The moon sat full and high in the sky as a lone pegasus vigorously beat his wings in a rush for Ponyville. The rolling plains between Canterlot and Ponyville rushed past the low-flying stallion, a set of saddlebags slung over his back bearing Princess Luna's royal seal.

He gave a quick glance up towards the moon. Despite the fact that it was only a half-moon, the lack of cloud cover had the moon's light illuminating the hills and casting shadows as if it were the sun, pouring its warmth over the world. It lended a certain mystique to the world, he had to admit.

Light, flight-assisting armor glistened in the moonlight, the dark shades of the Night Guard's unique design clinging to an altered, bat-like motif that included fancy wing-like formations on the withers and along several edges of the armor that gave a more volatile, dangerous presence to the wearer. At the center of the chest, like a badge of honor, was an eye-like design in the form of Nightmare Moon's draconic eyes, also adhering to the colors of the rest of the armor.

That overall design marked him as one of the few elite amongst the Moori, the Princess's Night Guard, the template only being used to develop armor for those that have risen above the simple status of being just any loyal protector of Equestria. It was meant to define him as someone special, much like hundreds of others that take on important tasks and jobs for their Princess.

To him, it just stood as a testament to just how much of his life was spent working. Every single day, flying important, sometimes even classified documents, missives and correspondences to and from the Princesses, to the point of it being extremely rare for him to ever get some significant down-time. It was even more rare for him to have enough time to actually leave Canterlot for a day or two, spend some time away, and then come back.

Tonight, however, the emergency flight to Ponyville he'd been ordered into worked in his favor. It had been far too long since he'd seen Rainbow Dash in action, since the Best Young Flier's competition actually, and he'd only been able to go because he'd personally requested it from Princess Luna herself. Even then, he only had time to stay for the length of the competition, and then it was straight back to Canterlot to return to his duties.

His job certainly didn't allow for much of a personal life.

He flew up high as he reached Ponyville's outskirts, quickly surveying the town to try to spot Rainbow Dash's cloud home. It didn't take him long to pick it out, he'd been there plenty of times over the last year or so, but he'd heard a few letters back that she'd had to move her cloud home somewhere else in town. Something about zoning issues.

He only had a half-hour to get all of the Element Bearers together in the library, so Rainbow was the obvious first choice. It certainly had nothing to do with the fact that he was really, really eager to see her again after a solid month of nothing but letters!

He quickly flew over and landed at her doorstep, the familiar design of Spectra waterfalls almost making him feel welcome as if it were a second home. Almost. He held no illusions to the fact that their relationship was mostly long-distance.

"Rainbow Dash! Message, direct from the Crown!" he called out while banging on the front door.

Rainbow Dash uh'ed and mumbled a few incoherent things to herself while she was startled awake, the loud voice outside of her cloud home not exactly very subtle in its intentions. She grumbled and nonchalantly fwumped out of bed onto barely-bracing legs, knees bent while her head hung low to what passed as ground inside of her home, shaking left and right a few times to clear her drowsiness from her consciousness.

"Heywhuzzat? Huh? YEAH?" she called out, her voice slowly picking up as she became more aware and woke up more. "Yeah, I'm comin'!"

Halfway down the stairs from the upstairs area of her cloud home, the knocking banged insistently at her front door yet again.

"I'm comin'! Sheesh...." she said, only uttering her words at the end.

She threw open the door just as the pony's hoof hit her door again, the disheveled mare glaring forward sleepily. "I've got work in the mornin', this better be really freakin'-oh."

She froze mid-rant when she realized a Night Guard was standing in front of her, decked out in armor that was very different from the average Moori's. She couldn't help but smile when she noticed the draconic eye over the center of his chestplate. There was only one Royal Messenger that would have a reason to show up at her doorstep, and even with his darker fur and black mane that was pretty much uniform for all Night Guards, she knew that playful smirk of his anywhere!

"Well, 'bout time you found time to visit! Could've picked a better time of day though. What? Couldn't resist these flanks?" she teased him, wiggling her backside a little while she stood there, leaning against the soft doorframe.

He rolled his eyes and waggled a hoof at her. "Ignoring the fact that we haven't even done that yet," he said, smirking a bit. "Unless of course you're offering?"

"Pff...not 'til you find a less time-consuming job, buddy."

