It was eight days after they had arrived in Canterlot that Quintus almost died.

A week had passed without any progress in Cloudburst’s investigation. Despite dozens of ponies seeing and hearing the mysterious unicorn, no one seemed to know anything about him. Searches of several vendors and stores suspected of dealing in illegal magical items turned up no leads and the investigation was effectively at a standstill for the time being.

Twilight was her usual hyperfocused self. She mostly stayed in the archives studying and researching, and other than the few times they went to see her themselves, Fluttershy and Rainbow only saw her for a few minutes late each night when she returned to the suite. When they inquired about her progress she only replied that she was working on it before going straight to bed.

Meanwhile, the link continued to mess with them. Fluttershy found herself constantly under assault by mixed emotions from Rainbow and Quintus. Like the child he was, Quintus could easily swing between extreme excitement and happiness to flat out bawling at the drop of a hat. But those incidents were few and far between and Fluttershy was continually impressed by how well behaved he was. His link was usually a pleasant thing in her mind and she delighted in watching him play as she basked in the feelings of wonder and joy he projected into her mind.

Rainbow, on the other hand, was a mess. The panic attack had left her distraught and nearly terrified of being alone. She followed Fluttershy almost everywhere and only rarely left to go flying. The first two nights she’d even climbed into Fluttershy’s bed in the dark, shaking with fright, and Fluttershy had easily convinced her to simply join the two of them every night until she got over it. It was a little crowded with two grown pegasi and a small changeling all sharing the same blanket, but she didn’t mind. She had to admit, waking up to a warm body snuggling into your back was fairly pleasant. Of course the drool left on her neck every other morning almost made her reconsider. Almost.

But the worst was the nightmares. The link appeared to connect them even while they slept, and that first night Fluttershy woke from a terrible nightmare to find Rainbow flailing in her sleep. Had Fluttershy not been between them Rainbow would have likely knocked Quintus off the bed. After waking Rainbow, they had discovered that both of them had had the exact same dream about standing in the shallows of a dark, cold lake with shapeless monsters snapping at them from the shore. It was eerily similar to the picture Quintus shown her when he’d tried to explain why he wouldn’t take his bath. Yet strangely enough, Quintus didn’t seem to be bothered by the nightmare, nor by any of the subsequent nightmares they shared that week. If anything, the link seemed to almost die off when he was in a deep sleep and she had to concentrate to feel anything from him at all.

It was on the eighth morning that the unthinkable nearly happened. The morning routine had been normal. The scarred face of Cloudburst poked through the door right before breakfast and greeted them. After entering he gave them an update on the investigation and then they discussed what they would be doing for the day.

A knock at the door announced the arrival of breakfast, the servant his usual polite self as he set everything on the table before bowing and leaving them in peace. Fluttershy and Rainbow got up to go eat but Cloudburst stopped them.

“Quint can go ahead but I’d like to talk to you two for a second without him around,” he said, waving the little guy on.

“Alright,” Fluttershy replied. “Let me get everything set up for him and then I’ll be right back.” She helped Quintus up to the table and placed his breakfast dishes in front of him, making sure the syrup was well out of reach lest he decide to drench his food in it. Again. Once she was done she trotted back and sat next to Rainbow on the couch across from the sergeant. “What was it you wanted to talk about?”

“Well,” Cloudburst started, taking his helmet off and setting it next to him on his couch. “It’s about Quint. I’ve spoken with Princess Luna and she wants you to consider giving him up.”

Fluttershy’s mouth dropped and she stared at him for a moment before saying, “Give him up? What do you mean?”

“Think about it, darling. Both of you have lives outside of the castle, as does Ms. Sparkle. It makes no sense to keep the three of you around when you’d only be in danger.”

“So what would happen to Quint?” Rainbow asked.

“He’d go into foster care. With someone we can trust well away from the troubles here in Canterlot. Someone who is... well, a little better prepared to take care of a child than you are.” he pointed at Fluttershy. “Especially a child with special needs.”

“But... haven’t I done alright so far?” she asked.

He sighed and fiddled with the blue crest of his helmet, slowly dragging a hoof over the fake hair as he spoke. “Fluttershy... you’ve only had him for a little over a week, with most of that time spent here in the castle under guard. There’s a lot more to raising a kid than that. Trust me, I raised two by myself, I know what it’s like. It ain’t easy.”

She lowered her eyes. He was right. She had no experience at raising children. There was so much more to worry about compared to her animals. Things like school, how he’d fit in, if he’d make friends... not to mention how hard being unable to speak would make everything.

Rainbow spoke up. “But what about this link thing?” she gestured back and forth between them with her hoof. “You can’t expect us to just give him up when our minds are linked together. And it’s not like it gets weaker when you’re far away. I mean I was like a hundred miles from Canterlot and could still feel both of them just as well as I can right now.”

“I admit it’s not a exactly a perfect situation," Cloudburst said. "Still, it’s something to think about. The Princess wanted me to assure you that it would be Fluttershy’s decision. She won’t force her to give Quint up, especially with circumstances being as they are. It’s just something to think about. You don’t have to decide right this instant, okay?”

“Alright,” Fluttershy said. “I’ll umm... I’ll think about it.”

“That’s all Luna wanted,” he said before turning to Rainbow. “And speaking of the Princess, did you ever go apologize for running into her last week?”

