me that he could do it without me. Odds left that night, and I didn't see him again for years..." The Princess' voice trailed off into silence she looked out the large window in the room.

Luna glanced at Celestia with concern and quickly spoke up. “When he came back, he was very different, hardly the stallion I knew. He didn't engage us directly, no. We first learned of his return from reports of fringe cities going silent, refusing communication."

Celestia gave Luna a gentle nod and took the lead once more. "He was brainwashing ponies—enslaving them, and using them for his own ends. It was hundreds of years before Luna and I were able to bring him to justice, and even then, hundreds of thousands died. So many, many mistakes were made."

"But we did not kill him," Luna explained. "We merely imprisoned him, hoping for a time when we ourselves would have an understanding of the power that corrupted Odds. The hope being that when we understood, we might break the spell that held his mind."

"Well, did he ever manage to escape?” Rainbow asked. “I mean, I'm sure he didn't just sit there quietly in a prison for thousands of years."

"Yes, but you and the elements made sure that he wasn't able to cause too much trouble."

The clock on the wall seemed to stop as Twilight processed the words. She found herself surprised as her friends all arrived, more or less, at the same conclusion:

"Discord? Rich odds is actually Discord?" Twilight shouted in disbelief.

"Indeed," Luna replied. "He is responsible for the age of chaos that fell across Equestria a thousand years ago, but you knew that."

Pinkie sprang to her hooves. "So, what you're saying, is that you thought what happened to Richy, was gunna happen to Twilight?" Pinkie Pie sat back and crossed her forelegs. "No way, not our Twilight, she’s no grumpy-pants crazy bad-guy!"

"You're right, she's not." Celestia nodded. "Odds willingly embraced the chaos. He offered no resistance to it. He welcomed it into his being without opposition. Twilight however, was scared of it, of what it was doing to her. She wanted things to be ‘fixed’, for them to go back to the way they were. She desired order, even under a chaotic influence.”

“Well that’s mighty fine n’ all,” Applejack grumbled. “But how the hay did this even happen? And who the heck is responsible for this? This Odds feller got all corruptified because he was messing with it. But she never fooled around with this chaos magic!” She quickly faced Twilight. “You didn’t, right?”

"N-no! Of course not!" Twilight stammered. "I may be curious, but I'm always safe about my experiments!"

No sooner had she finished her sentence did she notice a rather skeptical stare from Spike. He had an eyebrow raised and a telling smile plastered on his face.

"Alright, most of the time. But I haven't been experimenting with chaotic energies. I'm just as lost as everyone else is!" Twilight sputtered. "I just want to know what in Equestria is happening to me!" She paused a moment, lowering her eyes. “I want to know what will happen to me next.”

Luna quietly approached the bed, slipping between Applejack and Rarity, and placed her hoof on Twilight’s shoulder. “We are all concerned by recent events, as they may bear far greater implications than we initially anticipated. But I may have some answers about your experiences these last few days.”

Luna looked over to Celestia, and the two exchanged a nod. Luna withdrew her hoof from Twilight’s shoulder as she continued. “While you were comatose, I walked your dreams. A risky thing to do, but fruitful. I was searching for some sort of reason to explain your actions over the last few days, and I found that you were not alone in your mind. There was a dark, shadowy presence. While it did not attack me, it did flee as soon as I had spotted it.”

“The Nightmare?” Pinkie chimed in. “Was Queen Meanie messing with Twilight?”

“No, I would recognize the Nightmare, after spending more than a thousand years with it.” Luna said quietly. “It was something else entirely. As for what it is, I cannot say. Only that it seems that whatever entity was manipulating Twilight has abandoned her entirely.”

“So, it could theoretically still be out there?” Rarity inquired. “Do we know how he, she, or it, got to Twilight in the first place?”

"We don't," Celestia responded. "There is very little that we know about the nature of this foreign entity, much less its physical appearance or location." Celestia’s face grew stern, “I’ve made it a personal endeavor to look into the matter further, but neither books nor memory have helped yet.”

Twilight took a moment to consider Celestia's words before speaking up. "Princess? Where was Lieutenant Wedge's found?" Twilight furrowed her brows softly, "and for that matter, have you found Biggs?"

Celestia slowly shook her head side to side, "The guard had no luck in finding the Major, though the search is ongoing. As for Wedge, his body was found in the Everfree forest, why do you ask?"

“Oh, just curious, can’t solve a puzzle without pieces after all!” Twilight chuckled nervously. An awkward silence blanketed the room momentarily before Twilight continued. “Though, hmm… It’s sorta fuzzy, but I remember Trixie saying something about the Everfree a few days ago. She seemed really worried about whatever it was.”

