I didn't sleep well, I barely slept at all actually and neither did Rarity if the sound of her shifting around in the guest bed was any indication. We didn't talk much after the incident last night, we didn't really have anything left to say. The nightmares were bad, worse than usual, I woke up at the crack of dawn and got out of bed, I shivered as I stepped into the washroom though it was a fairly warm morning, I couldn't look at the bath tub so I just splashed some water on my face and went back to my desk. I saw that Rarity was sleeping on my way down, fitfully, but at least she was getting some rest. I tiphoofed past her and went downstairs, to my surprise I found Spike collecting a small pile of books, he looked unusually somber.

"Hey Spike, what are all these?"

"They're books on dreams and… mental disorders." He answered as he climbed the ladder to a higher shelf. "I woke up when Rarity slammed the wash room door open so…"

I felt a look of shame cross my features, I couldn't look him in the eye, "I'm sorry you had to hear that Spike… I'm so sorry I just-"

"Stop Twilight, I'm your number one assistant and… you've literally been my friend all my life, I want to help and… I want you not to hide things from me." He said, he looked angry with me, I hadn't really ever seen Spike genuinely angry before. He must have been worried sick about me.

I nodded slowly, "I'm sorry then, you're right, I should never have left you out of the loop I just… I didn't want you to think less of me," I finally admitted. The fact that the little dragon looked up to me so much was important, I didn't want him to look at me like I was… crazy.

He stared at me for a second then let out a small huff of prismatic smoke, "It's not like anything's changed anyway, you've always been a few hairs short of a full mane. He finally smiled, "that's why we're friends, I've always been the sane one."

I stared back before letting out a small giggle, "You're right, thank you Spike."

"No problem," he said, back to his old self.

"Now then, let's hit the books!" I stated adamantly, stepping up to the desk. The first book in the pile Spike had laid out was entitled: The Inner Workings of the Horn: A Treatise on Unicorn Psychology.

"Ugh… this one's gonna be unpleasantly dry isn't it?"

Spike looked over at the book on the desk and nodded, "Yea, I'm not gonna lie, if that doesn't put you to sleep you really do have a problem."

I giggle again, suddenly more thankful for Spike's presence than ever, "Well, time to dive in."

+=+

Spike and I spend the next five hours poring over massive tomes, Rarity woke up soon after we started only to chide us for not having eaten and began cooking what she called a 'proper breakfast' which, true to form, was no less perfect than anything else she did. We were interrupted around noon by a knock at the front door.

"Hello? Is.. is anyone there?" Fluttershy's soft tones came in with her as she stepped into the Library.

"Fluttershy dear, come in!" Rarity was the first to the door before I could even pull my head out of Psychology and Pathology (vol. III). "How is Applejack?"

"Oh, she's alright, I mean, she's as alright as anypony might expect given the…" She stopped and looked down, tapping at the floor with her hoof for a moment before changing the subject. "I was just stopping to see how Twilight is," she trotted over and put a hoof to my forehead before putting the same hoof up in front of my eyes. "Follow my hoof with your eyes Twilight." She moved it back and forth before nodding, apparently pleased with whatever she had gleaned from her inspection.

"Good, you're fine then... I was afraid your concussion might have been more serious but…" She gave me one of her angelic smiles, "You're just fine, I'm so glad."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far…" Rarity said, a concerned look on her face, "Twilight?" she asked, the question was obvious so I nodded.

"Right well, Twilight had another… episode, last night." Rarity said softly, I grimaced at the sudden drop in Fluttershy's features.

"Oh no… what happened?"

I turn to face my friends, "Well, I was in the bath when I started to… smell things, like cooking or baking, the way… the way Her kitchen always used to smell." I stumble over my words for a minute before continuing, "It got stronger and stronger til it felt like I was really there, then I heard her voice, she was calling my name, then the bath tub felt like it started to shake a little, and I could hear something…" I stop for a minute to catch my breath as they both gestured for me to continue. "It sounded like… hooves, scraping against the tiles, like something was trying to crawl out from under the tub…"

"Oh… uhm… Well, what happened then?" Fluttershy asked quietly.

"Then I came in, I heard her screaming from down the stairs and rushed there as fast as my hooves could take me." Rarity answered.

"And did you…?"

"No, I didn't see anything, the tub was still and there wasn't anything beneath it." I looked down, unwilling to face them for a moment, I felt like a foal who had been scared by her own shadow one too many times.

"Darling it's nothing to be ashamed of." I look up to see Rarity smiling kindly at me, she put a hoof on my shoulder and shook her head, "I don't want you feeling weak, you have to be strong to fight this."

