Spike rolled around in his bed, moaning and clawing at his scales as horrific images flashed through his mind.

Twilight came to a halt. W-What?! It was Spike who-?! But, I-I-! Twilight took a deep breath and frowned. No. There’s clearly something going on here that I don’t understand. First of all, I need to go back home and ask mom about the results. Cloud’s reaction to the poison wasn’t anywhere near this powerful, and if this is from a reversed engineered version of the poison, the effect should be weaker, not stronger. This has to be related to the anomaly in the data.

“Fluttershy!” Twilight barked.

“Meep!” She meeped.

“Tell Rainbow Dash to find a royal guard,” Twilight teleported a piece of parchment and a quill next to her and hastily scribbled out a letter, “tell her to give them this.” Twilight gave the letter to Fluttershy. “I need you, Pinkie and Applejack to keep an eye on Spike, make sure he doesn’t go anywhere.”

“What about-?”

“I need to go investigate something, I’ll be back soon.” Without waiting for a reply, Twilight ran out of the building and through the streets.

Having finished her research, Mrs. Velvet hummed a happy tune as she cleaned up her lab with magic and an adequately sized broom. To the side of the room was a neat stack of paper - the data she knew Twilight would come back for.

Sure enough, when Mrs. Velvet was all but done cleaning up…

Twilight teleported into the pile of trash, scattering debris back around the room. With a roll of her eyes and a chuckle, Mrs. Velvet levitated the data over to Twilight before she could even reorient herself.

Twilight shook the DNA samples out of her mane and turned to her mother. “Mom!” She exclaimed. “I need-! Oh.” Twilight spotted the data. “Thank you.”

Mrs. Velvet smiled a warm smile before beginning her sweeping once again.

Flipping through the data, Twilight quickly found what she needed. I see… but how does he have…?

“Questions, dear?” Mrs. Velvet asked.

“Yes,” Twilight replied, “according to your data, the anomaly I discovered in Cloud’s DNA is of a magical origin. It’s almost as if his entire biological makeup is somehow… enchanted. But how? What does it mean? Why didn’t the poison affect him like S- y-your attacker?”

“Honestly, dear, it’s unlike anything I’ve seen before. There’s some kind of strange magic in him, something completely separate from any kind of Unicorn, Pegasus or Earth Pony magic. At least, any I’ve ever analysed.”

Twilight began chewing the inside of her cheek. “It must be related to his magic circles. Whatever they are, they’re tied moreso to his mind than his horn.”

“Precisely.” Mrs. Velvet nodded. “Yes, whatever it is, it’s closely involved with his mind. The poison seems to be magical in some way - I’m not sure in what way, that’s not my area of expertise - but the magic in his DNA seems to have protected his mind from experiencing the full effects.”

“That… could also explain his mood swings and magical outbursts,” Twilight continued. “If his Unicorn magic isn’t able to flow freely through his mind, hormonal issues would certainly occur.” Twilight sighed. “But why would Princess Celestia poison Cloud in the first place? It makes no sense!”

“If I had to guess, dear,” Mrs. Velvet butted in, “I would say it was an experiment; I think she was testing how powerful the anomaly is.”

“But why? Testing it for what?”

Mrs. Velvet shrugged. “If it were me, I suppose I would try to either use his blood as an antidote to mental magical maladies in a most miraculous manner of-!”

“Mom, focus.”

Mrs. Velvet cleared her throat and chuckled. “I’m sorry, dear. What I meant to say was that I would use it to create a universal antidote; an antidote to cure any kind of poison, or maybe even curse, which would affect the brain.”

After considering it for a moment, Twilight clicked her tongue in annoyance. “No. If what she wanted was as innocent as that, we wouldn’t be in this situation.” She sighed. “This didn’t clear up anything, I’m just as lost as before…”

“Don’t be so melodramatic, dear!” Mrs. Velvet laughed. “You’re one step closer to understanding. I know you can figure this out, there’s no one better suited for it!”

Twilight smiled. “Thanks, mom.”

“Oh,” Mrs. Velvet shoved the broom toward Twilight, “and you’re grounded until you help me clear this up.”

Twilight’s smile melted away. “Thanks, mom.” She sighed and began sweeping, holding the broom in a telekinesis spell. I at least learned one thing from all of this: If the anomaly really helps against mental attacks, I doubt Cloud’s memory loss is due to magic…

Though the Saddle Arabian sun would surely set soon, Cloud and Mawr were still many miles away from the next town. This was no issue for Mawr; she had transformed back into a Camel and had enough energy to last for another week of travel. Cloud, though starving, was having no issues with dehydration either. By casting a water conjuration spell, he was able to stay hydrated in the intense heat of the desert. However, there was an issue with this strategy: By using magical energy to create water for himself, Cloud was wasting his energy at a much faster rate. He felt as if he hadn’t eaten in days.

“We need to stop,” Cloud slurred. “I don’t know how much longer I can go on like this. My legs are killing me, I’m starving and I walk any more I’m gonna collapse.” He sat on the ground.

Mawr stopped walking and turned to face him, frowning. “We don’t have time for this shit. The more you have to rest, the longer it’s gonna take for us to get to the next town.”

“Look, I don’t know if I can do this. I don’t even know why Luna-”

“Princess Luna.”

Cloud scowled. “No! Screw your honourifics! If she’s so great and powerful, why didn’t she tell me she needed me herself?! She hasn’t been in a single one of my dreams since I was banished, so why the hell should I do-?!” Cloud found himself unable to speak, cut off by Mawr’s muting spell.

Now back in her normal form, Mawr was rubbing the bridge of her nose. “Would you stop wasting your energy shouting? You wasted enough with the damn singing earlier; it’s your own fault you’re doing so badly right now.”

Getting angry, Cloud tried to light up his horn only to have pain shoot through his head and sparks shoot through the end of his horn.

“Princess Luna can’t get to you from here,” Mawr continued, ignoring him, “the only reason she can get to anyone at night is by using her moon as a transmitter. You may not have noticed, but you’re on the other side of the world. There’s no way she can get to you from back in Equestria.”

After a few moments, Cloud sighed. “Look, either way I’m way too exhausted to continue. We’ve only been traveling a few hours but it already feels like weeks have passed.”

Mawr let out a very, very long groan. “Fine!” She pulled the map and money out of her legs. “Make yourself useful and hold these.” She shoved them into Cloud’s hooves before taking a few steps back. Emerald flames surrounded her as she transformed into a male Buffalo.

“Uh…”

She knelt down. “Climb on my back.”

“I was expecting a motivational speech or something, not this.”

“I don’t care!” Mawr shouted. “Just climb on my back! I left a sandwich on my nightstand and if I don’t get you back quickly my room’s gonna stink of cheese forever!”

Despite his horrible condition, Cloud couldn’t help but grin.

Mawr narrowed her eyes. “Don’t say it.”

“At least-!”

“Don’t say it.”

“It’ll smell-!”

“I will beat you within an inch of your life if you say it.”

“GOUDA!” Cloud fell into a fit of laughter, fuelled further by the look of malice upon Mawr’s face. He was so distracted, in fact, that he never noticed her walking behind him - not until she kicked him somewhere delicate.