I groggily awoke to the sounds of steady beeping and soft breathing. A feeling of déjà vu crept up in the back of my mind as I slowly opened my eyes. It was dark, but I could still make out a faint, steady purple glow, and what appeared to be the brightly colored walls of an otherwise dark room.

...I’m alive?

I tried to sit up, but my body screamed out with myriad dull, throbbing aches and sharp stabs of pain, quickly persuading me to abandon my efforts. Laying back, I became aware of another familiar sensation on my muzzle. With some effort, I managed to bring my left hoof up to my face.

An oxygen mask... I must be in a hospital. So Snooty’s drug didn’t kill me?

My ears perked up at what sounded like the gentle rustling of paper—a page being turned, if I had to venture a guess.

Somepony’s in here with me.

Normally I wouldn’t be in a hurry to get a stranger’s attention, but I wasn’t entirely sure where I was or what had happened. The last thing I remembered was falling onto the warehouse floor. Then there was a lot of commotion, and also fireponies, if I was remembering it correctly.

Lifting my left foreleg, I managed to remove the oxygen mask, allowing me to speak. “H-hello? Is anypony there?” I called out in a dry, raspy voice, as I tried to raise my head once again, only to be met by the selfsame pains of before, particularly when I strained harder.

“Prism?” a suspiciously familiar voice said, sounding rather shocked.

Is that...? No, it couldn't be!

The sounds of a book closing and of hurried hoofsteps followed. A familiar purple face and indigo mane filled my view.

“T-Twilight?” I said, confused as to what was the librarian was doing here. Wherever ‘here’ was, exactly. “Where am I?”

“You’re in the west wing of Manehattan General, Prism,” she informed me. Then she turned away and her horn lit up; its faint glow in the darkness was quickly drowned out when the bright lights of the room were magically flicked on.

I winced, blinking against the unforgiving light, and tried to move my right foreleg to shield my eyes, but to my surprise and dismay I couldn’t move—or even feel—the limb in question.

Twilight glanced back at me with a sheepish smile. “Oh, um, sorry about that.”

I finally managed to lift my head some, and, now that my eyes had adjusted to the light, looked down to assess the extent of the damage done to me. My right foreleg was strapped over my chest in a cast, and my hind legs were suspended in a set of slings, kept slightly elevated.

“What happened to me?” I asked, perplexed by the inexplicable damage my body had somehow sustained during a brief period of unconsciousness. ”I only remember having a few cuts and bruises.”

“The doctors said you were in pretty bad shape when you were brought in,” she said with just a hint of reproach, and more than a mere hint of concern. “You also caused quite the scare among the group of doctors and nurses who had to treat you. What were you doing channeling so much magic?”

I winced at her tone. “I’ll explain everything soon, I promise.” Considering her words about the scare, I came to a conclusion pretty quickly. “I’m going to venture a guess and say that they have never encountered an albino pony before?”

Twilight’s expression shifted into an uneasy smile. “Yeeeahh... Judging by the state of panic and hysteria everypony was in, when I reached the emergency room earlier, I’d say they had no clue what to do with you.” She fell silent, staring off into space for a moment. “Oh yeah! That reminds me, they asked me to inform a doctor when you woke up.”

“Wait!” I called out to her when she made to walk away. She instantly turned back and watched me expectantly. “Um, Twilight? Just how did you find me?”

“It’s kind of a long story. I’ll tell you once the doctor is finished with you,” she said, and then headed for the door again.

“Wait!” I called out to her again.

Twilight glanced over her shoulder and laughed. “Look, Prism, I really need to notify a doctor that you’re awake. It’s standard procedure.” She seemed mildly annoyed, but covered it well. ”What is it?”

“Where’s Fluttershy?” I demanded frantically. ”Is she alright? Is she safe? Is she—”

“Whoa, whoa, she’s fine, relax!” she interjected with a small chuckle. “She’s actually in the next room. I’ll go get her, okay?”

I let out a small sigh of relief. “Thank you, Twilight.”

“Of course. I’ll be right back; you just wait right here,” she instructed, before trotting away. The sound of a door opening and closing quickly followed.

Looking down at my casts, momentarily baffled, I could only shake my head in disbelief. “Like I could go anywhere, Twilight,” I mused quietly, after she had already left.

I used the time alone to reflect on the day before this entire mess had happened, which had started so well but had been cruelly cut short. I knew that I probably had a warrant out for my arrest, so there had to be ponies out there looking for me, but I never expected something like this to happen...

That was when it hit me.

Horseapples! I’m a wanted pony here in Manehattan! And every pony who is brought in here is probably looked into. They will inevitably figure out that I’m a wanted mare and contact the police; in fact, come to think about it, they probably already have!

Breathing hard, I began stressing out over all the laws and codes I had violated, while simultaneously looking over the debilitating injuries I had sustained.

What am I going to do?! There will be no avoiding them, not while I’m like this!

I quickly realized the hopelessness of the situation I was in. I was going to have to face the music and confront the police, whether I wanted to or not. Seeing that there was no way out, I tried to at least remember all the incriminating things Snooty had told me about himself. Powerless as I was, I was still privy to some some very sensitive information—which he had foolishly decided to divulge—that could make life very difficult for him.

If I’m going to have to face my punishment, then at the very least I’m going to spill every last little detail about Snooty’s shady dealings, and hopefully take him down with me.

