“Uh, are you two ladies alright?” Cloudburst asked.

Fluttershy cringed. They were walking through the castle corridors on their way to the Archives with Cloudburst and the two guards from outside their suite. She and Rainbow had been arguing over who was going to break the news about the link. For some reason it greatly troubled Rainbow, and she had been flat out refusing to talk to anyone about it, insisting that Fluttershy be the one to tell everypony.

Putting on her best ‘everything is okay’ face, Fluttershy turned to the sergeant.

“Um, yes. Everything is fine. Why do you ask?”

He gave her a look that told her he saw right through her facade. “Because the two of you been whispering to each other since we left the suite. Is there something I should know about?”

She glanced at Rainbow Dash, who rolled her eyes and nodded towards the sergeant, whispering, “Tell him.”

Fluttershy sighed in defeat and told him about the link between herself, Rainbow, and Quintus.

He reacted by raising an eyebrow and saying, “Huh. Ain’t that something. I reckon you three are in for an interesting time.”

“That, umm, doesn’t bother or surprise you?” Fluttershy asked.

He smiled and said, “Oh I’m surprised, but when you’ve been in the guard for as long as I have you get used to surprises. And as for botherin’ me... well, it ain’t like the little guy is going to mind control you and try to take over Canterlot. He’s standing, what, two feet tall? I’m pretty sure you need to be pushing at least three feet before you can overthrow a kingdom.”

She giggled and and a question popped into her mind. It took her a few moments to work up the nerve, during which she stared down to where Quintus was trotting beside her, his little legs moving quickly to keep up with their walk. Finally she turned to the sergeant.

“Umm, you’ve been so kind to Quintus so far, even putting your life at stake for him. And while I really appreciate it-”

“WE really appreciate it,” Rainbow said from beside her.

“Yes, we really appreciate it. But why, if you don’t mind me asking, why are you treating him so well?”

He came to a halt, causing the rest of the group to stop as well. There was a look of mild surprise on his face, as if he hadn’t expected such a question, but his face quickly became contemplative and after a few seconds he answered her.

“A couple reasons, darling. First, it’s my duty. I was placed in charge of escorting a possible prisoner to the castle. That requires that they arrive alive and unharmed. And now I’ve been made responsible for the safety of all four of you, which includes Quint,” he said. Then he smiled down at her. “But I guess I could have done that without being nice to the little fellow, so that doesn’t really answer your question, does it?”

She shook her head and he laughed a bit.

“Well, for one, he reminds me of my own boy at his age.”

“Oh, you have a son?”

“And a daughter. Proud as can be of both of them, too. But anyways, Quint’s a lot like my boy,” he said. Then he laughed once, “Hah! I remember the first time I was stationed here in Canterlot. I brought him to the castle one day when he was about Quint’s age. He was so excited to see where I worked and to be around all the other guards. I even let him wear my helmet for the day. You shoulda seen the smile he had by the time we left. You would have needed a sledgehammer to knock it off his face.”

“Did he end up joining the guard?”

“Nope. That’d be Zephyr, my little girl and fastest pegasus in the Royal Guard,” he said. Then he pointed at Rainbow. “And while you, little lady, may be the fastest pony in Equestria, I reckon that wouldn’t be the case if we strapped a full set of armor onto you. I’d bet my good wing that my Zephyr would whip the hay out of you in an armored race.”

Rainbow grinned and stood a little straighter, fluffing her wings out. “I’d take that bet. Just another chance to prove how awesome I am!”

Fluttershy smiled and shook her head. Leave it to Rainbow Dash to accept a challenge against a pony she’d never even met. Turning back to Cloudburst she said, “Was there another reason? It sounded like you weren’t quite done.”

“Uh, that there is...” he said awkwardly.

She instantly regretted asking. “I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have asked!”

“It’s fine. No harm done, darling. I’d rather not get into the details, so let’s just say that there ain’t no reason to be anything but kind to a child. And trying to harm one...” he stopped and looked away as a scowl came to his face. A hoof went to his maimed wing and for a moment he was lost in his own thoughts. When he spoke, his demeanor, normally calm and friendly, turned angry. “There just ain’t no reason. Ever! And if anypony lays a hoof on Quint... well, then Celestia help the poor bastard if I get a hold of them.”

Fluttershy stepped back at the sudden change in him and hid her face behind her mane.

He looked back to her and his face softened. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get so upset.”

“Oh, it’s okay! I’m sorry I asked! I just-”

“Fluttershy,” he interrupted, “it’s fine. It’s my fault.” Then with a wave of a hoof he said,  “Now you three run along to the Archives. I better go get into some armor before my shift starts. I’ll meet up with you afterwards.”

With that he trotted back the way they came and disappeared down a side corridor.

“His shift hasn’t started?” Rainbow asked the two guards following them.

