Pinkie Pie, the identity of the darkness. The two soundless words continued to pound against Twilight's psyche as she drifted in and out of her everlasting slumber. Her mind had turned into jelly and now she was floating on the brink of a complete loss of sanity. She tried to grasp a hold of her surroundings but the familiar pain and the calming Rainbow Dash apparition were always there to pull her back into the darkness. Pinkie was there, waiting for her.

"Do you get it now?" the pink pony would ask.

"No," Twilight would reply sadly.

"The game won't get started until you understand, you silly filly!"

Pinkie would then disappear and the cycle would repeat over again. It was getting incredibly old by this point. Twilight wished to wake up. She wished to gain control of her mind again. The darkness needed to disappear.

"Why would you do this to me, Rainbow Dash?" Twilight asked as she floated in the empty chamber that was the hollow innards of her slowly decomposing sanity. The apparition appeared and walked through the dark air as if there were some form of spiritual platform underneath it.

"I simply implanted the thought within your mind," the Rainbow apparition said with a saddened smile. "It's a warning, egghead. Stop floating about and listen to it!"

"No...I can't accept the warning that you've given me!"

"It's time to wake up. You know she did it."

"What proof is there?"

"There's plenty of proof. You've just got to know where to look for it. The evidence is waiting for you. Go and seek it out. It's waiting amongst the apples, under the earth. Look for it there. The dummy tells it all."

"Why are you talking like this? This certainly isn't like you."

"I'm not her, remember? I'm an idea implanted within your mind. Listen to my shouts. The shouts that rocket through your mind. Heed to the warning. Find the proof. You can do it, egghead."

Twilight's eyes flew open and she sat up. She was a little dizzy but the feeling of confusion slowly drifted away. She was lying down in a hospital bed. The air was incredibly cold and the bed groaned as she moved about in it. She yawned silently as she pulled herself out of the sheets and onto the cold floor. A loud snore reverberated throughout the room and thus caused Twilight to officially wake up. She looked over at a nearby chair and saw Aaron leaned back, fast asleep. She smiled, shook her head, and gave the stallion a hard shove. He awoke suddenly and gave a long yawn.

"Well it's nice to see that you're finally awake," he said as he stood up.

"What...what happened?" Twilight asked. Aaron led Twilight back over to the hospital bed and sat her back down.

"That's actually what I wanted to ask you."

"Huh?"

"Your little dragon friend, Spike, arrived home last night to find you and Pinkie Pie lying down, unconscious, in the kitchen of your home. He fetched help and I raced over here as soon as I heard about it."

"Where is Spike?"

"He fell asleep in the lobby. I'm sure that Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity are out there with him."

"What about...Pinkie Pie?"

"She's still unconscious. She's about five rooms down."

"Is she okay?"

"Her vitals are normal and so are yours. You both seem to be completely healthy. So what happened, exactly?"

"It's...hard to describe."

"Well try your best."

"Okay. Pinkie Pie came over and I went to make some tea for the two of us. While I was making some tea I heard something behind me. I turned around to see Pinkie Pie backed up against the wall. She was frightened by something. She then lost consciousness and, right after she blacked out, I began feeling an incredibly pain in my head. I then saw an app...hallucination of sorts and blacked out myself."

"That's it?"

"Pretty much."

"Tell me about this hallucination. What did you see?"

"I...don't remember."

"Bullshit. I don't like liars, Twilight Sparkle. You better tell me the truth."

"I saw...Rainbow Dash."

"Rainbow Dash? Interesting. What did she do?"

"She approached me."

"That's it?"

"Yeah...that's it."

"She didn't say anything or-"

"No! She didn't say or do anything! She just approached me and I blacked out! Why does it matter anyway? It's just a hallucination! They don't matter!"

"I believe it does matter. Didn't you just recently have a...spiritual encounter of sorts with Rainbow Dash's spirit?"

"I thought that you didn't believe in any of that bullshit."

"I don't...at least not officially anyway."

"I've already explained the entire encounter to you and Applejack anyway. Rainbow Dash replaced Applejack temporarily, she...kissed me, and then she disappeared. That was the entire encounter in a nutshell."

"Maybe there's more to this nutshell than what meets the eye."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Maybe this kiss you two shared was more than just a demonstration of affection. Maybe...it was something much deeper."

"Like what?"

"I dunno. Maybe a way to implant an idea or something."

Twilight gulped. She smiled and gave Aaron a friendly shove.

"It was just a kiss," Twilight lied. "Nothing more."

"Whatever you say," Aaron said with a suspicious glare.

"Can I go out and visit my friends now?"

"I guess. As long as you're not feeling woozy or anything like that."

"I'm not."

"Okay then, but I'll be following right behind you...just in case."

Twilight nodded and made her way to the door. She walked out into the hallway and looked down towards an open doorway. Pinkie was standing in the doorway. Her mane was straight and her eyes were sunken in. Twilight shivered at the sight and quickly turned towards the lobby.

Something's wrong, she thought. Something is incredibly, horribly wrong.