---

“Colonel Von Luger, it is the sworn duty of all officers to try to escape. If they cannot escape, then it is their sworn duty to cause the enemy to use an inordinate number of troops to guard them, and their sworn duty to harass the enemy to the best of their ability.”
Ramsey, The Great Escape.

---

Ponyville Hospital, 3rd May, Year 3 Era Harmonia, 12:09.

Princess Celestia had been as good as her word, returning bright and early the next day to try and figure out what was happening. The human had been moved back into his bed, where he lay unconscious. Celestia stood by the bed, observing him with a frown, the others also in the room with her.

“… And then he tried to leave,” Lyra finished. “I couldn’t convince him not to – it was all I could do to get the nurses to keep everypony out of his way.”

She had explained everything she could about what had happened, from the human’s arrival to the events of his attempted escape, with choice interjections from the others as she went. It was all she could do to keep her head from nodding and her eyes from drifting closed: she had barely slept last night, knowing what had nearly happened.

And as for talking to Bon Bon about it… well, she had not been very happy with Lyra, to say the least.

---

The previous night…

“You mean to tell me that you’ve been out all day, nearly getting blown up, finding a dangerous creature, and you’re going back to the hospital tomorrow to spend more time with it?!”

Lyra winced at Bon Bon’s angry diatribe. “Uh… sorry?”

“Sorry?! Sorry?!” Bon Bon was practically spitting in rage, her eyes wide and her teeth bared in a snarl.

“Bon Bon, what was I supposed to do?” Lyra asked desperately. “Just let this human die? Leave this to somepony else? This is one of my biggest dreams ever.”

“You…” Bon Bon sighed, and suddenly seemed to deflate entirely. “You know what? Whatever. Fine. Sure.”

Lyra blinked. “Seriously?”

Bon Bon growled. “Well, it’s not like I can bucking stop you, is it?”

---

Lyra sighed and returned her attention to the present. Bon Bon would calm down. Eventually.

“You did very well, given the circumstances,” Celestia said to her with a smile. She turned back to the human. “This… being… certainly brings with him his fair share of questions.”

“Ain’t that the truth,” Applejack muttered. At Celestia’s amused glance, she blushed. “Er, your highness.”

“No, it’s quite alright, Applejack,” Celestia said softly. “There is a great deal at stake here. No doubt you’re worried.”

“Uh, beggin’ your pardon, your highness, but darn straight,” Applejack said, stumbling over the oath. “All this stuff is mighty peculiar.”

“It is at that,” Celestia said solemnly.

“Do you think he could be from the future, Princess?” Twilight asked, looking between the Princess and the unconscious human.

“I think there are so many possibilities that trying to determine which one of them is the truth would be a difficult proposition,” Celestia replied, still looking at the human. She glanced up at Lyra. “I am curious about one thing, though, Ms Heartstrings.”

“Um, yes?” Lyra asked. “Uh, your highness?”

“How did you come to learn of the legend of humans?” Celestia asked her. “It was obscure even in my youth.”

“Oh,” Lyra said, scratching the back of her head. “Well… I just, uh… read some books.”

“‘Read some books’,” Celestia repeated with a smirk. “Some of the most obscure books in our various libraries, I might point out.”

“I dunno,” Lyra admitted, “it just… the idea of humans always seemed to be this story that drew my attention. Like it was just this old legend in its own right that I couldn’t help but find fascinating.” She sighed. “I used to dream about it. All sorts of stuff…”

“And now you’re face to face with one of your dreams,” Celestia said. “Treasure that while you can, Ms Heartstrings, for it happens to very few ponies.”

Lyra nodded. “I will, your highness.”

Snapping her attention back to the ponies, Celestia smiled again, this time clearly trying to be reassuring.

“For now, my little ponies, I suspect we will need to let the human – this Alexander Reiner – rest again.” She turned to Twilight. “Twilight, you and your friends should go home and do the same. If this business brings with it more complications, we will all need to be at our best.”

“May I stay with him?” Lyra asked, looking at the sleeping human. “I… feel like I should. Or that somepony should.”

Celestia nodded. “Yes. I suspect it is best if you do. From what you said, he is less likely to respond with hostility to you.”

“Excuse me?” a voice asked from behind them, and the group turned to see Nurse Redheart standing in the doorway. “Is the patient needing anything?”

“No, the human’s sleeping for now,” Twilight told her. “Sorry – Alexander Reiner is sleeping now.”

