Twilight stirred awake. She raised herself on one hoof and looked around the room. She was the first one to wake up. This was good; she would need time to figure out a way to reintroduce Fluttershy to Pinkamena. If all went well, Twilight would be able to slowly introduce the idea of being friends with a cannibal to Fluttershy. Or she would be able to dodge the conflict entirely and Fluttershy would never have to know. The latter option would probably be better.

She got up and began pacing around the room. Twilight’s mind buzzed with ways to protect what was left of Fluttershy’s innocence, and ways to get Pinkamena to play along. After a minute, Twilight decided that her best bet would be to convince Fluttershy that everything that was happening was actually a drug fueled hallucination, and that she was still laying in hospital bed somewhere. It wouldn’t be too hard to fake evidence; all Twilight would have to do was find one of Sleipnir’s more outlandish features and show it to Fluttershy.

Twilight shook her head. There were so many things wrong with her plan that she doubted that any part of it could work. Still, it was better than nothing. And who knows, maybe it’ll work long enough for Twilight to come up with a better plan?

Her pacing came to an end when she noticed the little green bottle lying a few feet from Fluttershy’s makeshift bed. On impulse, Twilight walked over to the bottle and inspected the label. There was better lighting in book room and so Twilight was now able to find out what the bottle contained.

The label said, ‘One a day Vitamins for mares. Brought to you by the Goodfellow Company.’

She turned the bottle over to see if she could find any information on the vitamins, but couldn’t even find so much as an expiration date. Instead, Twilight found the image of an oil lantern printed in a shade of green so dark that it almost appeared black.

Twilight starred at the image for a full minute. It reminded her of something, but she couldn’t quite place a hoof on what it was. As her mind wandered, the laugh of the hooded figure echoed throughout the room, sending a chill down Twilight’s spine.

She quickly opened the bottle and dumped its contents out onto the floor. What came out was an object that looked like a gumdrop and a folded sheet of paper. Twilight placed the gumdrop back into the bottle and unfolded the sheet of paper. It read;

Twilight read over the poem several times, trying to find some deeper meaning behind it. The first letter of each line didn’t spell anything, and there weren’t any metaphor as far as Twilight could tell. It seemed to be straight forward enough, but something about it still bothered her.

Twilight snorted. At least she now had a name for the hooded figure; Goodfellow. She didn’t trust that name, something about it made her hair stand on end, but at least it seemed that it was helping. For now.

She turned the bottle over so that a single fell gumdrop onto her hoof then inspected it. It was green and smelled strongly of citrus but Twilight couldn’t detect any poison, not that that meant much. She raised the gumdrop to her mouth and took a miniscule bite out of it. If it was poisoned, Twilight would get sick in a few moments but wouldn’t suffer any severe consequences.

She sat still for several minutes, focusing all her attention on detecting any trace of poison in her system. After those several minutes had passed without getting so much as a stomachache, Twilight judged that the vitamins were safe for consumption and got up to give one to Fluttershy.

The pegasus mare was still asleep when Twilight got to her. Twilight shook her gently and whispered, “Fluttershy, wake up. I’ve got some food for you.”

Fluttershy opened her remaining eye and turned to look at Twilight, “Oh, Twilight, I had the scariest dream last night. I’m glad you’re here though…” her words drifted off and she fell asleep again.

Twilight shook her again, this time a little more violently. Fluttershy raised her arms to fend Twilight off and said, “Okay, Rainbow, I’ll go with you to the cider line. Just let me…” She opened her eye and looked around the room a few times and then at Twilight. “feed my animals... Twilight, where am I?”

“Sleipnir,” Twilight answered, not quite sure what to make of the situation.

“Oh, so it wasn’t a nightmare,” Fluttershy said, her eye was beginning to turn watery. “And those ponies really did…” Fluttershy choked and a trail of tears began flowing down the side of her face. She turned over and began sobbing into her pillow.

Twilight wanted to say something, anything, but the words were stuck in her throat. She couldn’t even bring herself to try and tell Fluttershy that none of it was real.

“Fluttershy,” Twilight said after a minute.

Fluttershy sniffed and then said through the pillow, “Yes?”

Twilight took a deep breath and carefully thought out what she was about to say, “I need you to get up and eat something.”

Fluttershy raised her head from the pillow, “What?”

Twilight handed her the gumdrop. “It isn’t much, but it’s all I have. You’re going to need all the food you can get to get your health back.”

Fluttershy looked at the gumdrop questioningly, then popped it in her mouth and swallowed. Pleased with this, Twilight went to check up on Pinkamena. The pink mare was still fast asleep when Twilight approached her. This was good; the more time Pinkamena was asleep, the more time Twilight would have to come up with a plan.