“That’s also where we got attacked by the snakes!” Fluttershy said with a small gasp.

Rainbow Dash gently tilted her head, “That’s right, maybe they’re connected somehow? Like, I dunno, the same thing that took out that guard is the same thing that was messing with Twilight’s head?”

“It’s a possibility, and if so, the guard will find it.” Celestia assured. “But you all shouldn’t worry yourself with it, I’m sure you’ve had more than your fair share of worry these last few days.”

“With all due respect, Princess, I’ll try.” Applejack said as she removed her hat. “But it'll be a while before I can just up ‘n forget something like this."

"I wouldn't suspect anything else." Celestia nodded politely.

A warm, safe feeling spread throughout Twilight's body as Applejack tipped her hat in acknowledgement. It was such a strange feeling, Twilight thought. It baffled her how she could feel so afraid of these ponies that now surrounded her and made her feel protected.

A dopey, content smile spread across Twilight's face, as one of the doctor's aides entered the room.

"Oh, I'm sorry, but Dr. Suture needs to run a few more tests on Twilight to ensure that she's cleared for dismissal. I'm afraid that we can't have any visitors in the room at that time." The nurse said with a small bow. "My apologies."

"Hey! You hear that Twilight?" Rainbow Dash squealed excitedly, "You're gunna get out of here. You get to come home!"

Twilight couldn't help but grunt softly as Rainbow Dash suddenly pulled her close, forcing Twilight to face the window.

"But most importantly, you'll be able to start flying lessons with the best flyer in all of Equestria!" Twilight and Rainbow Dash exchanged glances briefly as Rainbow relented her hold on Twilight with a sheepish smile. "It's the least I could do, considering how I acted at the Running of the Leaves."

"I—I don't know what to say." Twilight stammered. "'Thank you' would probably work, I suppose."

Rainbow laughed, "No problem, egghead. You just do what you've gotta to get out of this hospital. I'm going to go stretch out with a few laps around the castle. See you soon, Twi!"

As Rainbow zoomed out of the room, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie took her place at the side of the bed.

"Well, I taught Spike as much as I could in the small amount of time I had here." Fluttershy said in her typical, quiet tone. "But there's still a few things that you ought to know. But we can handle that when we get back to Ponyville, and things, um, quiet down."

"Yeah! As soon as things quiet down we can get loud!" From nowhere, Pinkie procured a party popper and shot confetti all over the room. "We could have a 'Twilight's back and has wings’ party!” Pinkie suddenly froze in place, eyes wide. "I have to go plan for it! See you soon!"

Pinkie Pie ran out of the room nearly as quickly as Rainbow had, though Twilight had to concede that it was more of a high-speed hop than a run. Fluttershy similarly took her leave, at a much slower pace.

"Well, Sugarcube, I've gotta give it to you. I figured I'd seen it all, but then you pulled that little trick in front of everypony in Ponyville." Applejack smiled, but her face was anything but happy. "I was mighty worried, Twi. I'm really glad that you're all right, I really am."

Instinctively, Twilight placed a hoof on Applejack's shoulder and gave a comforting look. "I'm going to be okay, Applejack, really. I have you, Spike, the girls, and the Princesses; you don't need to worry about me."

Applejack beamed and gave a small chuckle, "Maybe I don't need to, but I still will. You're practically family, after all."

"Absolutely, darling." Rarity gave a resolute nod, "Applejack is absolutely right. We are practically family, it's our job to worry about one another. That said, I'm glad I won't need be as distraught as I have been recently; between Sweetie Belle and the events of the last few days, I’m amazed I haven’t sprouted any gray hairs.”

Twilight shared a quick laugh with Rarity, then looked over to Luna, Celestia, and Spike. Celestia seemed distant, almost as if lost in thought, but never quite letting her attention wander from the room. Rarity opened her mouth to speak, but fell quiet as Luna placed her hoof on Rarity’s shoulder.

“I know that you did not mean to assault me, Twilight Sparkle.” Twilight winced slightly as Spike’s eyes darted frantically between herself and Luna. “If our suspicions are to be correct, your judgement was barely your own. I bear you no ill will for what transpired, and I hope for your swift recovery.” Luna bowed her head as Applejack and Rarity left, then slowly followed them out.

Spike tore his gaze from the door and ran up to the side of the bed. “Hold on, you did wh—”

“Not now, Spike.” Twilight said softly as she held her hoof over his mouth. “Can we talk about it later? I really just… I really just don’t want to think about the last few days for a while, okay?”

