Kitsune’s dreams that morning were dark as they usually were whenever she felt herself slipping in her control. Now she was dreaming that somepony was tickling her nose with her feather and she couldn’t get away from it. Sneezing hard, she was glad that the feather was gone from her nose, though the action woke her up. My body feels sore…. She thought with a groan as she opened her eyes. Sitting up, she glanced down at her body, I’m good down there, so what–” she was pulled from her thoughts by a black tipped white feather and soon noticed blue hair, more feathers and dark red stains throughout the cabin. Please don’t let what I think happened, actually happen. She thought in a panic as she dashed through the interior looking for anypony until she found her friend in her bed. Clearing the distance, she shook the still curled up Blue Jay’s shoulder. “Blue Jay? Oh, please be okay.”

Blue Jay felt something rocking her shoulder and she opened her eyes. Thinking it was Feral Lupus, she screamed and scrambled away from Kitsune as far as the leash let her. Choking, she coughed a couple times once it was clear she couldn’t go any further. “Stay away! Didn’t you already have enough fun?” She hissed as her fear shone in her eyes.

“Blue Jay, it’s me, Kitsune.” Kitsune had jumped when Blue Jay screamed and was glad it had gotten cut off as the leash stopped the Pegasus. “I promise not to hurt you.” She reached towards the collar and Blue Jay struggled until she pulled her hoof away and the struggling stopped. “I just want to un-hook the leash.” She whispered before slowly reaching for the headboard and unclipping the leash.

“Your time’s up!” Rainbow Dash yelled as she, Paige, Harmonious Flash, Applejack and Fluttershy barged into the bedroom, just in time to see Kitsune holding the leash and they froze in their tracks.

“Kitsune?” Paige asked as she took in the sight before them.

“It’s not what it looks like, I swear!” Kitsune whimpered and dropped the leash like it burned her as Blue Jay –sensing her freedom– jumped off the bed and ran for a corner, intent on making her invisible as possible and shaking like a leaf.

“Ah got ta say, it’s not lookin’ too good for ya.” Applejack said as Kitsune hung her head. “Where is Feral Lupus?”

“Who?” Kitsune asked, genuinely confused by the question. Applejack opened her mouth to describe her, but Fluttershy spoke up.

“Um, can we… can we please leave?” Fluttershy wasn’t sure where to look as the scene of the entire cabin was upsetting her.

“Are ya goin’ come quietly?” Applejack asked Kitsune once she heard her friend’s request. Kitsune nodded her head before following Applejack and Fluttershy out of the cabin.

Rainbow Dash waited until she heard the front door close, then took a step closer to Blue Jay. “Hey kid, we’re going to take you home.” She was two pony lengths when Blue Jay hissed before pressing herself tighter against the corner so she stopped. “Blue Jay?”

“Stay away from me.” Blue Jay whimpered causing Rainbow Dash’s face to fall as she rejoined the other two ponies.

“It’s not you, Rainbow Dash.” Harmonious Flash said and patted her on the shoulder. “She’s still in shock, watch, I probably won’t have much luck either.” She made it one hoof closer than Rainbow Dash but got the same response so she backed up. “See what I mean?” She asked when she rejoined them.

“We can’t just leave her here.” Rainbow Dash bit her lip to avoid showing any emotion, even though it killed her to see her newest friend in that state.

“Let me try.” Paige said softly and walked slowly towards Blue Jay. “Blue Jay, remember a few nights ago, we sat together enjoying tea and talking about random things?” She asked, and touched on some of the random things while keeping her voice soft. Before she realized it, she stood in front of her friend and Blue Jay only crouched down. Sitting down to be an even height with her friend, she showed both hooves to Blue Jay to say she wasn’t hiding anything. “Blue Jay, I just want to remove the collar from your neck, then we can leave. Okay?”

Blue Jay’s eyes locked with Paige’s for a moment, then slowly she nodded once. With the conversation as Paige approached, the fear in Blue Jay’s eyes faded and was replaced by a dullness as she sat still while Paige removed the collar. She only flinched the first time Paige reached for the collar but Paige kept her hooves steady.

Once Paige removed the collar completely, she threw it over the bed to the other side of the room. “There, all done. Let’s get you home,” she said softly and waited from Rainbow Dash and Harmonious Flash to be a few pony lengths away before she let Blue Jay make the first move. “I promise to stay right by your side so nothing harms you.”

The walk back to Ponyville was quiet and somber. Finally Harmonious Flash fell back as she couldn’t stand the quietness. “Blue Jay, I’m sorry, I really did try to follow you… I was held back until an hour ago.”

