She hated the smell of hospital rooms. Even though the medical wing was just a clinic, it still had that despicable smell. Sanitizing, burning, cold. It was still early, and her nose was getting used to working, but she could tell it was there.

She couldn't stop looking down at her, the morning light casting soft shadows on her face. It was scary when she left. For something like fifteen minutes, Pinkie just waited in bed, teetering on the edge of sleep, hoping that she'd pop back in through the half-open door. When she didn't, she went to find the Princesses.

Suddenly, a quiet yawn broke the veil of silence. Pinkie looked over at Twilight, whose eyes were barely half-open. After a moment, she sat up, her mouth hanging open in confusion. "Where..." she began to stammer, before she caught Pinkie's gaze and fell quiet, looking away. She knew what happened; it'd happened before. Her doctor said she had an 'affinity' for them.

"Morning, Twi," she said, smiling. "You can walk, right?"

She was silent for a moment. "... Yeah."

"Well, then, let's get downstairs. The others already started breakfast." She undid the latch on the bed-railing's gate and snapped it open, offering her hoof.

"What - what happened?" Twilight asked, an inflection in her voice suggesting she was looking for confirmation rather than an answer.

"You had an anxiety attack. Panic attack," Pinkie replied, rolling her eyes. "Silly. You know you're supposed to watch out for those. But we took care of you and stuff, and everything's fine now. Don't worry about it."

"How did I get back here?" she asked, her voice still a smooth monotone.

"Oh, um, I asked the Princess to send somepony out for you, and they found you and brought you back in."

"Was I conscious?"

Pinkie's smile slowly fell away. "Um... no," she replied, rather awkwardly. She still wasn't really sure how Twilight, well, was. She seemed frightened, fragile even. She wasn't making eye contact as they walked out the door into the large, cold marble hallway.

She'd assumed for a while now that she and Twilight were on the same level. They seemed to resonate, and a lot of what they felt, she recognized as okay to leave unsaid. But she wanted, more than anything else, to know what Twilight was thinking right then. It made her feel itchy in the pit of her stomach, like she swallowed sandpaper.

"Twilight," she began as they entered the main hall, bright early-morning light from the huge stained-glass windows making her squint for a moment. "Is there... something wrong?"

Twilight only sighed in response, but stopped walking. She looked behind her, down the long, empty hall. Pinkie turned to her, worried. "Are you still in the attack, or -"

"Pinkie, did I..." she interrupted, trailing off. She took a few small steps closer. "Did I abuse... did I - I mean, last night, did I..." she stammered. When she looked up, there were tears in her eyes.

Pinkie's ears fell against her head. "N-no, it was nothing, Twilight. You didn't do anything wr-"

"I promise - I swear - I will never - I could never let that happen again, and I'm - I'm so..."

"Twilight, please, it's fine. You didn't abuse anything." She took a step closer, and nuzzled her gently. The question seemed to come out of nowhere, and it set her mind to 'comfort' settings instantly. It's true, she didn't ask to start anything the night before, and they certainly didn't plan on it, but Pinkie... well, she was honestly alright with it. It was still new to her, and there was nothing that could really take that away. It was only when she realized that her marefriend wasn't quite in her right mind that she began to get genuinely worried.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Twilight was murmuring into her ear.

"I really don't mind, Twi. I - I still liked it, if that, you know, helps you feel any better."

Twilight pressed against her, firmly. Her cheekbone was hurting Pinkie's shoulder a little, but she kept her mouth shut. "What... what was it to you...?" she heard her ask in a whisper.

"It was just - it was an unexpected kind of - thing that just sort of -" she stammered, before stopping herself. She patted her shoulder gently. "It went a little fast, but I don't feel it abused anything," she added softly. "Are you oka-"

"Are you sure?" Twilight asked, sniffling and pulling away, the wetness gone from her eyes and replaced by a solid kind of seriousness that Pinkie rarely, rarely saw in her. "I won't let it happen again. I promise."

"What, you mean, like, ever? Because..." she left off, killing the joke before it began. Twilight wasn't ready to smile yet. "I know you won't, Twi."

The breakfast table was surprisingly small. It wasn't in the main dining hall, it was in a back room, a bit cluttered and a little antique (to say the least), and the Princesses, with their literally nebulous manes and super-pony height, laughing and joking more than some of the four others already there, seemed jarringly out-of-place.

Pinkie followed Twilight, who'd managed to calm down to a degree. The room carried a genuine, lighthearted mien and smelled like breakfast should, with warm biscuits and everything.

Twilight still wasn't sure what was running through her head, but she didn't like it. She feared the afternoon, and every second it crept over the horizon she became more and more terrified of confronting it. Pinkie told her that it was going to be okay, and she knew she should trust that, but there were so many what-ifs that she couldn't shake. She didn't even want to sit down near the Princess, knowing that it was possible that she ruined something.

That's the feeling. It was guilt. Guilt and fear mixed together in a sort of despicable compound. She felt sick to her stomach.

"Look who's up," Applejack said first, a smile still on her face. "You okay, sugarcube?"

