Twilight Sparkle was standing on a plain ringed by softly sloping hills. The sky stretched out above her, an expanse of stars and rolling constellations. The grass was cool beneath her hooves. In the distance crickets chirped. Beginning to trot she tried to remember how she had gotten there. Hadn't she been somewhere else? The light of a full moon bathed the plain in a silvery light. The grass was high, tickling her fetlocks which were unshorn for some reason. She blushed. The first thing she did in the morning was to shave her fetlocks as almost all civilized ponies did. She couldn't remember doing that this morning. Nor could she remember having woken up. Most frustratingly of all she couldn't remember how she had gotten here. An owl hooted from somewhere in the distance. The shadow of a bird flew past the moon. The plain seemed to stretch endlessly before her as she trotted across its surface. In the glimmer of the moonlight she made out a lake. Thirst parched the back of her throat so she leaned down and began to drink.

The sweet taste of the water was heavenly to her throat. She lifted her head and looked around her. There was no indication of how far she had traveled. She wasn't sure how long she had been traveling. It could have been minutes or hours. Still, the green plains stretched out endlessly before her. After drinking once more from the lake she continued her journey to wherever it was she was going. She had no sense that she was going anywhere, though. She was just wandering aimlessly. A wind blew through the grass carrying with it sweet scents of rye and zoysia. Those were her favorite kinds of grass. Princess Celestia enjoyed it as well and had prepared her a meal of it. Ever since then those had been Twilight's favorites. Still, civilized unicorns didn't eat grass from the root. On the other hoof, nopony was watching. She bent down her head and began to graze. The sweet and bitter flavors mingled together on her tongue as she bit into it. She had never grazed before, never felt any need to. The grass was incredibly fresh and she began to wonder if her ancestors didn't have the right idea. Just as she had her entire muzzle dug into the earth she felt somepony come up behind her. Her ears twitched.

"Good evening, Lady Twilight Sparkle. Enjoying yourself?" A rich, cultured voice asked behind her. Twilight turned around. The princess of the night was standing in front of her, her starry mane floating in an ethereal wind.

Twilight spat out some of the grass and knelt.

"No need to be so formal, Lady Twilight." Luna told her. Twilight rose.

"This is a dream."

"Yes. I thought you should have a happy dream tonight after your earlier turmoil."

Twilight's ears drooped. "You know about that?"

"Yes. Your mother told Celestia."

"Then Celestia..." Twilight felt the familiar waves of panic building up in her.

"Yes, my sister knows about it. She is quite distraught."

Twilight avoided Luna's gaze, staring down at the ground like a filly about to be scolded. "Can you tell her I'm sorry for what I said earlier? I'm sorry about a lot of things."

"She intends to visit you. Lady Twilight, I'm afraid I need to tell you something unpleasant."

"What is it?"

"I was examining your mind and there is some damage. It is not possession or a curse, but it is certainly damage."

"What kind of damage?" Twilight asked.

"The kind inflicted by emotional trauma. If I had to guess, it is the result of your battle with Discord. There are still effects of his magic upon your mind."

"What can I do about it?"

"I would advise doing whatever the doctors tell you to. My sister forced me to go to a therapist and it worked wonders."

Twilight sighed. "So, I have to stay for a while?"

"I would advise it."

Twilight nodded. "I understand. Thanks for the dream. It's nice."

A smile tugged at Luna's lips. "You're welcome Lady Twilight."

She vanished. Twilight continued her walk, enjoying the cool breeze, the feel of the grass upon her hooves.

...
The light of the sun filtered into her room and gently nudged her awake. She stretched out on the bed. Judging by the light of the sun it was very early morning. Spike was still beside her. He nuzzled close and she stroked his scales. There was a knock on the door and a nurse walked in.

"Mrs. Sparkle, it is time for breakfast. Get washed up."

"Okay." Twilight said, still feeling rather tired. She walked to the bathroom and washed her face. Her hairbrush was at home, but she found a comb in the medicine cabinet of the bathroom. She ran it through her mane a few times. Spike hopped on her back as she walked from the room. Outside of the room, the nurses were lining up the other patients for breakfast. Some patients were excitedly chatting to each other. Others kept silent. One red stallion was staring at her, causing her to shudder and move close to a purple mare she recognized as Berry Punch. Berry avoided looking at her. They walked at a steady pace to the cafeteria. The smell of hay pancakes greeted her. After getting some she sat down next to Berry.

"Sparkle? What are you doing here?"

"I um...well I..." Twilight muttered something incomprehensible.

Berry chuckled. "C'mon. We're all in the same boat. I'm in rehab."

"I tried to kill myself."

"Whoa. I had an uncle that did that. So, being the Princess's star student got to be too much for ya?"

Twilight frowned. There had never been a single moment that she had regretted being Celestia's student. "No, not exactly. I don't want to talk about it." She gave a rather vicious bite to her pancakes.

"Well, we're going to have to. After breakfast we have group counseling."

Twilight inwardly groaned. She hated talking about her feelings.

On the other hoof, she reflected, that's how she ended up here.

"So, how'd you get here?" She asked Berry.

"The guards found me passed out in a ditch. My husband made me come." Her voice took on a serious tone. "I have to get sober for my daughter. You got anypony you care about? Like, really care about?"

Twilight placed a hoof on Spike's head by way of answering.

"Your pet? I didn't think they let pets in here."