Rainbow looked at Fluttershy and then down at the floor. “Not yet.”

Cloudburst chuckled and shook his head. “Well don’t you worry, she wanted me to tell you that she understands you weren’t yourself at the time and that there’s nothing to forgive. Just be sure to open the window before you jump out of it next time, alright?”

“Oh, please, Rainbow,” Fluttershy said. “I don’t want you getting hurt agai-”

She stopped suddenly and her eyes widened as a wave of fear flooded in from Quintus’s link. Both she and Rainbow leaped to their feet and looked over to Quintus.

“What?” Cloudburst asked, his eyes dancing between them. “What is it?”

“Quintus?” she asked, “Are you okay?”

He was still sitting in his chair at the table, but something was wrong. She trotted over and when she was close she could see he was shaking badly and wheezing with every breath.

“I think something’s wrong with him!” she told Cloudburst.

“What?”

“I-I don’t know,” she said. “Quintus? What’s wrong, sweetie?”

His little head slowly turned towards her but he kept weaving back and forth as if he were dizzy. He leaned sideways and held out a single hoof to her, but before she could grab him he collapsed, falling over the edge and landing with a thump at the feet of the chair.

“Oh my goodness!” she cried.

“Guards!” The sergeant yelled as he rushed to kneel beside the tiny body shaking on the floor. The door opened and two guards barged in. “Go get a medic! Hurry!” he told one.

“What’s wrong with him!?” Rainbow asked from beside Fluttershy.

“I don’t know, darling, I don’t know,” Cloudburst said. “Maybe he’s allergic to something he just ate? Check his food.”

Fluttershy inspected the table. “No! He’s had everything up there before!”

“Damn it...” Cloudburst muttered. He thought for a moment and then looked to the other guard, the unicorn mare that had been with them for the last week. “Check the food for poison!”

Fluttershy’s chest suddenly tightened. Poison!?

“Poison?!” Rainbow’s surprised voice shouted. “Are you serious?”

Cloudburst ignored her question and waited while the unicorn worked. Her horn glowed a silvery-white for a short time and then without warning she leaped backwards as if she’d been slapped.

“Thamaline!” she yelled. “Sweet Celestia the whole thing’s laced with thamaline!”

Cloudburst’s eyes widened and his fur stood on end.

“Get away from the table!” he cried, grabbing Quintus and moving him to the center of the room where he laid him down on the floor and then backed away.

Fluttershy leaped away from the table at his outburst, but when she started towards Quintus he shouted at her, yelling, “Stay away from him or you’re dead!”

She froze. “What!? Why!”

He ignored her and turned to the unicorn. “Put a barrier around the table! As tight as you can make it! I don’t want any of that stuff getting out!”

Her horn flashed and a after a moment a shimmering bubble appeared around the entire table.

“Hey! What’s going on!?” Rainbow demanded.

“Darling, I’m sorry but I need you to shut it and let me think or Quint ain’t going to make it to sundown.”

Rainbow scowled and her mouth opened and closed a few times but she said nothing.

Meanwhile Fluttershy could only watch the scene unfold in front of her. Her wings were pressed into her sides and she was shaking almost as much as Quintus. From the link came feelings of confusion, fear, and and a feeling that really got to her. Pain. Half of her wanted to ignore what the sergeant had said and rush to the small black body lying on the floor. With the sight of Quintus suffering right before her eyes combined with the feelings coming in from the link she didn’t know how long she could keep herself away.

Across from her, on the other side of Quintus, Cloudburst’s eyes moved back and forth as he thought. Suddenly he looked to Rainbow.

“Dash! Go put on your saddlebags!” he said.

“But-”

“Just do it!” he yelled.

She turned and ran into her bedroom while he went to the balcony and flung open the doors. He whistled and one of the pegasus guards came down just as Rainbow reappeared with saddlebags on her flank.

“Dash, do you know where the Canterlot hospital is at?”

She shook her head.

“Okay, here’s what were gonna do. I’m going to put Quintus in your saddlebags and you’re going to follow him,” he pointed to the guard that had flown down, “straight to the hospital. Okay?”

“Yeah yeah. Got it.”

Looking at the guard he said, “Take her to the hospital. When you get there tell them you’ve got a case of thamaline poisoning and you need a quarantined room, got it?”

“Thamaline?!” the guard asked in surprise.

“That’s right, son. Now did you get all that?” Cloudburst asked.

“Uh, yes sergeant!”

“Good,” he said, turning back to Rainbow. “Now, Dash, on three we’re going to take a breath and run to Quint. I’m going to put him in your saddlebag and then you’re going to follow the guard. Do NOT breathe until you get outside with Quint, okay? And when you get to the hospital try not to get your face close to him.”

“You’re going to carry him in your saddlebags?!” Fluttershy asked as she eyed the pouch on her friends flank. “But he’s too big to fit! He’s going to fall out!”

“He ain’t gonna fall out!” Cloudburst shouted back. “Now, you ready, Dash?”

Her ears were plastered back on her head and she was shaking but she managed to nod.

“Okay... one, two, three!” they dashed in and seconds later Rainbow was out the doors and following the guard through the air with Quintus stuffed in one saddlebag.

“Okay! Everypony out! Now!” Cloudburst yelled. “Let’s go Fluttershy!”

