“Lemon, what are we doing?” Apple Bloom asked as she pushed the branch that had been poking her for the past ten minutes. “This is really uncomfortable!”

“Shh,” he hushed her, dropping the binoculars. “I'm trying to focus on Pinkieus Piecus!”

Scootaloo scratched her head, trying to understand what she had just heard. “Pin the what now?”

“I think that's supposed to be a scientific name for Pinkie Pie,” Sweetie explained. “But that doesn't really sound like an actual thing. Where did you hear that, Lemon?”

Lemon shrugged. “I was reading some of Twilight's notes, and I found one hidden deep between two huge books! So, I used them!” he explained, returning to his focus of Pinkie Pie who simply went about her day, casually stopping to stop to talk to pretty much anypony in her line of sight.

“But I don't get it,” Sweetie began. “WHY are we following her? You told us we would be able to get our cutie marks as researchers, but what exactly are we researching to begin with?”

Lemon dropped the binoculars again, and reaching into his saddlebags, took out a small pile of papers which he placed near them. “Here, I guess if you guys are helping, you can read this.”

Apple Bloom grabbed the papers and read the top. “Magical Earth Pony – Research Notes?” she scratched her head and looked at Lemon again. “Ah' don't get it.”

“Well, the term used to be 'Uniearth Pony' but Twilight said it sounded made up, so I went straight to the point!” Lemon explained.

“Um, I think what Apple Bloom means is what this has to do with Pinkie,” Scootaloo guessed.

Lemon sighed, diving into the bushes again and rejoining the group. “In short, I think Pinkie Pie has actual Unicorn magic in her! She seems to be able to do strange things! I even heard that they could bring back the dead!" he said with an ominious look. "But everypony seems to think it's just her being her. But I'm not buying that!” he exclaimed, giving the group a fierce look.

Scootaloo nodded. “Ooh! That's why you made us Pinkie Promise to not tell anypony else about this!”

“Yep, yep!” Lemon nodded approvingly, grabbing the notes and putting them back into his bag. “Finding out if she goes through some sort of magic surge would be the proof I need to know it's her! And now,” he began, grabbing the binoculars and observing again. “I need to get back to it.”

…

“Why is everything so white all of a sudden?”

*Ahem!*

“Ah!” Lemon jumped back at the suddenness of the sound, looking up, and noticing Gleaming Guard staring right at him. “H-hi!”

“Lemon, what are you doing?” he asked in a demanding tone, looking over to notice the fillies right behind him.

“M-Mr. Guard! I...” Lemon tried to explain, trying to look over him and seeing Pinkie Pie nowhere to be seen. “Aww...”

“Kid, you haven't answered my question yet,” Guard noted, looking even more suspicious.

“I-I… I was studying Ponyville's daily life, is all!” he blurted out on the spot. “I, yes! I was trying to see how ponies here acted in comparison to other places, and, yeah...”

Guard stared suspiciously for a few seconds, but shrugged afterward. “Maybe you should try doing something else, lest, ponies will find you suspicious,” he looked over to the fillies who only stared silently. “And that goes to you three as well.”

“Yes, sir!” they all responded in a collective sigh of relief.

“In any case, I'm surprised you are out here, isn't it Twilight time right about now?” Guard wondered.

“Twilight Time? Oh, yeah,” Lemon noted. “Well, the thing is, Miss Twilight doesn't seem to be feeling well, so she is resting in her room. She told me that she would be better soon and to not worry, though!” Lemon explained quickly.

“Sounds better than the captain, at least,” a voice sounded out of nowhere, making the ponies turn in conjunction, and noticing Recon waving. “Hey, guys!”

“Recon! I thought you were supposed to watch over the Forbidden Forest area!” Guard barked in reprimand.

Recon quickly saluted. “My apologies, sir, but Captain Patch said she would be taking care of that area and ordered me to the west, which is where I was heading right now!”

“She is taking over that area again today, huh?” Guard hummed to himself. “In any case, is something wrong with Patch? You sure seem to believe so."

“I'm not sure,” Recon shrugged. “I suppose she seems kinda distant lately.”

“Oh...” Lemon mumbled to himself. “Ms. Patch is feeling bad?”

As they continued their conversation, the crusaders silently spoke to each other.

“Wonder what's going on,” Scootaloo wondered curiously.

“Ah' don't know, but it sounds like that guard lady is feeling weird,” Apple Boom continued.