“Is something wrong?” Fluttershy asked, “Why did you walk away?”

Twilight’s stomach sank. “Um… N-nothing!” she said with a forced grin. “Just, just go back to sleep. Okay?”

Fluttershy pressed her arms against the floor tried to push herself into a sitting position. Options ran through Twilight’s mind like rockets. She could force Fluttershy to lie down, solve the problem that way, but she might hurt her. She could position herself so that she block Fluttershy’ view of Pinkamena, but she would have to calculate the angle and it was just too risky. Maybe she could drag Pinkamena out of the way before Fluttershy…

“Pinkie?” Fluttershy asked, now completely sitting up. “Pinkie Pie, is that you?”

Twilight stole a quick glance at Pinkamena. Fluttershy hadn’t been loud enough to wake her; there was still time to stop this before…

Fluttershy had gotten onto all fours and was attempting to crawl to Pinkamena. Twilight’s mind rang in alarm as she tried to think of way to handle the situation. With a considerable amount of mental effort, Twilight got in between Fluttershy and Pinkamena.

She said, “Not now, Fluttershy, Pinka-ie’s had a long day and needs some sleep.”

Fluttershy looked up pleadingly at Twilight, “Please Twilight? I haven’t seen her in so long. It’ll just be a minute, okay?”

Twilight clenched her teeth. Half of her wanted Fluttershy to be reunited with her friend, and the other wanted to keep her as far away from Pinkamena as possible. It was like the door to the head room all over again, only this time it wasn’t just Twilight’s safety that was on the line.

‘If anything goes wrong,’ a voice in Twilight’s head whispered, ‘then I can hold Pinkamena back long enough for Fluttershy to get away.’

‘Fluttershy can barely move on her own. Even if she does somehow get away, who’s gonna protect her from Sleipnir’s other inhabitants?’

‘In that case, I only have to hold her back long enough for Pinkie to calm down. She’s not a bull charging a red cape, she has some self control. Besides, I have to introduce them sooner or later, unless I intend to constantly knock Fluttershy unconscious.’

‘Okay, that’s a good point. I’ll risk it, but if anything goes wrong I’ll tear you to… wait, aren’t I talking to myself?’

‘Yes, I tend to do that when…’

“Twilight?” Flutttershy said, snapping Twilight out of her thoughts, “Are you okay? You went quiet for a while there.”

“Um, yes, I’m fine, just thinking.” Twilight said, briefly wondering if she was developing schizophrenia, “Anyway, I’ll wake up Pinkie Pie and let her know you’re up. Just give me a minute.”

“Okay. I’ll crawl back my sheets, this floor is cold.”

While Fluttershy crawled back to the makeshift bed, Twilight turned and approached the sleeping earth pony. She placed a hoof on Pinkamena’s chest and gently shook her.

Pinkamena’s eyes sprang open and she beamed at Twilight, flashing a good number of pointed teeth.

“Morning Twilight!” Pinkamena said happily as she stretched, “Are you ready to go hunting for some breakfast?”

“Sure, in minute.” Twilight answered, trying to position herself so that Pinkamena wouldn’t see Fluttershy. “First I need to talk to you about… about…” The words caught in Twilight’s throat.

“Is this about Fluffy?” Pinkamena asked, her smile fading, “I know that was hard for you, it was hard for me too. But we can’t…”

“It’s not about that.” Twilight said, “It’s, um… It’s…”

“Excuse me,” Fluttershy said faintly, “But who’s Fluffy?”

Pinkamena got up and looked at Fluttershy disbelievingly. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but all that came out was low gurgle. Then, without warning, Pinkamena bent over as if she was about to vomit. Then, just as quickly, she stood straight up and looked a Fluttershy, and then at Twilight. Her eyes began darting around the room widely. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Pinkamena gulped, tried to smile, and then ran shrieking into the hallway.

Fluttershy and Twilight looked at each other, both in shock at what just happened.

“What just happened?” Fluttershy asked.

“I don’t know,” Twilight answered, “but I’m gonna go find out.”

Twilight turned to chase after Pinkamena. She was almost out the door when, behind her, Fluttershy cried, “It’s me, isn’t it? She saw me like this and…” whatever Fluttershy was going to say was lost in a stream of tears.

Twilight’s heart lurched. “No, it’s not that,” she said. “It’s something else. I’ll go talk to her. She’s been going through some stuff lately. I’ll be back soon.”