Fluttershy hesitated and looked at the sergeant. His ears were laid back on his head in fear. But whatever he felt it couldn’t be anything like the fear she felt from Quintus. He was motioning for her to leave through the front door, but that wasn’t where Quintus was. He was the opposite way and quickly getting further away every second. She met the sergeant's eyes and then without a word she turned and ran through the room to the balcony where she threw herself into the cold air.

She flew as hard as she could, flapping her wings up and down faster than she could ever remember, yet the two figures ahead of her grew smaller and smaller as they receded into the distance over Canterlot. They became specks and she began to think she’d lose them when they abruptly dived towards a large rectangular building and landed on the roof.

By the time her hooves touched down on the emergency landing area she was breathing hard and her wings ached. While it wasn’t far from the castle to the hospital, the flight had practically been a sprint for her and she stumbled from fatigue when she landed. An orderly ran out to meet her and after she assured him that she was uninjured he let her pass.

Fifteen minutes of frantic searching turned up Rainbow Dash and the pegasus guard just outside a room on the top floor.

“Rainbow!” she cried as she cantered down the hallway. “What’s going on? How’s Quintus?”

“I don’t know! They won’t let me inside!” she said, pointing to a door covered in a shimmering blue barrier.

Fluttershy turned to the guard. “What’s going on? What’s thamaline?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know if I’m supposed to tell you,” he said.

“Look pal, I don’t care what you’re supposed to do,” Rainbow said. She pointed back at the door. “Quint’s lying in there in pain and you know what’s wrong with him. So why don’t you buck whatever orders you have and start talking.”

His eyes narrowed. “I don’t have any orders. I just don’t know if I’m supposed to talk about it.”

“But-but why not?” Fluttershy asked.

“Security reasons.”

A surge of anger came through Rainbow’s link and she stepped up into his face and puffed out her wings. “Hey! Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time, pal, but-”

“Oh I heard you,” he interrupted, scowling and stepping forward so they were even closer. “I just don’t take threats very well, so why don’t you back down before I clip your wings, little filly.”

“Excuse me?! Why don’t you take that tin foil off,” she pointed to his armor. “and then me and you can take this outside and see who the little filly is.”

“Oh I’m not going anywhere. Unlike somepony here I’ve got an actual job to do. If you want to start something you do it right here, right now. Otherwise get out of my face,” he spat the last few words at her.

Eye to eye they stood. Rainbow’s muscles were so taut she was visibly shaking and Fluttershy felt the anger rising in her. It came in through the link like an oppressive cloud that she had to fight to keep out of lest she be suffocated by it, and she knew that unless she intervened things would get out of hand.

“Rainbow!” she cried, “Rainbow, leave him alone!”

“No way! He knows what’s wrong with Quint and I’m going to beat it out of him if he won’t tell us.”

“Please, Rainbow!” she cried “Quintus can feel how angry you are! I’m sure you’re scaring him more than he already is!” She wasn’t lying. The anger from Rainbow’s link was only matched by the confused, terrified feelings coming from Quintus. They mixed in Fluttershy’s mind like two weather fronts colliding and it was all she could do to keep a storm from forming and sweeping her up like she was in a hurricane.

“Then the sooner I get this over with the sooner it’ll be over for Quint!”

Fluttershy didn’t know what to say. She’d never seen Rainbow this angry and confrontational before. Was it because of the link, or would she have been this upset if they hadn’t been joined together?

The two pegasi in front of her glared at one another, each unwilling to back down, and it would be only moments before one of them snapped. It would be Rainbow. She knew it. Her friend’s wings slowly began to fold up and she crouched down every so slightly in preparation to strike.

The seconds passed and it felt like hours before the first blow landed. Striking like a snake, Rainbow shot a hoof up and nearly caught the guard on the chin. He must not have expected her to actually attack, as he ducked away with a look of surprise plastered on his face. But just as quickly it was gone as he twisted his muzzle away from a second blow. The butt end of his spear up came up and there was a dull smack as it impacted Rainbow full on in the face. She let out a muffled cry, stumbling backwards with one hoof held to her mouth and when she brought it down it was stained with a spot of red.

The guard sneered at her. “What’s the matter with you!? Attacking a member of Her Majesty’s Royal Guard? You’re lucky the situation is what it is or I’d have you in chains! Now back off before you get more than a bloody lip!”

A second or two passed as the two just stared at each other. Fluttershy’s heart wrenched itself from her chest when Rainbow shifted and made to lunge at the guard once more.

“No!” Fluttershy leaped forward and wrapped herself around Rainbow’s body, trying to hold her back. “Rainbow, please!”

“Get off!” Rainbow struggled in her grip. “He knows what’s wrong with Quint!”

Despite the attempt at holding her back, Rainbow Dash was a in excellent shape and far stronger than Fluttershy. She simply powered forward and Fluttershy found herself being dragged along the tile floor until both of them were a few feet from the guard. There was a sound as Rainbow opened her mouth to say something, but the guard didn’t give her the chance. His spear was a blur as it shot out and clipped her in the knee. Off balance and with Fluttershy’s added weight, she collapsed and both of them fell the floor. The guard was on her before she could move and Fluttershy helped him hold her down.

“Lemme up!” she cried as she squirmed.

