Twilight took a deep breath. Her friends were waiting outside to see Rainbow Dash. They had no idea what would await them. She turned to Rainbow who was squirming impatiently.

“Hey, you have guests.” Twilight told her. Rainbow’s ears perked up and she looked at Twilight curiously. “Yeah, they’re friends. I promise they won’t hurt you.” Twilight responded unsure of how the pegasus will react. She then walked over to the door and opened it with her magic.

Standing on the other side were four confused ponies. All of them looked like they didn’t get much sleep the night before and Twilight was sure she looked the same. Applejack had her hat on so it covered her eyes. Rarity’s mane was a mess but she had flowers held in her magical grip. Fluttershy looked curiously around, every possible worse case scenario going through her head. Finally Pinkie Pie’s mane was starting to get a little bounce back, though Twilight wasn’t sure if it was her mood improving or just messy from last night.

“She’s awake?” Rarity asked, breaking the silence and Twilight nodded in response.

“She is.” Twilight bit her lip, unsure of what to tell her friends. At a loss of words she just silently stepped aside to let her friends in the room.

They all rushed in and saw Rainbow Dash restrained to the bed. All of their eyes gazed over the bandages that were around her torso, legs, and head. None of them missed the look on her face. It was the look of seeing somepony, recognizing them, but not remembering who they were. In the silence of the room Twilight swore she could hear hearts breaking.

“Rainbow, it’s us.” Applejack stepped forward and lifted her hat to get a better look at her friend. “Your friends.” Rainbow Dash cocked her head and looked at all of them assembled at the foot of her bed. Her eyes then fell on Twilight who walked up from behind the mares after closing the door.

“Mommy!” She called, squirming again. Rarity gasped, Applejack lowered her hat, Fluttershy whimpered and Pinkie stared at her hooves. Rainbow looked at them, a puzzled expression on her face. Why were they reacting that way? Twilight sighed.

“The brain damage is bad.” She explained to the group, trying to keep her voice level. “She’ll need constant care that Ponyville General cannot provide. The doctors want to move her to Canterlot.”

“They can’t do that!” Rarity raised her voice. “She’s our friend! We can’t leave her!” Twilight shook her head.

“I know, that’s why I…” Twilight started to say, but remembering the abuse of her power left a bitter taste in her mouth worse than the hospital food. “I ordered that they release her to me.” She hung her head.

“They’ll release her to you? Twi, do ya think that’s a good idea?” Applejack spoke up.

“We can’t leave her…” Fluttershy muttered.

“They’re getting the discharge papers now.” Twilight explained, her decision was final.

“What are we going to do?” Pinkie Pie spoke up for the first time since they got here. Twilight held a sturdy gaze.

“I’m going to take her with me.” Twilight stated.

“Twilight, darling you can’t just put this all on yourself.” Rarity tried to reason with the alicorn but to no avail for they all knew when Twilight Sparkle put her mind to something, absolutely nothing was going to stop her.

“It’s my fault that she crashed.” Twilight scuffed a hoof on the linoleum floor.

“Don’t say that!” Fluttershy gasped. “It was an accident.”

“We can all help take care of her.” Rarity offered. “We can all take a week to watch over her while she heals.” Twilight shook her head.

“Then what?” Applejack retorted. “Will she ever come back to herself?”

“I…I don’t know…” Twilight looked away from the assembled ponies and back to Rainbow Dash. “But I do know,” She turned to look back at her friends with a renewed look of vigor and determination. “What I do know is that Rainbow Dash would never abandon her friends. The least we can do is return the favor.” With that the mares assembled nodded in agreement.

There was a knock at the door and the mint-colored nurse walked in with papers and a wheelchair wrapped in her magical grip.

“Hello,” she greeted with a nod of her head before turning her attention to Twilight. “Her discharge papers are all ready.” She passed the stack to Twilight before unhooking the IV from Rainbow Dash.

“We can take ‘er home?” Applejack asked. The nurse nodded.

“Yes. She’s healed enough to not require hospitalization.” The nurse ruffled Dash’s mane and she undid the restraints. Rainbow squirmed trying to get out of bed. When the restraints were off the restless pegasus got to her hooves. She stood on the bed triumphantly for a moment, before her weak legs wobbled and she stumbled. The unicorn nurse caught her in her magical aura before she could hurt herself more. She then lifted Rainbow into the chair. Rainbow cooed at being moved in such a fashion.

“Thank you.” Twilight placed the papers in her saddlebag and took the handles in her magical grip.

“Again!” Rainbow giggled as the nurse withdrew her aura. The joy and excitement on Rainbow Dash’s face tugged at Twilight’s heartstrings.

“If you need anything don’t be afraid to call.” The nurse smiled, happy Twilight was taking Rainbow Dash and she didn’t have to be transferred. She then turns to leave.