He just rolled his eyes at that and shrugged a little. "Yeah, I know, I know....I'm working on it. Kinda hard to up and quit this job, we have to find an appropriate replacement, and that's difficult. Anyways, need your help with something."

"Oh, yeah? What's up?"

He straightened up in a more formal posture for the Guard, clearing his throat quietly. "Official message from Princess Celestia herself. She wants all of the Elements of Harmony to meet in Twilight's Library. Arrangements have already been made to have Twilight and Spike replace the librarian currently volunteering for the job," he explained, nodding his head to her. "On a personal note, I wish to ask for your assistance in gathering them, the aforementioned will be arriving shortly."

Rainbow Dash blinked her eyes a few times and stared at him for a moment. Then, she grinned and jumped once in excitement. "Whoo! Twilight's comin' back, ALRIGHT! That must mean her studies are all done, right? That's great! We've been wanting to go and visit, but we figured, yanno....don't wanna disturb her. We know how she gets when her nose is buried in her books."

He endeavored to keep his mouth shut on the matter. He may have gotten some small details from Princess Luna before taking off, but it wasn't enough to properly evaluate the situation or what exactly happened. All he knew was that Celestia looked really beat up, and Twilight was near-catatonic under Celestia's wing.

He dropped his thoughts and quickly returned to his original objective. "Well, help me gather the Bearers then! Tell ya what: if I gather Rarity and Pinkie Pie before YOU gather Applejack and Fluttershy, then you buy me a free dinner...." he said, a sly smirk rising up in the corner of his lips while he looked down at her.

Dash stared at him for a moment with a quirked brow, then smirked and stepped out of her house, shutting the door behind herself and forcing him to step back to give her room on the front stoop. "Okay....and when I win?" she asked with all the smug rapport she could muster shortly after waking up in the dead of night.

Strider hah'ed and shrugged his shoulders at her. "Then I treat you to dinner, what else? Whoever wins names the time and place," he said simply, casually, a very confident smile gracing his lips. "Unless you think you can't handle that...."

Rainbow didn't need much more goading than that, but he kept on pressing the buttons, and with a little huff she turned away from him, aiming herself in the direction of Sweet Apple Acres.

"Oh, you are ON!" she said, hunching down and readying herself for a rather impromptu race in the middle of the night. But then, she peeked over her shoulder. "It was, y'know, nice to see you again. Been a while, Strider."

He turned in the direction of Sugarcube Corner, smiling a little. "Yeah....it really was. I'll try to get some leave soon."

With three firm pats of one of his forehooves on the cloudy ground, they both flared their wings and took off like rockets. They both had their destinations, and while Rainbow was tired, the exhilaration of flight quickly woke her back up. It was worth it though, Twilight was coming back!

With the combined speed and activity of Rainbow Dash and Wind Strider, it had only taken around ten minutes to get everyone together at the library, mostly because they all shared a combined excitement in finally getting to see Twilight again and spend time with her, after such a long time apart.

"Ooh! I think I hear 'em! Why didn't you get here sooner so I could get a party going, huh?!" Pinkie asked with a certain amount of exasperation, looking in Wind Strider's direction.

He just cleared his throat. "It's not my place to say, ma'am."

Even Rainbow Dash had been a bit confused by Strider's silence, normally he was the really talkative type....even when she did beat him in a race, as was always expected. They hadn't discussed the terms of her reward yet, but she was sure that could wait until later. For now, she had a friend to welcome home, and she could hear hooves clopping against the ground outside while the wheels of a carriage landed not moments after.

"Ooh, I think she's here~!" Rarity said with accentuated, theatrical excitement, all of them waiting to practically pounce on their long-overdue friend after such a long time.

When the library door opened however, Pinkie found her over-eagerness to put a smile on somepony's face to bring her face-to-horn with Twilight instead.

"Twilight? Why are you staring at the....uh....?" Pinkie started to ask, but when she lowered her head to get a good look at her friend, even she lost her smile. She'd never seen that kind of expression on the lavender unicorn's face.

Twilight slowly lifted her head, she was in surprise, yes, but she also wasn't entirely here. The entire ride over was spent in near-silence, her mind a-buzz with thought, and at the same time, she was thinking of nothing at all. Her mind was staying occupied by spinning its wheels, that was the only way she could describe it, the only thing tangible within her thoughts being what she felt right now, felt the entire ride over: fear, and hate.