“Not until you calm down!” the guard said. He had the shaft of his spear laid across her neck so that if she raised her head or tried to get up she’d choke. Her forelegs flailed uselessly and almost caught Fluttershy across the chin as she threatened the guard.

“I’ll shove that toothpick right up your flank, shiny!”

Fluttershy tightened her grip and felt the wing under her shaking as Rainbow struggled. She couldn’t believe it! Rainbow Dash had just attacked somepony! The link. It had to be the link. Otherwise Rainbow would never purposely try to hurt anypony!

It took a few minutes for Rainbow to tire herself out, during which Fluttershy and the guard simply held her down and listened to her shout threats. Holding her best friend down nearly brought Fluttershy to tears, but it was for Rainbow’s own good. Several ponies came around the corner or poked their heads out of rooms in the hallway to watch and soon they had attracted a small crowd. Gradually Rainbow’s struggles weakened and finally she stopped and just lay there panting. A few moments later Fluttershy heard the sound of clopping hooves approaching and turned to see Cloudburst trotting up.

“You gotta be kidding me,” he shook his head and then sighed. “Alright, what happened?”

“She attacked me, sergeant. Had to subdue her and hold her down until she tired herself out.”

“He wouldn’t tell us... what’s wrong with Quint...” Rainbow panted out.

Turning to Fluttershy he said, “I assume this has something to do with that link?”

She nodded, “I think so.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Quintus is scared and hurting and... and, um...” suddenly the words wouldn’t come to her.

“You alright? You’re shaking pretty bad there, darling.”

Was she? Now that he pointed it out, she could feel it. Between the anger and rage coming from Rainbow and the pain and fear coming from Quintus, she was shaking so hard she could barely speak.

“I-I-I...” she trailed off, unable to say anything else.

The door to the room where Quintus was being kept suddenly opened and a purple unicorn in a white coat and mask poked his head out through the blue barrier. He took in the scene and then glared at them.

“I assume you’re done making a mess of my hospital?” he asked, his voice slightly muffled thanks to the mask over his muzzle.

Fluttershy looked down at her feet and pawed at the ground in silence.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said when no one spoke. “Now come inside. It’s likely you’ve all been exposed and need to be treated immediately.”

Cloudburst hauled Rainbow to her feet and said something in her ear that Fluttershy couldn’t here. Rainbow just nodded once and then followed Fluttershy inside. The barrier offered no resistance and only tingled a bit when they passed through.

The room was a long rectangular bay with six beds that ran down each wall and a group of nurses and doctors clustered around the bed in the far left corner. There was another shimmering blue barrier in place around the bed and a small black shape lay on the sheets.

The doctor gestured towards the other beds. “Find a bed and lie down,” he ordered.

Fluttershy hesitated. Quintus was in the corner bed. She took a single step towards him and immediately the doctor flicked his head towards her.

“There’s a perfectly good bed right next to you, Miss. Lie down.”

“But Quint-”

“Miss, you and your friends have broken at least a dozen hospital rules with your little scrap out there,” he said, pointing to the hallway. “Now the only reason I haven’t had all three of you thrown out is because I would be putting who knows how many in danger by letting three ponies contaminated with thamaline loose into the city. Now, if you don’t lie down, I will have an orderly strap you to the bed where you will remain until I can throw you out safely. Is that clear?”

“Yes, but-”

“Mouse!” he called over his shoulder.

From the group in the corner a dark green mare turned and walked over. Fluttershy’s eyes widened. She was enormous, easily as big as Cloudburst and would probably give Big Macintosh a run for his money. Like the doctor, she too wore a paper mask over her muzzle.

When she got close, she said, “Problem, Doc?”

Her voice was deep, and combined with the huge height advantage it made Fluttershy cower down.

The doctor waved a hoof at Fluttershy and said, “Please ensure these four patients take a bed and remain it in. If they wont...” he turned to glare at her. “You know what to do.”

With that he left them and made his way to the corner where Quintus was. The orderly cleared her throat and pointed to the bed behind Fluttershy.

Fluttershy gave a nervous smile and said, “I’ll um, I’ll just lie down...”

She climbed onto the bed and the orderly moved on to the other three in her group. The guard that Rainbow had gotten into a fight with tried to keep his spear, but a quick look from Cloudburst and he handed it over without incident. Then the two unstrapped their armor and piled it neatly onto the floor next to their beds before climbing in. Rainbow took the bed next to Fluttershy’s and lay down without a word. She was still seething, and through the link Fluttershy felt her friend’s anger.

Lying still on the bed with nothing to do was extraordinarily difficult for Fluttershy. Foremost in her mind was Quintus. Every so often she would catch a glimpse of black as a gap opened up in the crowd around his bed, but it always closed up again within seconds, leaving her with nothing but the anguish coming through his link. And anguish it was. Not just a single emotion, but a throbbing mess of fear, pain, loneliness, and a few others she couldn’t even name.

And it hurt. By Celestia it hurt. It ate at her. Tore her apart, both emotionally and physically. Nausea threatened to bring up what little food she had in her stomach and she shook almost as hard as Quintus had been when she’d found him sandwiched between two chicken nests in a futile attempt keep his tiny little body warm. That had been just over a week ago. It felt like so much longer. Like months or even years had passed since she’d burst into her house with a freezing little changeling in one foreleg, yelling at Angel to grab the bandages.