"You gave the Royal Guard quite a scare," Princess Luna added, with a laugh.

"You sent the Royal... you - you didn't have to," Twilight began, looking down and moving a hoof along the tiled ground.

"Oh, it's fine, Twilight," Princess Celestia said with a dismissive wave. "Pull up a seat."

"So, um," Pinkie began, scooting on a chair up to the table, "you guys just... eat here?"

Princess Luna looked up from her blueberry muffin. "Oh, us? Of course. We don't use the big hall very often, after all; it's rather... big."

Princess Celestia and a few others chuckled, before they were cut short by Twilight, sounding meeker now than she did when she first entered. "Did... was I far out...? From the castle, I - I mean," she added with a stammer.

"Um..." Princess Celestia replied, glancing around the room and setting down her teacup.

"It doesn't matter," Princess Luna stepped in for her sister, with a small smile. "The important thing is that we're all here now, and you're safe."

"I... I understand," Twilight replied slowly, putting her head in a hoof. The room had grown uncomfortably quiet again, and Twilight glanced over the table silently. The Princesses were, despite what they may have been trying to do, still obviously the Princesses; Fluttershy was quiet, Rainbow Dash was tired, Rarity was relaxed, Applejack was her genial morning self; and she could feel the worried glanced from Pinkie whether she was looking over at her or not.

"You know, it's rather unlikely that there'll be a problem, Twilight," Rarity interjected. "The Princesses have told us all about it. Even if there is something wrong, not much'll change -"

"It's not the test," Twilight said quietly. "It's just everything. I'm - I'm sorry for the trouble," she added, to the Princesses. "I'll be fine. I'm sorry."

Luna opened her mouth to say something, but with a silent look from her sister, she closed it again, and nodded. "We're glad to hear that. Okay," she began, slightly louder. "We're going to begin the tests at 12:00 and we should end in less than 3 hours; we had to postpone slightly. Until then, please relax in the Castle. There's enough here for everypony." She stood, Princess Celestia following suit.. "My sister and I will be on Board; session opens today in Parliament, and the timeslot's opened up."

"Thank you very much, Princesses," Rarity said with a small bow of the head.

The group watched the Princesses as they left, and watched Twilight as she quickly excused herself after.

Pinkie looked around at the others, and scooted her chair in as Rainbow Dash walked out as well, her head down and her hoofstep light and close together. She stared down at the empty plate in the silence for a moment, and leaned her head on a hoof. "... I don't think that we'll pass the test today."

Applejack looked down at her plate as well, but Rarity looked over at her. "You don't? Why?"

"Just... have a feeling."

"Oh," Rarity replied. "Well, perhaps there's still a chance. One way or another, the only real problem is that we might need to make two more friends," she said with a smile. "I'm not really worried. Is anypony else?"

After a quiet second, a small voice nearby spoke up. "I'm just sorry for Twilight. She seems so upset about everything. I think she thinks the Princess is angry at her."

Pinkie stood. "Excuse me," she said, a hint of her usual Pinkie-ness coming back to her. "I know now what I must do."

The library wasn't silent - not this time. A small, tinny radio played an infomercial where a stallion with a manufactured-sounding voice rattled off the pros and lack of cons about a new type of blender. Twilight, as Pinkie expected, was lying silently on a padded bench, a book open in front of her and her horn providing some extra light in the shadow of the large bookcases around them.

Pinkie walked quietly in, the platter on her back balanced carefully. "Hey, Twilight," she said, trying to put a note of cheer in her voice.

"Did you bring any whiskey?"

"Whiskey - what? No! Why?" she asked, giggling.

"It's the strongest thing that I think would be in the castle," she replied in a partial monotone, shutting the radio off with a wave of magic.

Pinkie walked over to her, nudging her gently with her muzzle. "No, but I brought biscuits."

"Did you make them yourself?"

"Yeah."

There was silence for a second as the book closed gently with a wisp of pink magic and fell to its side. "... Thanks."

Pinkie took a few steps towards her, and opened her mouth, but took back what she was going to say. Instead, she sat down next to her, slipping the platter onto the floor. Twilight glanced up at her and looked away quickly, pulling herself up to the sitting position as well (still about half a foot away from Pinkie) and shifting her stare to the floor.

Pinkie smiled. "Nice try," she said, reaching a hoof around her and pulling her close. With her other hoof, she turned her head gently towards her own, and her smile fell. Without a sound, she reached around her and pulled her into a tight embrace, her muzzle fitting nicely into her marefriend's shoulder. "You scared me so much. Celestia, I'm so glad you're okay," she whispered, nuzzling further into her.

Twilight said nothing for a moment. "I feel awful," she replied momentarily, with a stuttered sigh.

"You don't understand," Pinkie replied, shifting her hooves on Twilight's back. "I love you so much. I love everything about you."

"Don't - don't say that."

"No, I do. I have for the longest time now, and I'm so, so glad that..." she trailed off. "I feel so small compared to you, Twilight."

Twilight didn't say anything, but pulled away from the embrace, and looked into her marefriend's face, stuttering to find an answer. Her eyes were red and her mane wasn't brushed - everything that she'd experienced the last few days was clear on her face.