“Thanks.” Twilight responded absentmindedly as reality set in.

“Will we ever get our friend back?” Applejack asked the nurse on her way out the door. The nurse sighed and a small sympathetic smile formed on her face as she looked back to the ponies.

“I don’t know. The best you can do is surround her with love.” The nurse explained and curtly left.

“She’ll stay with me.” Twilight said as she started pushing the wheelchair.

“I think that is the best idea darling.” Rarity brought a hoof to her chin in thought. “The library is a relatively quiet place and I think Rainbow will be safer there. After all, the boutique is a place of business.”

“Ah agree, the farm is nice ‘n all but Ah worry ‘bout her.” Applejack added. “‘Sides, Ah think she’d be too much of a hoof-full for Granny.” Applejack snickered.

“I would love to take her in, but my animals could bother her.” Fluttershy explained.

“I don’t think the Cake’s would like to have another pony in the house.” Pinkie’s voice was starting to return to normal, albeit slowly.

“I can run the library and watch after her. It can’t be too hard can it?” Twilight looked to her friends. After all she did raise a baby dragon on her own. How hard could this be?

--

Once they got home Twilight put the brakes on the wheelchair and turned to face her charge. The walk home was uneventful for the most part. Twilight was sure to take the long way home to avoid the prying eyes of the town’s residents.

“Ok Rainbow, what do you want to do?” Twilight asked. Rainbow wrinkled her nose and brought her hoof to her mouth and started suckling on it. “Stop, you’re going to hurt yourself.” Twilight used her magic to pull Rainbow’s hoof out of her mouth. She started tearing up, and then crying.

“What did you do?” Spike ran into the room, confused as to why Rainbow Dash was sitting in a wheelchair crying.

“I told her she couldn’t suckle on her hoof.” Twilight started going into panic-mode, which consisted of her shifting uneasily on her hooves and scanning her bookshelves for the appropriate text on the matter.

“What’s going on?” Spike raised his voice to be heard over the cries. He stuck his claws over his ears to try and block out the screaming.

“Long story.” Twilight responded and flew to the bookshelves. Rainbow Dash saw this and suddenly stopped crying.

“Huh?” Spike was severely confused as he looked to Rainbow Dash who was completely entranced by Twilight and her wings.

“Right…uhm…” Twilight looked around through her books on the shelves. “There!” She grabbed a book with her magic and carried it down with her, landing on the floor and tucking her wings back to her sides. “How To Care for Your Foal: The Complete Guide!” She smiled. Spike walked over and looked at the text Twilight had in her magic.

“Uh…Twilight…can you please explain what’s going on here?” Spike asked. Twilight snapped her head over in Spike’s direction, forgetting that she hadn’t told him exactly what was happening.

“Well…uh…” Twilight tried to find the right words. Would he even understand this? The little dragon was often smarter than she gave him credit. “Well, what do you know about brain injuries?” Spike’s jaw dropped and Twilight assumed he knew enough.

“Dash has a…. you mean she…” He stammered, looking back over to Rainbow, who had a hoof in her mouth again.

“Yes.” Twilight responded, biting her lip (which has become a habit, Spike noticed). Spike only stood dumbfounded.

“What…what do we do?” He asked after gaining his composure. He looked like he was ready to help in any way he can. Twilight sighed and looked back at Rainbow and then turned back to him.

“I…I don’t know…” Twilight admitted, her ears going flat against her head. She was now second-guessing herself, what did she have? It was only a few years ago that she was forced out of her solitude in Canterlot Castle to move to Ponyville. Why did she think she could take care of her ailing friend?

“Twilight?” Spike broke her silent diatribe. She shook her head to symbolically clear her thoughts and looked at him. Spike just had an uncertain look on his face and pointed to Rainbow Dash behind her. Twilight spun around to see Rainbow Dash trying frantically to get out of the wheelchair she was strapped to. She was rocking it back and forth and had it nearly tipped over until Twilight intervened.

Twilight alit her magic and captured the wheelchair and its resident in her grip. She carefully set the chair back upright. Rainbow Dash giggled and clapped her hooves together.

“Yay Mommy! Again!” She chirped. Spike’s jaw dropped.

“What?” He stared at Twilight, his eyes as wide as some of Rarity’s fine china. Twilight shot a confused glance his way. The confusion melted into a blush as she realized what Spike meant.

“Oh, that.” She blushed a bright red that could match the colored stripe in Rainbow’s mane. “I don’t know where that came from actually. I guess I was the first friendly face she saw so she assumed…” Truthfully, Twilight was gripping at straws for a reason behind Rainbow’s connection with Twilight being her mother. She really needed to brush up on psychology.

“So, she’s living with us then?” Spike questioned, raising an eyebrow. Twilight felt a nagging in her stomach as she wasn’t sure how Spike would take the news of someone else living with them. She distinctly remembers how he was when Owlicious came into the scene.

