First thing I heard was that damn beeping. I heard it before I could even register I heard it. It was the first thing I heard upon waking up and if I had the strength or energy to do so, I would have smashed, crushed and punched whatever damned contraption made that insufferable noise.

My eyes had not yet opened, but I was very much conscious. How long had I been lying here? All I remember was... the dogs, the little pony princess, the forest. I busted myself up pretty good, didn't I?

I tried to move, but my limbs were unresponsive. It felt as though my joints were stuffed with cotton and even then, lying on the moderately soft bed, my entire body felt heavy. Shit.

For all my efforts at getting my body to respond to my commands, all my efforts produced were a measly twitch of the fingers. In spite of everything, I really didn't mind it too much. Just laying there, all warm and comfy like. Letting my body heal.

Gave me time to think. As the haze of unconsciousness lifted from me, my mind was surprisingly clear, yet I my limbs remained unresponsive. I couldn't even open my damn eyes. Hmm, might as well take stock of the situation. I was alive, which is a preferable alternative to dead. I did not detect chains or restraints holding down my body, so I was... pretty sure I wasn't in a jail cell or something. Well, I could be, for all I know. Someone went to the trouble of healing me. Keeping me safe and warm, but... hey!

I let out a breath. I consciously opened my mouth to exhale. Oh, yes! Slowly but surely, I got control of my body back. First thing on the agenda, open my eyes.

Gahh! Sweet Jiminy, close them. Close them!

Ugh, too much white, too bright, too fast. Slowly now... yeah, that's better.

"So you're finally awake," a very familiar voice said softly.

She sat on a sofa just to the right of my bed. Her head half turned to me, eyeing me not in anger but a sort of resigned weariness.

"You had to be put in a medically induced coma for the last three days. The doctors needed time to figure out what was wrong with your body and how to treat it. You nearly died, you know."

I let out a breath, staring back at the ceiling again. "Where am I?"

"Ponyville hospital," came the clipped reply.

I would have barked out a laugh If I could. Just can't stay away from the little mud town, huh? Keeps sucking me in.

"I, uh," I said and licked my lips. Man, I could go for some water. "Last thing I remember was going into the forest. What happened?"

"The Royal Guard found us and brought us back to be treated."

"...Thanks. For not leaving me there," I muttered and turned back to her. "Why didn't you?"

"It was the right thing to do," she said resolutely.

"So what happens now?"

"That's what I've been trying to figure out."

She left it at that and did not elaborate further and me, well, I found myself at a loss for words.

"I'm trying to..." She halted and licked her lips, carefully measuring her words. "I want to understand what happened where you are concerned."

"What's to say? You got knocked out by a dog and I carried you out of there."

"I meant to say, I wanted to understand how you found yourself coming from Earth and into our world."

At any other point in time, I might have turned my neck so fast it cracked, my mind would be brought to a screeching halt and if I was in the process of ingesting a beverage, at this moment it would have been sprayed messily all over. However, whatever drugs they'd pumped into my body the past three days were still being flushed out of my system.

"How did you..."

"Because there's someone else like you here."

"What?"

"Don't you remember? I mentioned him to you the day you first came to my library."

She did? I tried to recall said instance. What was his name again? "Max?"

She smiled sadly. "Yes, that's him. He came to see you yesterday, you know?" Her eyes found mine again. This time there was a fire in them, a steely resolution and her body straightened further in the chair. "I won't forget what you did, and I can't simply forgive it, either. Your actions were completely inexcusable, to myself, to my friends, and to everypony who was a victim of your poor judgment." It looked like she had plenty yet to say on the subject, but she halted her speech. There was clearly some sort of mental battle going on in there.

A sharp exhale of breath and she brought her eyes to mine again. "But I am trying... I am trying to hear you out, and to try and see things from your perspective. When I first discovered the truth about Max... he told me of his world, his culture and his society. He said that you were young, still a child. I can't imagine how hard it must have been for you, finding yourself here, thinking you're alone." Her gaze hardened. "It's because of that that I am willing to give you a chance. One single chance to come clear with me, tell me everything. To explain to me step by step what happened after you came here. What you did, what you saw and to tell me every single thought that led you to commit such heinous crimes against everypony."

As she spoke, her voice turned thick with rage, the muscles on her face strained and contempt slowly made itself evident in her features. "Make no mistake, it's given the circumstances... and a favor to Max that I am even willing to give you a chance. I have every right to throw you in a cell for the rest of your life and even then, if you are anything but honest and straightforward with me, I will personally make sure you never see the light of day again. Do you understand?" She brought her face close to mine, her eyes resplendent with righteous fury and in that instant I had not doubt that she would follow through with her ultimatum.