She looked over to the corner where Quintus lay. Barely a week and already she’d failed as a mother. Barely a week and that little colt, so full of energy and excitement and wonder, was now lying there on a hospital bed, dying probably. Poisoned by whatever this thamaline was. The face of the unicorn who had attacked them had been burned into her mind. Orange fur... blue mane combed up and back... and that eye. That empty hole of an eye, a bottomless pit that held only monsters and nightmares.

She shook her head and tried to get the image out of her mind. It scared her, now more than ever. Despite Cloudburst’s warning about a traitor, her initial fear had mostly faded away after several days with no incidents. The castle staff and guards had been overwhelmingly accepting of Quintus and by the time a week had passed she had almost forgotten about the attack. Although the link between Rainbow, Quintus, and herself had continued to stress her out she had felt safe. But not now. Her bubble of safety had burst the moment Quintus had reached out to her and fallen from his chair.

Lost in her thoughts she didn’t realize she was being spoken to until Cloudburst was right next to her bed and looking down on her with a worried look.

“Um, what?” she asked.

“I asked if you were all right,” he said. “You’re crying.”

She brought a hoof to her eyes and felt moisture.

“I... I just...” she trailed off, her throat tightening as she fought the urge to break down as the uncommon stress of the past week pressed down on her.

She’d been attacked, nearly killed. She’d seen the terror in the heart of a goddess. And then there was the link. She’d been there for Rainbow and Quintus every time they’d needed her. Through breakdowns and the heartbreaking ache for a missing father she’d held them both. She’d used her own hooves to bandaged their wounds. She’d even sang to them like a mother comforting her child. And now, when she needed it, there was no one. Rainbow was fuming on the bed next to her, oblivious to everything but her own anger, and Quintus was too young even had he not been poisoned.

“Fluttershy?” Cloudburst asked.

He had a hoof on the bed and was so close she could see a tiny nick on the side of his eye that matched up to where his scar met the corner of his right eye socket. Those eyes... green, and full off kindness. Quite the opposite of the orange unicorn.

“I’m sorry,” she squeaked, barely holding herself together. “It’s just... hard...”

“Ain’t nothing to be sorry for, darling,” he smiled at her and put one hoof over hers. “I can’t even imagine what that link must be doing to you right now.”

She nodded and looked down to where his hoof lay over hers, his white covering her yellow. It was warm, and sharply contrasted with the cool hospital air. What had Rainbow said a week ago when she’d returned from her panicked flight?

Everything was so cold, Fluttershy.

Everything was cold. The air. The bed. Even the link. She was separated from most of her friends. Away from her beloved animals. Her world was an icy wasteland, gray and devoid of life or warmth, leaving nothing but pain, hatred, and fear, wrecking her and turning her into a shell of a pegasus that lay shivering and shaking on the hospital bed as she searched for something to save her from that terrible, bone-fracturing cold.

And it was there. Touching her. A single coal, orange and warm upon the ice, barely holding back the color-leeching sadness that ground away at her mind. She squeezed his hoof and held on tightly as she fought the urge to break down.

“It’s so hard...” she said. “It was getting better... but then this happened. And I’m not supposed to be the strong one.”

“The strong one?”

“The one who can handle everything. The one that doesn’t let it get to them. The one that can take everything the world throws at them and throw it right back. That’s not me. I’m the scared one. The one who has to be dragged out of her home to go save the kingdom. The one who hides behind her stupid mane every time she meets someone new. I’m supposed to be at home taking care of my animals, not linked to the minds of my best friend and a changeling who could be dying.”

She looked up into his eyes. “I’m just so scared... and the worst part is that Quintus can feel it too...”

With that thought she couldn’t hold herself together anymore. She closed her eyes as tears rolled down her cheeks, not even opening them when she felt Cloudburst pull her head to his chest. She squeezed his hoof even tighter as all the stress from the past week and a half poured from her eyes in silent sobs that dampened his fur.

Several minutes passed and the doctor returned with several nurses also wearing masks. By that time she had stopped crying and simply lay there exhausted as they examined all four of them. When they were done the doctor scribbled on a clipboard and then looked up at her.

“Well Ms. Fluttershy, it looks like you and everyone else here will be just fine. You all were lucky. Your exposure to the thamaline was very minimal, well under the lethal dose.”

“Um, doctor, what’s thamaline?” she asked.

He stopped scribbling. After a moments silence he said, “It’s a poison. An artificial, magical poison and one of the most deadly substances known.”

“How deadly?” Rainbow asked. She had gotten up off her bed and was standing next to Fluttershy’s.

“Did something about it being one of the most deadly substances known not get through to you?” he asked.

Rainbow glared at him but said nothing.

Fluttershy stepped off of the bed and turned to the doctor. “What about Quintus? Will he be alright?”

The doctors face softened. He looked over to where Quintus lay and then his eyes met hers. “I don’t know. Unlike you all, he got a massive dose. I think the only reason he’s alive is because he’s a changeling.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, thamaline is extremely deadly to both pegasi and unicorns. Even an earth pony would have died within minutes after ingesting such a large amount. Frankly I’m amazed he’s alive, let alone conscious right now.”

“Can we see him?”

The doctor gestured towards the corner. “Just don’t enter the forcefield. Thamaline is expelled from the body through the lungs and pores and you’ll make yourself sick if you go in.”

