"…rse, will sh… ..ay?"

"…ok a bad fall… ow when she'll… up"

"Dear me… but sh… ive right?"

"Yes, she's in… diate dang…"

"…Stick a cupcake in my eye!"

"AHHHHHH" I lunged forward screaming, the voice in my ear, the primal fear kicked back through my body, two sets of hooves pushed me back down onto a bed while I struggled desperately to free myself.

"Nurse! NURSE! COME QUICK!"

"Oh Twilight… Please calm down... you're safe I promise…"

The sound of my friends voices finally registered, my eyes focused finally, three… no, only two... right? Rarity's amethyst locks are hanging a little wildly over her face, probably from my thrashing, but the one with the strongest grip holding me down was…

"Fluttershy? Rarity? Where am I?" I asked the two mares who were keeping me pinned to the bed.

They finally relaxed, Fluttershy had more strength in her than I gave her credit for but then again she was a vet, she must've had to deal with larger animals as well as small ones.

"You're in the clinic, and very lucky too darling, I don't know what would've happened if Fluttershy hadn't decided to come back after Princess Luna left, we might not have found you until morning!" Rarity said, her voice sharp with unconcealed worry.

Fluttershy blushed softly and looked down, "It w-wasn't that much... really... I found you lying on the ground with a sprained hoof and a mild concussion so I carried you here."

Leave it Fluttershy to give a diagnosis on a glance, but then she with her family line I knew she had more medical expertise than any two doctors in the clinic put together.

I smiled gratefully, she didn't know it but I dreaded what might've happened too for an entirely different reason.

"Thank you Fluttershy, and you too Rarity, uhm, how long have I…?"

"Oh, only a couple of hours, I got you here, they put you in the bed, then gave you some p-painkillers and bandaged your hoof..." Fluttershy explained, "the nurse was just ttelling us if you were going to be a-alright when you... woke up."

"Twilight darling what happened? It looked like you threw yourself off of your balcony!" Rarity finally touched on the point that I knew had been on both of their minds.

"I was running from… something…" I said softly, trying to dig out and explanation that didn't make me sound like I'd spilled my marbles all over the library floor.

"Running? Oh dear from who? Or what?" Rarity's voice of concern rose to another pitch.

'Great… how do I explain this…'

"I heard… someone talking… in the Library after Luna left. It freaked me out was all…" I started, but I saw the look in Fluttershys eyes, she wasn't buying it. Rarity might've just left it as is but the pastel pony was too worried.

"Twilight… who w-was in Library? W-who did you hear?"

"…I heard Pinkie Pie."

Silence met my answer as much as I had expected. Their gazes were one part pity, one part worry, and two parts awkward concern.

"Girls… it's just shock, I saw things down there… It affected me and I know that, it's all in my head. I just have to get over it," I was only too aware the kind of damage mental trauma could have on the psyche, "...and maybe go see someone about it."

"Twilight dear, I'm sorry; it's just a lot to take in… I'm glad you have such a calm view on it though, but perhaps Princess Celestia…"

"NO!" I cut Rarity off before she went any further, "I don't want… I don't need Celestia thinking her star pupil has gone hooves over handlebars… It's just something I need to deal with."

Fluttershy and Rarity glance at each other then back to me.

"A-alright Twilight… If you say so, but only on one condition." Fluttershy looked uncharacteristically adamant at this point.

"Sure girls, anything."

+=+

The clamour made it difficult to study; I was reading through yet another tome looking for help, a dry old number called Trauma: A Treatise on Shock and Its Detrimental Effects on the Pony Psyche.

CLANG

"Rarity, I know I agreed to have someone keep an eye on me so I don't take any more unwarranted flying lessons but…" I turned from where I was seated to look at her, "what in Celestia's MANE are you DOING?!" I had looked over my shoulder just in time to wince as another set of tomes tumbles off the shelf, Rarity having taken it upon herself to 'reorganize' the Library to be more aesthetically pleasing.

"Darling the colors in this place are terrible, the wood finish is fine but those curtains are practically screaming to be replaced," She trotted over to pull down one of the slight singed curtains. Admittedly sometimes my magical experiments got a little... enthusiastic. I was fairly sure that one was a victim of a sneezing spell I'd put on Spike and subsequently been unable to remove for a few hours. Spike hadn't said much since he got back, he spent most of his time downstairs, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie were two of the ponies he'd gotten along with the best, he was taking their loss hard.

"…Besides," Rarity had apparently continued to speak as I spaced out, I felt a little guilty as I tuned back in, "I have to keep busy after all don't I? Since I'm not in my boutique I have to make due."

Her stiff upper lip was admirable, I knew she was having a hard time of it, she'd lost two friends the same as any of us but she was handling herself with all the grace and poise she was known for. She had even brought over a dozen rolls of fabric to make new curtains, I get the feeling she'd been looking for an excuse to redo the colors for some time since they all seemed suspiciously at-the-ready and all in complimentary forest tones.

"Tell me dear, what do you think? Emerald Green for the lower curtains? Or maybe a deeper color, nothing garish though, it would simply murd… That is to say it would far from compliment the earthy color of the wood."