Without saying another word, Twilight followed Pinkamena’s path into the hallway and closed the door behind her. Twilight scanned the hallway, looking for any where Pinkamena could’ve gone. There were doors lining both sides of hall, but none of them seemed to have been opened in years. Twilight strained her ears, listening for Pinkamena’s hoof steps, but Fluttershy’s crying interfered with her.

Twilight’s heart sank. Leaving Fluttershy alone was the last thing she wanted to do, but right then finding Pinkamena was more important.

‘You could just leave her you know.’ The intrusive part of Twilight’s brain said, ‘She’s a cannibal, a killer. She’s no better than any of the other Sleipnir inhabitants.’

Twilight ignored this thought. She had never given up on a friend before and she wasn’t going to start now.

She was just about ready to start searching the rooms one by one, when a loud BANG echoed from the opposite end of the hall. Twilight raced to the source of the noise and came upon an open door with the number six painted on it. Twilight entered the room and found Pinkamena beating her head against the corner of an office desk.

“Monster! Monster! Monster!” Pinkamena shrieked; punctuating each word by slamming her head into the desk.

“Pinkamena?” Twilight asked. Pinkamena either hadn’t heard or chose to ignore her. Instead, she kept harming herself with the table.

“Pinkie Pie.” Still no response. It was as if Pinkamena was completely oblivious to everything around her. “Come on Pinkie, knock it off.”

After a few minutes of futilely trying to get Pinkamena’s attention, Twilight gave up on the effort and switched to a more pragmatic solution. She walked up to Pinkamena tapped her gently on the head.

As soon as Twilight touched her, the pink mare shrieked and kicked her in the stomach.

Twilight flew back, skidding to a stop at the opposite side of the room. Twilight picked herself up as she tried to process what was going on, but what interrupted by a loud, animalistic cry coming from the other side of the room.

Pinkamena threw herself on Twilight, knocking her on her side. Dazed, Twilight tried to get up again, but Pinkamena held her down.

Twilight turned her head to look at Pinkamena. The pink mare barred her sharp teeth in a snarl that made her look more like a wolf than a pony. Her eyes were wild and unfocused, their whites bloodshot from crying and madness.

Twilight’s heart trembled as she looked into the monstrous face. Was this her fate? Was she going to die here and become dinner for a former friend?

‘No,’ Twilight thought, ‘if I die here, there’ll be no pony to stop her from killing Fluttershy.’

“Pinkie,” Twilight said, her voice cracking from fear, “y-you have to calm down. This isn’t you. You have to get a hold of…”

Pinkamena snarled. She was too far gone for Twilight to reach her. Realizing this, Twilight closed her eyes and resigned herself to fate. Hopefully it would be quick.

Twilight felt Pinkamena’s face dig into her side. Sharp teeth plowed through her fur and feathers until they met with a snap. Pinkamena placed her hooves on Twilight’s flank and shoulder and pushed as she tore herself a morsel. Twilight felt something pull off of her, and whimpered. It didn’t hurt as badly as she had expected. Perhaps her mind had somehow shut off pain receptors in its final moments, so that she wouldn’t have to die in agony.

No, that wasn’t it. Something was off about this. She should’ve felt the blood from the wound on her skin, pain or no pain. Was she already dead? Had Pinkamena killed her so thoroughly that she hadn’t even noticed?

A sharp pain in Twilight’s side was her answer. It wasn’t the pain that came with having her skin ripped off. No, this felt more like she had been struck with a carriage whip. A quick glance to where Pinkamena bit showed that she had gotten a mouthful of the rubber strap binding Twilight’s wings.

Twilight got up and found Pinkamena sputtering and licking her arms, “Ew, ew, icky!”

“Pinkie?” Twilight asked cautiously.

Pinkamena looked around the room and then at Twilight, a confused expression on her face. “Twilight, where are we? How did we get here?”

“You don’t remember?” Twilight asked, surprised.

Pinkamena shook her head. “Last thing I remember is waking up, talking to you and…” the fur around Pinkamena’s face turned a dark shade of red, “seeing Fluttershy and having a freak out.”

“You did more than that; you nearly bit my wing off.”

Pinkamena reacted as if Twilight had struck her with a sledge hammer. Twilight thought she could see a small part of the pink pony die inside. She curled up into the fetal position and began crying into her hooves.

“Can’t do anything right. Every pony I love… Why am I a monster? Why? Why Why?”

“Pinkie?” Twilight asked, fearing that she might trigger another relapse.