I reflected briefly on the unspeakable things Snooty was responsible for. Compared to his numerous and heinous crimes, my own mistakes just felt so... insignificant. It got me wondering about the contrast between the two.

Is what I am guilty of really that bad? I mean, yes, I ran away from the police, and I did start a fire, but no real damage was done...

Prior to this experience, I had never really thought to compare what I had done to the severity of other possible crimes. They were just such a rare occurrence in Equestria that nopony ever really thought about them. What I was guilty of absolutely paled in comparison to Snooty’s evil. I thought back to the morning I had first run away from home. I had been absolutely terrified and completely convinced that what I had done was unforgivable, but now, in hindsight and with something to compare them to, I began to wonder...

And then I had an epiphany.

Am I... am I really even in that much trouble at all?

There had been many things I had learned from starting over in Ponyville: What it was like to have friends. What it was like to accept that I was different. What it was liked to be loved by another. And most of all, what it was like to confront my fears, only to find that they weren't half as scary as I had originally made them out to be.

I’m not really in that much trouble, I just have to explain myself.

I suddenly felt as if a heavy burden had just been lifted off my shoulders, and for the first time in several weeks, I knew that I was going to be alright. I had a special somepony now. I had friends; I had a life. All of these things bolstered my resolve as I came to a long awaited conclusion.

Everything will be okay now.

A stray thought suddenly bubbled up in my mind: If I had just stayed to explain myself in the first place, would I even have been in any trouble with the law?

But then again—as is often the case with the mistakes that we make—if I hadn’t done what I did... If I hadn’t run away, and had instead taken a different, more sensible path... I wouldn’t have everything I do now. I might never have met any of my friends.

Mother did alway tell me that everything happens for a reason. Had the events of that horrible night all just transpired as a way to change the canvas of my life?  If I had simply stayed and confronted the situation, that fateful night would just have been another inky-black splotch on an already very dark and depressing painting.

My thoughts were interrupted by the door opening, followed by a few sets of hooves making an audible entrance. A few moments later, Twilight, Fluttershy, and a fiery-red pegasus mare came into view. The unfamiliar mare wore the trademark long, white doctor’s coat and a stethoscope around her neck.

A female doctor? That’s a first...

I considered this anomaly momentarily, before a rushing flurry of hoofsteps derailed my train of thoughts. Fluttershy’s concerned face suddenly filled my whole field of view. I smiled up at her. “Hey, how are y—”

She leaned down, though, and promptly interrupted me, pressing her muzzle firmly against mine. The sudden display of affection caught me completely off guard, causing my eyes to open wide, at first, only to slowly flutter closed. A warm feeling quickly filled me up inside, not unlike the first time she had kissed me.

I... I could definitely get used to this...

A few seconds of complete muzzle-lock later, Fluttershy pulled away, her eyes meeting mine with a happy—possibly relieved—look. But her expression quickly shifted, her eyes widening and her face flushing bright red. She pulled a tad further away and covered her muzzle with a forehoof. “I-I—Oh Prism, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to—”

Fluttershy froze mid-sentence, and slowly turned back to the other ponies in the room.

The doctor stifled a small cough and looked away with a faint blush. Twilight, on the other hoof, looked as if we had just broken her. She remained stock-still, just staring at us in a shocked, slack-jawed sort of way for several moments, until she eventually managed to shake herself out of it.

Blushing profusely in embarrassment, she nervously scratched the back of her neck with a forehoof. “W-wow... I, um, I certainly wasn’t expecting that,” Twilight admitted, shifting her weight around and nervously glancing around the room, looking everywhere but at us. “We, uh... maybe we can discuss that later; this is hardly the time or the place...”

The doctor loudly cleared her throat and looked down to the clipboard she was holding out in her outstretched wing. “Y-yes, anyway, I am Doctor Ruby Heart.” she said, regarding me curiously over the edge of her clipboard. “You gave everypony quite the scare last night...” The doctor trailed off and narrowed her eyes, a clear look of concern on her face. “In all of our years’ worth of records, I don’t think we’ve ever documented a case quite like yours before.” She briefly studied my medical records, leisurely flipping to another page. “I was hoping to clear a couple matters up, now that you are awake. You came to us with some injuries we just can’t explain. Your friend and fillyfriend here,” Ruby said, gesturing her free wing to Fluttershy and Twilight, ”tell me you’re aren’t actually sure how you came to sustain all this trauma?”

...Fillyfriend?

This assumption made me feel even more embarrassed. Judging from the fact that she looked as though she were about to pass out, I think Fluttershy felt the same way. If her face flushed any harder there might be no blood left for her brain. But no matter how awkward the statement made us feel, neither of us seemed to bother correcting Ruby. The idea of Fluttershy being my fillyfriend was kind of... nice. Perhaps she felt the same way?

After struggling and failing to sit up a little and get a better look at Fluttershy, I looked to Ruby Heart for assistance. “Could you, um... help me up, doctor? I can’t really see all that much.”

“Sure thing,” she replied, reaching down and touching something on the side of my bed. It gave off a soft hum, and the head of the bed slowly folded upwards until I was in a near-sitting position.

I finally got a good look of my surroundings. The room was much nicer than Ponyville’s hospital rooms. The color scheme was similar, though, with green being the main theme of the walls and furniture.

“Wow, that’s neat, thanks! Um... anyways, yes, I knew I was hurt before I blacked out, but it was just some cuts and bruises. I don’t remember it being nearly this bad,” I explained, gesturing a forehoof to my injuries by way of emphasis.