"I'm not a pet." Spike said, looking up from his pancakes.

"Holy shit, you talk?" Berry asked.

Twilight glared at her.

"Er sorry, little guy." Berry said.

"There are a lot of ponies I care about. And a lot that care about me." Twilight said, deciding to let Berry's comment go. "I just...forgot that for a little while."

"I understand that feeling. I get sad sometimes for no reason. The doc calls it bipolar. It's why I drink."

"I've read about it."

They continued to chat until breakfast was done. After breakfast Twilight told Spike he should go back to the library. He refused. Twilight said he could come back in the evening, but she needed him to go redo the shelves. Ever eager to serve he agreed. They hugged once before he left. The nurses led them to group therapy. Group therapy was split up into different meetings. Twilight was in the morning group with ten other ponies. Six were mares, four were stallions, seven were earth ponies, one pegasii, two unicorns, consistent with Ponyville demographics.

"Good morning, everypony." Doctor Unsicker said. He was an old, grey pony with a perpetually concerned look on his face. "There's some new faces this morning. Let's introduce ourselves."

They introduced themselves and each one shared why they were there. Twilight discovered she wasn't the only who'd attempted suicide. In fact, she was the third. Twilight felt herself relax as they all shared their stories. Rain Squall, the pegasus, had anxiety issues. She had managed to go a month without any panic attacks. Everypony clapped for her. Finally, the therapist got to Twilight.

"Why did you attempt suicide?" He asked.

"I felt guilt over a spell I'd cast. It was a want it-need it spell. Remember that riot two days ago? I caused it."

"Why did you cast the spell?"

"I'm Princess Celestia's student. She expects me to-or I thought she expected me to-send her a letter on what I've learned about friendship every week. I didn't learn anything. I had nothing to send." At the memories she felt herself begin to shake. The therapist placed a hoof on her shoulders. "I panicked. I had delusions that she'd send me back to magic kindergarten. Looking back it just sounds so...insane. Silly, even. I've been her student for years and the harshest punishment I've ever gotten from her was being sent to the corner when I was a filly."

"Have you over-reacted like that in the past?"

Twilight thought back. She had always been prone to anxiety, but she'd never reacted like that. "No. Not that badly."

"Has anything changed in your life really?"

"I became an Element Bearer."

"You fought Discord recently, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Can you tell me what that was like?"

Twilight thought back. Discord's reign had been brief, but memorable. The town she'd come to love turned literally upside down. Her friend's personalities completely reversed. The world gone mad.

"The world stopped making sense." Twilight said. "I...I've always believed in order. Discipline. I'm alpha-level. I have to strictly control my magic. He turned the world to chaos. Nothing made sense. I just...I..."

"You what, Twilight?" The doctor asked in a gentle tone.

"...I wanted the world to make sense again." She laid her head in her hooves. "I wanted my friends back. I wanted my home back."

"When you wrote letters to the Princess, did it assure you that everything was back to the way it was supposed to be? Often after trauma, we latch on to rituals. We feel that if we don't perform those rituals something terrible will happen."

"I've never thought of it like that."

The therapist had to give the others a chance to speak. During the session Twilight thought about what he'd said. Was that why sending the letters had become so important? After all, Celestia had never told her she needed to send a weekly letter. It was just something she had started doing.

When the session ended Twilight decided to go back to her room and continue reading Fruit's Interpretation of Dreams. A nurse knocked on the door and informed her she had a visitor. Princess Celestia walked in. Twilight put down the book and ran to her, greeting her with a hug. Celestia hugged her back.

"Princess, I'm so sorry-"

Celestia put a hoof to her lips and embraced her with her wings. Twilight nestled into the warmth.

"Twilight, you're not the one who should be apologizing."

"But, I was so mean to you."

"Yes and I was hurt. But I should have seen that you were hurting. I almost lost you. Please forgive me. I shouldn't have left you alone."

Twilight shook her head. "No. I should have opened up to you. You're my mentor. I trust you with my life and should have know you'd have helped me."

"I would have helped you. Gods, Twilight, I love you like a daughter. Your mother told me you almost killed yourself over that want it-need it spell incident. Instead of trying to figure out what was wrong then I immediately scolded you. Another failure. Once again, I failed a pony I was supposed to care for."

Twilight wrapped her hooves around her. "Princess, you had every right to scold me. I crossed a line. You have never failed me."

"I should have done something, anything, to make sure you were okay."

"Isn't that why you came by the library yesterday? To make sure I was okay?"

"Well, yes." Celestia admitted. "I should have stayed."

"Princess, I believe it was you who told me we have to move on from our mistakes. You had no idea what I was going to do. And you sent my mother. If you hadn't, well, I wouldn't be here right now."

Celestia released her from the embrace. "You are right of course. But it is difficult to move on from our mistakes. By the way, I was wondering if you would like some tea and company."

"Well, sure, but I don't know how you'd make tea in here."

"Twilight, I once prepared tea for an entire platoon in a desert during a campaign of the Minotaur Wars."

Celestia used her magic to open her saddle bags. She brought out two cups, a tea bag and a thermos of water. Twilight watched in awe as she used magic to boil the water and pour two cups of tea. Twilight took hers in her magic and they sat on the bed. The tea was delicious, a soothing warmth that calmed both her mind and her body. They spent the next few hours talking and reminiscing.