Blue Jay gave a small nod to show she heard but kept her eyes on the ground. Pretty much every attempt to talk to her was met with a small nod or shake of her head, but nopony could get her to say nothing. They reached Ponyville doing their best to avoid the quizzical looks from the other ponies and Paige proceeded to lead Blue Jay straight to the hospital with Harmonious Flash following while Rainbow Dash flew off to catch up to Applejack, Fluttershy and Kitsune as they headed towards the castle.

“Hello. I’m Nurse Redheart.” She greeted before pushing up her nurse’s cap while the ponies approached. She was about to ask what she could do for them when she noticed Blue Jay walking behind Harmonious Flash and Paige. “Oh dear, has she been treated?”

“Not yet. We just came here since we didn’t want to stick around the place.” Paige said. “We don’t know what happened last night and the two that could… well, one isn’t here and she’s the second one.” She motioned over her shoulder to Blue Jay.

Nurse Redheart led the trio to one of the patient rooms and turned to look at the two non-patients. “I’m sorry, but I need you two to wait outside so I can assess her injuries.”

“I can’t.” Paige replied. “Without me here, you’re not going to get close to her.”

Nurse Redheart sighed. “Alright, I just ask that you stay out of the way.” She turned to face Blue Jay after she got some disinfectant. “This is going to sting.” She warned before disinfecting and wrapping Blue Jay’s body, earning her a hiss of pain each time. Then Nurse Redheart took her to another room to keep her overnight.

At the same Blue Jay was being checked out, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Applejack, and Spike sat on their respective thrones while Kitsune sat in the middle of the floor. She would have been sitting on the table, but the table sunk into the floor as she approached, as if the table sensed the intention.

“Can you tell us what happened?” Twilight Sparkle asked, wanting to hear every side of the story before she passed any judgment.

“I wish I could, Princess, but I truly don’t know what happened.” Kitsune said softly as she tried to recall last night for the seventh time but like the first six times, she had no luck. “I felt a sharp pain in my entire body and blacked out. When I awoke this morning, I saw hair, blood, and feathers all around me.” Tears welled up in her eyes as she blamed herself for what happened to her friend, despite having no control over it. “When I realized who it belonged to, I ran around trying to find Blue Jay. I found her on my bed attached to a leash, I woke her up, she screamed, and I was holding the leash after taking it off the headboard when everypony ran in.”

Twilight Sparkle was silent for a few minutes. “Applejack, what do you think?”

Applejack looked from Kitsune to Twilight Sparkle. “Ah feel she’s telling the truth. Ah can’t hear any deceit coming from her.”

Twilight Sparkle nodded. “I agree, plus her eyes speak the truth as well. Few ponies can act well enough to cover for themselves after an event like that.” She paused for a moment, then continued. “Kitsune, are you aware of another pony residing in you?” Kitsune shook her head and looked down.

“According to Harmonious Flash, another pony –a pegasus– took control of your body. I can only speculate that she was in control the entire time you were blacked out. If that’s the case, we may have a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde relationship with you.”

“Who and who?” Spike asked as he looked up at Twilight Sparkle.

“He was a science stallion that took it upon himself to test a potion that he created to see if there was a way to bring out the hidden side of ponies. He had figured by unlocking the hidden side, he could appear as two separate ponies at different times. Legend says that it soon drove him mad trying to keep the two ponysonas in check and in the end, he had to be taken down after becoming a menace to society.”

“And you think that’s what I have?” Kitsune asked as she looked up, afraid of the answer.

“Right now it’s very possible. We simply don’t have enough information to formulate an answer.” Twilight Sparkle thought for a moment. “Spike, can you start getting books on duality, hidden sides and anything else that you can think might help.” She heard him say okay and headed off to the library. “Applejack, can I count on you to keep an eye on Kitsune for now please?” Applejack replied she would and Twilight Sparkle was going to add more when Rainbow Dash spoke up.

“Twilight? Can I go check up on Blue Jay?”

“Of course, Rainbow.” Twilight nodded. “I’ll come with you in a moment.” She then looked at Kitsune. “Please don’t think you’re a prisoner, but we would like to keep an eye on you in case Feral Lupus emerges.” She stood up at the same time as Rainbow Dash did and Kitsune nodded before Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash headed out.

“Don’t worry, Applejack, I’ll help you.” Fluttershy offered.

“I’ll go get us something to eat.” Pinkie Pie hopped happily towards the door while Rarity followed.

Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash walked into the waiting room of the Ponyville hospital and were on their way to the reception desk when a vivid blur shot passed Rainbow Dash and Twilight Sparkle found herself with her back against the wall. “I wanted to go after them last night.” Harmonious Flash snarled and pressed her foreleg into Twilight Sparkle’s throat as she kept the princess off the floor. “But no, we had to wait until today. I hope you’re happy with how things turned out.”

Twilight Sparkle’s horn glowed and she teleported behind Harmonious Flash. “No, I’m not.” She lowered her head. “I’m sorry, this is my fault. How is she?”