The unicorn Fluttershy had asked about breakfast earlier that morning shook her head and answered. “Not yet. Sarge is assigned to oversee your safety while you're here in Canterlot. Usually whoever that is just assigns guards, makes the schedule, and takes care of all the background work, leaving the actual guard duty to their subordinates. But Cloudburst usually likes to pull guard duty himself.”

“Better than sitting at a desk in the barracks...” the other guard, an earth pony, mumbled.

“Yeah, well, he likes to do it. Especially when it’s somepony important like you three.”

“Um, important like us?” Fluttershy asked.

“Hello! Bearers of the Elements!” Rainbow said.

“Oh...”

“Plus,” the other guard, said. “I think he likes the changeling there.” He pointed at Quintus.

“He is cute, isn’t he.” The first guard smiled and waved a hoof at Quintus, who returned her smile and waved back. “Sarge has a soft spot for kids.”

“Yeah, I think he kinda pounded that into us just now,” Rainbow said. “Didn’t expect him to get angry like that.”

“Uhh, yeah... you haven’t seen Sarge angry yet,” the unicorn said. “And you really don’t want to. So I’d probably stay on his good side if I can help it.”

“That’s odd, he doesn’t seem like an angry pony,” Fluttershy said.

“Oh he isn’t. I can count the number of times I’ve seen him get legitimately angry on one hoof. But I uh, never want to see it again, and neither do you. Honestly, I doubt it’s even possible for you to get him angry, but just stay on his good side, okay?”

“Oh, umm, yes, I think we’ll do that.”

* * *

Fluttershy stretched a wing out and spent a moment enjoying the warm feeling as sunlight streaming through the glass dome above temporarily fought off the winter chill that the room’s enchantments couldn’t quite hold back. Filled with the scent of stale paper, old parchment, and dusty books, the Canterlot Archives was, exactly as she expected, first and foremost a library. Located just north of the keep proper, the Archives was a vast, multi-level monstrosity, shaped like an octagonal cylinder on the inside. The outer portion of each level overflowed with bookshelves, each crammed nearly to bursting with hundreds upon hundreds of books while the inner portion was hollow and empty save for a few dozen tables clustered together in the center of the ground floor where Fluttershy, her friends, and a few other random ponies currently sat.

Even though it was still early morning, the sun’s warmth poured in through the enchanted glass dome above them as if it was noon. According to Twilight the dome also worked its magic with the moon, and the unicorn claimed she had spent many nights reading by the orb’s silver light in solitude.

“So can you help us Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked from the beside Fluttershy. “Please say you can help us! As much as I like Fluttershy and Quint, this whole sharing minds thing is so not cool!”

Fluttershy folded her wing up and frowned. It had barely been an hour since herself, Rainbow, and Quintus had been linked together and already it was getting to Rainbow. She’d hoped her friend would be able to handle it better. The links weren’t THAT bad after all. Sure, it had been a bit of a shock when Quintus had first linked them, but she was already getting used to the feeling of two other minds within her own. She had quickly realized the key to dealing with them was not to push them away, and not to focus on them, but to simply let them be, as if they were as much a part of herself as her wings or legs were. Closing her eyes she let the links come to the front of her mind.

Quintus’s link felt warm and excited, which, given his apparent love of seeing and experiencing new things, suited him perfectly. She’d barely been able to keep him moving on the way from their suite to the Archives. Every new room and hallway they passed through held a dozen things that snatched his attention. He gawked at gleaming suits of golden armor that sat immobile in their alcoves, goggled at giant paintings of great battles past that hung on the walls, and saluted every guard they met with one little black hoof held to his temple, something which made their two guards chuckle every time.

Now he sat with his head buried in a book that Fluttershy had found for him. She’d spent a few minutes when they first arrived looking through various shelves for an appropriate book but there didn’t appear to be a children's section, at least on the ground floor. She’d eventually settled for one whose title was in another language but was full of intricate drawings of exotic animals that had grabbed his attention. Twilight, surprisingly, gave the book a look of approval when Fluttershy set it down in front of Quintus before she dived back into one of the dozen books of her own that lay scattered about on the table and floor.

Letting Quintus’s link go, she nudged Rainbow’s to the front of her mind. Where Quintus was excited and happy, Rainbow felt anxious and irritated. Not that Fluttershy needed the link to tell her that. The blue pegasus currently paced back and forth through their section of the archives, just like she’d been doing since they’d arrived fifteen minutes before, and showed no sign of stopping.

Fluttershy opened her eyes and looked across the table to were Twilight sat. She’d listened as they explained how Quintus had linked them together and was now trying to examine them.

“I don’t know if I can help, Rainbow Dash. You haven’t stopped moving long enough for me to examine you,” Twilight grabbed Rainbow as she passed in front of her. “So hold still!”

Rainbow frowned but sat on her haunches. A purple glow surrounded Twilight’s horn and a few seconds later Rainbow shuddered as the glow enveloped her.

