"Help me," Twilight whispered to her friend.

Pinkie Pie just stared back at her blankly. Her best gift was making other ponies smile. She would meet or surpass those expectations at nearly every turn, either with a party, or just some gesture that expressed how much she cared about everyone's happiness. For the first time, however, she was at a loss. She felt horrible. Here was one of her best friends, in pain and grotesquely disfigured, and she was powerless to do anything about it. Her gift was of no use here, and she had no idea what to do.

She knelt down and softly nuzzled her friend.

"It's going to be alright, Twilight. We'll get everypony together, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, even Fluttershy. I'm sure she won't hold a grudge; you're so important to her. You're important to all of us. If we can't help you figure this out, we'll go to the Princess before it gets any worse. She has over a thousand years of knowledge and experience, Twilight. I'm sure she can help you," the earth pony whispered.

Twilight stiffened at the mention of Princess Celestia. Her paranoia began to take a hold again. She had been through so much in the past few days; she hadn't even considered asking the Princess for help. She couldn't. This was different from the time she made the friendship problem with Smarty Pants. Princess Celestia had specifically instructed her to never experiment on herself. That means she disobeyed a direct order from the Princess herself. She had betrayed her, as deeply as she had betrayed Fluttershy, maybe even deeper. If she went to the Princess now, she would surely banish her. She would have to go far away from her friends, her family, and she wouldn't have access to the equipment needed to cure herself. She would be humiliated, isolated while turning into some unknown monster. She would be alone... again.

"NO!" Twilight screamed, as she leapt up at the Pink Earth Pony, knocking her on her back.

She pinned Pinkie Pie to the ground, her horn started sparking with magic. Pinkie Pie looked up at her friend terrified. She was trembling, as Twilight got nose to nose with her. Pinkie started trembling beneath the Unicorn, as beads of sweat started to appear on her forehead. She tried, but she couldn't look away from the horrifically deformed face now staring deep into her eyes.

"Pinkie, you can't tell anypony about this… Not our friends, not even Zecora. Especially, you CANNOT tell the Princess! Experimenting on yourself is one of the highest crimes in Science. She will banish me for it, Pinkie! You have to keep this quiet! Now, promise me!"

"But…but…Twilight-" Pinkie stammered before being interrupted by Twilight again.

"I SAID NO, PINKIE! I WANT YOU TO SWEAR! I WANT YOU TO PINKIE PROMISE RIGHT NOW, THAT YOU WON'T TELL ANYPONY ABOUT THIS! BETRAYING SOMPONY'S TRUST IS THE FASTEST WAY TO LOSE A FRIEND, RIGHT? YOU TOLD ME THAT, PINKIE, SO I WANT TO HEAR YOU SWEAR IT!" Twilight screamed at Pinkie Pie.

Pinkie remained silent for a moment, as tears started to form in her eyes. She had been yelled at before, but never like this. This was worse than the tongue-lashing Fluttershy gave her and Rarity while under the influence of that Minotaur monster. She winced as Twilight put pressure on her hooves as she held her down.

"Twi…Twilight, you're hurting me! Please stop!" Pinkie whispered, with tears streaking down her face.

Twilight's blood boiled, as she screamed in the pink Pony's face.

"YOU WANT ME TO GO AWAY IS THAT IT? YOU'RE SO WORRIED ABOUT OTHERS BEING YOUR FRIEND THAT YOU ARE READY TO JUST THROW ME AWAY LIKE THAT TRASH OVER THERE! YOU DON'T WANT ME AT YOUR PARTIES, OR IN YOUR LIFE! ADMIT IT! ADMIT THAT YOU WANT TO SEE ME GO AWAY FOREVER, OR SWEAR TO ME THAT YOU WILL BE MY FRIEND AND KEEP THIS TO YOURSELF!"

The pink mare brought her hoof up slowly and started to recite the promise while going through the motions of the ritual.

"Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye." She stammered out in between sniffling and whimpering.

"Thank you, Pinkie. I knew I could count on you," Twilight said softly.

She backed away from Pinkie Pie, and let her get up of her own power. She turned to go, levitating some of the half-eaten baked goods and her now defunct ear in front of her. She tilted her head towards Pinkie.

"Remember, Pinkie, not a word. I will figure this out, so don't worry. Everything will work out. I promise." She said, forcing a smile.