Sweetie Belle simply sighed. “I just wonder what happened to Twilight. I hope she is okay."

“Oh… I'm awake,” Twilight mumbled to herself, looking at the ceiling, letting out a wistful sigh. “Well, at least that's good,” shambling off her bed, she headed into her bathroom, the memories of her visit to Canterlot days before returning to the front of her thoughts.

*huff* *huff* Twilight wheezed, running through the halls of the castle as if her life depended on it, reaching the Princess' study in record time. “P-Princess, I'm here!” she called out loudly as she opened the door, but was surprised to see not Celestia, but Luna, sitting where her mentor usually stood.

“Afternoon, Twilight,” she greeted her in a manner that momentarily confused Twilight.

“Your speech has improved considerably, Princess!”

Luna nodded. “Yes, I've been practicing the current age vocabulary. I say I've been doing a magnificent job of it.”

“Yes, but… What is it you are doing here? Where is Princess Celestia?” Twilight asked, looking around, the chance of her hiding a priority in her head.

Luna jumped off the podium, landing near Twilight. “Do not worry, she will be here in a bit, she didn't expect you to come as quickly as you did,” she sighed.

Noticing the way she finished her explanation, Twilight decided to ask. “Princess Luna? What's wrong?”

Luna looked at Twilight without a hint of emotion in her face. “We are about to find out.”

“Huh?”

Before Twilight was able to ask what she meant, a flash of light enveloped the room, with Celestia appearing right between the pair. “Luna! I'm back! Now, le- Twilight!” she jumped back, noticing her student. “W-what are you doing here?”

“Huh?” she mumbled confused. “What do you mean, Princess? You were the one who summoned me here, weren't you?”

“What? I didn't… Luna!” she stated with a firm tone. “Was this your doing?”

She remained in place, nodding. “It was. I feel this shouldn't be kept from her, don't you think?”

“Kept from me? What?” Twilight asked, growing increasingly frustrated. “What's going on?”

Luna nodded. “Well, sister? What were the results?”

Unable to take the cryptic talk, Twilight finally spoke up. “Enough! I'm sorry, but what's going on here!?”

Celestia returned a saddened look, taking a deep breath before talking again. “Twilight, I...”

“Hey, Twilight!”

“Ah!” Twilight yelped, dropping her brush. “Gosh… Coming, Spike!” she replied, recognizing the voice, and quickly running to her covers, tossing them over herself before answering the door. “Y-yeah?”

“Oh, I see you are still feeling sick,” Spike noted with a grimace. “I figured the medicine would work.”

Twilight shook her head. “Spike, it's okay, I'm starting to feel better. I just need to rest, is all.”

Spike smiled. “That's great! We've all been worried sick about you… er, ignore the pun.”

“I already did,” Twilight giggled. “Speaking of, where is everypony? It's been surprisingly quiet this morning.”

“Well, you know what the guards are doing, but as for Lemon, he is hanging out with the crusaders. He said he wanted to use the time to get his own 'research' done,” Spike explained with quoting claws.

“I'm glad he isn't angry that we aren't having our usual session,” she sighed relieved. “What about John?”

“Well, if I remember right, he said he'd be out with Derpy,” Spike replied with a devilish grin. “Of course, that means he must have finally asked her out on a date.”

“Of course,” Twilight smiled. “Thank you, Spike, you really are the best assistant.”

“Eeyup!” he replied, sticking out his chest. “You should rest! I’ll deal with chores with Owlicious, alright?”

Twilight nodded. “Thank you, Spike, you are such a great help,” she thanked him, reaching out and hugging him.

“No problem! Rest well!” Spike returned the hug before running downstairs, leaving Twilight to return to the quietness of her room.

“Well, I'm glad they aren't too worried about me yet,” she sighed, walking to the window where she watched the bustling town continuing its business without any cares in the world.

As it were, John and Ditzy weren't far from there, walking together.

Silently.

Without sharing nothing more than the occasional glance with Ditzy staring at John's new clothes, which despite being simple, stood out even by pony standards. At the same time, John stared at Ditzy, catching the noticeably brushed body hair and mane, as well as a simple collar around her neck. It had been enough to catch each others attention.

“Um, Derpy?” John was the first to break the ice, making Ditzy jump in surprise.

“Y-yes, John?” she replied timidly.