“Uhh, is it supposed to tingle?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure? You’re not going to turn my wings into cantaloupes or something are you?”

“It’s a basic spell used to detect whether magic is currently affecting something or has in the recent past. I’ve used it a thousand times before without any problems.”

“Hey! I’m just being careful. You did turn a frog into an orange once, remember?”

Twilight groaned. “That was completely different. That spell was- you know what, never mind. Just hold still so I can get this over with.”

Rainbow mumbled something unintelligible but held still while Twilight worked. Once she was done she repeated the process on Fluttershy and then on Quintus. As soon as it hit Quintus he squirmed and hissed in laughter as the spell tickled him, and Fluttershy had to hold him still while Twilight worked. The latter even cracked a small smile, much to Fluttershy’s delight.

Finally Twilight was done and the glow faded from Quintus. Her eyes met Fluttershy’s, whose heart dropped when she recognized the look on Twilight’s face.

“I’m sorry, girls. I couldn’t find anything.”

“What do you mean you couldn’t find anything?” Rainbow asked.

“There was nothing there. Nothing I could detect at least. Which means that whatever is linking the three of you together probably isn’t a spell. It’s most likely a natural ability.”

“Natural ability?”

“Yes, similar to how pegasi can manipulate the weather and walk on clouds without needing to cast spells to do so. I’d guess that this link is something innate to changelings. Perhaps he reached a stage in his development where it naturally activates and you two just happened to get caught in it somehow.”

“So does that mean you can’t do anything for us?”

“I’m afraid so, Dash. It’s not a spell, so I can’t even detect it, let alone alter or remove it. It appears that, for now at least, you’re going to have to live with it.”

“Oh man...” She lay her chin on the table and sighed, exhaling through her mouth and blowing her red and orange forelocks around.

“Don’t worry Rainbow,” Fluttershy said. “I’m sure everything will be okay.”

“Yeah, once this link goes away...”

Fluttershy knew she couldn’t help Rainbow when she was in this kind of mood so she turned to Twilight.

“So, umm, what have you been reading about?”

“I’ve been learning everything I can about illegal magical artifacts.”

“That’s not...illegal, is it?”

“Actually it is.”

“Wait wait wait,” Rainbow said. “Twilight’s actually breaking a rule? Or in this case a law? I didn’t think you had it in you!”

“She doesn’t,” said a voice from nearby. They all turned to see Cloudburst and another guard walking towards them. The two guards walked into the sunlight and Fluttershy was nearly blinded from glare off their armor. Thankfully they stopped in a shaded area near the table and the sergeant continued. “Princess Luna gave her permission earlier this morning. Ain’t that right Ms. Sparkle?”

Twilight nodded. “This is the second time I’ve had to deal with another unicorn using some enchanted piece of jewelry to vastly increase their magical abilities.” She snapped her book shut, plopped it on top of a growing tower on the floor, and then pulled another from a pile on the table next to her. “Quite frankly, I’m tired of having no way to deal with them.”

“And,” Cloudburst said. “until we do have a way to deal with them, both Celestia and Luna think it’s a good idea for you to stay at the castle.”

“Fine by me,” Rainbow said. Fluttershy gave her a questioning look and she added, “A royal suite, free food, and room service? You won’t hear me complain.”

“Umm, what about our lives back in Ponyville?” Fluttershy asked. “I’ve got animals that need to be taken care of. And Rainbow, don’t you have weather work to do?”

“They can handle things without me for a while. Besides, what are they going to do? Tell me to ignore the princesses?”

Cloudburst raised a hoof. “Now now, no need to worry. If you can find somepony to cover for you or help you out with your animals then the princesses are willing to pay them for as long as their services are needed.”

Fluttershy thought for a moment. “Well I suppose I can hire somepony to take care of the animals around my cottage while we’re stuck here. But not for too long! Angel Bunny doesn’t take well to strangers and I don’t want to be away from him for longer than a few days.”

“Well, that depends on what Ms. Sparkle here has learned.” Cloudburst said. “Anything useful?”

“Well, I’ve only been at it a few hours, so not too much. Only that they increase the users spell power and in some cases their skill as well.”

“That’s it?” Rainbow asked. “Didn’t we already know that?”

Twilight shot her a look and then continued.

“Anyways, we all know that both the Alicorn Amulet that Trixie wore and this ring that our mysterious unicorn has in his possession greatly increase the magical abilities of whoever wears them. What I’m trying to figure out is how they function so I can hopefully devise a way to counteract their effects. Now-”

“Is this going to be a long lecture?” Rainbow interrupted.

“Yes.”

“Can I just leave now?”

“No.”

Rainbow sighed and thumped her head back down on the table.

Twilight frowned at her but continued. “Like I was saying. I have a hypothesis, but without any concrete information I’m mostly piecing things together from my own knowledge of how magic works. Basically, I believe these artifacts use a combination of enchantments to enable them to act as a reservoir for magical energy, a source for generating this energy, and possibly even increase the actual casting ability of the user.”