“I see,” Redheart said, approaching and checking the chart. “Have we come any closer to learning if he's tolerant of any medicines?”

“Not yet, no,” Lyra said with a smile. “He… uh, well, he yelled more than he said anything about medicine.”

“Of course he did,” Redheart muttered. At everypony’s questioning expressions, she glanced up and smiled. “Nopony’s ever thinking about medication when they're confused. Why should a… human... be any different in that regard?”

“Nopony likes taking medicine,” Pinkie said sagely. “They all think it’s icky or overpriced, or they think it’s part of some giant conspiracy by corporations.”

Redheart blinked, before chuckling. “Well, I’ve no idea what sort of corporations a human might know, but I’m fairly certain he’s really ill.” She paused. “Did the xenosurgeon have any ideas about treatment?”

Lyra frowned slightly. “Nurse Sutra didn’t want to risk anything without knowing more about his anatomy: she didn’t think she could approximate.”

“I see,” Redheart said with a smile. “Well, I’ll leave you all to it, then – unless you require anything further, Princess?”

Celestia shook her head. “Thank you, Nurse.”

Redheart paused, glancing at the human again. “One thing, your highness, if I may.”

“Of course,” Celestia said amiably.

“I heard about the human’s… escape attempt, yesterday,” Redheart said delicately. “Under the circumstances, may I recommend posting additional security?”

“The human didn’t harm anypony, and he wouldn’t have harmed anypony who didn’t get in his way,” Lyra protested at once.

“He did seem rather… focused in his ill-intent,” Celestia said with a raised eyebrow. “It does not seem as though he intends random violence.”

“Forgive me if what you’re saying doesn’t reassure me, your highness,” Redheart said with a wry smile of her own. “I just think, in the interests of security, a few more guards wouldn’t go amiss.”

“That would potentially put their lives at risk,” Celestia told her. “If you’re wrong, he may not harm ponies who do not stand in his way, but he may be less inclined to view Guardsponies favourably. Equally, if he is a threat, he may well consider them more favourable targets.”

“We exist to serve, risk and all,” Redheart said at once, as though speaking from rote.

Celestia smiled. “Careful you don’t get too caught up in the old instincts, Redheart. You just referred to yourself alongside the Guard, present tense.”

Redheart blushed. “I’m sorry. This… like I said, reminds me of the old days.”

“It’s quite alright,” Celestia said with a soft chuckle. “I feel more comfortable leaving him as he is, for now, knowing that there are ponies like yourself maintaining vigilance on the matter.”

Redheart bowed. “You have no idea how much I appreciate that, your highness.” She straightened. “If you’ll excuse me.”

With that, she left the room. Lyra frowned slightly as she left.

“She seems a little less welcoming than she did yesterday,” she commented.

“Well, the human did escape and then threaten to blow himself – and us – up,” Rarity said, almost dismissively. “It doesn’t seem beyond the realms of possibility that she’s simply more cautious now.”

Lyra nodded, but still couldn’t shake the uneasy feeling.

“I must speak with Luna about all of this,” Celestia eventually said. “We shall convene at the hospital again in three hours. That should give everypony time to rest a little and hopefully prepare for whatever comes next.” She sighed. “Hopefully when we reconvene, we’ll be able to learn more of the truth of this matter.”

“We’ll be here, Princess,” Twilight promised.

Celestia nodded. “Until then, Twilight.”

Without another word, she strode out of the room. Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash followed her.

“Hey, Lyra,” Pinkie said, smiling at her. “Make sure to ask Alexander Reiner what he likes in a party. I want to plan a ‘welcome to Ponyville slash Equestria slash our dimensional plane’ party, but I can’t do that if I don’t know what he likes.”

“It’ll be one of the first things I ask,” Lyra promised.

“Thanks!” Pinkie said. She paused. “Oh, and try to ask him how to spell ‘Alexander Reiner’. I don’t want to misspell it. Ponies find that rude – humans probably would too.”

Lyra chuckled. “I’ll find out for you.”

Pinkie smiled, before following the others, leaving Fluttershy and Twilight behind. Fluttershy withdrew a small jar of jam from her saddlebag.

“I made this for him,” she said softly. “I thought it might… y’know, help him.” She smiled. “It’s always nice to try and help however we can.”

“I’m sure he’ll appreciate the thought, Fluttershy,” Lyra said, looking back at the human with a frown of worry. “If he wakes up any time soon, that is.”

“I’m sure he will,” Fluttershy said kindly. “Nurse Redheart and the other staff will do their very best, I’m sure.”