“Would you want something to eat? Rarity recommended me a place, if you don't mind going to it, I mean,” he explained awkwardly.

To which Ditzy easily replied with a resounding. “Yes! I'd love to!”

Feeling more relaxed with a goal in mind, the pair stopped in a fancy looking restaurant, getting strangle looks from the other customers there, but nothing that caught their attention, having grown accustomed to the stares.

Being still early in the day, the pair was quickly sat, and left to their devises.

“So… nice day, isn't it, Derpy?” John asked to the pony sitting on the seat right across him.

“Y-yeah, it is,” she barely replied, seemingly unable to say anything more than that.

They continued this for the following thirty minutes, only responding to the occasional reminder of their server, who in the interim, whispered to the other servers who had been watching the repetitive exchange.

“So, how long have they been at it, Belt?” one of them asked.

Belt, who happened to be their server, quickly answered. “Well, it's been a good while now, and all they have been doing is talk about the weather nonstop."

“Ouch,” the pony replied. “Hey, wanna bet it's their first date?”

“Psst, as if!” Belt replied, barely punching the other pony's leg. “Even a blind pony could see that! You aren't getting money from me THAT easily,” he laughed, walking back into the kitchen.

“Oh, come on!” the other pony complained, following Belt back inside, leaving John and Ditzy who had managed to hear glimpses of the conversation.

“Er, maybe we should talk about something else,” John offered, giving Ditzy a sidelong glance.

“Y-yeah.” Ditzy agreed, clearing her throat.

Taking it as confirmation, John quickly jumped to ask. “Okay, so I might appear a bit blunt with the question, but, why me? As if dating me and what not.”

“What do you mean?” asked Ditzy, seemingly puzzled. “It's because you are a nice person… did I forget to tell you that?”

“Not too sure, but either way, other than that, what else? I mean, what if I turn out to be the biggest sloth ever?”

Taken aback, Ditzy replied. “Are you...?”

“Well, no, but what if I was? I mean, I know I was the one who asked you out b- why are you smiling?”

As John said the words, Ditzy had burst out into small giggles. Noticing John's somber look, she quickly stopped. “I'm sorry! I'm not making fun of you! It's just that I was actually worried about that as well!”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah,” she replied with a warm smile, placing her hoof over John's hand. Something that the pair noticed, quickly pulling away in embarrassment.

-Oh, just KISS already!- Crystal's voice cut through John's thoughts.

“Hey, quiet you! You promised to stay out of today's date!” he thought angrily.

“John?” Ditzy called confused. “You okay there?”

“Um, sorry,” he quickly apologized, looking out the window, grinning as a thought entered his mind. “Let's go, I wanna go somewhere.”

“Oh? Aren't you hungry?”

“Too nervous to," he admitted. "But I'll stay if you are.”

Ditzy shook her head quickly. “I'm nervous too!” she laughed. “W-where do you want to go?”

“Just follow me,” he laughed, grabbing Ditzy's hoof and pulling her out with him, leaving behind a staring group of ponies.

One of which included Belt, who stared with shock. “Oh, come on! Not even a small tip?” he whined as he picked up the glasses and watched the pair disappear behind a corner.

“Ms. Patch? Are you here?” Lemon called out as he walked near the edge of the forest, keeping himself far enough to avoid any dangers that may be lurking behind, yet, keeping close watch in case Patch were inside. Not an easy task even with the trees turning red and dropping leaves by the seconds.

Minutes of walking later, he caught sight of Fluttershy's cottage in the distance and knew he had gone too far. “Aww… Did I come here for nothing?” just as he uttered the words, he noticed a familiar figure popping out from the forest, which quickly receded after mere seconds. “Could that be…?”

Wasting no time, he went into a run, forgetting his own caution and jumping head first into the forest. He ran to the place where he'd seen the shape, and looked around wildly, but to no avail.

“Dang it,” he sighed. “Maybe I should just wait for her to get home...”

Having already decided to give up for the day, he turned around, only to be met by the face of a familiar creature of the Everfree.

“Timberwolf…” he whispered, gulping in fear, and instantly sweating. “N-nice timberwolf...” he said, slowly walking back. Just to accidentally land on a branch. “Oh-oh...”

He watched with horror as the timberwolf leaped into the air, legs extended and already set on him. “Aaah!” he shouted, tossing himself on the ground, his legs over his head as he waited for the worst to come.