“Sleeping right now. She had to be given a strong sedative to make sure she doesn’t dream so she can get some sleep.” Harmonious Flash said bitterly and refused to look at the other two.

“Can we see her at least?” Rainbow Dash asked hopefully and Harmonious Flash had them follow her to the room but she didn’t stay.

Paige looked up from her chair as the two entered. “Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash.” She greeted them as they approached the bedside where Blue Jay slept with only her head and front hooves uncovered by the blankets. “Most of the cuts will heal quickly, but there will be a few that’ll scar. Though her mental state, I don’t know how long it’ll take to heal to where she can put it mostly behind her.” She explained.

“Any idea when she’ll wake up?” Twilight Sparkle asked and Paige shook her head. “If she does, hopefully it won’t be from a nightmare.”
Rainbow Dash walked right up to the bed and put a hoof tenderly onto Blue Jay’s hoof. “Come on kid, you’re a strong pegasus. You can pull through this.” She looked at Blue Jay’s sleeping face and though she saw a faint smile form but she blinked and it was gone. She really hoped that Blue Jay would wake up and she wouldn’t remember anything from the previous night.

“I feel like the worst princess in the history of Equestria.” Twilight Sparkle lamented causing Rainbow Dash to spin around and throw a punch at her, only to stop it an inch from Twilight’s cheek. Then there was a light tap.

“You’re not Twi, you’ve been a princess for how long? Maybe a few months. I’m sure Princess Celestia has made a lot of mistakes in her time as ruler. You couldn’t have known that would happen when you chose to protect the citizens of Ponyville. Hay, we agreed with you, if anypony didn’t, don’t you think we would have spoken up?”

“I agree with Rainbow Dash.” Paige spoke up. “As much as I hate to admit it, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few.”

“Thanks girls.” Twilight sparkle said with a soft smile before looking at Paige. “Can you please let me know when she wakes up? It doesn’t have to be right away, but shortly afterwards.” Paige nodded before Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash headed out.

Paige looked at Blue Jay’s sleeping form for a few minutes. “I can do that.” She told herself but before she could go further, a whooshing noise preceded a blue phonebox materializing in the corner of the room before a grayish amber earth stallion with a dark amber mane and tail and pale, light grayish cobalt blue stepped out.

“I can’t let you do that, Paige.” The stallion stopped her and sat across from the unicorn while the temperature in the room dropped ten degrees.

“Why not, Doctor Whooves?” Paige asked as she narrowed her eyes at him. “I can make it so none of that happened and you know it.”
Doctor Whooves shook his head. “It’s not that simple my dear. Nopony can completely rewrite another pony’s past. If you alter it now, you’ll destroy her destiny.”

“But you always say that time is a big wibbly wobbly timey wimey ball of stuff. I can rewrite last night and tie it into her destiny.”

“There’s a different, this is a fixed point in time. Something that can’t be altered.”

“So I have to let her live through that without doing anything?”

“Unless you want her to live through it a second time, yes.” He sighed as his eyes shifted out-of-focus as if remembering something he’d rather forget. Like I took Roseluck to see her dad before he died. He thought to himself before clearing his throat as his eyes came back into focus. “If you rewrite her history, then the present and future will break down, starting gradually but pick up speed exponentially until history has been fixed. However, if there was a slight chance you succeeded in keeping the present intact, then she’ll be a completely different pony than the one you know.” He gave her a sad smile.

“Let her live through it again, or get her replaced with somepony I don’t know?” Paige looked down at Blue Jay, not liking either option. I know I could succeed and keep my friend. But is the risk really worth it?

“Is the risk really worth it?” Doctor Whooves asked as if he read her mind. “Paige, you’re not all that powerful. I’ve witness the birth of this galaxy and seen it die. Some things I’ve managed to alter slightly, others things I was the one that put history on track that shows up in the history books. Having met many ponies and saving some, but losing a lot more….” He paused and took a breath since he didn’t want to continue that thought. “I’m older than you, arguably have more power, and more knowledge, but I’m still bound by the laws of time. If you really want to do something, stay by her side and help her much as possible.”

During the entire conversation, Paige’s mood was steadily getting more miserable. “Just leave already.” Paige muttered bitterly as Doctor Whooves’ experience drove home the point.

“I’m so, so sorry.” Doctor Whooves said sadly as he walked back into the police box and shut the doors. Seconds later it made the whooshing noise before disappearing and causing silence to reclaim the room once more.

Seeing that she was alone and that nopony was bothering them, Paige quickly teleported back to her house, grabbed some writing materials and then re-appeared besides the hospital bed. “I would read Fire & Rain to you, Blue Jay, but I’m sure you’d like to be awake to hear it.” She said to the silent room. Being careful not to disturb her, Paige leaned back in the chair and rested her hind hoofs on the bed while propping up another spiral bound notebook in her lap. “Let’s see…” She muttered and flipped open the Fire & Rain story that laid on the bed.