“Which means...” Rainbow said.

“It means,” Twilight said, “that the user is able to cast more spells, more powerful spells, and is also better at casting them. Which would explain Trixie’s sudden ability to cast spells that were not only more powerful, but were much to complicated for her to cast normally. Following me?”

“I think so,” Fluttershy said. “You also said you found out why they’re illegal?”

Something touched her foreleg and made her turn her head. It was Quintus. He pointed to a picture of a creature she didn’t recognize in his book. It was a hairy, four-legged animal with wicked teeth and claws, and the name underneath was in the same unknown language as the title. At first she thought there might be some reason he'd pointed it out, but he quickly turned the page and pointed to the next picture, another ugly beast she'd never seen, and she realized he was just excited like usual.

“Ohh, that’s nice, sweetie,” she told him and turned back to the conversation. Thankfully Twilight had waited for her to finish with Quintus.

“Yes, well, they’re illegal because of the possible side effects, which were, thankfully, easy to find. They weren’t even in the restricted section. Probably to keep anypony from wanting to make them in the first place,” she levitated a book from the pile on the floor to the table and flipped it open. “If the user of the artifact isn’t careful, well, bad things can happen.”

Rainbow raised an eyebrow. “Bad things like what?”

Twilight turned the book around to show them. “Bad things like burn out your horn. Or worse.”

On the page were various ink drawings of unicorns with melted horns, missing limbs, and one was, to Fluttershy’s utmost horror, turned inside out.

“Oh my goodness!” she held both hooves to her mouth and turned away.

“Speaking of side effects,” Twilight continued, “I think our mystery unicorn is inexperienced with his artifact.”

“What makes you say that?” Cloudburst asked. His ears had perked up at the news.

“Last night during the...incident...as soon as I was able to overcome the pain and fight back, he acted like maintaining the spell was painful. That means that he hasn’t built up a tolerance to channeling the amount of energy required to counteract my own spells yet. In short, he was literally burning out his horn.”

“It’s just too bad he didn’t finish the job then,” Cloudburst said. “That’d make everything a lot easier. So how long do you think it’s going to take to come up with a way to stop this magical, uh, thingy.”

“If I had detailed information on how the artifact works, not long. But without that information I’m forced to use my own knowledge and effectively start from scratch. Which is going to take a lot longer.”

“How much longer?” the sergeant asked.

“Weeks? Maybe months? There’s no way to tell right now.”

Fluttershy was again distracted by Quintus, who got her attention to point out another creature in his book. She feigned interest for a moment and then returned to the discussion. Cloudburst was speaking to Twilight.

“...until you figure out a way to counteract that artifact, the only ponies who stand a chance of beating our assailant are you, the princesses, and the strongest spellcasters in the guard.”

“I’m afraid so.”

“So we’re pretty much screwed until then?” Rainbow asked.

“Unless you’re capable of projecting an anti-magic field or have armor warded against magic, then yes.”

Rainbow turned to Cloudburst and bumped him with a shoulder. “So... uh, you guys got any of that armor, Sarge?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Of the quality we need? Let’s just say we don’t exactly keep it lying around the castle. I’ll have to put in a request just to see if the armory has any in stock. Until then, I think it’s best if y’all stay inside the castle grounds.”

“What, you don’t think we’re going to get attacked on the streets of Canterlot in broad daylight, do you?” Rainbow asked.

He pointed a hoof at Rainbow and said, “That’s exactly what I think is going to happen. And don’t fool yourselves. Daylight ain’t going to protect you. I’ve been doing this job for nearly twenty years and I guarantee you that there’s at least as much crime during the day as their is at night. So like I said, stay in the castle grounds unless you want a knife in your belly.”

“Look pal, there is no way I can stay cooped up in here. I gotta get out and stretch my wings or I’ll go crazy!”

“You really wanna risk your flank just to get a little wing-workout?”

“Oh come on! You act like that unicorn is going to suddenly grow wings and come after me!”

“Dash,” Twilight broke in. “I seem to remember a certain spell that gave a certain unicorn wings for the day, don’t you?”

Rainbow crossed her forelegs and glared at her. “And I seem to remember this certain pair of wings being so fragile they caught fire in the sunlight. And yours truly,” she held a hoof to her chest. “had to personally rescue this certain unicorn AND three of the wonderbolts all at the same time. Oh, you know what? I think I still have a certain crown to prove it, too. It says ‘Best Young Flyer’ on it. Ring a bell?”

“She umm, she does have a point, Twilight.” Fluttershy said. The memory of Rarity’s wings burning to a crisp in the sun, leaving the unicorn flightless and falling, followed by Rainbow Dash performing a Sonic Rainboom, flashed in her mind. “I don’t think anypony could catch up to her with wings like that.”

Twilight threw her hooves up in defeat. “Ugh, fine! It’s your life. Not like you don’t risk it all the time with your dangerous stunts anyways!”