I just smiled, listened, and nodded as she flips books around, changing their shelves to match colors to colors, I didn't mind, it's not as though they were in any real order anyway, so I figured if my were going to be out of order they might as well look good doing it.

****

The time passed quickly, to be honest I doubted any of us wanted to spend the night in our own houses. I knew Fluttershy was down at Sweet Apple Acres, ostensibly giving Applejack a hand pushing some rain clouds around. We all knew she could've gotten a proper weather pony to do it, Fluttershy wasn't exactly the best cloud-maker and she was a barely passable flier. We all needed company though, as strong as Applejack was even she knew better than to go it alone. Night fell quickly and I put away the seventh tome for the day intending to pick up another only to stifle a truly massive yawn. I shook my head and decided it was probably best to call it a night. Rarity had gone to bed almost an hour ago though she was undoubtedly still in the process of 'getting ready for bed'. I on the other hoof just crawled up the stairs and rolled onto the mattress, half-heartedly tugging the covers over with my magic before giving up. Spike was snoring contentedly in his bed at my side, I took a little comfort in that. I yawned again, letting the exhaustion of the day flood out of me as I found a comfortable spot on the bed.

Twilight…

I froze, all my muscles clamped up again, I could feel my teeth chatter as the smell of formaldehyde hit my nostrils.

Twiiiiliiiiight…

I felt a hoof touch my mane. It was like an electric jolt ran through my spine, I spun, nearly leaping out of bed with my horn aglow.

"Twilight?"

"Twilight darling, whatever is the matter?" Rarity pulled her hoof back, a look of pure concern painting her perfect features.

"I… I just… I'm sorry, I'm just really tired, it was probably just the exhaustion," I forced a small laugh "I barely made it up here I'm surprised I didn't fall asleep at the desk."

Rarity just nodded softly, "Well, hopefully you won't have any more nightmares, I've drawn a hot bath for you, go have a nice soak, and it will clear your head of all the cobwebs I promise."

The thought of a bath suddenly sounded wonderful, I could only shake my head, "Oh Rarity… I don't know what I'd have done without you here."

"Dearie I don't think any of us want to be alone tonight, and here is as good a place as any" She answered, echoing my thoughts from earlier, "Now, to your bath, before it gets cold." She chided.

I nod gratefully, "Don't let me fall asleep in there though."

Rarity smiles gesturing back to the wash room, "Of course dearie, now go on."

I walked into the wash room, it was steamy and pleasantly warm against my coat. I levitated my reading glasses which, incidentally, I'd nearly fallen asleep wearing onto the countertop, shook some of the tension out of my haunches, and stepped gingerly into the hot water.

"Ahhhh…" I sighed gratefully as I let the heat sink into my exhausted muscles, it was divine. Rarity certainly knew how to draw a perfect bath, the temperature was just right.

"Mmmm… this is what I've needed… Rarity was right; I can feel the cobwebs melting away." I slipped a little deeper into the water, letting it come right up to my nostrils before blowing a few bubbles, I giggled a little at the foalish act. I spent the next several minutes laboriously scrubbing my coat clean with the bubble bath Rarity had brought with her, the smell of Jasmine filled the heated air as I did.

I breathed in the smell, it was a relaxed and luxurious smell, definitely Rarity's thing. There was something else though, something beneath the smell of Jasmine salts, it smelled like… Sugar? The water suddenly felt ice cold as I tried to ignore it.

"R-rarity? C-could you come in here?" I called to my friend softly, my voice was a small foal of a whisper. A sickly sweet smell of sugar and baking started to get stronger and the heat was becoming like an oven, it was like I was in a kitchen, a very particular kitchen.

"Rarity… Rarity please come in here…" She didn't answer still, I knew I should raise my voice but I was afraid, I couldn't put my hoof on why but it felt like if I called out something else would hear me.

The bathtub shook slightly.

"R-rarity?" my voice smaller than ever.

Twilight…

"No… you're not… you're not real… you're just a figment…" I whispered, knowing it wouldn't make her go away, it hadn't before.

But Twilight… we're bestest best friends… teeheehehee

"SHUT UP SHUT UP SHUT UP!" I screamed, clapping my hooves over my ears.

Twiiiiliiight…

The bathtub shook again and I heard something, like hooves scraping against the floor, trying to get out from under the low hanging porcelain.

"RARITY!" I scream just as the door slams open and the rattling and smell vanished like a ghost.

"Twilight whatever is wrong?!" She knelt and wrapped her forehooves around my neck pulling me out of the tub, wrapping a soft towel around me. "I was downstairs when I heard you screaming, I came as quickly as I could. Darling whatever is the matter?"

I sniffled, biting back tears of fear and shame, "I heard her again… I heard her... and I could smell her cooking and… and… It felt like the tub was shaking… like she was underneath it trying to get out."

For a moment I smelled the basement again, the stink of gore and sin badly concealed beneath the veneer of industrial cleansers. I sat there, shaking in Rarity's arms as I cried and bit back the vicious attempt by the contents of my stomach to make a second appearance.

"There there dear, no need to fret, I'm here, and she's gone," Rarity whispered, "she's gone forever." I watched a tear trace softly down her ivory cheek.