But instead, he was met with a loud crunching noise, and quickly raising his head, he watched Rough Patch in the middle of a midair tackle before zooming past him, and tossing the timberwolf into a nearby tree, shattering it into pieces.

“Ms. Patch!” Lemon shouted relieved.

“Come on!” she shouted back, grabbing him and expertly tossing him onto her back as she ran out of the forest and into the safety of the main road.

Quickly jumping off, Lemon wrapped Patch in a hug. “Thank you so much, you saved me!”

“Huh…?” she replied, briefly confused by the show of affection. “L-Lemon! What were you doing there? You could've been hurt!” she quickly reprimanded him.

“Oh, right,” Lemon mumbled, taking a step away. “I'm sorry! I was looking for you, and I saw you peeking from the forest, so I thought that I would talk to you...”

“Talk to me? What's so important that you have to talk to me when I'm working?” she asked in disbelief.

“Well, I was worried about you.”

“Worried?”

“Yeah, I heard from Mr. Recon that you had been acting strange for the past couple of days, so I wanted to make sure you were okay!” he explained.

Patch seemed at a loss for words. “Did you now…? Well, you don't have to, I'm Captain Patch, I'm always okay!”

“No, you are not.”

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, I know you are always this tough pony, but even tough ponies have feelings, right?” Lemon smiled, approaching her again and placing a hoof on her. “Mom always said that keeping your feelings bottled up is bad.”

Patch couldn't help but smile. “Your mom sounds like a wise pony,” she said, wrapping Lemon in a hug of her own. “Thank you, Lemon, I'll keep that in mind.”

…

Minutes of continuous hugging later, Lemon finally spoke. “Miss Patch? You can let go of me now.”

“Oh, sorry kiddo!” she said, clearing her throat and ruffling his hair. “You know, I think I can let Recon take over watch while you and I go eat. How does my treat sound?”

“I like food!” Lemon yelped excitedly.

“Me too. Let's go, then,” she said, urging Lemon ahead, taking the time to steal a quick glance back towards Fluttershy's cottage before catching up with him.

“J-John, I don't mean to be a bother, but why do I have to cover my eyes again?” Ditzy asked nervously, taking each step as if it were the last.

“That's because I said so,” John replied very simply.

“O-okay… but don't let go, please; I don't want to bump into something,” she said nervously, suddenly feeling John's hand moving away from her. “You just did what I told you not to do...”

“That's because we are already here.”

“Oh,” the moment she opened her eyes, confused thoughts began running amok. “Why am I staring at a tree?”

“Er, wrong tree,” John corrected her. “Behind you.”

Quickly turning around, she soon noticed what John spoke of. “Oh…” slowly, she walked towards the tree, looking over to the distance where Canterlot Castle stood tall. “I know it's only been a few months, but it sure feels like forever since I've last been here.”

“Tell me about it,” John sighed in return, pushing his back against the familiar tree, and slowly sliding into a sitting position. “Shit has hit the fan.”

“Excuse me…?” Ditzy asked taken by surprise by the phrase.

“Oh! It just means that things got bad a few times in the past couple of weeks… I'm kinda happy that nothing bad has happened yet, if even for a few days.”

“You make it sound as if things happen all the time,” she shrugged.

“They kinda do…” John shot back. “And wanna know what the funny thing is?”

“You are out on a date with me?” Ditzy asked teasingly.

“The funny thing is that I'm getting used to it,” he answered, letting his head fall back and lightly tap the tree. “I've had to face a crazed unicorn, deal with an attempted terrorist attack, go through copies of a pink colored pony, dealt with ANOTHER crazed unicorn, and on the lowest end of that scale is making Twilight blow up the lab on my first day in Canterlot!”

“How did you do that?” Ditzy asked amazed.

He quickly waved his hand. “Long story, but you know, of all of these events, there is one that I find good despite the consequences of it.”

“What is that?”

“Getting my leg broken by a careless pony,” he said with a huge smile, turning to look at a blushing Ditzy.

“G-geez, don't remind me,” she sighed, letting herself fall on the grass with a satisfied hum. “You know, I like this place and all, but I don't get why you brought me here.”

“Well, I figured that if we were going to date, bringing you to this place would show you that I'm willing to try,” he explained. “Does that make sense?”

She gave him a piercing stare, and replied. “No."

“Oh...” John groaned in disappointment.

