Rainbow Dash awoke with what felt like a hangover. She kept her eyes shut, not wanting to have to deal with light until she had gotten a firm grip on the dull headache and slight nausea. She felt sore spots all over her body.

Uggh. Was I in a mosh pit or something? Damn. Must have been one heck of a night.

As she moved to give a large stretch, she was surprised to find her motion suddenly arrested. A few experimental pushes confirmed the presence of several restraints keeping her in place. She paused for a moment.

Okay. Either I had a REALLY good night, or...

"Twilight?" she cautiously asked, eyes still shut.

"Unfortunately not" a strange voice replied.

Her eyes snapped open instantly. An unfamiliar unicorn stallion sat on a stool at the foot of her bed. A bed she was currently secured to by strong metal bands (thoughtfully lined with soft linen to prevent chafing) over each of her legs. The bed was not flat, but rather, had a slight incline to the back, likely controlled by the cluster of levers she could spot to her right. The walls were the standard cheery yet soothing hues of a hospital patient room, failing to distract from the myriad unidentifiable instruments and large overhead light attached by articulated arms to the ceiling, which betrayed the fact that she was actually bound to an examination table somepony had fused with a mattress. Her eyes continued to dart around the room, soaking in as much as they could.

"What?! Who?! Where?! Huh?!"

"Shh. Relax. Confusion and disorientation are some common after effects of the sedative. Just give it a moment." The unknown stallion gently reassured.

"Wha-? Twilight! Where's Twi-"

An image of Twilight falling out of a window came to her mind as memories began reforming themselves piece by piece. Fleeing from guards. Fighting. Losing consciousness and waking up in the forest. More fleeing. A sonic rainboom. Losing consciousness again and waking up...somewhere. A stallion in a lab coat saying something. Broken glass. Alarms. A prick in the side and losing consciousness once again.

She recalled something that doctor had said making her angry. Accusations about Twilight and mind magic. About her love for Twilight not being real. Treatment!

There was a brief second of silence in the room as the expression of confusion on her face melted away, replaced by a frown. The second passed and she threw herself forward with such force that, for a moment, it seemed as if she might tear herself free in a wrenching screech of twisted metal. The restraints held however, and the heavy bolts securing the bed to the ground kept the entire structure from jumping forward.

It was still enough to make the stallion visibly flinch. After composing himself, he patiently waited while Rainbow Dash continued to thrash about, alternating between incoherent screaming and threats of physical violence varying wildly in degree of anatomical impossibility. After two minutes of fruitless struggling, she finally decided to switch tactics and focus on trying to set him on fire by glaring, lack of horn be damned. Taking advantage of the lull, he rose from his seat and walked around to her side. She could just make out a cutie mark that resembled a pony's head with a strange red and blue wave pattern around it.

"Hello Ms. Dash, I'm Dr. Resonance Image. I'll be the lead physician attending to your case during your stay here."

Rainbow Dash gave a snort, not relaxing her death glare for a second. "You look kinda like some other pony I saw around here."

"You may be thinking of my brother, Dr. Neural Synapse. He's currently being treated for a concussion caused by-" he pulled a clipboard up from somewhere unseen "-martial use of an electrocardiogram."

"If you're looking for an apology, you're not gonna get one. I'd be more than happy to give you more of the same."

"Noted. Regardless, he should make a full recovery and be able to rejoin the team within a few days."

"Team?"

"Yes. Ten specialists from various fields of psychology, neurology, and arcane theory. Plus four nurses and a technician for all the equipment." Rainbow Dash's glare momentarily faltered with surprise. Whoever was pulling the strings behind this, they certainly had deep pockets. "Any other questions?"

"Yeah." Her sneer returned. "How exactly do you plan to get away with all this?"

The doctor blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean the whole ponynapping thing. Particularly, ponynapping ME. I've got friends. You know, Elements of Harmony, national heroes, saved the world a few times, owed a few favors by the Princesses. Heck, Twilight's part of the royal family now since her brother became prince of the Crystal Empire! My point is, when my friends and whatever army comes with them find me, you better hope you end up in official custody quickly, cause if I get my hooves on you first, there won't be much left to send to the moon."

There were a few seconds of silence as the doctor stood there, eyebrows knotting in confusion before clearing with a dawning comprehension.