With that, she left the room, following after the others, leaving only Twilight and Lyra alone with the sleeping human.

“Y’know,” Twilight said, “I never thought something like this would happen to you. You were always an eccentric, but…”

“But I was a pretty dull eccentric,” Lyra said, not unkindly. “No adventures or cataclysms, just weird lectures or making a fool of myself parties.”

“Yeah.” Twilight’s tone was apologetic. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

“I will,” Lyra replied. “Don’t worry, Twi. Everything will be fine, I’m sure.”

Twilight gave her a small smile. “I wish I had your confidence, Lyra.”

And then she, too, left the room, leaving Lyra alone with the unconscious Alexander Reiner.

Well, Lyra thought, sighing. This should be interesting.

---

“So what's the score,” Applejack said with a snort as the Element bearers walked out of the hospital. “There's a weird creature called a human, some hints o’ somethin’ less than pretty on the horizon… I miss anythin’?”

“The fact that Princess Celestia’s taken a personal interest,” Rarity pointed out.

“Right,” Applejack drawled. “Well, this is gonna be all sorts o’ fun.”

“I’m still hoping this is just like last time,” Twilight said, looking tired and apprehensive.

“Uh, what last time?” Applejack asked.

“You know,” Pinkie put in, “the last time we saw somepony…”

“Or ‘some being”,” Twilight corrected.

“... from the future appear, seemingly after a world-destroying event, and we all panicked and then it turned out to be nothing!” Pinkie said. “Even if Twi looked awesome.”

Twilight sighed. “Please don’t remind me of that. My eye hurt for weeks. And I was such a mess.”

“Yeah, a ragged, ‘post apocalypse chic’ mess!” Pinkie countered.

“There's a ‘post apocalypse chic’?” Twilight asked.

“Oh, you'd be surprised,” Rarity chuckled. “Post-apocalypse, steampunk, raggedy chic, distressed denims…”

“That definitely sounds like the time Twilight went back in time,” Pinkie said with a chuckle.

“I was definitely a mess,” Twilight chuckled.

There was a long pause, and the group’s levity faded after a long moment.

“This entire scenario is… unsettling, to be sure,” Rarity said quietly, “but I’m certain we’ll be able to solve it.”

“Sure we will,” Applejack put in. “We solve everythin’ else, don't we?”

“Yeah, well, something tells me this’ll be different,” Rainbow Dash put in. “I still think that Death Tree was an omen.”

“Will you give your blasted ‘death tree’ nonsense a rest?” Rarity asked irritably. “It was a tree. An ugly tree, but a tree.”

“They have been known to appear at times of great upheaval,” Fluttershy said quietly.

“Let’s try not to worry about it, okay?” Twilight asked. “We’ve got enough things in our plate without ‘Death Trees’.”

---

Damnation, but this place is uncanny.

Redheart was sat at a bench outside the hospital. For the moment, she could relax: her shift allowed for a brief break. She took a swig of her hip-flask, wincing at the sour taste. To think – for a decade before the war, for all the years that she’d been the simple nurse of Ponyville, she'd given up alcohol. And here she was: back on the bottle.

Stress of the time, Red, stress of the time, she thought wryly, her thoughts taking the voice of one of her old colleagues. We all need something to get us through the day. Especially dealing with the Princess.

Damnation, but that had nearly caught her off guard. She’d forgotten how patient and kind the Princess had been, before the stresses of war had taken their toll. She was only lucky that the thought of there being other versions of ponies had yet to occur to this Celestia, that the idea of spies had not crossed her mind.

But it will, soon, she thought grimly. I can't slip up again.

“Redheart?” she heard a voice ask. “Are you alright?”

Redheart blinked at the address. She looked up to see Sutra Cross sitting across from her, a sympathetic smile on her face, and for a moment she felt her heart skip.

“Uh, I’m fine,” she said, trying to ignore the sense of nausea when she saw her old friend: what had happened to Sutra Cross was a cautionary tale for the ages. “Why do you ask?”

“The drink,” she said, motioning to Redheart’s flask.

Redheart smiled wryly. “Just… nerves. This reminds me too much of military service.”

Half truths work better than outright lies, she remembered the spy training saying.

“Unknown creatures with unknown medical needs?” Sutra Cross asked.

“Could say that,” Redheart chuckled.

“I get that feel,” Cross said. “Never seen anything like him.”

“I'm sure you'll acclimatise quickly,” Redheart said sincerely. You did before, sweet naive Sutra. And that... she almost winced at the bite she felt in her thoughts. Look where that got you.

