I spent another few minutes or so gathering my thoughts and trying to swallow everything I had just learned... about myself.

I didn't know what this was all leading up to, but I was certain I didn't like it. I had also taken a moment to think back on how I was when I first woke up, and how different I had become since then.

It was hard to believe that had only been a little more than few hours ago.

I no longer felt awkward and out of place, and even with the new knowledge that I had been something else, I still felt like I had always been Twilight Sparkle.

I hadn't noticed it until now, but even the gaps in my memory were starting to fill in. I recalled a few more things I couldn't before. My guess was that those odd moments of disorientation had something to do with it, but I couldn't be sure.

Whatever the case, there was more to all of this than I knew... much more. I was still trying to wrap my head around it all when Rarity's voice broke through my thoughts.

"Twilight, darling," she asked, trotting over to me with a curious frown, "didn't you have something you needed to do?" she lifted a hoof to her chin in thought, "I believe there was somepony else accompanying you, was there not?"

"There was somepony..." I furrowed my brow in bemusement before it shot back up in alarm, "oh sweet Celestia, Spike!"

I scrambled for the entrance, stopping just long enough to grab my saddlebags and thank the white mare before throwing the door open and rushing outside.

With everything that had happened, I completely forgot I had sent Spike away when my... 'episode' started. I would've worried a lot more about where he had actually gone... if he had actually gone anywhere.

Instead, he was standing just outside the door and off to the left. I almost tripped over my own hooves trying to stop in front of him.

I was so focused on not planting my face into the ground that I completely missed the high pitched squeal of terror as a pink and yellow mass leapt out of the way.

I managed to stop myself a few hoof-lengths from the door and immediately whipped around to face Spike. I went to call out to the little dragon, but abject confusion silenced whatever I was about to say.

At first glance, Spike looked to be standing alone next to the door, his posture rigid and his eyes glazed over as he stared into the distance.

It was as though he were a Castle Guard who had been standing at attention for far too long. The comparison would've made me laugh had it not been for the circumstances.

Then I noticed the bushes lining the wall of the Town Hall just behind Spike. They were just normal, nondescript bushes for the most part, save for the one nearest to the door.

That one seemed to be... shivering.

I furrowed my brow in momentary confusion, but quickly put it out of my mind for the moment as I refocused my attention on Spike.

"Spike?" I called out, trotting over to the drake, "Spike can you hear me?"

I received no response.

I tried again to no avail, and took a step back, huffing in an annoyance meant to mask my worry. It took a moment's thought, but I eventually realized that if I had put him in this state using the power of my 'words', I might have to do the same to take him out of it.

I was about to do just that when I remembered the shivering bush. My eyes slowly widened in horror as the implications of what that shivering bush meant set in.

Bushes didn't move like that unless there was somepony causing it. If there was indeed somepony hiding in those bushes, they most definitely saw Spike like this.

If they saw Spike like this, they would've gotten curious, and curiosity would've led them to investigate... and since Spike had apparently been standing just next to the door this entire time...

That curious pony may have heard some things not meant for their ears.

I swallowed hard and took a shaky step towards the shivering bush. In that moment I had no idea what to say. How much did they hear, if anything? Was I going to have to do to them what I did to Rarity and the others?

Did I want to?

Yes... yes I did.

And that terrified me.

"H-Hello?" I called out nervously, "please... you don't have to hide, I don't want... I'm not going to hurt you. I just... just wanna talk, okay?"

The shaking stopped.

For several seconds, nothing happened... then there was more rustling and a single, terrified cerulean eye peeked out from within the bush.

I tried to give my best convincing smile, though I don't know if it worked. The eye blinked once and turned from me to the enthralled dragon, and back to me again.

Its gaze was both fearful and questioning. I followed it over to where Spike was standing and gave a nervous chuckle before turning back to the other pony.

I honestly didn't know what to say at that point. The hidden pony had completely caught me on the backhoof and I was scrambling for something—anything to get myself out of this situation.

She could've, been here the entire time listening in on what had happened, or worse—she may have just decided to take a peek, and if she saw what I did to Rarity...

Should I lie, or risk telling the truth? Would she believe me either way? I didn't want to just come out and ask her if she'd seen anything... but if she really had seen something, I could always just—

"You don't have to worry about Spike here, he's my assistant," I said as calmly as I could muster, "I had an errand to run in Town Hall and he got bored so I had him wait outside until I was done."

I made a show of giving Spike and exasperated look and turned back to the pony with an apologetic smile.

"He's a bit narcoleptic and has a habit of sleeping with his eyes open," I lied, "it kind of tends to freak ponies out. Again, sorry if we scared you."

There was another moment of silence, a silence in which I took the chance to desperately beat down that sensation that almost overwhelmed me again.

Thankfully I was far more successful this time.

The eye stared at me for an uncomfortably long time, the tense silence made worse by the fact that I could no longer read the emotion conveyed in that single eye.

After an agonizingly long minute, the eye drifted back towards Spike and blinked again. My ears perked up as I heard a soft voice speak up from the bush—though it was so quiet I couldn't make it out.

"I'm sorry, what was that?" I asked, taking a step closer, "I didn't quite catch it."

"...be okay?"

I frowned slightly and took another step closer.

"I... still can't hear you," I said, giving the pony another apologetic smile, "one more time?"

This time I took a step back as the bush shifted and the pony within slowly and tentatively emerged. It turned out the pony was a butter yellow pegasus mare.

Her pink mane cascaded down past her face, obscuring most of her facial features from view. Everything about the mare practically screamed 'meek'.

She turned her head towards Spike, but glanced at me, her expression calm and just as hard to read as it was a moment ago.

It was a far cry from when I had first seen her hiding, and frankly, it unnerved me.