“Hey! Those stunts are-”

“Ladies! Ladies!” Cloudburst cried, getting the attention of those few ponies in the Archives that weren’t already glaring at them for the noise. “Could we settle down for just a moment?”

Both Twilight and Rainbow lowered their heads upon realizing how loud they had gotten.

Cloudburst thought for a moment. “Well, with your reputation I think it’s unlikely anypony’s going to try to attack you in the air, as it’d be mostly pointless unless they can get close, which is something I sincerely hope you ain’t going to let happen. Besides, when it comes right down to it, I don’t think any of my guards could even catch you if you decided to fly off. Just stay moving and don’t let anypony get close, alright?”

“Fine.”

“Uh, Sergeant,” Twilight said. “Speaking of being attacked, has an investigation been started on last nights incident?”

“Yes ma’am, I officially started one last night before we saw Princess Celestia.” Then he nodded to the other guard with him and said, “Which is why the corporal is here. He needs to take your statements. Just answer his questions honestly and don’t omit anything, even if it’s hard to talk about or embarrassing, alright?”

With that they spent the next half hour answering questions and recounting the events of the previous night. The corporal had an intimidating glare and when it came her turn Fluttershy barely managed to stutter through. Only the fact that her friends were there gave her the strength to get through the ordeal. Finally they were done and the corporal thanked them before walking off.

“Oh, thank Celestia that’s over with.” Fluttershy said, letting out a sigh and letting herself sag on the table.

“That reminds me!” Twilight suddenly said. “I meant to tell you girls something.”

“Tell us what?” Fluttershy asked.

“Well, umm...” Twilight fidgeted in her seat for a moment before continuing. “I met with Princess Celestia earlier before coming to the archives. She’s... taking a vacation. She’s already left.”

“For how long?” Fluttershy asked. The news that Celestia had left on a vacation, now of all times, worried her.

“She didn’t say.”

“So Luna’s running the kingdom for now?” Rainbow asked.

“Yep.”

“Can she handle it?”

“She seemed pretty excited about running the kingdom herself when I met with her earlier. Not quite ‘double the fun’ excited, but I’d say she is definitely looking forward to it.”

“Wait, I don’t get it. Why is Celestia going on vacation in the middle of a crisis? Shouldn’t she be around to, you know, help?”

“Perhaps you don’t remember last night very well,” Cloudburst said. “Princess Celestia ain’t really in the state of mind to deal with all this right now.”

“But why not? She’s Princess freakin’ Celestia! She’s like thousands of years old! She’s been through all kinds of stuff! How can this one little thing get to her?”

“Well, I wasn’t there at the wedding of Captain Shining Armor and Princess Cadence, but from what I hear Celestia was beaten real soundly, real quick. That about right?”

Rainbow’s response went unheard by Fluttershy as Quintus interrupted her once more. Her brow bunched into a frown at being distracted yet again and she bent down to whisper in his ear. “Sweetie, this is an important conversation. We can look at the book later, okay?” She didn’t like being that harsh, but sometimes it was necessary. This was important after all. He hung his head and she had to force herself not to give in to his dejected look. “If you want, we can check it out when we’re done. How’s that sound?”

He nodded weakly but didn’t pick his head up and she barely managed to tear herself away from him and back to the conversation.

Twilight was speaking. “...practically immortal, you’ve lived thousands of years, and never once lost a fight. Ever. Then, suddenly, at the wedding of two ponies very close to you, an evil monster appears and thoroughly beats you in all of about five seconds. How would that make you feel? Think you could handle dealing with the sudden news that the only enemy that’s ever beaten you like that could be back and hiding as anypony in the kingdom?”

“I-I don’t know.” Rainbow said. “I guess-”

She stopped suddenly and her eyes stared past Fluttershy at Quintus. In the absence of conversation the Archives were eerily quiet except for a single sound that tore at Fluttershy’s heart.

Quintus was crying.

She turned to see him standing in his seat with his forelegs on the table as tears poured out from behind his closed eyes to stream down his cheeks and slowly pitter-patter on the book in front of him. Tears, like a strong river current that swept away everything else that mattered to her and left only the small, crying child for her to worry about.

“Oh my goodness! What’s wrong, Quintus?”

He opened his blue eyes, now puffy and red on the outside, and tapped the picture in the book twice. It showed several changelings sitting side by side in the dirt. Two were plain and wore nothing but their carapace, but the third wore a set of armor that she had seen on a few changelings when they had attacked Canterlot. Then an image of two changelings drawn in crayon, one dressed in armor much like the picture in the book and holding a much smaller changeling with one foreleg, popped into her mind. There was a word underneath. Daddy.

She yanked Quintus’s link to the front of her mind and had to hold back her own tears as the feeling nearly overwhelmed her. It was an ache, a longing that left a hole in her chest. She swept him up in an embrace and he buried his face in the yellow fur of her neck.