Spike’s fins drooped as he locked his gaze with Twilight’s. “Alright, I understand. Just hurry up and get better so you can come home and things can go back to normal? You know, like being able to make you breakfast without having to worry that you’re bleeding half to death in your room?”

“Ha, ha.” Twilight gave Spike a playful glare. “You’re hilarious, I’ll see you in a bit, okay?”

The little dragon responded with a prolonged hug, before wordlessly hopping down and scampering out of the room, leaving Twilight alone with Celestia.

Celestia was looking at Twilight. Not intently, but rather in a way that made her seem as if she was looking for something. To that effect, Twilight wasn’t even sure that the princess was even aware that she was the last one to leave the room.

“Princess? Are you alright?”

“Mmm?” Celestia blinked slowly, then gave a soft, reassuring smile. “Ah, yes, I’m sorry.” She looked around the room, then back to Twilight with a raised eyebrow. “Everyone else has said their goodbyes, it seems.” Celestia walked over to the side of the bed and sat down facing the same direction as Twilight.

A wave of unease washed over Twilight, and that unease quickly evolved into a minor panic.

“I’m sorry Princess! I messed up, I know. I’ll have a thesis on the whole experience on your desk in a month. I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, I just don’t know what we— urk!”

Twilight suddenly found herself surrounded by something very white, very soft, and very warm. She quickly deduced what was happening, and was attempting to comment on it, but the words died in her throat as Celestia pulled away from the hug with a gentle smile on her face.

The two sat in silence as a nurse poked her head into the room. Celestia gave a small flick of her hoof and dismissed the mare before turning to Twilight.

"I'm not angry with you, Twilight. I'm a little worried for you, but not angry." Celestia finally turned to face Twilight as she continued. "I trust what Luna told me, I know that you would never do such things of your own accord."

"I wouldn't!" Twilight half-shouted. "I mean, I wouldn't. I don't know what got into me, I was just so scared. I couldn't face the girls, or tell them what I was thinking."

"Shhhhh.” Celestia held a hoof to Twilight’s mouth, bringing silence to the room. “No more, Twilight. I cannot change what has happened, and neither can you.”

“But that doesn’t excuse what I di—”

“I am not judging you, Twilight.”

"But, you said yourself. I destroyed someone's home... Lyra is homeless, and it's my fault..."

“Lyra?"

"The mare who I nearly killed."

Twilight froze and knew from the moment she spoke those words, that it would have been better to have said nothing at all. She recognized the face that Celestia now wore, a remnant of her childhood. It was one that always drew out vulnerability: a face expressing pain.

Celestia stared at the far wall, brow furrowed in thought. “What happened, exactly?”

“It was, four days ago I think. I was running from Luna, and I was teleporting, I was so tired, princess. After everything that had happened I just wanted to escape and rest.”

“You were teleporting while fatigued?” Celestia mused. “Explains the fire. So what of the owner? Was she harmed?”

“No, thank goodness.” Twilight sighed in relief. “She actually helped me get to Canterlot, actually.”

“And where is she now?”

Twilight’s ears wilted as the events of the last few days flashed back to the forefront of her mind. “She’s staying with a friend here in Canterlot, but I don’t know how long her friends are going to let her stay, or how she plans on getting back on her hooves.”

Just then, Doctor Suture poked his head through the door, quickly addressing Celestia. “Princess, if it’s not too much trouble. I’d like to finish Miss Twilight’s examination.”

“Just a few moments more, Doctor. Then I’ll gladly allow you to continue.” Celestia flashed Suture a warm smile. The doctor looked between Twilight and Celestia, nodded, and shut the door quietly.

“Princess, I did a lot of things these last few days, but I destroyed her l—”

“Twilight.” Celestia shook her head softly. “I’ve said it before: I do not blame you. And whatever toll your influenced actions took on your friend, I will help you fix. I promise. But we will discuss this later. Getting you out of the hospital, back home, and back to your life is priority number one.”

Celstia gave Twilight one last hug, and began to walk toward the door. “You’re safe now, we will find who is responsible for all of this, I promise.” And with that, Celestia left.

As soon as she did, Doctor Suture entered. He quickly checked the machines nearby and checked his notes. “Alright, this shouldn’t take long at all, Miss Sparkle. Just relax and we will be finished in less than an hour.”

Screaming.

That terrible, awful screaming.

It was a scream of someone knowingly facing death—filled with desperation and denial. It was haunting. And try as she might to block out the noise, every night since had been plagued with the sound.