"Ah. I think I see the problem here. There seems to be somewhat of a misunderstanding. You see-" He was interrupted by a strange buzzing noise. "Ah, excuse me a moment." Glancing down to a coat pocket, he levitated out two small flashing crystals held together by some kind of chain. He pressed one to his ear and held the other in front of his mouth. With a quick pulse of magic, the flashing stopped and he began talking.

"Hello? Yes. Yes she's awake now. Okay. Alright, send them in." Returning the pair of crystals to his pocket, he turned back to face Rainbow Dash. "Hopefully, this should clear a few things up."

Rainbow Dash was about to ask him what he was talking about when the heavy steel door on the far side of the room slid open. The pony who walked through shattered any semblance of sense that happened to remain in Rainbow Dash's world.

"Princess Celestia?!"

She was on the short list of ponies Dash expected to show up at some point, though she had imagined a somewhat more forceful entrance, with a lot more smiting ponies with beams of righteous solar flame and fury. From the way she smiled and nodded at the doctor as she strolled into the room, Rainbow Dash got the distinct impression that smiting was not on the agenda.

"Hello Rainbow Dash. It's good to see you." Celestia greeted her cordially.

"Yes. We are all thankful to see you safe and unharmed." Luna appeared in the doorway behind her sister, following her into the room and taking a place by her side. "It has been a trying few days, but we can all rest a bit easier now that you are here."

"Indeed. How are you?"

Rainbow Dash's mind was a turbulent mess of conflicting emotions and questions forming a pileup as they tripped over each other to spill out her mouth. She searched for the right words to properly articulate her state of mind and answer Celestia's question.

"...What?"

It seemed to be enough for Celestia, who nodded knowingly in return.

"Yes, it must be very confusing. I'm sure you have many questions, and I promise they will be answered, but there is something very important I need to ask you first. Do you know where Twilight is?"

"N-No, sorry. We got separated. I haven't seen her since...since we were being swarmed by royal guards! Now will somepony please explain what THAT was all about?!"

Celestia quickly quashed a frown of disappointment. "Right. Where to begin? What has Twilight told you about the situation?"

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! Though we didn't exactly have time for a conversation what with all the flying and fighting. Then suddenly I'm waking up alone in the Everfree Forest!

"Yes. The reports mentioned that she hit you in the back with a sleeping spell. I'm not sure how you ended up in the forest though."

"Why would she do that? Wait, reports? So those guards actually DO work for you?" Things were only making less and less sense by the second.

Celestia nodded. "Yes they do. As for why Twilight would do such a thing, my guess is that you were in danger of learning something she was trying to keep secret."

"If-if that's true...I'm sure she had good reasons..." Rainbow Dash replied, not sounding entirely convinced herself. Marefriends weren't supposed to keep secrets from each other. She knew Twilight would never knowingly do anything to hurt her, but it stung to think there might possibly be something that Twilight didn't trust her with.

To the extent that she'd rather knock me out and fight six guards alone than share it with me. Rainbow Dash tensed as she prepared to ask her next question.

"And this secret, would it happen to be connected to why we were being chased in the first place, and why I'm..." she gestured around the room with her eyes "...here? Wherever here is."

Celestia gave a grim nod. "I'm afraid it is."

"Oh, by Orion's Belt!" Luna exclaimed. "Sister! Would thou please cease dancing around the issue like a courtier at a ball? We shall be here all day at this rate." She turned to address Rainbow Dash directly. "Twilight Sparkle is wanted for the high crime of casting forbidden mind affecting magic on a pony."

"What?! When?!...On who?!"

An uncomfortable silence fell over the room as both princesses stared at her. The silence was broken only by an equally uncomfortable cough from Celestia. The gears of Rainbow Dash's mind turned and pieces fell into place as she remembered what the other doctor had been saying before she smashed an expensive piece of medical equipment into his head.

"Wait...no. No no no no no! Uh-uh! No way! You have got to be kidding me!"

"Rainbow Dash..." Celestia gently pleaded.

"NO! What is WRONG with everypony?! What is so fucking insanely unbelievable about me loving Twilight that me being under some kind of mind control is the most plausible explanation! Where are ponies even getting this idea?!"

"Yes. I know it seems difficult to believe, I didn't want to believe it myself, but please let us explain." Celestia reassured while shooting a brief glare to the side at her sister, who gave only an unapologetic huff. "It was Princess Cadence who first sensed the presence of some sort of spell on you. It was faint and well hidden, but she claims that it felt similar to a unique form of magic she had seen Twilight cast before."