“Is he okay?” Cloudburst asked.

“He umm, misses his father,” she said.

Cloudburst covered his mouth with a hoof and turned away, mumbling something that was lost to her. When he turned back there was moisture in his eyes. “You want to get him back to the suite?”

Fluttershy nodded. Everything but the bundle around her neck was forgotten. They stood and trotted out of the archives. Cloudburst spoke with the two guards at the doorway and then motioned for her to follow. Neither spoke while they walked and the only sounds were of Quintus sobbing into her neck and the clicking of their hooves on the floor. The feelings pouring into her from the link became harder and harder to resist, and Fluttershy was on the verge of crying herself when they finally they arrived at the suite. The sergeant opened the door for her and followed her in.

“I’ll be here in the main room if you need anything,” he said.

She nodded and took Quintus to their bedroom, closing the door behind her before lying down on the bed and curling up with him. He clung to her neck still, and the fur had become cold and wet from his tears long ago. Finally, lying there embracing a crying child who desperately longed for his father, she surrendered to his emotions, and for a small while two bodies shook as they wept in aching sadness, lonely even in the company of one another.

* * *

Rainbow Dash buried her face in her hooves.

“Oh man...I knew this link was bad news,” she said to herself.

“Dash...are you alright?”

She looked up to see a worried Twilight. “Oh yeah, great, Twi,” she rolled her eyes and gestured towards the door with a hoof. “Fluttershy just ran off with Quint and now both are back in their room bawling their eyes out.”

“How do you-”

“The link Twilight! This stupid link! I can feel both of them in my head...” she tapped her head with a hoof. “In my chest...” she tapped her chest. “It’s like this icy pit that just gets bigger the more I try to forget about it. I mean, it’s only been like an hour but already I’ve nearly panicked worse than I ever have in my entire life and now I’m sitting here trying not to cry my eyes out in front of everyone. You gotta do something Twi! Please! I can’t take this!”

Twilight bit her lip and said, “Rainbow... I’m sorry, but like I said earlier, there’s nothing I can do about it. But I think if you just give it some time you’ll either get used to it or learn to better control it.”

Rainbow huffed but didn’t interrupt so Twilight continued.

“It’s like you said. You’ve only had this link for a little over an hour. You can’t expect yourself to get used to it that quickly. Nopony can. Just give it a few days and I bet it’ll be like the link isn’t even there anymore.”

Rainbow shook her head. “No no no, you don’t understand Twi! I can’t handle all these emotions and stuff! I’m not all sappy and emotional! That’s not who Rainbow Dash is! Rainbow Dash is-”

“Rainbow Dash,” Twilight interrupted, “is just a mare like all her friends are, and shouldn’t be afraid of crying in front of them or anypony else. Especially under the circumstances.”

“It’s never that simple, Twi. I-” she cut off abruptly and held a hoof to her chest as the pit suddenly grew twice in size and her breathing got rapid. She looked around. The walls felt like they were only a few feet away and the bookshelves suddenly looked dangerously close to tipping over onto her. Both Fluttershy’s and Quint’s links throbbed in her mind, and each pulse threatened to push her own emotions away and leave her a sobbing mess.

“Are you okay?” Twilight asked.

“I think...I think I’m gonna cry...” Rainbow brought a hoof to each cheek and looked around the room at the dozen or so other ponies that had been glancing over at them for several minutes now. “Not here not here not here...” she mumbled to herself again and again.

Twilight was asking her something but she couldn’t hear the words. Her mind was overwhelmed as it simultaneously struggled to repel the foreign emotions and keep her own urges in check. A tightening sensation gripped her heaving chest and she felt lightheaded.

“Can’t...can’t breathe...” she said to no one.

She could feel it. That worst possible thing. The damp, raw feeling creeping up behind her eyes. Her breath coming in quick gasps.

“Need...Fluttershy...” she managed to get out between breaths. “Where’s...Fluttershy...”

But her friend couldn’t help her, not this time. She held her head and blinked over and over again, trying to stop the oncoming flood. It was almost here. She inhaled, drawing in one last breath, and at the peak, right when her lungs filled, it happened.

“Oh no,” she managed to whispered.

Her chest and throat seized up. She squeezed her eyes shut but knew that wouldn’t stop it. A frigid, tingly feeling shot out from her breast and raced up her body until it reached her head. There it came to a focus, right behind her eyes, and...and...

She bolted.

Her legs moved on their own. Everything was blurry. She tripped on something and pain flared up her leg. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t feel it. She scrambled to her feet and leaped over another obstacle. Someone yelled at her but she couldn’t hear them. The doors and two golden figures blurred by. Then she was in the corridor. More figures and voices blurred as she sprinted past.