And now she found herself back in the Everfree; huddled behind an old, decaying stump, shaking in fear and stifling muffled cries into her cloak.

Trixie knew what came next. She tried to convince herself otherwise; she wouldn’t look this time, she knew what it looked like: it was branded into her mind’s eye. She didn’t need to peek out from behind the stump.

But she did.

Less than fifteen feet away, was a grotesque, blackened monstrosity that reeked of death, mutilating a helpless guard’s corpse beyond recognition. Instantly Trixie felt her stomach churn as she suppressed her urge for the sake of silence. Something was wrong though, the monster stopped, and looked directly at her.

She had no recollection of this ever happening, but the beast bore a wicked, bloodthirsty grin and began to slowly, ever so methodically creep toward Trixie.

“WeAK. cOwARd. UssSelEsSSss…”

Every fiber of Trixie’s being screamed in panic, urging her to move, to run, to get away from this hideous demon that hungrily bore down upon her.

Trixie’s logic rebelled at the sight . She closed her eyes, paralyzed in terror. “You’re not real. This isn’t how it happened! You’re not real… You’re not…” Trixie slowly opened her eyes, only to see black, writhing appendages coming straight for her.

Trixie bolted upright in bed, screaming.

This was the third time in the last five days that she had the dream, that she had awoken to the sound of her raspy voice screaming for dear life. The light next to her bed flashed on as she tumbled out of the sheets, horn still glowing with magic.

The inside of her wagon was in utter disarray. That is to say, it wasn’t much different than how she usually kept it. But Trixie couldn’t help but think that the inside of her wagon was symbolic of a great many things, including herself.

Slowly, Trixie righted herself and crept over to the window, she poked a hoof at the lock, and gently, ever so gently, pushed the door open to the smallest crack she could manage. Trixie peered outside, her chest tightening as the door swung wider and wider. Finally, with her lungs fit to burst, she peered outside the window.

Nothing.

Trixie heaved a sigh of relief as she quickly retreated back within her wagon and locked the window. She snagged a few of the books off the ground and laid them across her bed.

It had been a while since she’d relied so heavily on books to provide her an answer. Trixie had gone the majority of her life on her own intuition and decisions, and she liked it that way. Unfortunately, she had no luxury here. She was cornered. Or at least, she felt that way.

Fortunately, she’d managed to get a few scraps of knowledge from one of the books she had “borrowed” from Twilight’s library. She knew that whatever she saw in the Everfree was neither native or natural.

Trixie flipped the book open, and started leafing through the pages. “Alright, so how do I kill one of these things? Or at least fight back,” she muttered to nopony in particular. She paused as the words “dark beast” flashed briefly at the top of the page.

Trixie briefly scanned the first few sentences: Chaotic monsters are widely regarded to be extremely dangerous, and only a total idiot would even attempt to kill one without assistance. Don't be a total idiot.

The tone of the book was not something Trixie particularly cared for, but she needed answers. Trixie pushed the warning to the back of her mind and continued down the page: “Though, as to be expected, it’s highly likely that you, the reader, are ignoring the advice proposed on the prior lines. But consider this before drowning yourself in the shallow end of the gene pool: Let's imagine for a moment, a scenario. You’re a young, prime of her life show mare with an ego that far eclipses her actual worth. Let's suppose that this hypothetical you decides to go fight this monster on the assumption that it's a ‘kill or be killed scenario’."

Trixie blinked a few times, rubbing her throbbing headache for a moment as she set the book aside. “Alright, strange coincidence, that’s all this is.”

She tentatively picked the book back up and pressed onward: “You’d die a horrible, excruciating death at the hands of an unrepentant killing machine, and no one would care. Though, all this heartache and tragedy could be avoided if you weren’t such a colossal idiot, and stayed near civilization.”

The book wobbled in the air for a few moments, then fell to her bed. Trixie stared at the page for a moment, before picking it up. She tried to read on, but the erratic bouncing thwarted her attempt. Trixie dropped the book to her bed and continued, assuring herself that she wasn’t crazy.

“Chaotic beasts are methodical and cunning, but will not attack where they can be witnessed. The best choice for those unlucky enough to be targeted by such a creature would be to flee to as populated an area as they can, and pray that the beast grows bored.”

Trixie closed the book with still-shaking hooves, and opened the window pane just a crack. Content that the monster wasn’t right outside, she curled up beneath the blankets of her bed and muttered to herself.

Trixie yawned, thinking out loud to herself. “Okay, Tomorrow morning, go to town, wait it out. Maybe somepony there will know something… Maybe somepony…”