She couldn't rationalize it, and that scared her. She had harmed her teacher greatly, and hated her, thus she feared retribution. Her anger and frustration with her workload made her lose control and lash out, and she hated herself for her weak, puny willpower. She hated herself for being weak. She was afraid of herself because she was weak, and might hurt somepony else. She feared her irrational hatred, because it made her want to lash out more, because it felt good to lash out, to harm and break, rip and tear. Two emotions, both stabbing at her psyche the entire ride over, only fended off by the soothing words of the wounded Celestia.

"Why...." she whispered, swallowing hard. "Why are you all here....?" she asked, her voice throaty and quiet, as if she may start crying all over again if she dared to break the stunned silence any further.

Pinkie slowly got out of the way, looking to her friend with a concerned gaze while she passed by, followed in suit by her teacher, who still hadn't patched herself up. Spike was the last one in, and he looked to them all.

Only Wind Strider bowed as Her Majesty entered, the others looking at her with shocked expressions, staring at the slightly bloodied wound on the Princess's side, her face swollen in different areas, her lip bloody and cut. Rainbow Dash silently glared at Wind Strider, who didn't dare meet her gaze, he knew she was looking in his direction, he knew that she knew that he already knew all about this. He was going to catch hell from her, and there was no reason to unnerve himself with a very volatile staring contest.

Twilight cautiously met their gazes while moving forward, her cheeks stained with dried tears, the fur visibly matted in a thin trail down to her chin on each cheek. Her expression never changed even when Rarity reached out to her. The chance of Rarity laying even a hoof on her startled her, and she edged away quickly, like a twitch reflex to get away, her eyes locked with Rarity's for a moment, widening further in an irrational fear of her, like she was someone she didn't know, or a monstrosity reaching out.

She didn't want to be touched. She didn't want them looking at her either, but she made no motion to ask or even make them leave. She felt broken, shattered, and physically weak. She made her way past them with faltering steps, her footing unsure. She almost fell over when she started to make her way up the stairs to her room, or at least the equivalent to a room, Celestia following her up.

Spike stood in front of the staircase at the bottom, turning to face everyone while they gathered around to try to go up after them. They were all curious, stunned, and worried about their friend, but Spike stopped them by standing firm and holding out his hands.

"Look....just give her some time, alright?" Spike said, his normally more firm voice sounding soft and subdued. "I'll explain what happened, but....we should wait until the Princess's gotten her settled down."

She was shaking again by the time she'd made it to the top of the stairs, acutely aware of Princess Celestia's eyes on her all the way. She couldn't escape it, couldn't get away from the staring. The condescending glare, the disgust that the Princess had for her. Her head hung low as she gravitated towards her bed, as if it were calling to her, demanding her to come and lay down. She felt the need, she just wanted to curl up and disappear. Get away from all of their stares.

All of their eyes....especially Princess Celestia's.

"I'm sorry, Princess...." she whispered, her entire body starting to tremble again, slowly looking to the Princess again, her eyes locked in that terrified expression.

"Shh, Twilight....stop apologizing." she whispered to her, gently sliding the covers out from underneath her, gently covering the lavender unicorn up.

"B-but I-" she tried to start, but Celestia was having none of it. A hoof gently touched the tip of her nose, Celestia smiling a little.

"Don't. Don't put yourself through any more of this. What you need is rest," she said, smiling through all of the injuries her face had taken, all of them marring her normally pristine and beautiful complexion, some blood even managing to stain that billowing, pastel-colored mane of hers. "Now, just stay here, with your friends....you can write to me when you're ready."

With that, Twilight just sat up and watched with a mix of dismay and guilt as Celestia turned and favored her right side more, her left being too sore from that table breaking over her body to bear very much of her weight it seemed. Twilight's mind swam with a multitude of excuses, questions, and concerns for the whole situation that she had caused.

Ultimately, her weakened and guilty mind could only come to one conclusion.

I'm not going to be her student anymore....she's leaving me here in Ponyville. I'll never be allowed to finish my studies now!

She slowly laid herself back down and closed her eyes, her teeth clenched as silent, choked sobs accompanied freshly-flowing tears.

Spike in the short time they were upstairs had explained as much as he could, the girls listening while Wind Strider stood off to the side, by the doorway. If that mare did what she did again, he didn't want to be anywhere near the blast radius.