Window window window. She had to get outside. Where was a window!? The corridor turned abruptly ahead. She rounded the corner without slowing and her hooves lost traction. There was a loud smack as she fell to the floor and then yelling as she careened into somepony. A flash of dark blue fur, black splotches, and a crescent moon filled her vision and a voice cried out something that sounded like her name. Didn’t matter. She had to find a window. Her feet scrabbled at the slick floor and finally found purchase. Another turn coming up. She didn’t lose traction this time.

A window ahead! She willed her legs to move faster and leaped through the window at a full gallop. The glass shattered under her front hooves and the rest of her body followed them out.  Cold, frigid air rushed into her lungs and lifted her up as she pumped her wings.

For long minutes she flew, sweeping her wings up and down as hard as she could. Up and up she went, the sunlight filling her vision and guiding her. Then when her muscles burned from exertion and her wingtips were numb from the cold she found a cloud nearby and collapsed. The vapor was hard, almost like solid ice, not soft and fluffy like it would be in another few weeks when spring started.

Her insides roiled. She slammed a hoof down on the cloud in an attempt to turn the fear and sadness and confusion into something more familiar; anger. Once. Twice. Three times. She poured everything she had left into each blow, channeling every bit of every emotion she had within to power her. Her hoof bit into the hard surface and sent up chips that dissipated into nothing in the air. She rose, screaming and striking the cloud repeatedly with both front hooves as tears etched small, frozen trails down her cheeks. The cloud was hard and unforgiving under her onslaught, and by the time her legs gave out her hooves ached and throbbed from the beating.

Finally, finally she felt empty. She looked around. Miles of air lay below her. Canterlot was a dot on the side of the mountain in the distance. She took a deep breath and let it out. Again. And again. No sound reached her but that of her own breathing. Then it hit her. She hadn’t drained everything. The sadness, the anger, the confusion were gone. But there was something left. Loneliness. A remnant from the link perhaps. It struck her like the ground when one of her stunts went bad, and she realized she was utterly alone.

A small whine came from her throat but went unnoticed as her eyes searched the empty horizon. She was alone. An ocean of white rolled out to meet the sky in all directions. And she was cold. Her icy perch had sucked the heat from her and she was shivering violently. She didn’t want to be cold and alone. Not now. Her mind felt frayed and her eyes had burning daggers behind them. Everywhere she looked there was nothing but snow and emptiness. Even the sunlight was frozen. Everything except...except inside her. She felt them. The links. No longer did they feel sad and lonely. Out of everything in her world right now, they alone were warm and welcoming. A single sob escaped her and she threw herself from the cloud and sped towards Canterlot. Towards the warmth.

Ahead, the castle grew in size as she approached. But it was slow. She was slow. Her wings ached, her legs ached, her chest ached, everything ached. A single pegasus guard came close and called her name as she approached their balcony but a flailing hoof sent him away. She was almost there. A figure appeared through the glass doors. She came in to land but her legs gave out when she touched down and she collapsed, sliding on the frozen surface until she thumped into the glass doors. They opened barely a second later.

“Rainbow Dash!” A gentle voice said. “Oh, help me with her!”

Warm limbs embraced her.

"Darling, she is freezing!" another voice, much deeper than the first, said. "Let’s get her inside to her bed!”

A few moments later she was in lying on something soft.

“Go grab my first aid kit out of my saddlebags. They’re in my room.”

“Do you want me to get a medic up here?”

“No no, she’s just a little banged up. I’ve had to patch and bandage her more than once after a crash. She’ll be fine.”

A short time passed and Dash felt her leg and hooves being wrapped. She looked up to see blue-green eyes staring down at her from within an ocean of yellow topped with pink. Then something clicked and she could speak again.

“Fluttershy?” she croaked.

“Right here, Rainbow. Are you okay? What happened?”

“I...was in the Archives. And... I-I panicked.”

“Oh, I know sweetie, I felt it. You had me so worried.”

“Then... then I was on a cloud. Miles from Canterlot. I was... angry. Confused. And then I was alone. And cold. Everything was so cold, Fluttershy.”

“Don’t you worry, you’re back now and it’s warm in here.”

“Everything except for...you. You and Quint. Suddenly you two were the only things I could think of. I-I didn’t want to be cold and alone anymore, so I flew back.”

“It looks like you barely made it. You must have been pretty far out.”

“Yeah...could barely see Canterlot. Was so tired. Legs wouldn’t work when I landed.”

“Well, you just lie there and rest, okay?”

“Okay... hey, Fluttershy?”

“Hmm?”

“Don’t leave me alone, okay? I don’t want to be alone.”

“I won’t.”

* * *

Fluttershy looked down at the pegasus lying on the bed. She had just finished taking care of Rainbow’s scrapes and bruises, a task that wasn’t unfamiliar to her. Her friend had once had the nickname of ‘Rainbow Crash’ for good reason, and Fluttershy had practically learned her first aid skills by tending to Rainbow over the years.