“I hope so,” Sutra Cross said. “I want to do the best I can for him.”

Redheart felt her mood sour. “How do you know he's worth it?”

“What do you mean?” Cross asked.

“We don't know anything about this species,” Redheart pointed out. Or you don’t. “We don't know what they're like, what they believe. You saw his omnivore incisors, I take it?”

“I took note, yes,” Sutra Cross said with a nod. “But we’re healers and he's a patient. Even if it was Grogar himself sat in that bed, the words of our Hippocratic oath matter.” She took a breath. “I swear, by all the Princesses…”

“...in whatsoever place that I enter, I will enter to help the sick and heal the injured,” Redheart finished, nodding slowly. “And I will do no harm.”

“Whatsoever place, and whatsoever people, even these humans,” Sutra finished. “Healing the sick isn't something that's just for ponies. It's for every creature. That's why I’m here.”

Redheart smiled. “I wish I had your idealism.”

“It's easy to have idealism,” Cross said. “Just stop worrying about the things that could go wrong. Focus on what you hope to be, hope to do. Even if it goes wrong… you were true to yourself.”

Redheart’s smile wavered slightly. “That's a good ideal.”

Sutra Cross smiled back, before looking at her watch.

“I'd better go,” she said softly. “Still technically on shift for another half hour.”

She trotted off, leaving Redheart alone to contemplate her words.

‘i will do no harm’, indeed. How long has it been since I first broke that. Another, more unwelcome thought crossed her mind. Was it worth it?

She shook her head. If she kept thinking things like that, she’d have to submit herself to the Loyalty Guard when she got home, and that wouldn’t be fun for anypony. Sighing, she returned her attention to the question at hoof: What to do about Reiner.

But her mind kept returning to the Hippocratic oath.

I will do no harm.

---

Ponyville Hospital. 14:15.

“So, uh… I'll have a lot of questions for you, when you wake up. You, uh… well you've changed a lot about what we understand, and we don't understand, and… Sorry. I sound like an idiot.”

Lyra was talking to the human in his sleep. It felt less stupid to her than it might have sounded, but that wasn't much of a margin.

“I mean, your name for example. I don't understand it. It doesn't seem to have any meaning. And yet you're speaking perfect Equestrian. So are your names meaningless, or do your names have special meanings? What -”

“Do you think you could keep it down?” a groaning voice spoke, and then the human was staring at her. “Some of us are trying to sleep.”

“Oh!” Lyra said. “Sorry, I -”

“No, no, it's fine,” he said, waving a hand (Hands, Lyra!). “Can sleep when I’m dead.” He smiled at her. “Honestly, I missed the babbling, as well. It's the little things. Y’know?”

“You… you missed it,” Lyra repeated.

Alexander Reiner nodded. “Yeah…”

“Because… because I'm dead,” Lyra said softly. “Right?”

“Yeah,” Alexander Reiner said. “Right.”

There was a long pause.

“So, uh… what do I call you?” Lyra asked.

Reiner frowned. “Excuse me?”

“Well, you said your name was ‘Alexander Reiner’, right?” Lyra said. “I mean, is that a name we use in full, or is it common to address you as…”

“Alex,” the human said softly. “You can call me Alex.”

“Alex?” Lyra asked. “A… diminutive of your first name?”

Alexander – Alex – gave a dry chuckle. “That's exactly what you said the first time. But actually, it’s one of several you could potentially use.” He shrugged. “I just always preferred it. My stepdad used to call me Xander. Fucked me right off.”

Lyra winced. “R-right.”

He frowned. “You okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah, just… the profanity is a little… profane.”

“Oh.” To her surprise, he started chuckling again. “Y’know, you used to say that, too.”

Lyra laughed a little too. “Well, I’m, uh… glad to bring back positive memories?”

“Yeah,” Alex said, his smile fading. “Shame they weren't all that nice.”

He sighed, before frowning at a small jar that had been left on his bedside table. Lyra recognised it as the jar of jam Fluttershy had left.

“What the hell’s this?” he asked, holding up the jar with a dubious expression.

Lyra blinked. “Uh… it's a jar of jam.”

The human pursed his lips slightly. “A jar. Of jam.”

“Yeah.”

“I see.” He looked at the jar. “And, uh, who left it here?”

“Fluttershy,” Lyra said softly. “She… uh, she thought it would be a nice… well, a nice gesture. Sort of.”