She rushed off into the night, leaving a stunned Pinkie Pie to absorb what had just happened.

A FEW DAYS LATER…

Applejack raised her back hooves and bucked the tree in front of her with all the strength she had left. It was a long day, and this was the last tree in the south field that she needed to get the apples from today. Once she had gathered up the fresh apples, she made her way back to the barn. She loved her friends and her family, but she enjoyed these moments of quiet on Sweet Apple Acres. It gave her time to think. Working with her hooves had always helped her gain moments of clarity, and dwell on life's vicissitudes. She had time to analyze whatever was going on in her life. It was precious to have some time to gather your thoughts, and right now, Applejack had a lot on her mind, mostly, revolving around a certain purple Unicorn friend of hers. After she put the last barrel away, she slowly closed the creaking barn door, locking it before turning to go in the house. She was confronted by the large figure of her brother. Despite his quiet demeanor, she knew when something was on his mind. Growing up with him, she had quickly learned his body language. He wanted to talk about something, it was practically written on his face. She sighed inwardly. It had been a long day, and she did not feel like having a serious conversation right now. She was tired, hungry, and a bit irritable at the moment, considering what had happened recently.

"Sis, Ah wanted to talk to you for a sec. You've been brewin' for a while now 'bout what happened with Twilight Sparkle. Ah know what she did was wrong, but ya can't let this stew anymore. Ah know its tearin' you up not seeing her, so why don't you go over there and talk things out, will ya?" he stated calmly.

Now she was really irked. Big Mac had another habit when he had these little talks with you. The problem was he was usually right. Applejack grunted in frustration, and started to walk around the large stallion.

"Now listen here, Big Mac, this ain't none of yer business. While Ah appreciate the sentiment, Ah'll be the one to solve mah own problems, thank you very much. And for yer information, she was more than just wrong. She was reckless, thick headed, and she took the life of one of our friend's pets. Have you seen Fluttershy lately? Ah know Ah haven't! And why is that again? Oh, that's right. She's been so depressed she won't even leave her cottage! It's gotten so bad that the animals are startin' to take care of her! Ponyfeathers, Ah had to bring her a bushel of our best apples just to make sure the poor gal had somethin' to eat! Where is Twilight, anyway? She hasn't been by to apologize to Fluttershy, Ah can say that much! She even started a fight in town, and kicked two of her best friends out on their flanks, while screamin' her head off at them! Even when Rainbow Dash and Rarity both went back to try and talk things out, she wouldn't even let them in the door or just ignored'em when they came by! Sorry, but until she starts actin' normal, Ah'll steer clear. Ah have plenty to do here, so Ah'll just wait!"

Big Mac just stared back at her, seemingly unconvinced. They stared at each other for a few moments before the orange mare finally relented. Huffing to herself, she turned around and started walking back towards the house.

"Alright, fine! Jus' lemme get washed up, ok?!?" She said quickly.

Big Mac gave a soft smile as he turned to go about his business, clearly pleased as his results.
-

By this time, night had fallen, as Applejack made her way through Ponyville, and towards the library. She was treading slowly, trying to collect her thoughts for the coming conversation that was likely to be awkward. As she reached the door, she noticed a sign on the outside of the library hanging on the door.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack muttered under her breath as she approached the sign.

The sign read, 'Closed for renovations. Will reopen soon- Twilight Sparkle.'

'Well, that sure is funny. Ah don't recall any sort of construction going on here recently. It hasn't been that long since Ah talked to Twilight, and she would have mentioned sumthin' Ah'm sure.' She thought to herself as she rubbed under her chin with her hoof.

She walked around the tree building to inspect the property. She looked for any signs of construction. They were always working on the property over at the farm, so she was quite familiar with what it was supposed to look like when doing renovations. She saw no signs at all of any work being done on the tree house.

'Hmm… Maybe the renovations are being done on the inside? Oh well, only one way to find out, I guess,' she thought to herself.

She approached the door tentatively, using her left hoof to gently rap on the door. She waited for a moment, and she didn't hear anything, so she knocked again, this time harder. This time, the door slowly opened with an eerie creek. She waited for a moment before she walked in. It was so dark, she couldn't see in front of her face. She had had enough of waiting, and decided to call out to her fellow element bearer.

"Hey, Twilight, it's me, Applejack. Are you in here?" She said in a raised voice.