She smoothed a few of the ruffled blue feathers on one of Rainbow’s wing and then put away her first aid supplies before standing. She saw Rainbow raise her head and look back at her through one half-closed, puffy eye and said, “I’m just going to put this back in my saddlebags in the other room and then I’ll be right back, okay Rainbow?”

Rainbow nodded weakly and laid her head back on the bed. Through the link, Fluttershy felt utter exhaustion from her. She didn’t know what Rainbow had done or how far she had flown, but it had completely worn her friend out.

Cloudburst was lying on one of the couches in the main room and turned to Fluttershy when she emerged from Rainbow’s room.

“She okay? What happened?” he asked.

“I umm, I think she had a panic attack. I wasn’t there to stop it this time like I was earlier.”

“This link thing...it’s really getting to you three, isn’t it?”

“I think Quintus and I will be okay. It’s Rainbow I’m worried about.”

“From what I heard about it earlier this morning, along with her attitude about it in the Archives and what just happened, it does seem to be hitting the girl pretty hard.”

“Rainbow... well, she’s always worried about what other ponies think of her. And... and I think that’s part of the reason it hits her so hard. She pushes away anything that she thinks will make her look weak, which I think makes her both strong and vulnerable at the same time.”

“She’s the one who stays strong when everypony else breaks down, but when it comes her time she’s hit ten times harder, and because she’s worried about her image, she can’t accept help. Sound about right?”

“I umm, I guess so. Is she that easy to read?”

He shook his head. “No, I’ve just had a lot of practice with my daughter. That girl’s as tough as nails, as stubborn as a mule, and there ain’t a sport, game, or race that she wouldn’t challenge you at and then beat you. Twice. Trust me, I know.”

They shared a laugh and Fluttershy trotted to her bedroom door. She opened it slowly, slipped in, and quickly placed her first aid kit back in her saddlebags, careful not to wake Quintus. Even though it was only late morning, his crying had managed to tire him out enough to take a nap. She went to leave but stopped short of the door. Should she leave him here? She promised not to leave Rainbow alone, but she also wanted to be near Quintus. After a moments deliberation she carefully gathered Quintus in a foreleg and walked back to Rainbow’s room.

Rainbow was still lying on the bed on her side with her eyes half closed and staring into nothing. The sight of her brought a lump to Fluttershy’s throat. Her fur was disheveled, the edges of the colored bands in her tail and mane were tangled into a blur instead of their usual sharp divisions, and feathers stuck out at odd angles from her wings. Fluttershy mentally kicked herself. She should have realized this would happen. She knew Rainbow would have trouble and she should have brought her back to the suite with Quintus. Instead, she just... forgot about her. She couldn’t believe it. She forgot about Rainbow Dash! The pony who had been her dearest friend longer than she could remember! How could she do such a thing?

Sighing quietly, she laid Quintus down next to Rainbow, who immediately reached out and embraced the changeling, pulling him to her chest. He kicked a few times, but soon settled down and was still.

The bed creaked when Fluttershy climbed up and lay down next to Rainbow. Her stomach touched the cold fur on Rainbow’s back and she barely suppressed a gasp at the feeling. She was cold and, pressed against her, Fluttershy felt shivers run through her friend.

“Rainbow, you’re still freezing...” she whispered.

Rainbow’s head barely moved as she nodded.

The blanket was cool when she first pulled it over them, but with three bodies underneath it quickly turned it a comfortable temperature. Unfurling a wing she draped it over Rainbow and slid both forelegs around her to pull them together. The fact that Rainbow didn’t protest at the extreme closeness was a testament to how tired and confused she was, and Fluttershy couldn’t remember them ever being this close before.

“Just close your eyes and sleep, okay? I won’t leave you alone, I’ll be right here the whole time.”

“It’s gonna...get better...right?” Rainbow said with each shallow breath. “I’m not...gonna lose...myself...right?”

“Of course not. Everything’s going to be just fine. Now you just close your eyes and don’t worry about anything, okay?”

Rainbow nodded once more and closed her eyes. Something tickled Fluttershy’s face as she snuggled closer. Rainbow’s mane. Without thinking she brought a hoof up and ran it through the colorful hair. She started near Rainbow’s ears where the green began and went down, passing through blue and ending at the junction of her neck and torso where the violet stopped. Then she began again. Her yellow hoof at green, then slowly to blue. Now gently, from blue and easing on through violet.

By the fourth run she found her throat humming a barely audible tune, and by the tenth her friend had quit shivering. A short time later Rainbow’s breathing had become slow and regular, signaling that sleep had welcomed her and through the link she now joined Quintus in emanating a peaceful calm.

Fluttershy smiled and let it envelop her, sinking into the warmth, both physically and mentally. She knew there would be more tough times ahead but, for now at least, there was nothing to worry about.

She pressed herself against fur that was now warm and whispered, “You’re going to be just fine, Rainbow. I know you will.” Next Chapter: Chapter Five Estimated time remaining: 38 Minutes