The human snickered slightly, before putting it down. “A nice gesture. I suppose it doesn't have any potion in it.”

“Any… what?” Lyra replied, frowning. “It's… as far as I know, it's just… y’know. Jam.”

“Just jam,” the human said. “Jesus. Now I've seen everything. Three weeks ago the yellow terror was leading terror raiding attacks on towns in the Midwest and I had to rely on Munro and his fucking crazy HLF friends to deal with it. Now I've got jam.” He chuckled, a harsh and weary sound. “Tell me something – is this shit even real?”

“Uh… excuse me?” Lyra asked. “What… I mean…”

“Am I actually here or am I drooling in a padded cell somewhere?” the human said, speaking in a clearer voice. “It's not a trick question.”

“I… think it's real,” Lyra said, smiling nervously. “I mean, I know I would say that, but…”

“Nah,” the human said, “I figured it was. Just…” He sighed, running a hand over his short hair. “Let's just say, there have been more than a few moments over the last few years that just sort of make you go ‘what the fucking hell’, y’know?”

Lyra nodded, even though in truth she wasn't sure she understood at all.

“Might almost be nice to have gone crazy,” Alex said, and something about the forced conversational tone in his voice made Lyra think of watching someone holding a scared dog by the tail. “Sure, mind’s gone, but at least I don’t have to think about all of this.”

“I… I'm not sure that's…” Lyra began, before swallowing. “You… I don't think you're insane.”

“Nice to know,” Alex said with a deadpan smirk. “The dead mare doesn't think I'm crazy.”

“I'm not dead, here,” Lyra pointed out. “There's something… weird going on, but you're not crazy, I'm not dead, and… I dunno, maybe we’ll be able to help you.”

“‘Help’ me, sure,” Alex said with a snort. “You, maybe. The rest of them…”

He trailed off.

“So,” Lyra said after a moment, hoping to break the silence. “I, uh... had a few questions.”

Alex sighed, but he gave a good natured smile. “You did before, too.” He yawned, covering his mouth, before smiling at her again. “Alright then, Ms Heartstrings. Shoot.”

“Okay,” Lyra said, before taking a breath. “How do you spell your name?”

Alex blinked, before he started laughing.

---

Ponyville Hospital. 15:09.

When Twilight and her friends returned to the hospital, Princess Celestia was already conversing with Princess Luna outside.

“Ah, little ponies,” the Princess of the Night said, smiling at them as they trotted up. “It is good to see you here.”

“Princess Luna,” Twilight greeted. “I’m glad you’re here, too. This… this situation… it’s a little bit beyond us.”

“Don’t worry,” Luna assured her. “We will discover the truth of it together.”

“Meet us inside and we will discuss this further, my friends,” Celestia said to them.

Twilight and the others nodded, and then entered the hospital, murmuring amongst themselves.

“Luna,” Celestia murmured as the others walked in. “Two other brief matters before we deal with this human business.”

Luna turned. “What?”

“Firstly, have you informed Cadance?” Celestia asked.

Luna nodded. “Last night. I asked her to contact Prince Blueblood about the matter as well.”

Celestia smirked. “I seem to recall I asked you to speak with Astron.”

“Well, one thing that a Princess must do with grace is delegate,” Luna said coyly. “And thus, I delegated.”

“Of course you did,” Celestia said, tutting. “One of these days, you’re going to have to remember that Prince Blueblood is still family.”

“Perhaps, but that does not mean I have to like him,” Luna retorted. She paused. “What was the other matter?”

Celestia’s expression turned more serious.

“Is there any word yet from Discord?” she asked, speaking softly. “He should have reported in some time ago.”

Luna sighed. “A brief message three days ago concerning carnivorous sawhorses attacking a village. He cited it as positive evidence that he was close to the lair Kontagion has been working from.”

“We’re fortunate, then, that we were able to convince Discord to aid us in tracking Kontagion down,” Celestia said quietly. “Still… this situation feels as though it will require his assistance sooner than I would like.”

“You think so?” Luna asked. “Do you anticipate this being… that bad?”

“All the evidence we have gathered so far implies it could be, thus I must presume the worst,” Celestia pointed out. “I would rather be prepared for the worst than not. After all, it’s better to have a hammer and not need it…”

“... than need the hammer but not have it, just to stub your hoof on the nail,” Luna finished the old Kirin proverb with a nod. “Agreed. Even so, to think this is so bad that it should require Discord’s aid…”

“Let us first discern what we can here,” Celestia said, holding up a hoof. “And then act accordingly.”