“It was either that or transfer her to Canterlot Medical Center.” Twilight explained. A look of alarm crossed Spike’s face. That couldn’t happen! Not to Rainbow Dash of all ponies! It was bad enough her condition now, but in a strange city? With strange ponies? Spike himself would take in anypony that needed help instead of sending them away. To be locked up and forever revered by everypony as being “crazy” was something Spike didn’t wish on anypony, much less his friends. With a newfound look of determination he clenched his claws tightly and set his jaw.

“Ok. Then what should we do?” Spike’s voice held a tone of commitment in it that Twilight has never heard before.

“Well…uh…” Spike’s change of attitude had caught her off guard. For once it was like her mind had stopped processing thought. Spike just took the book Twilight grabbed off the shelf in haste and started flipping through it.

A thought occurred to Twilight as a bright neon sign would light up Ponyville if erected from her home. “A list!” She blurted out at a higher volume than intended. This in turn, scared Rainbow a bit and she whimpered. “We need to make a list! What we need to do, what we need to get, and everything in between!” Twilight announced. Spike knew what this meant and quickly grabbed parchment and a quill.

Rainbow Dash sat bored, she needed to do something, anything besides sit in this chair. She looked around as Twilight started her rant on why lists are the most important thing in the history of things.

That’s when she saw it. Stairs! Stairs lead to somewhere, somewhere new and dangerous. All she had to do was get out of this chair…

“Now, first we’ll need to take Tank to Fluttershy’s.” Twilight listed. “Then probably see if there’s anything familiar we can take back from her home that can help jog her memory...” Twilight started on her rant. Spike followed her habitual pacing trying to keep up with her tirade.

Rainbow Dash, noticing that her caretakers were busy, knew this was the time to make her move. She struggled to get out of the contraption that held her captive. Alas, the belt constrained her and kept her within its tight clutches. Frustrated, she pawed at the belt holding her, hitting it with her hooves until she heard a “click” sound and the belt magically released. Success! She slid out of the chair and stood on her shaky hooves. Slowly, carefully so as to not fall she made her way to the stairs.

They looked a lot more intimidating up close. But she was brave she could do it! Hesitantly she lifted a sore leg and placed her front hoof on the first stair. Smiling with triumph she lifted the other hoof and soon she was a few stairs up and closing in on her goal.

“…And we should probably get a spray bottle.” Twilight finished.

“A spray bottle?” Spike asked, looking at the librarian.

“Yes, Fluttershy said it is a great way of training cats.” Twilight smiled proudly.

“Uhhhh…” Spike didn’t argue with her, he found that fruitless, instead he just wrote it down.

“Now, all we need is to get out the door!” Twilight turned back towards where Rainbow Dash was supposed to be in her wheelchair. Her face went pale as she saw that there was no pegasus in the chair. “Where’s Rainbow!” Twilight yelled and spun around to face her assistant who was as dumbfounded as she was. Twilight felt panic rise from her gut. Her heart pounded as she teleported to the kitchen, then popped into her laboratory before appearing back in the center of her library.

She was close to hyperventilating when she heard a light giggle. Her ears perked and turned toward the sound. There it was again. Once she pinpointed the sound as coming from her bedroom, she immediately teleported up the stairs where she found Rainbow Dash jumping on the bed. Twilight let go of the breath she didn’t know she was holding. Rainbow noticed Twilight standing there and she broke out into a toothy grin.

“Mommy! Jump!” Rainbow ordered. Twilight snatched Rainbow in her magical grip, as she was in mid-bounce.

“Not today.” Twilight commanded and led Rainbow back downstairs. The multi-hued mare squirmed in the aura that encased her body. Spike rushed up to them as they appeared downstairs.

“Everything ok?” He asked as Twilight released her magic, setting Rainbow on the floor.

“No. Because someone decided to go upstairs and jump on my bed.” Twilight growled at Rainbow Dash who visibly shrunk under Twilight’s gaze, feeling guilty. Spike chuckled and Twilight turned her glare onto him. “What?”

“Twilight, calm down.” Spike settled down. “She’s only playing.” Spike went over to Rainbow and leaned against her, the cyan pony still towering over him.

“Playing?” Twilight softened her glare.

“Yeah, it’s what normal fillies and colts do.” Spike rolled his eyes at his jab at Twilight who gritted her teeth, her frustration rising.

She took a deep breath to calm herself down. “Ok. Well, we’ll need to get going if we’re going to get anything done today.” Twilight levitated her saddlebags over herself.

“Uh, Twilight what do we do about Rainbow?” Spike asked, looking from his rainbow haired friend to the alicorn. Twilight pondered her options, either take Rainbow Dash out and risk everypony in Ponyville finding out about what happened, or leave her at home where she could not only wreck the place but hurt herself as well.

Twilight was stuck with a tough decision.