"....So that's when I ran out of the room, and everything started going crazy. Then Princess Celestia and Princess Luna-" he said, his voice suddenly being cut off by Celestia's gentle, but firm overtone.

"She had a breakdown. Please, you're her friends....watch over her. Do what I cannot," she said, walking past them, a look of dejection in her eyes while she went for the door. "This is my fault to begin with."

After Princess Celestia left, everyone except Rainbow Dash rushed upstairs, almost barrelling over Spike in the process. She flew up to get a look at Twilight, face buried in her pillow, quietly sobbing to herself while the others gathered around her, and her attention suddenly turned in Wind Strider's direction. She hovered over to him, inches away from his face, her teeth clenched in a menacing display while she glared into his eyes.

"You. Me. Outside. Now."

Celestia saw Rainbow Dash and her sister's courier arguing as she left on her chariot, silently wondering if she'd done the right thing. Was this appropriate, leaving such a volatile potential for destruction in the care of ponies that knew no better? No, most likely not....but she certainly couldn't fix this. Her only solution would be to shut the lid on the matter by sealing her magic away, and that was absolutely out of the question!

She saw the instability in her student's eyes, the fear, the emotions twisting her up inside like a tornado of darkness. She'd been ripped asunder by the stress she herself imposed, and Celestia did nothing to stop it. She simply believed her student to be infallible and let her be, her kind nature this time working against somepony she cared for very much.

"WHAT IN TARTARUS WAS THAT?!" Rainbow shouted at him, once they were outside, looking as if she were about to bull-rush him.

"H-hey, haven't you ever heard of 'don't shoot the messenger'?!" Strider responded quickly, taking a step back.

Every time he stepped back, she stepped forward, staying in the slightly unnerved stallion's face the entire time. "You could've told us. You could've warned us, you jerk!" she shouted, knocking heads with him for a moment, staring him in the eyes and giving him a firm shove. "So what the fuck?!"

Strider clenched his teeth, feeling a bit indignant about the sudden shove. "What?! You think I knew?!"

"You're the Royal Messenger, you were delivering the message, how could you not know?!"

"I didn't get any specifics! I was just told something bad happened and that I should get you all to the library! I mean yeah, Celestia looked beat up and Twilight looked catatonic-"

Rainbow seethed and pressed her head against his harder. "So you did know!"

Celestia winced at the accusatory tone of Rainbow's voice. Ah, lover's spats. She could only listen in as they went back and forth, until Strider backed down and sighed, sitting down.

"I guess I could've mentioned that....sorry." he muttered, running his hoof over his particularly long mane.

Rainbow snorted in frustration and looked away from him, her irritation plain as day on her face. She hated it and loved it when he did that. Getting all apologetic and backing down....it wasn't something she could often do. She could respect that. Humility wasn't her strong suit.

Eventually the tension went out of her body, her flared wings folding down as her challenging posture fell apart. "Yeah...you could've. S'fine. Sorry for snapping, I guess."

He sat in silence for a moment with her, oblivious to Princess Celestia eavesdropping passively from a short distance away. When the quiet had lasted just long enough to make things exceptionally awkward, he cleared his throat to get Dash's attention again, since her focus seemed to be drawn back to the library.

"I was going to ask if maybe I could stay the night, but I think it's a bad time right now," he said, smiling a little. "Your friend needs you more than I do right now."

Rainbow seemed ready to protest, but it died in her throat when he held a hoof up. She sighed and nodded a little. "Yeah....guess you're right."

Her crestfallen expression prompted him to stand again and move to nuzzle her cheek with his own. At least it seemed to get a small smile out of her.

"Hey. I'll do everything I can to get some time off as soon as I can, okay? Maybe by then things will have calmed down for Twilight." he muttered while stepping back, smirking at the sight of her eyes darting around to see if anyone saw them.

He couldn't help but chuckle. She was still so shy, no matter how much she tried to hide it!

"Y-yeah. Yeah, sure! I'll see you, y'know, whenever you get the chance."

He nodded and looked to his saddlebags, nosing through one of them to check one of the seals on the letters. "Got one for the Mayor....probably in response to her zoning issues. See you soon I hope!" he said as he straightened up and took to the air, flying away.

Rainbow watched him go, then sighed and turned to head back into the library, her disappointment quickly forgotten as the voices of her friends reached her ears, just past the entrance's threshold. She closed the door behind herself and prepared to spend the rest of the very early morning consoling a clearly traumatized friend.