Fluttershy immediately trotted over to where Quintus lay. Behind her Rainbow and Cloudburst followed.

“Oh my goodness...” she said when she slipped through the small crowd surrounding the bed.

There he was. Just through the blue forcefield surrounding his bed. His little black body lay halfway under a white sheet and he was shivering violently as small hisses came from his mouth. His eyes were mostly closed and a thick liquid seeped from them that turned the sheets a yellow color where it was absorbed. Fluttershy looked closer. His eye color had changed. It had turned from a light blue similar to Rainbow’s coat to something almost as dark as the fur on Luna’s flank.

She looked around at the nurses and doctors gathered around and said, “Why aren’t you doing anything?! He’s hurting!”

A nurse turned to her. There were tears in her eyes.

“We know,” she said. “We’ve tried a few things, but thamaline reacts very badly with most magic and we can’t give him any medication because he’s a changeling.”

“But why does that matter?”

“We don’t know how it will affect him. A simple painkiller could end up causing kidney failure or give him a heart attack.”

“But-but...” she trailed off.

“I’m sorry, honey,” the nurse said, “There’s just nothing we can do but wait.”

Fluttershy looked down at the tile floor. It was too hard to watch Quintus suffer. A moment later a wing covered her back and she looked up to see Rainbow standing next to her.

“I can feel him hurting, Rainbow.”

“I know,” Rainbow said as she leaned into her. “I can feel it too.”

A moment passed and Fluttershy turned to Cloudburst. The sergeant was standing on the other side of Rainbow and he caught her eye when she looked.

“Who would do something like this?” she asked.

He shook his head and said, “I dunno, darling. But poisoning a kid... it just ain’t right. It ain’t right at all.”

“Are you sure somepony poised him? It couldn’t have been by accident?” Rainbow asked.

“You heard the doc. Thamaline ain’t natural. I’ve come across it a time or two during my career and the guard trains us to deal with it. It’s expensive to make and doesn’t last long before it breaks down. No, somepony did this on purpose. And I think we know exactly who that somepony is.”

Fluttershy leaned her head against Rainbow’s and stared at Quintus. She couldn’t comprehend how somepony could possibly poison him. He was a child! He was innocent! He hadn’t done anything to anypony! She closed her eyes and just sat there, leaning against Rainbow and listening to the room around her. She heard the doctors and nurses shuffle out one by one and when she eventually opened her eyes only a single nurse remained.With most of the ponies gone, the room was quiet.

Rainbow heard it first.

“What’s that noise Quint’s making?” she asked.

“What?” Fluttershy asked.

“Shh!” Rainbow said, raising a hoof to shush her. “Listen.”

Fluttershy leaned forward until her head was nearly touching the barrier. Quintus still lay shivering on the bed and his hissing was now coming with every shaky breath.

“Fffshh.”

She heard it. Two distinct sounds joined together.

“Fffshh.”

“Either of you know what he’s doing?” Cloudburst asked.

“No,” Rainbow shook her head.

“Fffshh”

Fluttershy turned to her friend. “Rainbow...”

“Yeah?”

“It’s me,” she said.

“What?”

“He-he’s calling to me.”

Cloudburst put a hoof to his mouth. “Oh sweet Celestia...”

“Fffshh.”

It was her name. Fluttershy. Fffshh. The only part of it he could pronounce without his vocal chords. Again and again, with each breath he cried out in near silence.

“Fffshh.”

She took a deep breath. Her eyes felt raw but she didn’t cry. Not now. Not when he needed her.

“Fffshh.”

Without a word she walked forward. The barrier tingled as she passed through. Quintus opened his eyes a little wider and reached up to her with a shaking hoof.

“Fffffshhhh.”

“It’s okay, sweetie. I’m here now.” She climbed into the bed and under the sheets before curling up around him so his back was too her. Her foreleg she wrapped around his body and he hugged it, pulling it to his chest and using it for a pillow.

She leaned down and touched her lips to his head before saying, “Don’t be scared. Everything’s going to be okay now. You’re going to be just fine.”

He nodded, just two slow motions with his head, and then closed his eyes.

“That’s it, sweetie. Just try to sleep. I’ll be right here the whole time, okay? I’m not going anywhere.”

Lying there with Quintus shaking and shivering, with no relief in sight, she did the only thing she could.

She sang.

And when the thamaline made her dizzy and sick, she laid her head down and sang.

And when the coughing fit overtook Quintus, his tiny chest heaving in and out with a force the doctors couldn’t control, she sang.

And even when the poison robbed her sight of color, turning Rainbow’s mane a dull gray that matched the rest of her world, she sang.

She just sang.

* * *

Rainbow Dash shifted once more on the hospital bed in a futile attempt to fall asleep. She lay just across from Fluttershy and Quint, both of whom had drifted off themselves after Quint’s coughing fit had finally died out. She was grateful. The unceasing pain and fear that he projected into her mind had been driving her crazy and only ended once he finally fallen asleep. Now it was just a dull, uneasy feeling that she could mostly ignore. Through the window sunlight streamed in and she buried her head under a pillow to block out the brightness.

She felt terrible. Tired. Not physically, she was certain she could still clear every cloud around Canterlot in seconds. No, this was mental fatigue. The link had ground away at her mind over the past week. At best it was an annoying buzz that she could ignore but not get rid of. At worst it was somepony screaming into her mind and driving hot nails behind her eyes. During those moments it took everything she had to fight it off and avoid succumbing to whatever emotions Quint or Fluttershy had.