Suddenly, all the lights went on. Applejack had to shield her eyes from the sudden change. She looked around and didn't see anyone in the main room for a moment. Then, a voice rang out above her head.

"Oh! Hi, Applejack! What brings you here?" Twilight said.

Applejack looked around. She couldn't tell where the voice was coming from, so she decided to call out again.

"Twilight? Is this a new invisibility spell or sumthin'? Where the hay are ya?" She said while looking around.

"I'm up here, AJ! Look towards the ceiling to the right!" Twilight answered.

Applejack did as asked and almost jumped out of her skin. Twilight was walking on the ceiling, and crawling her way down the side wall towards the ground.

"Tw…Twilight? Is… Is that you?!?" Applejack gasped.

"Of course it's me, AJ? Who else would it be? What, do I look different to you? Oh wait, don't answer that." Twilight said after she jumped to the ground, giggling madly.

Applejack slowly approached her friend.

"Twilight, what in Equestria happened to you?" She said as she got closer.

"Science happened, AJ! Science! You see, it wanted something from me, I think. I'm changing! I'm turning into a whole new creature! This is the most interesting experiment I have ever been a part of!" She exclaimed, while her eyes darted back and forth, not focusing on the farm pony in front of her.

Applejack could not believe what she was hearing. It was Twilight's voice, but her body looked like it was burnt in a fire. There were sores all over her, with white pouches that looked like cocoon webbing scattered over what was left of her fur. He face looked horribly disfigured, and her teeth looked like they had been ground down to sharp edges. Her mane was almost completely gone, and the hair that was left had become stringy and wispy like cotton. Her ears were gone, and her cutie mark was faded on her flank.

"What experiment? Twilight did you do something to yerself? What caused all this?" Applejack asked.

"Well, no one else wanted to use the telepod after I went and fixed it, so I had no choice but to try it out. Isn't it interesting? I think I'm going to write a paper on this! Document my changes; I may even get invited to a scientific symposium! Wouldn't that be exciting?" The element of magic clamored as she moved about the room nervously.

"What do you mean yer becoming a new creature?" Applejack asked.

Her friend was clearly not in her right mind, so she thought it best to ask as many questions as she could. Ironically, this was a method of intelligence gathering that she had learned from the unicorn herself. She needed to dig deeper and find out what the root cause of this was.

"A fly, AJ. Nature has selected me to become a unicorn fly. Hmm… that poses an interesting question. What would I call myself? A Flycorn? A Unifly? I think Unifly sounds better. I will probably need a new name too. Twifly Sparkle, I guess? On second thought, that sounds like something Pinkie Pie would come up with. I'll work on it, anyhow."

Applejack was stunned. Not only was one of her best friends turning into a hideous creature, but she seemed to enjoy it! She had seen Twilight like this before, but to be in this state was unimaginable. She needed more information.

'I jus got to keep her talkin'. Then I can get to the bottom of this.' The earth pony thought to herself.

"Well, gee, Twilight, that's mighty interestin' and all. Say, how did you lose yer ears, anyhow? I'm sure that's an interesting story." Applejack said.

"Oh! That's right! Here, let me show you!" Twilight said with giddy excitement. She hooked her friend's hoof with hers and dragged her over by the basement.

Applejack's hoof felt like it was being ripped out of her socket.

'In the name of Celestia, mah shoulder is gonna be sore fer a week now! How in the hay did she get so strong?!? She must be stronger than mah brother!' She thought to herself.

Twilight took her towards the entrances to the basement. There was a little shelf where some of the library books used to be. On it, were different body parts and sampled in glass jars, each of them labeled accordingly. Both of Twilight's ears, pieces of skin, hair, and what looked like blood samples. There was a small wooden sign behind them on the shelf that read in very crude paint: 'Twilight Sparkle Museum of Natural History.'

Applejack had seen enough. As much as it frightened her to do it, she had to confront Twilight. She didn't know why her friend seemed like she was in denial, but she had to snap her out of it somehow.

"Sugarcube," the element of honesty started, "You aren't alright. Please let's all get together and talk about this. I'm sure there is a way to fix you! We'll get the Elements of Harmony together. Maybe they can stop this…transformation."

Twilight's expression softened.

'Good, looks like this is workin'. Gotta lay it on thick now. Get her to listen to reason.'