“Agreed,” Luna said quietly. She paused. “Do you think Discord can defeat him?”

Celestia sighed. “They’re kin, those two. If anything can defeat Kontagion, Discord can. And if he can’t… we’ll have to hope the Elements can contain him.”

“Indeed,” Luna said quietly. After a moment she spoke again. “Discord sounded confident in his message, if that helps.”

Celestia snorted. “Discord always does.”

---

“… and that’s fun?” Lyra asked, eyes wide.

“Well, not always exactly fun,” Alex said with a shrug. “I mean, it’s meant to be enjoyable for both parties. But it can also be painful sometimes if you do it wrong or you’re just not good at it.”

Lyra shook her head. “I’d heard about boxing before, when I studied the Minotaurs, but I never thought about it being fun. I mean, they do it as a ritualistic thing.”

Alex shrugged. “Like I said, I took it up when I was a kid. It was a pretty good way of getting some of the aggression out.” He sighed. “That was before… a lot of things. I’ve got different ways of getting aggression out now.”

Lyra nodded slowly. This wasn’t the first time he’d cut himself off before revealing ‘too much’.

“So… what is happening where you’re from?” she asked. “You’ve mentioned it, but never elaborated.”

Alex gave her an unhappy look. “It’s… crap. Let’s leave it at that. Trust me when I say, it’s not something you can do anything about.”

“You know, you say that,” Lyra said softly, “but I’m sure that there's more to it than you're letting on. The way you acted towards the Princess, for example.” At Alex’s unhappy glower, she pressed on. “And we can't help if -”

“You can't help,” Alex cut her off. “Period. And I don't really want your help.”

Lyra frowned. “But -”

“But, nothing,” Alex said. He sighed. “You got fucked up once before.” Lyra winced but he ignored it. “I won't watch you all get fucked up again.”

“But if you told us -” Lyra began.

Alex held up a hand. “I… I don't know. I still don't know what's going on – whether this is the past, or a parallel universe, or…” He chuckled. “Gonna be honest, I might sort’ve get this shit, but my sci-fi knowledge isn't exactly at ‘ultra technobabble level’.”

Lyra smiled sadly. “Well, I'm sure we can -”

Before she could finish, the door to the room opened, and Alex tensed as Celestia stepped in, the Element bearers and Princess Luna behind her. Alex’s eyes moved to her and widened slightly, but he said nothing.

“Alexander Reiner,” she said quietly, inclining her head. “It's good to finally speak with you, and I am grateful we can do so in a quieter setting.”

Alex looked from Luna to Celestia, and back to Luna again, a scowl slowly forming on his face.

“You’ll forgive me if I’m not entirely comfortable speaking with you,” he said quietly. “As you can imagine, there's… history.”

Celestia nodded slowly. “It is in search of answers about that history that we’ve come.”

Alex frowned. “You gonna interrogate me?”

“Nothing so crude,” Princess Luna put in. “If you'll permit, I will conduct a mind delve spell with the Element bearers. Inside your mind we will find the answers we seek.”

“A mind delve,” Alex repeated. “Forgive me if I'm wrong, since God knows this stuff isn’t exactly my area of expertise, but I've never heard good things about those.”

“They are potentially hazardous to those who make the journey, but only if they are not prepared or they perform the delve in an unsafe place,” Luna explained. “I would hope that we are prepared, and this hospital is as safe a place as they come.”

Alex snorted. “You may think so. I don't.”

“It really is,” Fluttershy put in, approaching him slowly. Lyra held up a hoof but Fluttershy ignored it. “I know you're hurting, but we really do just want to help.”

Alex’s eyes narrowed. “Where have I heard that before.”

Fluttershy gave her sweetest smile. “I… I don't know what happened to you… but I know I want to help. That we all want to help.”

Alex looked at Lyra, who smiled encouragingly, before he looked to the jam jar. He picked it up.

“Here, take this,” he said quietly. “‘Predicate the thought, but I'm not all that much of a jam fan.”

Fluttershy stepped forward hesitantly, before reaching out a hoof to the jam.

The next moment was a blur. Alex was suddenly out of the bed, his arm around Fluttershy’s throat. His tattoos were glowing slightly, only dimly, but resolutely there. The jam fell to the floor almost in slow motion, before cracking on the floor, the lid rolling away and the jam spilling on the floor.

“So,” Alex said slowly, looking Celestia dead in the eye. “Answers it is. I can live with answers. I’d quite like a few myself.”

---

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