After several minutes of lying in the dark, she threw the pillow off and stepped down from the bed and over to the window. A wide street filled with ponies lay far below. Stalls lined the sides and the sound of their owners crying out their wares was barely audible at her height. Here and there a city guard moved through the crowd, and after several minutes of watching she realized there were far more of them than usual. She had just started to wonder why when the door squeaked open behind her.

Turning, she saw Cloudburst enter the room. His gold armor had been replaced with a set of shining silver etched with flowing lines that formed runic script. He strode towards her and stopped just in front of Quint’s bed where he stared through the barrier at the bundle of black buried in Fluttershy’s yellow fur and pink mane.

After a few long seconds he turned to her and gestured towards the door, saying, “I’ve got some time to kill. Feel like catching some air, darling?”

“Definitely,” she said.

She followed him out into the hallway and they trotted down the hall, passing a duo of guards that blocked off their section of the top floor before heading up a stairwell to the roof. At one corner of the roof several tables had been set up so visitors and staff could sit in the open air. There were only a few ponies there at the moment, and Cloudburst led her to an empty table near the edge of the roof.

The sergeant removed his helmet and set it on the table. There was a cold breeze and his blue mane danced lightly in the wind. In the sunlight she could easily see the gray strands that peppered his hair. Fatigue showed as bags under his eyes and the way his eyes didn’t quite open all the way as he looked at her. Still, even with the fatigue and the gray he was rather handsome.

“You look like you could use a drink,” she said.

He smiled, just with his mouth, and said, “I think I’d drink to that. If I had a drink that is.”

A landing pegasus caught Cloudburst’s attention for a moment and he turned, giving her a good view of his right side. His scar stood out in the sunlight, a trail of pale flesh through white fur that wound from the corner of his eye and down his neck to his torso where it disappeared under his armor. When he turned back she used a hoof to trace the trail his scar took on her own face and asked, “How far does that go?”

He turned so his right side faced her and lifted his good wing. The scar emerged at the front of the wing slot and ran back over a foot before it finally tapered off right under the trailing edge of his wing.

She shook her head. “That’s one heck of a scar. How’d you get it?”

His eyes opened a little wider and he smirked. “Dragon.”

Rainbow raised her eyebrows and her mouth parted slightly. “Are you serious?”

“Yep.”

“Okay, you gotta tell me the story.”

He laughed and turned back to face her. “Alright, I suppose we got time. It was back during my first year with the guard. My first posting outside of Canterlot actually. Way down south. We’d been there just a few weeks when we started getting reports of travelers and merchants in the area coming under attack.”

“The dragon?”

“Well, actually no, darling. It turned out to be diamond dogs.”

“Diamond dogs?” she asked, her mind immediately pulling up memories of when Rarity had been attacked. “Those mutts kidnapped a friend of mine once. I hope you kicked their flanks good!”

“Trust me, they got what was coming to them. We tracked them to a cave in the area. It was full of all sorts of stolen gems, bits, and other goods. We got into a bit of a scrap and it turned out the idiots never explored the whole cave and didn’t realize that there was a tunnel in the back that led to a sleeping dragon.”

“Let me guess. You guys woke him up.”

He flicked a hoof at her. “Dead on, darling. He came stomping out and thought we were stealing his treasure horde. And to make a long story short he decided that I’d make a good snack.”

“He tried to eat you!?”

“Oh he didn’t just try. He damn near did. I tell you, you ain’t never smelled a more horrid stench than that of a dragon who hasn’t brushed his teeth in... well, ever I reckon. And I got to experience it from just about as close as you can get. The inside of his mouth.”

“Whoa whoa whoa. You mean to tell me you were actually in the mouth of a dragon who was trying to eat you? That’s... there’s no way!”

“Well, how do you explain this then?” he pointed to the scar on the side of his face.

“Okay smart guy, how’d you get out?” she asked, folding her forelegs across her chest.

“Well, luckily I still had half my spear. He gobbled me up but before he could get down to the real nasty business of chewing me to a pulp I jammed my spear in him like it was one of those chips that gets turned the wrong way and stabs you in the roof of your mouth.”

“Ohh, I hate those.”

“You know I’d guess he did too. He roared and shook me around in his mouth. I hit one of his teeth right here,” he said, pointing to the corner of his eye. "He stopped right when I hit and I managed to quickly crawl through the little gap between his teeth. It was too tight to get off that tooth though, and it cut me good as I squeezed through, all the way from my eye to my wing.”

She grimaced. “Ohmygosh that had to hurt.”

“Like you wouldn’t imagine. Second worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life.”

“What’s the first?”

He reached back with his left hoof and tapped his maimed wing.

“Wait, so the dragon didn’t do that?”

“Nope.”

“What did?”

The grin on his face disappeared and he looked away from her and off into the distance. “Uh, let’s just say that it’s been like that a good bit longer than I’ve had my scar.”

“Oh... uh, okay.”

An awkward silence fell. Rainbow idly looked around and prodded her lip where it had been busted. It still stung, but she’d had far worse injuries before.

“You know,” Cloudburst said as he pointed at her lip. “You should think twice before picking a fight with one of my boys. A split lip just don’t look good on you, darling.”