Applejack turned to her friend and put both hooves on her shoulders, while she tried desperately to talk some sense into her friend.

"I'm scared for ya, Twilight. This… all this… It just ain't normal! If this continues, who knows what'll happen. We ain't gonna lose ya, Twilight, I can promise ya that! We'll help ya in any way we can. We'll even get the Princess! I know she can do something!"

Twilight immediately pushed her friend away from her. Applejack staggered back in surprise.

"I don't need the Princess's help, AJ! I'm perfectly capable of studying this on my own, and I resent the fact that you think I'm not in control here! I can assure you, I'm fine, and I've never felt better or more alive in my life!" Twilight shouted with exuberance.

Applejack continued, "Yer not well, Sugarcube! Yer sick! Please, let us help ya!"

Her pleading was ignored, however. Twilight was getting angrier by the second at her friends. Her stance became low, and she huffed like she was ready to attack. How could one of her best friends doubt her word? She had proved herself time, and time again, but despite all of her strengths and triumphs, Applejack still looked at her as a helpless little filly when it came to anything physical.

"I'M NOT SICK! I'M BETTER THEN I EVER HAVE BEEN! I CAN CLIMB WALLS! YOU SAW! YOU HAVE ALWAYS JUST THOUGHT OF ME AS AN EGGHEAD, AJ! YOU NEVER THOUGHT I WAS STRONG, LIKE YOU! JUST A WEAK LITTLE UNICORN THAT WILL NEVER BE A MATCH FOR A STRONG APPLETREE-BUCKING EARTHPONY! WELL, I'VE GOT NEWS FOR YOU, AJ!" Twilight exploded.

She leaped over Applejack, and ran towards the door and stopped at the wall by the enterance where the bookshelves began. She got on her hind legs and began hitting the wooden wall, sending large pieces of wood flying as she pounded away.

"DOES THIS LOOK WEAK TO YOU, AJ?!? HUH?!? DOES THIS LOOK LIKE AN EGGHEAD WHO CAN'T HANDLE HERSELF?!? CAN YOU DO THIS?!? CAN BIG MAC?!?" She screamed.

"TWILIGHT, PLEASE STOP!" Applejack shrieked.

Twilight turned to her with a furious glare breathing heavily.

"I… I jus dunno who you are anymore. Yer not the Twilight I know. The Twilight I know never acted this way. The Twilight I know would never act this way towards her friends!" Applejack whispered, as she felt tears well up in her eyes.

She turned to leave, and made a sprint for the door, when Twilight stuck out her hoof and threw her back towards the center table in the main room. Applejack grunted, as her back struck the table and she slumped to the floor. Twilight levitated a book towards her and set it down in between them a few feet away.

"Don't share what you have seen with anyone, Applejack. Not other ponies and not the Princess. By the way, there is something else that I can do. You may want to step aside." The unicorn stated calmly.

Applejack was truly afraid now, and scampered away, frightened of what Twilight was going to do. Twilight heaved mightily, as a light green milk escaped her throat and splashed all over the book. It immediately started melting. Applejack huddled in fear as she watched the book quickly melt into nothing, mere feet from her. As Twilight stood erect, she slowly made her way over to her now trembling friend. She stuck her chin in the air and looked down on the orange mare with distain.

"I know that Granny Smith likes to take afternoon naps alone in her rocking chair in her bedroom. I know Big Mac's schedule for apple-bucking those large fields, fields so easy for one to get lost in." Twilight leaned in and whispered into Applejack's ear, "And I know when Applebloom gets out of school every day. You know her, she loves to get herself lost, right AJ?"

Normally, if anyone ever even thought about threatening her family, she would buck them into next week. Twilight had already shown how strong she was, however. Applejack felt helpless with the unicorn standing above her. All she could do right now was plead, and hope that some part of the Twilight she knew was still in there.

"Please…Please, Twilight, don't hurt mah family! Ah won't tell anyone, I swear! It'll be between you and me, ok? Just between us friends right?" She stammered as tears streamed down her face.

Twilight suddenly snapped back, realizing what she just did. A look of regret formed on her face, as she backed away. She tried to speak, but she didn't know what to say.

"Applejack…I'm sorry, I…" Twilight said softly.

The element of honesty didn't wait for the apology. She turned and ran as fast as she could out the door, leaving Twilight Sparkle in the library, ashamed and alone.