"Understood, princess," I said, my voice not betraying the panic I felt. "Where do you want to start?

"Isn't that the dwarf calling the midget short?" I muttered bitterly, hoping Twilight couldn't make out my words. No such luck. Must be those animal ears or something.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Depends. Are you gonna jail me just because you don't like the answer?"

The corner of her lip curled and her head moved in a stiff nod. Christ, this pony had been nothing but judgmental, even though I did as she asked and told her what she wanted, word for word. She was nothing if not thorough and just when she'd finished questioning me about everything that happened with the dogs, she'd been so outraged she went and resorted to name calling. Monster. Heh, how original.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, princess, but don't you have a good dozen kills under your belt as well?"

"That... that's not—"

"What, the same?" I sneered. "You killed them. You know you killed them, quite painfully, I might add. Your little spell controlled, them, robbing them of their will. They were your puppets, you pulled their strings, drove them to kill each other in the most gruesome way imaginable. You didn't even have the guts to put that last dog out of its misery. Just think how long it must have suffered. There, dying and in pain, not even in control of its own thoughts, only obsessed for that little rock and how much it wanted it. Call me what you will, princess, a few quick deaths are nothing compared to what you pulled off all on your own."

Yeah, that did it. Righteous anger had steadily given way to anguish. Her ears splayed back, her wings drooped and where her posture was rigid and agitated, now she slumped. Looks like her little massacre was still majorly screwing with her head. "I... didn't mean—"

"Whatever you meant is worthless, princess. Those dogs are dead by your own hoof. At least I can acknowledge what I did. You gonna do the same? Have you even told anyone what you did? Or are you just gonna bury your head in the sand and hope no one ever finds out?"

The way she averted her gaze was enough. "No one knows, huh?" I said, my voice ever so slightly vindictive.

She growled in an annoyingly cute way and stomped her hoof. "We're not talking about me!"

"Fine," I said and laid back down. "So how did I do, princess? Do I pass your little test?"

Distaste still colored her features, though it was considerably more muted than before. "Not yet. I will bring my friends by later, and you will personally apologize for what you did to every one of them."

"What?!"

"I've already told them about you, and they know about Max as well. If you're going to be living here, you need to apologize to the ponies you've hurt."

Living here? Living here?! "If you think for a moment that I'm gonna—"

"It's for your own safety—"

"I can take care of myself."

"If you'll allow me to finish," she said testily. "It's for everypony's safety as well. You've proven yourself to be a danger to others and for the time being, you will stay where I can keep an eye on you. You'll be living with Max and I until I'm satisfied this is no longer the case."

"Goddamn it, you can't do this," I seethed.

"I'm not giving you a choice," she said coldly. "It's either this or imprisonment. Until you are reformed and proven you are not a danger to others you'll be staying under my watch, no exceptions."

"And if I say no?" Damn my defiant nature. "I'll get better, you know? I can blast my way out of this damned horse town and be out on my way before you even realize what's going on."

For the first time, a corner of Twilight's lip curled into a vindictive smirk. "Well, you could do that. But then I'm afraid I'll have to launch a nationwide marehunt for you. We know now what you look like as a pony. I took your picture, remember? And I've taken the liberty to snap a few more shots of you in your human form. The other princesses are in the know about you as well, and they support my decision should you get out of line. Whatever it is you think you're capable of, even you cannot escape an entire country on the lookout for you. You'll be found eventually, and I'm afraid nopony will be feeling as lenient to you as I am now. You'll spend the rest of your days in the deepest pits of Tartarus, never again seeing the light of day. Are you prepared to risk all that?"

Had I returned to my full capabilities, I would have torn her apart where she stood. But I was still weak. Whatever drug it was they hit me with had considerably slowed my movements, made it impossible to focus the middling reserves I did have.

"Fine," I hissed through gritted teeth. I knew when I was beat. There weren't many options here at the moment. Maybe an opportunity would pop up in the future, but for that, I first needed to ensure I had a future and if that meant playing into the uppity pony's hooves, so be it. "I'll apologize to your pathetic little friends. I'll stay with you and play nice, just like you want me to. I'll keep my word so long as you don't try and screw me over in some way."

She nodded slowly. "Good. That will do for now. The nurse will be coming shortly to administer your medicine. I suggest you keep the talking to a minimum unless you want more ponies to be clued in on your secret."

My blood simmered as I watched the little princess go, her face a grim picture of satisfaction. So consumed was I with wrath for her and her demands that I barely noticed the white coated, pink maned nurse pony as she proceeded to inject God knows what into me. Little did I know this was but the tip of the iceberg as far as the animosity between me and Twilight would grow.

Author's Notes:

A little intermission to connect the previous chapter with the next.