"The baby dragon," she said quietly, "I asked if he was going to be okay."

"I... uh... y-yes, yeah," I stuttered, once again caught off guard by the mare's strange demeanor, "he'll be fine, I just... need to wake him up is all."

My rather unconvincing smile slipped a little as the mare continued to stare at me. I was about to say something else when she mercifully turned away and looked back at Spike.

"Oh... okay then," she finally said, her frame visibly relaxing and a small relieved smile crossing her face, "that's... that's good. I came here to meet with somepony, but then I saw him standing out here looking like... that."

She gave Spike a worried frown before shaking her head and turning back to me.

"I'm just glad he had somepony to take care of him," she said with a grateful smile, "I wanted to ask you more about him, but I think it might be best if I just go. You don't need to wake him up on my account."

"Oh," I replied, my eyes widening in disbelief that my flimsy lie had actually worked, "well... thanks, I guess," I composed myself as best I could before continuing, "but I really should wake him up, we have a few things we need to do."

"I understand," the mare replied with a small nod and a shy smile, "I won't bother you anymore. In fact, I have somewhere I need to be as well, so if you'll excuse me..."

She trotted towards me, but just before she was about to pass by, she stopped and turned to look at me again. I wanted to take a step back and put some space between us, but for some reason I couldn't bring myself to move.

She stared into my eyes and I froze.

I didn't move a muscle, even as she slowly raised a hoof to my face. She smile warmly and spoke again—her words soft, quiet... and haunting.

"You're a monster... but you don't want to be, and that's what makes all the difference," she nearly whispered, "I can tell you're confused, but things will get better for you... I just know it."

She lowered her hoof and stepped away before turning around. She gave me one last look over her shoulder.

"My name is Fluttershy by the way," she said with a more polite smile, "I live in a cottage near the Everfree Forest. If you ever feel lost, alone, scared, or angry, feel free to ask me for help and I'll see what I can do for you."

All I could do was nod dumbly.

She nodded in response and trotted away, leaving me with a mix of emotions—bewilderment being the most prevalent. I had no idea what to make of the mare, but she set me on edge in almost the same way the pink pony did.

Unlike the pink pony however, she didn't outright scare me. It was more like... like she left me feeling vulnerable. Like I was some small pet or child to be coddled and fussed over.

I didn't know whether to feel indignant or grateful that she was so understanding. Either way, the mare was certainly... strange, not that I really had any right to judge.

In the end I decided to put the whole encounter out of my mind for now so I could focus on snapping Spike out of the trance I had put him in... somehow.

Just as I had chosen to do with the pink pony, I decided to stay away from Fluttershy. She wasn't as scary as the pink one, but something about her didn't sit right with me.

Somepony with that much insight was liable to be trouble in the future, and with everything that had happened—with everything I had discovered, I didn't need that.

It sounded like she hadn't heard what went on in Town Hall, much to my relief... but there was still something nagging at me in the back of my mind about the mare.

She had looked so scared when I first saw her, only to completely change in a matter of moments. Then there was the fact that she just up and left without even meeting with the pony she was looking for.

Was it Rarity she was supposed to meet with, or was somepony else supposed to be there? Whatever it was about, it had nothing to do with me, so I also put that out of my mind.

"Spike," I intoned, "we're done here, it's time to go."

The reaction was instant.

The baby dragon shuddered and blinked rapidly before shaking his head.

"Ugh... Twilight?" he began groggily, "we're leaving already?" he looked around in confusion before looking back to me, "wait... how did I get out here? What happened?"

"Nothing much," I replied casually, "you were getting a bit bored while Rarity and I were talking, so you stepped outside, and I found you sleeping out here."

"Really?" he asked with a slight frown, "that's... weird. I don't remember going outside or falling asleep."

"Well you did," I replied with a small shrug, "are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah... I guess so," he said uncertainly. He looked back at the entrance to Town Hall, "so... I didn't really miss anything then?"

"Nope," I replied with false cheer, "I know you wanted to talk to Rarity, but we need to move on for now."

"Aw seriously?" Spike whined, whipping back around to face me, "I didn't even get to say a single thing to her! I was gonna tell her how I..."

He stopped and blushed as I raised an eyebrow at him.

"How you what?" I teased.

"...Nothing, nevermind," he mumbled, looking away, "let's just go."

My teasing smile fell away when I saw his dejected look.

"I'll tell you what," I conceded, "once we're done here, we can look for Rarity again so you can tell her what you want to tell her, okay?"

That seemed to cheer him up slightly and he nodded.

"Good," I replied with a smile before lighting up my horn and pulling the list of events from out of one of my saddlebags, "now then, let's see who's next... on... the..."

"...Twilight?" Spike asked, furrowing his brow in confusion, "hey... Twilight, you okay?"

I didn't respond.

I just stared at the piece of parchment with my mouth slightly agape in disbelief and dismay. My eyes passed over the name on the list a few times before I quietly rolled up the parchment and placed it back in my bag.

"Twilight?"

"I'm fine, Spike," I replied quickly, "I just... I'm fine. Come on, we're behind schedule as it is."

Before Spike could say anything else, I trotted ahead at a brisk pace, not quite at a canter, but close. The last name on the list wasn't one I was expecting to see, nor did it bring me any kind of joy.

I enjoyed music as much as the next pony. The choice to use birdsong for the music at the Summer Sun Celebration was certainly a unique one, and it promised to be entertaining if nothing else... but the conductor... the conductor just had to be one of the two ponies I didn't want to see again.

At the very least, she was the last pony I had to meet for the day, and then I could finally rest at the library. If I really had to, I think I could handle meeting her again.

It would be fine.

As long as I didn't run into the pink pony again or have another 'episode' and kill somepony, everything would be fine.

I just had to believe everything would turn out fine.