That didn't stop her from glancing out the window here and there.

Celestia kept a mental note of the encounter from her position within her chariot. She didn't like what she'd seen in Rainbow's eyes, but it wasn't her business. Still, if she could find a way to help, she'd certainly keep it in mind. For the moment however, she lightly tapped her golden-clad hoof onto the armrest of her chariot, and they were off.

As the light shone through the windows of the tree-turned-library, Twilight quietly roused from her slumber, still feeling as shiftless and as weak as the day before. Her sleep was broken and unendingly short, no decent amount of it felt like enough. She continually forgot things that her friends kept having to remind her about, and a smile was rarely seen on her grim visage. Another day spent with another friend, another day listening to their false joy at having her back. That was what she felt it was, anyways, waking up to seeing Applejack already at the library, tending to another breakfast with Spike's help.

It had gone on like this for an entire week, her friends cycling themselves and their times with her every day as if standing guard over a prisoner, or keeping watch over her while she was on her death bed. It irritated her, immensely. She didn't know why, any other time she would enjoy their company, but every day, their presence just angered her. She hated herself, she hated them, she hated them being around so much. She hated them for their kindness because she felt like she was being pitied, doted upon like a helpless child.

Hate?

She stopped herself for a moment, in the middle of breakfast, barely paying any attention to what Applejack was saying about her farmwork, just idly chewing and nibbling at her alfalfa leaves, not feeling particularly hungry despite not having eaten anything substantial the majority of the week, her loss of weight more than enough proof of that.

Do I....I don't really hate them, do I?

That question weighed on her until she noticed someone step in through the front door, her eyes turning from the table to the yellow-furred pegasus that had walked in, packs and all, apparently she'd brought quite a few things with her today. Board games, more than likely, probably more Chess. That was so Fluttershy, using all of her unofficial studies in various types of medicine, even what little she knew of psychology, to know how to help a depressed friend who had simply shut down. Twilight hadn't even touched a book since coming back, and the few people that came in to borrow books dealt with Spike instead of her, in fact many of them preferred it.

Often times Twilight's mood was on a hair trigger, her anger an unstable boiling cauldron barely hidden under a frown and a gaze of indifference, as if she could tear into someone at any moment just as much as she could randomly give them a hug. She was unreadable, and that was how she wanted it. She didn't want them to see what she was feeling. Bottle it up, hide it, contain the anger and frustration....

"Twilight? Twilight, did you hear me? It's your move." Fluttershy said, waving a hoof in front of her face, that same usual serene smile crossing her lips. Applejack was still downstairs, cleaning up breakfast with Spike.

When did I get here?

She cringed inwardly at the thought of being so out of it that she was on auto-pilot, her lack of memory of even moving from one place to the next causing more irritation. That was all every day seemed to be. Building amounts of deeper and deeper levels of irritation, for more and more trivial things. Even now, just sitting here, with their usual Chess game, she was annoyed by the presence of her friends.

She wasn't tolerating it today, feeling a pressure deep down that was urging her to do something she didn't want to do. "Can you please just leave me alone today?" she tried to ask in as gentle a voice as she could, her eyes keeping their gaze down towards the ground.

Fluttershy wasn't surprised, but she couldn't help but feel a little upset by the request. "Really? Are you sure Twilight?" she asked, which only made the lavender Unicorn grimace a little. "I mean, maybe we could just go for a walk if you're feeling cooped up in here."

Her lips twisted more into a frown, her already fake smile devolving into a depressed scowl. "Please just get out."

Applejack walked back upstairs a moment later, smiling over at them. "Well y'all, I'm headin' on outta here....hey, Twi? Everythin' alright?" she asked, starting to approach them, but she was quickly interrupted by being....well, promptly ignored and cut off by Fluttershy, who seemed to gain a more assertive tone, despite being one of the most tame in the room.

She stayed still in her seat, looking to Twilight sternly while she spoke. "Twilight, you know I can't just leave you here like this. You shouldn't be left alone!"

Twilight gritted her teeth and inhaled sharply, quelling that intense burst of fury deep within her. Her forelegs were trembling against the edge of the table, she was fighting the compulsion so hard....she couldn't remember ever feeling like this, and it both scared her and made her even more angry. It was screaming at her, pulling at every fiber of her being...!