She quickly re-read the final chapter to regain her bearings before lifting the quill with her magic. “Feathers of Blue and Gold.” She muttered as she wrote out the title pausing for a moment to figure out how she wanted to start the sequel to Fire & Rain. Perhaps it was wishful thinking, or that it just felt right to start a new story with a new day, whatever the reason was, Spitfire woke up next to Rainbow Dash in the hotel bed. She managed to write for a few hours and getting four chapters done but as time wore on, the frustration of her limitations began to creep back into her mind.

“Why do I have this gift and can’t use it to help my friends?” Paige muttered as her voice broke. Laying her head on the bed, she began to cry feeling useless. “Why do I have to be so useless?”

“You’re not useless.” Blue Jay told her as she put a hoof onto Paige’s head. “You saved us the first time.” Paige lifted her head and wiped her eyes.

“Blue Jay, you’re awake!” Paige exclaimed as her face lit up and Harmonious Flash walked in.

“How are you doing, Blue Jay?” Harmonious Flash asked and stood next to the bed.

“I’m feeling better, more rested than earlier.” Blue Jay replied as she sat up.

“What about the events of yesterday?” Paige asked “Do you want to–”

“No. Please, I really want to forget about it” Blue Jay cut her off as she forced her mind to bury the previous day while Paige and Harmonious Flash shared a worried look. “Not now, someday soon but right now it’s too fresh in my mind.” Her eyes dulled a little for a moment but she closed them and shook her head. Opening her eyes, they were a little brighter than before.

“I went back to the castle to see if I could find out what the deal was with Kit–her but nopony would tell me anything.” Harmonious Flash said, catching herself at the last moment from saying Kitsune’s name.

“Can we get you anything?” Paige asked and Nurse Redheart walked in before giving her an examination.

“I could go for some food.” Blue Jay said as her stomach growled while she followed Nurse Redheart’s instructions.

“Everything seems in order.” Nurse Redheart said and made a note on Blue Jay’s chart. “But I would like to keep you a couple more nights to monitor your sleep.”

Blue Jay’s ears dropped. “Do I really have to?”

“Yes, this is the best way to keep an eye on you.”

“But I really don’t want to.” Blue Jay whined.

“Nurse Redheart, what if we spent the night with her?” Paige asked.

“Well, I suppose that is a possibility. But what happens if she panics?”

“I promise to be right there to help calm her down.”

Nurse Redheart sighed. “Very well, I’ll get some pills to let you have a dreamless sleep.” She left the room and returned a few minutes later with a small bag. “I would recommend her place for a while during the night.”

The three thanked her before walking out, with Blue Jay grabbing the bag. “Hey, I’ll catch up later. There’s something I want to do real quick.” Harmonious Flash said before splitting off from them.

“I see you started reading Fire & Rain.” Paige said as they kept walking. “What do you think of it?”

“It’s good. Though I haven’t gotten very far.” Blue Jay admitted and did her best to ignore the looks from the town ponies. Thankfully, Paige had cast the cloud walking spell on herself as they walked so Blue Jay was able to fly them straight up.

They hadn’t been in the house for long when Harmonious Flash knocked on the door. “Dinner’s here.” She announced as she was let in.

“You’re the best Harmony.” Blue Jay said as she dug in. The three ate in silence until Blue Jay announced she was going to take a shower and left. Paige was starting to write a letter to Twilight Sparkle while Harmonious Flash was cleaning up after dinner when there came a scream from the bathroom. The two ran in and pushed the door open to see Blue Jay checking out her uneven mane and tail. “Is this why I was getting so many weird looks?”

“Maybe? I don’t think it was just that.” Paige replied as she rubbed Blue Jay’s back. “We can talk about what we’re going to do about that tomorrow. Take your shower and I’ll read Fire & Rain.” She helped Blue Jay into the shower before leaving and taking Harmonious Flash with her.

“Blue Jay and Paige, sitting on a cloud, k-i-s-s-” Harmonious Flash sang but stopped at the glare she was getting. “You have to admit, you’re being really close to her.”

“To make up the fact that I wasn’t there.” Paige replied. “I just want to see her smile again.”

“Give it time. Something like this isn’t going to go away overnight.”

Author's Notes:

Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony, Hasbro does.
However, I'm pleased to say I do own Blue Jay, Paige, Harmonious Flash, and Kitsune/Feral Lupus.

As always, constructive criticism is welcome. It'll help me to improve my writing and seeing what people liked.

Also credit goes to Ruirik for his works "Fire & Rain" and the sequel "Feathers of Blue and Gold."