The doctor closed her eyes and nodded a few times. “You were a real mess when you were brought in last night,” she said, taking a deep breath before rattling off the long list of injuries. “Severe fracturing of the third metacarpal in both hind legs; an all-but-shattered proximal phalanx in your right foreleg; a severe fracture of the horn, from the magicus prime all the way up to the magicus major; astonishing amounts of tissue, muscle and nerve damage throughout your entire body; and, most curious of all, an unprecedented, beyond-fatal dose of Rohoofnol in your system.”

Fluttershy tilted her head curiously. “Beyond fatal...?” Her eyes suddenly widened, and she looked back and forth between the doctor and me. “Prism was drugged?!”

Ruby Heart nodded. “It would appear so.” Her expression shifted into one of concern again when she continued. “Everypony was amazed she had even managed to survive for as long as she did. Which brings me to the next point: Rohoofnol’s primary effect is to suppress the flow of a pony’s magic to their leylines. Your magic, on the other hoof, was surging out of control, building up to dangerous levels that threatened to cause permanent damage, or quite possibly kill you.”

I flashed her a sheepish smile, playing dumb and coyly asking her what was likely to be a silly question. “Is that, um... not normal?”

The doctor shook her head. “No, not at all. At first, we had no idea what to do; as said, we have never encountered a symptom like that before. To have an amount of magic of that magnitude flowing through your leylines, you would have had to have taken enough magical stimulants that the side effects alone should have long since killed you. Yet our scans revealed that there wasn’t a trace of any known stimulant in your system—there was only the Rohoofnol.”

        Was it the drug? Could that stuff actually have been the very thing that gave me the strength to save my own life?

Ruby let out a mildly frustrated little sigh, rubbing her no-doubt painful forehead with the cusp of a hoof. I instantly felt a pang of sympathy for this mare; she looked like she had had a rough and sleepless night.

“Unless you were actually planning on kill herself,” she said, frowning and looking at me intently, ”would you mind my asking how an overdose like that got into your system?”

I shook my head in response. “No, I don’t mind. I was definitely drugged. My captors injected me with it, under the assumption that it would surely kill me.” I looked over to my two friends with a weary frown. “They never intended for me to survive the ordeal. They wanted me dead.”

Fluttershy covered a sharp gasp, while Twilight raised an eyebrow at me curiously.

“Your foalnappers wanted you dead?” Twilight repeated skeptically, scratching her head. “Weren’t they going to ransom you two?”

Fluttershy gave Twilight sad, doe-eyed look and nodded, “Oh yes, they told me me about the ransom and everything they were planning to do with us. They were actually, um, very... rough with me...” Her words faltered, and she looked down to the floor in silence for a moment, before her expression and ears both quickly perked up. “But that’s when that kind and brave gentlecolt, Snooty, came to rescue me! The building’s fire alarm suddenly went off, and moments later he entered the room and fought off my captors, knocking them all out in the confusion.”

The happiness and an enthusiasm in Fluttershy’s voice made me both angry and very scared at the same time.

Had I not survived, everything would have gone just as Snooty had planned...

I wasn’t about to let him get away with this, but as much as I wanted to reveal the truth and pick Snooty’s carefully fabricated heroic image apart, for the moment, I was more concerned with the here and now. Namely, I wanted to find out how I had become so injured and, more importantly, if I was going to be okay.

I let out a soft sigh. “It’s a really long story, but the whole ransom thing was staged. I’ll explain everything after Doctor Heart here is finished,” I assured my friends, simply wanting to take everything in before discussing anything conflictive.

Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged confused looks, while Ruby merely gave a small nod in acknowledgement and continued. “Given the fact that the Rohoofnol was clearly responsible for your condition, we tried administering some other suppressants, but they only made your condition worse. Time was running out, and we were out of ideas; nothing we tried was working. Stabilizers, neutralizers, nothing!” she exclaimed, turning to face Twilight. “Thankfully, that’s when Ms. Sparkle here showed up.”

Twilight cleared her throat before speaking up. “As I said before, this entire section of the ward was in a state of complete chaos when I walked through the door. Obviously, I wanted to know what was going on, but I only got rushed answers about a mysterious white pony who wasn’t responding to conventional magical treatments, which was completely unheard of. Of course, based on that description, I did have a pretty good idea why the treatments weren’t having their intended effect on this particular pony.” She flashed me a knowing smirk.

I replied with a sheepish smile and a small squee.

Twilight let out a small chuckle before continuing. “So, on a hunch, I followed the rush of ponies to the emergency room, and sure enough, there you were. I was quickly asked to leave, though,” she said indignantly, glaring slightly at Ruby Heart. “In order to get anypony to even listen to me, I sort of had to lie and say that I was your private physician. Only then did they allow me stay and did they tell me what had happened.”

The pegasus physician nodded, turned to me, and continued where Twilight left off. “After we had informed Ms. Sparkle of your situation, she suggested we try some magical stimulants instead, despite the fact that this was, erm, rather counterintuitive, to say the least. I mean, with magic-levels surging as drastically as yours, administering boosters like that would be generally considered a fatal mistake. But Ms. Sparkle pointed out, quite astutely, that if suppressants were actually having the opposite of their intended effect, and stabilizers and neutralizers weren’t doing anything either, then there was a good chance you were having an adverse reaction to the drugs. Which meant a stimulant would probably elicit an adverse reaction as well.”