"Spike is always here with me, so just shut up and get out, please?" she said in a more threatening tone, glaring at Fluttershy now, that anger locked away starting to show itself the more she tried to hold it back. She felt like she was breaking again, but in a smaller way, as if the little bit of headway she'd made in pulling herself back together was falling apart in the face of such a daunting amount of negative emotion.

"Uh, Fluttershy? Maybe we should let Twi have some time to herself fer now." Applejack said, hoping to at least diffuse the situation enough to make the look in Twilight's eyes go away. She'd seen that look before, not with such....ferocity, but it meant nothing good, by any means.

Fluttershy didn't budge. "No, I'm not leaving. I'm not going to just let Twilight sit here and be-" she continued to say, still keeping her eyes locked with her further angered friend.

Spike began to fidget downstairs as he saw Twilight tensing more on her side of the Chess board. "GET OUT of my home!" she snarled out at her friend, easily the kindest friend she'd ever met. Some part of her was afraid, and upset, and angry, and....she didn't know what she was doing anymore!

"Whoa-hey now! C'mon now Twi, ah know yer not feelin' real nice or nothin', but ya don't gotta yell at us." AJ said as calmly as she could, holding a hoof out at her friend in hopes of placating her. She knew things were rapidly spiraling out of control, if Twilight's eye-twitch was any indication.

She glared over at AJ for a moment, then clenched her eyes shut and took a few deep breaths. "Shut up and get out. I said I want to be left alone and I mean it," she growled out, her eyes snapping open to glare straight at Fluttershy. ""I asked you as nicely as I can right now, so please leave....!"

Fluttershy sat quietly, staring Twilight down. "No. I'm not going anywhere."

Twilight was shaking now, that urge within her growing with every passing second. She looked like she was trying to speak, but words weren't coming out, just air, her head turning this way and that as if she were saying 'no' to something, but her eyes never shifting away from Fluttershy's gaze as a burning fury started to overtake her. She couldn't stop it, and it was either let it happen, or force it down, and whatever it was, it was persuading her in silence to let it out.

"GET OUT, damn it!"

With a swift movement, the Chess board had inadvertently been knocked out of the way, a forehoof swinging forward and across the small table it had been sitting on, the small stump table making for very little distance for her to reach before she connected with the side of Fluttershy's head. The distinct yelp of pain barely registered to her, that singular moment of release both sickening her and bringing her an immense satisfaction.

She was panting heatedly, glaring down at her laid-out friend, who was cringing in pain and holding her forehooves over one side of her face. A sharp sting of regret chilled her to the bone, putting all of that roiling fury to rest in an instant.

Applejack watched the entire exchange in shock. "Fluttershy! Twi, what in tarnation's-"

Applejack was cut off once again by Fluttershy, who quickly got to her hooves. "Stop!" she called out.

Twilight looked at her in surprise just the same as Applejack did, that chilling rush of regret built into a full-blown sense of betrayal and self-loathing when she saw the large red mark on Fluttershy's cheek, her hooves weakly stumbling back just a bit.

Fluttershy just looked to her with a content smile, the pain in her face ignored, for now. "Do you feel better now, Twilight?"

Pain. That hurt. She had caused pain, and it felt good for the moment, but now, it hurt. Her friend hurt, and thus so did she. She caused it, and was transfixed upon it, staring into Fluttershy's eyes, or rather, her face in general.

Her own thoughts were chewing away at her. It could have been worse, she could have summoned her magic and crushed her with her bed. She could have thrown her headfirst out of the window and she could have broken something, unable to catch herself in time. She could have-

A hug. Warmth. She snapped out of her thoughts with a blink, her transfixed stare and gleaming eyes brimming with tears, waiting to descend, disappearing as she felt the pegasus wrap her forelegs around Twilight's shoulders and just hug her.

"It's okay Twilight. I forgive you."

She recognized the pain she felt, at that point, and she gently hugged her friend in return, Applejack still not entirely sure what had just happened. Fluttershy gets decked, and she hugs the pony that decked her? That didn't make a lick of sense to someone like her, but then, she was a very straightforward kind of pony. She stayed for a moment longer to make sure nothing else happened, then walked back downstairs, waving to Spike on the way out.

"M'sorry, Fluttershy....I-I don't know what's wrong with me!"

Her friend only hugged her tighter. "You're just angry Twilight. It happens to the best of us."