Pinkamena looked up from her hooves. “Oh, Twilight, I forgot to ask if you were okay. I mean, I should after I – after I…” Pinkamena choked and broke out crying again. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean it! I-I, Twilight, kill me please. I don’t want to live, I don’t deserve to live. Please, kill me!” Pinkamena fell onto the floor and wailed.

Twilight thought about it. Was Pinkamena going to be a threat to her and Fluttershy? What if Pinkamena was slowly deteriorating into a monster like Sam? If so, then how long did she have?

Twilight shook her head, “No, Pinkie, I’m not going to kill you. You’re my friend, and… and you did manage to snap yourself out of it.” Pinkamena kept crying as if she hadn’t heard. Twilight went up to her and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Come on, there’s some pony who would be very happy to you.”

Pinkamena looked up, eyes wet with fresh tears, “Fluttershy, right? I-I’m not sure if I should. After what I’ve done, I don’t think I could look at her.”

Twilight didn’t know what to say. Once more she was caught between Scylla and Charybdis. Part of her wanted to make Pinkamena feel better, but she also didn’t want to suggest that she condoned her actions.

“Come on, Pinkie. Fluttershy has been worried about you, and besides, you’re going to have to approach her eventually. Unless you want to be left behind?”

Pinkamena took a deep breath. “Okay, I’ll try. But what if I lose control again? What if I finish what I… what if I hurt her?”

Twilight didn’t have an answer. She wasn’t even able to defend herself against Pinkamena, how was she going to protect Fluttershy?

Twilight sighed, “I don’t know. But Fluttershy is probably really upset right now because you running away; and I don’t want to leave her alone for much longer. We’ll figure this out later, when we have time.”

Pinkamena looked uncertain. Twilight couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t exactly the most well thought out plan. She was avoiding the problem and she knew it. But at the moment, Twilight didn’t know what else to do.

“Okay, I’ll go see her.” Pinkamena said as she got up. “At least I’ll get to see Fluttershy smile.”

Moments later they were down the hall, retracing their steps back to the book room. Pinkamena dragged her feet behind her as they went and kept looking down. She kept muttering to herself fidgeting with her hooves.

Twilight kept trying to reaffirm that Fluttershy wanted to see her, but all she seemed to do was make her more hesitant.

“I know she wants to see me,” Pinkamena said after the fifth time Twilight mentioned it, “but I’m not sure that I should see her. I think we’ve been over why.”

Twilight didn’t have an answer for that. All she could think about how simpler things had been back in Ponyville, in a time that now seemed like a myth to her. It occurred to her then that having Pinkamena around Fluttershy at all probably wasn’t a good idea, that she should just have Fluttershy stay asleep as much as possible and forbid Pinkie from ever talking to her. But that would only delay the inevitable.

They were almost at the door when Pinkamena collapsed onto the floor.

“I can’t do it!” She said, “I-I…” Pinkamena dry heaved and sputtered. She was shaking like a foal in winter. “Too much blood on my hooves, she’ll never… Twilight, I can’t breathe!”

Twilight flew into a panic. A long list of medical conditions raced through her mind as she tried to comprehend what was happening.

“Pinkie, what’s wrong?”

“My legs feel like needles and my…” Pinkamena dry heaved again.

Twilight let out a sigh of relief. “You’re having a panic attack. You need to calm yourself down. Focus on breathing.”

Pinkamea sputtered again, and then inhaled. She held her breath for a few seconds then coughed. She repeated this cycle for a few minutes, until she was able to exhale normally.

“Feeling better?” Twilight asked when Pinkamena stopped shaking.

Pinkamena nodded and wiped a speck of drool from her lower lip. She picked herself and took a step towards the door.

“Okay, I think I’m ready.”

Twilight opened the door.

Twilight walked into the room first with Pinkamena not far behind. Fluttershy had gone back to sleep since Twilight left her, but there were still damp spots on her pillow from when she had been crying.

“Do you want to wake her up, or should I?” Twilight asked.

“I’ll do it.” Pinkamena answered as she crept closer to Fluttershy.

Pinkamena bent down on one knee and reached out to touch Fluttershy. Her hoof was less than an inch away from Fluttershy’s muzzle when Pinkamena drew it back and said, “No, never mind. I’m-I’m afraid I’ll have another episode.”

Twilight nodded.

She and Pinkamena swapped places and Twilight gently placed a hoof on Fluttershy’s chest and shook her.

Fluttershy’s eye opened; still red from crying. Her gaze met Twilight’s and she smiled.

“Twilight, you’re back.” Fluttershy said. A faint smile stretched across her face. “Did you find Pinkie?”