Twilight was nodding fervently throughout this entire lecture, and beamed proudly in response to the doctor’s compliment.

”We were still reluctant, but decided to go with Ms. Sparkle’s theory in the end, and to everypony’s surprise it worked like a charm. The lethal levels of magic in your leylines started to subside. So we continued to administer a increased dosages until you had returned to stable levels.”

At which point Twilight was no doubt bursting to say ‘I told you so!’

The smug little smile on her lips suggested that my mental image of her telling a whole team of desperate medical specialists what to do was probably accurate. Our eyes met, and I smiled back at her gratefully, knowing now that I probably owed her my life.

Ruby caught on to the brief look of understanding we shared, I think, but continued undeterred. “The levels of magic in your leylines only continued to fall, however, rapidly sinking to dangerously low levels. Just when everypony was about to panic and frantically try to stabilize you again, Ms. Sparkle assured us that this was natural for you. That somehow your body’s leylines didn’t function correctly, as a result of your albinism.” Ruby shook her head. “This made absolutely no sense! The magic coursing through a pony’s leylines is what gives them life; remove that magic, and they slowly wither away. But you... You appeared to be doing perfectly fine even as the last of your magic retreated back inside your very core.

Twilight gestured a forehoof to Ruby, taking over again. “While this amazed everypony else, I kept reassuring them that this isn’t abnormal for you. Your leylines are all nearly vestigial as a direct result of your albinism. After further study of the data we collected, I discovered that your body naturally functions like that of all Equestrian wildlife: without the need for magic to sustain itself, requiring only such basic necessities as food and water.”

I found Twilight’s comparison fascinating and nodded in response to her words, although I did make a mental note to ask her more about what she had learned later. At the moment, I was simply too engrossed by all of the information being provided to think clearly.

“This finding raises many questions,” Twilight continued, seemingly getting caught up in the moment. ”For example, without our natural attunement to magic, would all ponies be devoid of color like Prism? Or would we simply all be the same color as one another? I’ve formulated several hypotheses concerning this... um, this...”

Twilight slowly trailed off, finally having noticed that everypony in the room was staring glassily at her. “Oh, um, sorry,” she said with a sheepish smile. ”Please continue, doctor.”

Ruby Heart did not respond for a moment, simply looking off into nowhere, perhaps because, given her expertise, she had actually been genuinely interested in what Twilight had been saying. “Yes, thank you. Erm... Unfortunately, this atypical reaction to the drugs we gave you wasn’t the close call we had last night, Ms. Prism. After we were reasonably confident that your magic had been stabilized, we proceeded to employ the routine healing spells to some of the more severe cuts and bruises on your face and muzzle.”

Twilight’s expression fell as she interjected, “I tried to warn them, and asked them to let me perform the necessary spells, for their safety reasons. But they assured me that they were experts and that everything would be fine.” I could tell she was having a hard time trying not to sound overly sarcastic.

Ruby’s ears fell back, and she looked downright embarrassed and miserable. “One of our most skilled unicorn surgeons, unfortunately, erm, panicked a little bit when your wounds started to inexplicably worsen and bleed profusely. Thinking that he had somehow made a mistake, he tried the spell again, only for the fresh gashes to develop into gaping wounds, which caused you to lose blood at a catastrophic rate.”

Fluttershy’s ears fell back at this particular part of Ruby Heart’s report. She covered her muzzle with a forehoof, looking rather faint herself. “Oh... Oh my...”

Twilight on the other hoof, ran her hoof over her face, a frustrated groan escaping her lips. “Again! I warned them, but nopony would even listen to me!” Twilight’s face scrunched up with suppressed frustration. “Eventually I actually had to yell at everypony to just stop what they were doing and wait. It took me forever to make them understand that the wounds would heal all by themselves if they would just leave them alone for a second, instead of making things worse.”

Ruby Heart shrank down with a small wince, as if Twilight’s bitter words had literally stung her. “The entire team was arguing over the course of action we should take, while others tried to put pressure on the wounds to at least stop the bleeding,” she explained. ”A few moments later, those tending to your wounds noticed that the bleeding had suddenly stopped, and that your injuries began rapidly healing themselves until it seemed as if they had never been there in the first place.”

She walked up to me and examining my face closely. “You are such a bizarre oddity, Ms. Prism. I mean, no offense intended. It’s just... It was so surprising!” She backed away, still studying my freshly healed body but also letting out a sigh of defeat. “Anyway, that is how you got here.”

Twilight once again continued for her: “As far as the damage to your body goes, that’s all just tissue, muscle, and nerve damage resulting from that insane amount of magic pumping through your leylines. Your body isn’t used to having any magic coursing through it at all. For it to suddenly have to cope with so much of it... well, I’m afraid that it caused a lot of damage,” Twilight said hesitantly, before looking to Ruby, who gave a nod in agreement.

Fluttershy glanced nervously between the two mares. “Will Prism, um, be alright?” she asked, finally resting her eyes on me.

I met her nervous gaze, seeing the concern in her eyes; evidently, she was extremely worried about me.  

Glancing at my poor legs, uselessly suspended in their casts, I, too, hesitantly asked Ruby Heart the all-important question: “How bad is it?” A large part of me was scared to hear the answer.  “Is there anything, um... permanent?” The dreadful reality of that word sent a chill down my spine.