Fluttershy nods, "If it is a hallucination maybe we can talk to Doctor Trotson at the Clinic, or maybe Luna can help, I think she's still at Sugarcube Corner, she might not be up to date on current medical knowledge yet but she's at least as powerful as Celestia."

Fluttershy was right, and besides, Celestia might be more powerful in her own way but Luna had purview over the night, and that included the dreams of ponies all over Equestria. Oneiromancy was an obscure magical art that only Luna and her chosen ever mastered but it was a close enough cousin to the differing schools of Cerebromancy that she might have some insight her mentor didn't.

"Alright, I'll talk to Luna…" As much as I didn't want this getting back to Celestia I needed help, I knew that, and Luna would probably have more insight into my condition anyway.

+=+

I tidied up the mess of tomes around my desk, I wanted to make a detour to Sweet Apple Acres, I needed to see Applejack before I talked to Luna, I knew that she had taken Rainbow Dash's death harder than most, they were the best of rivals and two sides of a coin. When we arrived she was in the fields apple-bucking, I took a moment to marvel at her strength of mind, that hard-boiled home grown strength you only find in earth ponies was no more strongly represented than in Applejack.

She spotted us coming down the hill to the grove she was working over, she looked like she might've been over-doing it though; the groves she had just finished had whole sloughs of bark gouged out from harder-than-necessary impacts. It was just her way of working things through in her own mind I supposed.

"G'afternoon girls, Twilight, how're ya doin? Heard ya took a tumble, sorry I didn' come 'round, didn' hear 'bout it til Fluttershy came by an' filled me in."

"Don't worry Applejack, Fluttershy and Doctor Trotson both say I'm fine," I answer honestly, as I walked up and gave her a hug. As we parted I saw the sad and distant look in her eyes.

"You be'er be sugar, I'm not set on losin' someone else," She said, her face lined with worry.

"I know, that's why…" I stopped for a second to gather my nerve, "We need to talk."

We all went into the farmhouse, Applejack sent Applebloom off to play in the treehouse with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo while we talked. Once we were there I told Applejack everything, all the problems with my head, the things I'd been seeing, I knew Fluttershy had filled in a few of the details but Applejack deserved to hear the whole story from the pony's mouth. All through it she didn't question me or look at me like I was a freak, she just say and listened, nodding and occasionally interrupting to ask me to clarify something, but other than that, she just heard me out. I don't think I'll ever be able to express what it meant to me. At the end she just nodded, I thought she would have a hard time of accepting that her friend might be losing her mind but she took it rather well.

"Well, reckon we shoul' go see 'bout talkin' to Princess Luna then, but you promise me this Twiligh', if Luna says she can't do nuthin we're goin ta see Celestia, no figh'in tha' alrigh'?" Applejack said with steel in her voice, I knew I wasn't going to be able to sway her, I didn't want to try either, she's already had to deal with losing Rainbow Dash.

"Alright Applejack, if Luna really can't do anything, we take it to Celestia. I promis-"

Cross my heart

I gulp and the words die in my mouth, I gave myself a mental shake before trying to continue.

"I promi-"

Hope to fly

"Twiligh'? You alrigh'?" Applejacks words seem far off and hazy as I work my mouth, the blood is pounding in my ears as I try to ignore the sudden perverse mixed smell of formaldehyde and baking sweets.

"I-I'm fine… I pro-"

STICK A CUPCAKE IN MY EYE!

"SHUT UP!" I screamed, the sudden shout caused everypony around me to jump back. Everypony except Rarity, she just stared. Big Macintosh peeked in the room at the noise.

"Ya'll o'kay in 'ere?" He asked, his voice the slow calming drawl it had always been, somehow the earthen laziness of it brought me back around. A look from Applejack and he nodded knowingly and left.

The haze was gone as quickly as it came, Applejack and Fluttershy both had mixed looks of worry and panic on their faces, but Rarity just stared straight forward, her features even more pale than usual.

"I'm sorry girls… it's getting worse… we should go see Luna as soon as-" I stop at the look on my friends face, "Rarity? Are you… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you I just…"

"Twilight?" She interrupted.

"Y-yes?"

"Cross my heart… Hope to fly…" She whispered; I think the look of horror that came over my face at those words must've been neatly mirrored on her.

"You didn't… Rarity… Tell me you didn't... didn't hear her."

She only stood there silently and shook, her hooves making soft scraping sounds as they quaked on the hardwood floor. There were tears of abject terror in her eyes as she nodded.