“Yes, she’s right here.” Twilight answered. She motioned for Pinkamena, who had wandered about three meters away, to come forward. She didn’t at first, but after Twilight motioned again she walked slowly to Fluttershy, her eyes at her feet.

Fluttershy’s face lit up, “Pinkie, I haven’t seen you in so long! Is everything okay? You seemed upset earlier.”

“Everything is fine.” Pinkamena said. She looked like she was about to be sick, and Twilight feared that she might have another breakdown. “I’m glad to see that you’re- that you’re…” Pinkamena choked and a stream of tears came pouring down the sides of her face. She threw herself onto Fluttershy and hugged her tightly.

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m sorry.” Pinkamena cried.

“Pinkie, it’s not your fault.” Fluttershy said.

Twilight tensed up. She had no way of stopping Pinkamena from revealing her past to Fluttershy, or anyway to soften the blow.

“But I… Nevermind, I’m glad you’re better now.” Pinkamena got off of Fluttershy and wiped her cheeks. “I’ll have to throw you a party when we get home.” Pinkamena forced a smile.

Fluttershy looked at Pinkamena, the smile fading from her face. “Is everything alright, Pinkie? You’ve been acting strangely and… what’s wrong with your teeth?”

“What? Nothing!” Pinkamena said, holding a hoof over her mouth, “I just…”

“Pinkie tripped over a rock a few days ago and shattered her teeth.” Twilight said. It wasn’t the best thing to tell her, but it was better than the truth. “We had to replace them, and Colgate only had wolf teeth on hand.”

“Oh, okay. But, why is she acting so unlike herself?”

“Because-Because…” Pinkamena said, getting flustered.

“Is it because of those ponies?” Fluttershy asked.

“What ponies?” Pinkamena asked in turn.

“Yesterday, I think, Twilight took me upstairs and when saw some ponies that did… things. Horrible things to each other. They made fun of each other, taunted each other, and I think they might’ve…” Fluttershy whimpered and pulled the bed sheet over herself.

Pinkamena shot a mean look at Twilight who smiled guiltily.

“We’ll talk about that later.” Pinkamena muttered before putting on a happy face again. “Right now, I’m just glad you’re okay.”

“Thank you.” Fluttershy said, pulling her face out from the covers.

None of them knew what to say after that and several minutes passed in silence. Occasionally Pinkamena looked like she was going to say something, but instead kept her mouth shut and looked away.

“So, do either of you know when we’re going to get home?” Fluttershy asked, breaking the silence. “Twilight told me about this place, she said it was some kind of prison. I don’t want to stay here. Is there any way out?”

Twilight looked down and kicked at the floor. “No; at least not one that I’m aware of. Pinkie and I have pretty much been making it up as we go along.”

Pinkamena nodded, “Yeah, the only ones who would know how to get out of here would be Dread and Dr. Layne.”

Fluttershy looked at Twilight, confused.

“The doctors who took care of you.” Twilight explained.

“Oh.” Fluttershy said.

“Anyway,” Twilight continued, “we got separated from them a couple of nights ago and haven’t seen them since. We have an idea of where they are but to get there we would have to go through the hospital.”

“Which wouldn’t be so bad if there weren’t a swarm of psychos up there ready to kill us.” Pinkamena said.

“There weren’t that many last night.” Fluttershy said.

Pinkamena shot another dirty look at Twilight saying, “We’re going to have a LOT of things to talk about later, won’t we?”

Twilight shrunk away from Pinkamena. “Well at least three ponies shouldn’t be too much of a problem.”

Pinkamena grunted, “I guess not. So are we going now or later?”

Twilight took a step back, “What? It’s a bit early to be deciding that, don’t you think?”

Pinkamena shrugged, “We were planning on going there anyway. The only thing that’s changed is that Fluttershy’s awake now. Besides, I want Dread to have a look at her as soon as possible.”

Twilight closed her eyes and sighed. “Alright, we’ll leave now, just give me a moment to pack up Fluttershy’s things.”

“I’ll do that. You just carry Fluttershy, okay?”

Pinkamena helped Fluttershy onto Twilight’s back and then set to folding up the bed sheets. While she was packing, Twilight wandered over to the book of Newt and placed it between her wing and the strap binding it down. The strap had loosened up since Pinkamena bit it, so it wasn’t uncomfortable.

She wanted to know what Dread thought of the book, and maybe find a way to use it.

After a few minutes passed, Pinkamena said that she was done packing, and the three left the book room behind.

Author's Notes:

This will be the last update before Season five begins. I first started writing a little over a year ago as a way to practice writing. As such, I would like to ask if I've improved my writing at all since I've started.