The doctor’s expression was hard to interpret, but the frown she was wearing didn’t bode well. “Your hind legs should heal with few debilitating after-effects, though you may experience some stiffness and slight muscle pains from time to time—nothing too extreme. Your right foreleg however...” She pointed a forehoof at a specific area of the leg in question. “The proximal phalanx, as I said, suffered a complex fracture, and the muscles and nerves in that leg were the most severely traumatized.”

I looked down to my right foreleg, trying fruitlessly to move it again. Seeing her words confirmed by my complete inability to control the damaged limb, I broke out in a cold sweat. “W-will... will I ever be able to walk on it again?” I asked her, fearing the worst.

She let out a long, ominous sigh. “Well... the good news is that, yes, you probably will.”

Ruby gave me a moment to process that. I wasn’t in the mood to celebrate just yet, though, since the manner in which she had phrased that suggested some less-than-hopeful news was bound to follow. And sure enough, she added, “The bad news, however... Due to the extensive damage to not just bone and tissue, but nerves as well, you will likely retain only limited dexterity with that particular limb, making usage of the leg for anything other than walking extremely difficult. It is also very likely that you will partially lose feeling in it, and that you will need physical therapy to properly re-tone the muscles, before you are discharged.” She shot me a sympathetic look. “I hope you didn’t have any special plans for anytime soon, because unfortunately, you won’t be able to make them.”

“I-I, I won’t be able to use my right foreleg for anything else?!” I exclaimed, finding this dire news a little difficult to take. While I was relieved that I would at least be able to walk again, the idea of having such limited use of my primary limb was a bit disturbing and very stressful. Without the aid of both my forelegs, I would have to rely on my magic a lot—something I had never done, outside of my artistic endeavours.

My magic...

“Wait, you mentioned that my horn was damaged too, right?” I asked, looking up to what little I could actually see of it. It also looked to be in some sort of cast. “Won’t that affect my magic?”

“Luckily, a unicorn's horn is very resilient, so even a large crack should not impede the host’s usage of magic too much. With proper care, you can expect to make a full recovery. However, horns take a very long time to fully heal, so I would lay off any heavy levitation or advanced spells for a few weeks, as they might be a little painful to cast. Oh, and the healing process may leave a slight blemish of discoloration along the site of the damage.”

Involuntarily, I covered a small laugh at the irony of what she was telling me.

The doctor, understandably, gave me a look of confusion. “I give you bad news, and you laugh at it? You’ll have to excuse me, but you certainly are one interesting pony, Ms. Prism,” she commented, her expression shifting into one of concern.

Twilight sighed, and saw fit to explain my inappropriate reaction before I even had a chance to. “She’s probably laughing because she can’t lift heavy objects or cast advanced spells, even if her horn had been in perfect shape. And because her horn has no pigment to be discolored in the first place.” She fixed me with a plain look of disapproval, which made me shrink down a little.

She’s good... It’s kind of scary to be honest.

The doctor raised an eyebrow at Twilight before turning back to me. “Well then, in that case you should be perfectly fine, as far as your magic is concerned.”

All the things Ruby Heart had told me had left me with quite a lot to think about; mostly matters that would take some time to mentally sort out and get used to. My lifestyle was about to go through another big change. Up until this point, I had avoided using my magic whenever possible, but now I was being forced to rely on it more, lest I ended up having to do everything with my teeth and left forehoof, which didn’t seem very practical.

I guess that’s one more fear I will have to face...

Twilight’s expression suddenly eased up and she laughed softly. “By the way Prism, you should have seen the looks of horror on everypony’s faces when I told them who I really was. A few even begged me for forgiveness, pleading with me not to tell the princess of their rude behavior towards me.” She rolled her eyes, albeit with a warm expression and a soft smile this time. “I may have been upset, but you know I would never go out of my way to get somepony in trouble like that. So after a few heartfelt apologies, I did my best to assure them that everything was fine.”

Ruby Heart let out a sheepish laugh, scratching the back of her neck. “Once again, I’m sorry for the trouble we gave you, Ms. Sparkle,” she began, before staring off into nowhere for a moment. “Although you never did explain how you knew all of these details about Ms. Prism’s condition and unique characteristics...” She turned to the studious unicorn expectantly, gesturing a forehoof to me.

Twilight's ears suddenly perked up. “Oh! It’s because Prism here is a good friend of mine, and because the two of us did some research into her physiology and magical aptitude,” she informed her enthusiastically, a hint of pride in her voice. “I plan to present my findings to the University of Applied Sciences and Magical Theory, once I have everything in order.”

“I would very much love to read your paper, once completed, Ms. Sparkle,” Ruby Heart said eagerly. “Prior to this particular case, I’d never even heard of Albinism in ponies before. And I’ve certainly never read anything about it in the scientific literature.”

Her words reminded me of something that had been bugging me for quite some time now. “Um, Twilight?” I said, turning to the lavender mare expectantly.

“Yes?” she replied, seemingly surprised by the sudden interruption.

“How exactly did you find all that information on albino ponies?” I asked curiously, before gesturing to Ruby Heart. “And how is it that you found it so easily, when nopony here in Manehattan seems to even know the first thing about ponies like me?”

Fluttershy, who had remained mostly silent this entire time, also finally spoke up, “I, um, I have been very curious about that, Twilight. That is, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble to ask.”