Rainbow Dash glared back, unimpressed. "I know I'm not a unicorn, so I may not know much about auras and magic, but are you telling me that all of this", she rolled her head at the entire room, "is because Cadence just had a feeling?"

"Not exactly, no. Though Cadence is somewhat of an expert in the area, and her impression alone does carry quite a bit of weight. Certainly enough to pursue the issue further, which is what we tried to do. We summoned both you and Twilight for further questioning on the matter."

"And? What did she say?"

"Unfortunately, we were unable to get any kind of statement from her. She jumped out the window before we could ask her any questions and we haven't found a trace of her since. Finding you is our first substantive lead. Hopefully, we should at least be able to learn more about what Twilight has done once we run some more in depth tests on you."

"And any information you could supply that would expedite her capture would be greatly appreciated." Luna interjected, looking up to see Celestia giving her one of her desperate 'please stop talking and let me handle this' looks, usually reserved for meetings with foreign dignitaries and their confounding modern rules of etiquette, so easily breached by a simple veiled threat of military action. "Though of course, the recovery of the victim remains the foremost concern" she quickly corrected. Celestia winced.

`"Victim?!" Rainbow Dash shouted back. "I'm FINE! Look, I don't know what's going on here. I'll admit Twilight has been acting strange, and I'll be sure to ask her all about it the next time I see her, but I TRUST her and KNOW she would never do anything to hurt me. Whatever is going on, you can be certain I'm on HER side of it. You're crazy if you think I'm going to turn on her, especially for some ridiculous story like that! Even if this 'love spell' theory of yours was anything other than complete nonsense, you don't HAVE a victim. I'm certainly not pressing any charges! The whole thing is moot anyway!"

"Unfortunately...that's not quite the case." Celestia replied in her most soothing voice, in an attempt to calm the pegasus as she uncomfortably prepared to explain the subject. "Use of such magic is illegal in and of itself. For fairly obvious reasons, the opinions of the...target of a mind manipulation spell are inconsequential while they remain under its influence. Once they have been cured, then-"

"Cured?" Rainbow Dash interrupted, attempting to swallow the icy lump that began to form in her throat.

"Yes. Rest assured that we are completely dedicated to your full recovery, and no expense will be spared in the pursuit of that goal. You are in very capable hooves."

"Notsigninganything!" Rainbow Dash suddenly blurted out.

"Pardon?"

"I'm not signing anything! I know you need patient consent to do anything, and I absolutely do NOT consent to ANY of this! No! No way! Absolutely not! In fact, I want it noted that I object! Vehemently! Or whatever word means that, but more so! Now let me out of here!

"Ah, yes...you see..." The discomfort in Celestia's face was now plainly visible to all. "Your consent, while very much desired, is..."

"Not in any way required." Luna finished. "Being under the effect of a mind altering spell, you are considered, by definition, to have impaired judgement and be incapable of making medical decisions. In this situation, discretion regarding treatment of the victim falls to the crown."

Rainbow Dash stared back in disbelief as she attempted to process what Luna had said. "So let me get this straight. You're planning to keep me here against my will, poke and prod me with a bunch of fancy equipment and magic, and muck around in my head until I don't love Twilight anymore. Have I got that right?"

Celestia shifted uneasily. "Well, I certainly wouldn't-"

"Yes." Luna interrupted.

Celestia raised a hoof to her face as a moment of silence filled the room, broken a second later as Rainbow Dash resumed thrashing and cursing with renewed vigor. Celestia sighed and turned to the doctor who had been patiently waiting to the side the entire time.

"Keep us apprised of your progress" she said with a nod as she turned back towards the door, Luna following close behind. As they stepped out into the hall, the thick door slid shut behind them, cutting off an aggressive suggestion that they place their respective heavenly bodies between their cutie marks. "Well, that went about as terribly as expected."

Luna said nothing in response.

"She'll thank us later" Celestia assured, the words fading quickly under the sounds of their hoofsteps echoing in the hallway.

A mini-chapter a day late for Valentine's Day. This was a scene I was going to include in the previous chapter (hence the *2 weeks ago* bit) but I had everything else written already and didn't want to delay for it. I was just going to tack it on to the front of the next, but this scene ended up a lot longer than I originally anticipated, and there's going to be quite a bit going on in the next chapter (whenever it happens) that I figured it would be better to just cut this part off. Let me know if you think it should be moved to the beginning of previous chapter where I originally planned it.