"I do. You're so much to me, really." She paused. "I - I don't want to get too mushy or anything. I'm sorry, I just... every time I see you, I just..."

"Pinkie, I love you, too," Twilight replied, her voice low and unsteady. "I really do. Don't say that kind of -"

"Why?"

Twilight seemed to freeze for a moment. "I... suppose because you're funny, and you're so gentle to me. You love me back."

Pinkie nodded, the excess emotion appearing to drift away piece by piece. "There's one more reason." Twilight scowled at this, but Pinkie placed her hoof gently on her foreleg, drawing it down to come to rest on her hoof. "I know you, Twilight. You know you, too. What's that last reason?"

"You... you're comfortable," she managed, her mouth hanging open for a moment after she said it. "And - and I want that. I want to be comfortably... in love."

"So why do you do this to me?"

Twilight looked up at her from her hooves, tears coming to her eyes. "What? No, I - I'm sorry, I didn't mean -"

"Cheer up. Please. I hate seeing you worry. I want to see a smile from you, of all ponies." She smiled, less out of joy and more mischievous. "For me."

Twilight paused, wiping a tear from her eye with her other hoof. Of course that's what she was doing. Why couldn't she see that? It made her feel awful, less because of what she did to Pinkie and more because she should have seen through such a basic trick. Getting her guilted into feeling better. "You're a genius. I hate you so much," she said, smiling. "I'm sorry. But you know why I'm worried. You should know. You know what Princess Celestia means to me."

Pinkie rolled her eyes, every bit of the previous emotion drained away. "She's not mad."

"She's not, no," Twilight agreed, looking up and around at the bookcases. "But I know her more than you do. She's disappointed."

"Twilight -"

"She is. It's subtle, but she is. I need to think of some way for this afternoon to go well."

The library settled, and the only sounds were light hoofstep and birdsong from outside. There was a sort of warmth Twilight felt from Pinkie - she knew Pinkie only wanted her to be happy. That's part of why she loved her. Her hoof around Twilight's back, pressing her tightly to her side, accomplished that. Despite herself, she smiled.

"You know," Pinkie said in that tone that nobody but Twilight ever got to hear. "I meant everything I said."

"Yeah." Twilight felt something nagging at her, and tried to verbalize it. "I didn't mean you're only good for comfort, Pinkie. I meant that I'm comfortable with you. You're an amazing pony, though."

"Twilight?" A pause. "... Do you think that this'll last?"

"Us?"

"Yeah."

"Not all romances do, Pinkie, but... I really hope it does."

She could feel in her side the subtle movement from a smile. "Well, we may as well make the most of it. Do you want to go back to the room?"

"We only have a few hours until -"

"Do you want to go back to the room?"

"Yes."

The wind whipped around the balcony, a vicious, icy breeze that carried frost from the north. Dash was shivering, until she felt the warmth of somepony she recognized immediately against her wings. "H-hi, Shy."

"Hi, Dash."

Dash frowned, and turned her head around. Fluttershy was lying across her, so light that she was barely felt. "Thank you," she blurted after a moment.

"Hm?"

She sighed. "I was just thinking about how this all started. Without you asking me, we would've both died without this. Thank you."

Fluttershy simply smiled. "You're gonna get me all emotional. Stop doing that."

Dash laughed shortly and moved, lying on her back and allowing Fluttershy to fall across her chest. She was like a thick blanket, but softer. Every day, she would want to wake up next to that. She brought her closer with a hoof and kissed her gently, loving the squeak that came with it. Why is she so soft? Why didn't we do this years ago? A decade ago? "Why won't you marry me?" she asked quietly.

"I will."

"But why not now?"

"I just..." she paused. "Marriage is a heavy thing, Dash. I don't know whether I'm ready. We're young, you know, and we might not be able to manage. I will, though, but I need time." She shifted closer to her. "I want everything to be perfect," she added with a kiss to the neck.

"But -" Dash sat up, flapping her wings "- I wouldn't ever allow myself to - to do anything wrong to you, Shy. I couldn't. Imagine it - we're married. Together. We get a new house, grow your business alongside my whole flying thing, and... we could just be happy." She cursed quietly, under her breath. "But we'd be bogged down by the paparazzi. They wouldn't st -" She cut herself short. "What if we fail the test?"

Fluttershy looked up at her in surprise. "What?"

"If we do, one of us has to stop being an Element, because together we'd throw off the magic system or whatever. So the paparazzi would eventually leave us alone." She put her head back. "It could work, too."

"But... we can't intentionally fail the test," Fluttershy replied. "I don't even know how we could."

"I know," Dash said. "We could just hope."

Fluttershy rolled over, lying alongside her marefriend. "Dash... I do really want to marry you. But please, for our friends' sakes, just try your best. I promise we'll eventually make it work."

"They were there when I proposed."

"I know."

"I hate them so much. It was supposed to just be us and our friends."

"I know."

"Celestia, you're beautiful."

"I -" She stopped herself with a giggle. "Stop."