Doctor Ruby Heart also pitched in: “I would love to hear more about this as well, if you wouldn’t mind divulging your sources, Ms. Sparkle.”

Twilight glanced between us all for a moment, a mild look of surprise on her face. “Well, actually... I have your answer right here with me. I wasn’t sure what I would run into out here, so I figured it was best to come prepared; I even brought a copy of my research notes with me, just in case I needed them.”

Twilight levitated a rather sizable tome out of a pair of saddlebags that were sitting on the floor next to her, and magically held it in front of my face. The book looked to be very, very old; most of the front cover’s text was badly faded, though still legible.

“Magical Oddities in Pony and Zebra Physiology, by Magister Stitches,” I read aloud.

That sounds familiar... Wait, isn’t that the same author as that ominously-titled book Fluttershy had?

Twilight opened it within her magic and flipped over to a specific section. ‘Albinism and Leyline Mutation,’ was the title at the top of the page.

I shook my head in disbelief, giving Twilight a skeptical look. “Wait, so it’s all here in this book? If it was so easy for you to find it, how come nopony else knows about it?” I asked, perplexed by this suspiciously convenient source of information.

Twilight cleared her throat, and levitated the tome back over to herself. “It’s because of this particular author, and this specific book,” she said. “Magister Stitches penned several books in her lifetime, many of which are the ‘go-to guides’ to pony, zebra, griffon, and animal physiology—like the book I gave to Fluttershy.” She gestured a hoof to the silent mare sitting next to her.

I tilted my head, confused. “Okay, so, this Magister Stitches... If she is so important and so well known, and she wrote this, why is there still so much ignorance about Albinism around? Just how obscure is this book?”

Twilight’s expression shifted into one of uneasy concern. “Well, you see... Magister Stitches lived a very, very long life—several centuries long, in fact. She used some, uh, questionable methods to prolong her life span, and also to conduct her research. While her body continued to endure, by virtue of her unnatural experiments, her mortal mind slowly began to descend into madness,” she informed us, pointing to the book she was holding up in her magic. “Her later books have generally been dismissed as nothing more than the ravings of a madmare, as the contents of most of them made absolutely no sense, and much of the information contained within was shown to be false, or inconclusive at best.”

Twilight opened the book, flipping through pages seemingly at random as she continued to tell the tale. “This was one of the last books she wrote before her death. As a result, only four copies were ever created, two of which rest in the Magister Stitches Wing of Canterlot Castle. The third was lost in the Great Fire of Fillydelphia, when their library burned down, roughly two centuries ago. And the final copy—” Twilight said, pointing at the book floating before her, “—is here with me. It’s been a part of my private collection for quite a while.”

I smiled uneasily at Twilight; parts of her description of the author worried me quite a bit. “You mentioned... q-questionable methods of research?” I said hesitantly, somewhat unsure if I even wanted to know what that entailed.

Fluttershy, too, stirred with curiosity after I had spoken up. “W-what... what did she do?” she asked, a look of unmistakable apprehension on her face.

Twilight’s already-uneasy expression only fell further at our questions. “Eventually, it was discovered that Stitches had been foalnapping zebras, griffons and ponies for centuries, doing all sorts of horrible experiments on them to collect data. Many of her test subjects either died what must have been gruesome deaths in the process, or were left permanently disfigured and mentally unstable by the ordeal, and then were promptly... disposed of.”

Fluttershy let out a sharp gasp at Twilight’s words. “W-why, that’s just... just horrible!” she exclaimed, uncharacteristically loudly for the normally soft-spoken pegasus.

After a few moments of thought, I came to a sudden, dark realization. “Wait... You said the information about Albino ponies was in this book, and this is one of her later books, right? So that would mean that she...” I trailed off, my eyes widening at the reality of what I was about to say. I covered my muzzle with my left forehoof as a nauseous feeling swam through my stomach, and a cold chill crept down my spine.

Twilight nodded grimly. “I originally didn’t want to tell you about this... but as you may have just guessed, at least one—and possibly more than one—albino pony of each of the three tribes met their fate at the hooves of Stitches, in order for her to obtain the information in this book,” she continued for me, with an uneasy, yet sympathetic look. “This also may be why we know next to nothing about albino ponies outside of this book. It’s a rare condition, after all, and Stitches quite possibly abducted every single one that appeared during her lifetime.”

Fluttershy suddenly jumped up from her seat, her winged flared at full extension. “Why would such a horrible monster have an entire wing dedicated to her at Canterlot Castle?!” she spat out angrily, shocking everypony with her sudden, highly uncharacteristic outburst. “If she had still been alive, she would have probably foalnapped and tortured Prism for her sick experiments, too!”

Twilight stood up from her seat, resting a foreleg on the angry pegasus’s shoulder. “I understand that you're angry Fluttershy, and what you say may very well be true. But the wing that bears her name was constructed long before the atrocities she committed came to light. While they were indeed awful crimes against equinity, we, as rational ponies, cannot simply deny the findings Stitches brought to the world. Many, many ponies’ lives have been saved by the research she did, horrific and unethical as it later turned out to be. Which was why she had that wing dedicated to her in the first place.”

“Ms. Sparkle is correct,” Ruby Heart said, gesturing to Twilight’s book. “As a doctor and a researcher in the medical field myself, I can say with certainty that we use treatments based on Magister Stitches’ original theories and extensive research every day. Countless lives have been saved because of the vast amounts of knowledge she left for posterity.”