“But that doesn't mean I don't appreciate the sentiment,” she laughed, resting her head on his legs.

Silently, they looked at each other, each of them expecting something other than awkward stares to follow.

-Do it!- Crystal shouted expectantly.

“Um, Ditzy?” John began.

“Yes?”

“Can we hold off on the kissing part? I'm not sure I'm quite ready to kiss a pony. No offense.”

Ditzy seemed surprised, but smiled. “No problem… I was actually thinking something very similar.”

Silenced once more, they stared at each other, and burst into laughter.

All the while, inside John's mind, the voice of Crystal Thought murmured to herself. -What a copout!-

Meanwhile, back in Golden Oaks, a sleeping Twilight tossed and turned, murmuring out loud in her slumber.

“What are you hiding from me… tell me, Princess… just do it.”

“Twilight, I... It's about the dark magic in you, the one preventing you from using your own,” Celestia began.

“Yes, I know about it. You told me as much months ago,” Twilight replied, recalling what Celestia had explained to her before. “I even kept the purpose of these meetings secret from John at your behest.”

Celestia quickly shook her head. “Twilight, the dark magic inside you is spreading through your body. It's the reason why side-effects such as headaches have begun manifesting in you.”

“Headaches? What? How do yo–”

“Captain Patch has kept me informed on your condition,” she quickly replied. “And before you say anything, she did so under my orders, and lying about your condition in your medical appointments wouldn't help us do anything to help.”

Twilight groaned. “I suppose I didn't want to worry anypony… but what does that have to do with anything?”

“Very well, I'll get to the point,” Celestia sighed again, her eyes trembling as the smallest details of tears began streaming down. “My dear student, it seems that the dark magic has begun spreading in your body.”

“O-oh,” Twilight mumbled, taken by surprise by the news. “Is that what you found out from your reports? Can it be stopped?”

Calmly Celestia replied. “Twilight, the damage that the dark magic is doing to your body is more than anything we expected—It's killing you.”

Twilight fell as if the world had stopped, standing in place with disbelief. Slowly, she shook her head, her grasp of words failing her miserably.

“Y-you are kidding, right?” she whispered, taking deep breaths to calm herself. “I can't seriously be...”

Celestia only shook her head. “I'm so, so sorry...”

“No...” Twilight whispered, before turning around and shouting. “No!” then running off, ignoring Celestia who called after her.

Twilight continued running, ignoring any pony who attempted to stop her for any reason. She continued her trot until she reached the garden, heading for the maze that she knew from her filly days, instinctively taking turns without even bothering to check.

She soon reached the end of the maze, stopping in her tracks and looking around, breathing heavily as she tried to find an exit, but giving up once she noticed there was none.

“No...” she whispered, dropping to the ground and sobbing to herself. “This can't be happening, it just can't… I just…”

“Twilight, you can't die.”

“Princess?” Twilight murmured, turning to meet her teacher, but finding herself face to face with nothing more than darkness. “What the...”

With a thunderous roar, a voice came from the darkness.

“You are already dead.”

“Aaah!” Twilight woke with a short lived yelp, having covered her snout to avoid anyone from hearing. To her luck, it seemed no one had heard, and she breathed a sigh of relief. “What was that?” quickly jumping off the bed, she ran into the bathroom, pouring herself a glass of water which she nervously drank as she looked at herself in the mirror.

“I-it's okay, it was just a dream… of a memory... I-I'm gonna have to tell them about it, aren't I?” she sighed, growling to herself as the implications of what she would have to do sank. “I'm so sorry, everyone...”

As she left the restroom, she stopped halfway to her bed, sensing a familiar feeling in herself which she quickly caught on to.

“Wait a minute… am I...” slowly, she noticed the cup she had used float in front of her, enveloped in a familiar purple aura.

Taken by surprise, she let go of the magic, watching as the cup fell, and slowly rolled away, leaving Twilight to ponder about what had happened.

Author's Notes:

Hello guys! As always, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy this. There will be a shorter chapter next time, so it'll come out fast.

And after that... well, I'll explain when that one comes out.

Until next time!

Spoiler Notes 36 - 06/15/18
More slice-of-life! This one was both very easy to go through, and kinda annoying. I actually enjoyed this one for what I have by far, but boy did I find weird errors on the way. Definitely feels like I didn't give this one a good look before posting.

Anyway, it's about as good as such an old chapter can be now. Hope you enjoy.