Fluttershy opened her mouth to retort, but eventually just sank down onto her haunches instead, her ears and wings drooping in defeat. She silently—almost imperceptibly—nodded her head.

I felt real sympathy for Fluttershy. Her concern for me was heartwarming, but in this case, I had to side with Twilight and Ruby. It would appear that Stitches was a prime example of what one would call a necessary evil. An evil that, perhaps inadvertently, ended up producing a lot of good. Even so, that didn’t make the things she did any less horrible or unjustifiable. Fluttershy had probably been right about one thing: had Stitches still been alive, I likely would not be sitting here right now.

That is truly a frightening thought... A pony who hunted down and performed experiments on ponies just like me.

I stared at the ancient tome, wondering how many albino ponies lost their lives for the information within. “So many ponies, ponies just like me, had their lives taken for what is inside that book... A book which, you say, many consider to be nothing more than blasphemy, or merely fiction...” I trailed off, both sympathy and sadness evident in my voice.

Twilight brought a hoof to her chin, staring off into nowhere in thought. “This makes me wonder what else Stitches’ later books is actually accurate? Some of the information we have dismissed as blasphemy could in fact be very real, and contain truths that we have thus far overlooked.”

“Before, I felt like I owed it to future albino ponies to help you with your research, Twilight. But now... Now I feel that I also owe it to the ponies whose lives were sacrificed for the knowledge in that book, to ensure that their deaths were not in vain.”

Fluttershy’s expression softened, and she managed a small smile at my words. “That is very noble of you, Prism.”

Ruby nodded in agreement.

I shook my head. “That’s not true. It’s like I told Twilight: this is not about being noble, I just feel that it is the right thing to do.” I looked to Twilight, and then Fluttershy. “I mean... How would you two feel if you were in my horseshoes? Knowing what you knew, wouldn’t you want to make sure those ponies didn’t die for nothing?”

Twilight and Fluttershy exchanged glances, but then nodded in agreement.

Fluttershy spoke up first, “You’re right, it would be the right thing to do.”

“I would see to it that the truth came to light, yes,” Twilight added.

I beamed the two a warm smile. “Thank you for understanding.”

Several moments of silence passed, until a minor tidbit from earlier crossed my mind.

“Twilight? You never did tell me how in Equestria you managed to find me,” I reminded her, giving her curious look.

Twilights ears perked up at my question. “Oh yeah, I did say I would tell you about that after the doctor had finished,” Twilight recalled, turning to her saddlebags and telekinetically taking a piece of paper from it. “Rarity found this tacked to her door the morning after your disappearance.”

Twilight levitated the parchment over to me. After taking a moment to examine it, I read the contents aloud: “We have your friends. If you ever want to see them alive again, bring untraceable bonds worth twenty-five thousand bits to Manehattan and deposit them in the recycling bin located on the corner of Mane and Third on Friday at sundown. Then wait in front of the Manehattan Grand Theater for forty-five minutes. Come alone. Do not alert the authorities. We will know.”

I immediately noticed the lock my own white mane, as well as an equally unmistakable yellow feather, taped to the paper below the text. More disturbingly, there were also two splotches of blood at the bottom.

I narrowed my eyes at the paper in disgust.

Snooty! He will pay for this; he will pay for everything he has done to us.

Twilight took the paper back and stuffed it into her bag. “That’s how we knew you were being kept here. So we took the next train to Manehattan and began to investigate.”

My ears perked up at her words. “Wait, we? Who else came with you?” I asked quizzically.

“Everypony! All of the girls, Derpy included, are here in the city,” she informed me matter-of-factly. “We all split up once we arrived: Rarity mingled with the Manehattan elite and kept her ears open for any rumors, Rainbow Dash went to ask the Manehattan Weather Team if they’d spotted any ponies matching your descriptions lately, Pinkie Pie went and did... whatever it is that Pinkie does, Applejack went to check in with the local authorities, and Derpy stayed at the hotel just in case anypony came up with anything. I went to check the hospital, just to be sure, and it just so happened that you were here when I arrived.”

I was shocked, but also very touched, all at the same time. All of them had put their busy lives on hold to come looking for us, even though there had been little hope of ever finding (let alone rescuing) us; even though it might have been extremely dangerous.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

“T-thank you... s-so much,” I sniffled, utterly failing to hold back my tears.

Twilight beamed at me, before getting out of her seat and walking up to my bedside. “You're our friend, Prism,” she said fondly. ”Nothing or nopony will ever come between us. We would have searched all of Equestria to find you girls, if we had to!” She leaned in and gave me a tight hug. “I’m just glad you two are safe.”

It felt so good, so reassuring, to be held like this, and to be reminded just how much I had gained since the day I first stumbled into Ponyville. Now I had friends who loved me and cared about me. Who would come to my aid if I needed them; who would search me out and find me, if ever I got lost.

Sadly, this touching little moment was abruptly ended by an unexpected knock at the door. Twilight pulled away from me, and everypony turned to watch two stallions walk into the room.

“Sorry if we’re interrupting,” said the first pony who had entered. He was a grey pegasus stallion wearing a brown trench coat, with a matching fedora perched atop his jet-black mane.

The second stallion was a forest-green earth pony, wearing an outfit that was uncannily similar to the other.

The grey stallion pulled a badge from his pocket with a wing. “I’m Detective Hawkeye of the Manehattan Metro Police Department, and this is my partner, Detective Nitpick.”

Well, here goes nothing...

Hawkeye turned to me. “We would like to ask you a few questions about the foalnapping you were involved in. Specifically, we wanted to discuss some rather disturbing discoveries we’ve made in the upper offices of the crime scene.”

I blinked a few times, curious about what he meant by the latter statement. “Okay. What would you like to know?”

The detective reached into his coat pocket again, retrieving a few papers this time. He placed them on the bed in front of me. “Do any of these ponies look familiar to you?”

Peering at the papers, I quickly found that they were actually copies of photographs, depicting three familiar stallions. There was no mistaking it; I would never forget those sneering faces. They were the abusive trio of cronies from the warehouse.

I looked up to the detective with a nod before looking back to the photo’s. “Yes, these three were the ones who abducted me and my friend, and the very ponies who attempted to kill me,” I informed him. Narrowed my eyes and frowning, I regarded their pictures with utter disgust, idly wondering what other crimes these three had already committed.

Monsters... I let them off easy, I hope they get what is coming to them.

I looked back up to the detective to find him eying me curiously. “So, when was the last time you saw them? If you happen to remember, that is,” he said casually, continuing to watch me with great interest.

Why is he looking at me like that? It’s starting to creep me out. And the way that he’s talking... Like we’re just having a pleasant conversation!

“Well, when last I saw them they were attempting to rape me,” I said sardonically, ”so I think I remember them quite clearly. In order to escape from them I’m afraid I was forced to use my magic. I tossed them around a little, just to make sure they wouldn’t continue to hurt me, and to keep them from following me. After I had incapacitated them, I went to look for Fluttershy.” I concluded my brief tale by gesturing my forehoof across the room at the mare in question. “I don’t know where they went after that because, thankfully, I didn’t run into them again.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow. “Your levitation spell actually worked against those stallions?” she said, sounding rather perplexed.

I turned to her with a nod. “It surprised me, too. I’ve never tried to lift anything that heavy before.”

Detective hawkeye gave a dry, polite little cough, instantly gaining the attention of everypony in the room. “So, all you did was, in your own words, ‘toss them around a little?’” he confirmed pleasantly, though there was something very off about the tone of his words.

“Yes, I never intended to seriously injure them, I just wanted to get away and find Fluttershy,” I reassured him, again gesturing to the yellow mare.

The detectives expression suddenly turned into a scowl. “Come now, do you take me for a foal?”

I blinked several times, taken aback by the sudden change of tone. “N-no sir, I most certainly do not. Why do you ask?”

Hawkeye retrieved another set of photographs from his coat pocket and laid them out on the bed next to the others. I curiously leaned in to inspect them. What I saw sent a chill down my spine and made me sick to my stomach. I reflexively covered a retch and had to look away.

        The other girls curiously walked over to my bed to also examine the photo’s, curious to see what had provoked such a strong reaction from me. Twilight’s face twisted into an utterly disgusted expression, while Fluttershy’s face simply turned green. She, too, quickly turned away and looked like she was going to be sick. Doctor Ruby Heart, being perhaps more used to such horrific sights given her profession, only made some small gestures with a forehoof that looked like a prayer of some kind.

        This second set of photographs were of the same three stallions, except they depicted their broken, bloody, and mutilated corpses.

The detective narrowed his eyes at me, pointing a hoof down to one of the photographs. “Looks like they certainly won’t be coming after you now, does it?” he said coldly. “You must’ve ‘tossed them around’ pretty hard to ‘incapacitate’ them this thoroughly.”

Briefly rendered speechless by this insane accusation, I tried to figure out what in Celestia’s name was going on. “But, but, but,” I stammered, ”when I left the room those stallions were still alive! A little beat up, maybe, but alive! I did not do this to them!”

Hawkeye’s partner took out more photographs as well as some other papers. These were pictures of a lock of delicate, white hairs—clearly originating from my colorless mane—along with a number of documents, each of which contained page upon page of images and notes I didn’t quite understand.

“W-what.... what is all of this?” I asked, more than a little perplexed by the whole situation and the elaborate paperwork in front of me.

Hawkeye sat down on his haunches and folded his forelegs. “You tell me, miss,” he said sternly. ”It’s your hair and residual magic we found scattered all over the crime scene. Not to mention the bodies.” He picked up one of the papers in his forehooves. “We compared the magical residue from our earlier investigation at your apartment with what we found at the crime scene. It was a perfect match.”

I just stared at the reports in shock, unable to process what I was seeing.

Fluttershy stepped forward, wings flared. “Prism would never do something like that! And if she says she didn’t, then she’s innocent!” Fluttershy exclaimed almost aggressively.

Twilight glanced at Fluttershy and nodded in agreement. “She’s right; Prism would never kill anypony.”

Hawkeye turned to glare at them. “The evidence is all there,” he said, pointing a forehoof to the papers on the bed, ”and the case is crystal clear if you ask me; as blatantly obvious as Celestia’s sun in the sky.” He turned back to his partner with a quick nod.

Detective Nitpick stepped forward. “Ms. Prism,” he said sternly and officially, ”you are hereby charged with the murders of Stronghoof, Tiny, and Booster. For the time being, you are to be confined to this room and, if deemed necessary, the surrounding hospital grounds, until such time as you have been declared medically fit for relocation and further processing.”