She frowned. “Yeah, well, he should’ve told me what I wanted to know.”

“Still upset about that?” he asked.

She just looked away and he gave a little snort of a laugh. She turned back to find him staring at her.

“What?” she asked.

“This link... why don’t you tell me about it.”

Her frown turned into a scowl. Thinking or talking about the link was the last thing she wanted to do right now.

“Surely it ain’t all bad,” he said. “You sure it don’t have something good to it?”

She rolled her eyes and threw a hoof in the air. “Oh, it’s just great! I got all these feelings and emotions and all kinds of stuff in my head that aren’t even mine. Couldn’t be better!”

He glared at her. “Darling, I put up with enough sarcasm raising my little girl, so why don’t you knock it off and tell me straight up what it’s like. Oh, and roll your eyes at me one more time and I swear I’ll lay you over this table and wear your flank out like you was my own filly.”

For a moment they stared at each other. Then a grin broke out on his face and he winked at her, slowly saying, “Unless that’s the kind of stuff you like, in which case there ain’t no need to roll your eyes, little lady, you just got to ask.”

She blinked a few times. “Did you just hit on me?”

He broke out into laughter, his chest and stomach heaving in and out as he let loose volleys of sound that turned every head on the roof towards them. She put a hoof over her mouth to hide her own grin and waited until his laughter had died down.

“I can’t believe you just said that.”

“Got you to smile though.”

She shook her head and looked away. He was right though. She was smiling.

“So what’s it like?” he asked.

She drew in a breath before exhaling out her nose in what was almost a snort.

“What’s it like?” she leaned on the table and thought for a few moments. “It’s... it’s just like what I said. I can feel what Quint and Fluttershy feel.”

“What, just like happy, sad, that kind of stuff?”

“Yeah, but... more. Sometimes it’s just that. Sometimes it’s like I AM them. Like... like this one time when I was a filly at school in Cloudsdale. I saw a kid crash face first into the ground while trying to fly. And we were inside, so it was a hard floor, not the soft clouds that were outside. And trust me, it was a hard landing. I didn’t become Equestria’s greatest flyer without having a few myself. I remember watching him fall and then, just as he hit the ground, right as his face connected with the floor, I had this cold, tingly feeling run through me. And my face... for a second I swear I had hit the floor too.”

A shudder ran through her at the thought. “I think... I think that’s the closest thing I can compare it too. It’s like that, but it’s always on. It’s always there. Sometimes, like right now when both of them are asleep, I can ignore it. I can just push it away. But other times... other times I can’t.”

“Like when a little colt is crying.”

She nodded and looked down as the memory rose up. “Yeah. Especially then...”

They sat in silence for a few minutes until a unicorn in gold armor exited the stairwell and trotted over. Like most of the Royal Guards, he was white with a blue mane, and for a moment Rainbow wondered why the sergeant's mane was graying if it was just an illusion or dye.

“Private,” Cloudburst nodded in greeting when the unicorn got close.

The other guard returned the nod and pulled a scroll from a small pouch strapped to his armor. “Sergeant. Orders from the Captain,” he said, handing the scroll over.

Cloudburst unrolled the scroll and his eyes darted over the words. Then his eyebrows shot up. “About time...” he said under his breath before rolling the scroll back up and slipping it into his own pouch. He looked back to the private and said, “Okay! I want everypony that ain’t needed here to guard Ms. Fluttershy and the changeling formed up in front of the barracks in half an hour.”

“Everypony, Sarge?”

“Even the night shift. Now get goin’, we ain’t got much time.”

“Yes, Sergeant!” the guard said. Then he cantered back to the stairwell and was gone.

Rainbow looked at Cloudburst as he put his helmet back on. “What’s up? What’s going on?”

“We, darling, are about to lock the whole damn city down,” he said, rising from the table and starting towards the door to the stairwell.

She got up and followed him. “What for?”

“A unicorn, using an illegal magical artifact of unknown power, has riled the city up into a riot, created one of the most poisonous substances known, and used it to poison a kid while he was inside the castle under the protection of the Royal Guard.”

“So you’re going to go out, find him, and arrest him?”

He stopped at the door to the stairwell and turned to her with a scowl on his face. “He poisoned Quint. He hurt a child, on purpose, with a terrible, horrible weapon. Darling, if I find the son-of-a-bitch I don’t think there’s going to be anything left to arrest.”

A sudden thought occurred to her. “Let me help.”

“You?”

“C’mon!”

“You ain’t part of the guard, Rainbow Dash, and I don’t know what the princess would think if I let you go out and get yourself hurt or killed.”

“Hey! You aren’t the one with Quint in your head! I can’t keep sitting around on my flank doing nothing!”

He stared at her. “Sorry, darling.”

“Look, I don’t care what you do with me. Just let me help.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t do it.”

“Please,” she pleaded. “I can’t go back in that room and watch Quint suffer. I’ve already got enough of that in my head.” She didn’t mention that with Fluttershy under quarantine and Twilight spending all her time in the Archives she felt... alone.

His stare softened at the mention of Quint and after a moment he said, “Fine. But I don’t play around when it comes to my work. If you want to help then you’ll have to do it the good and proper way. I can conscript you. Make you a guard for the day. That way it’s legal and if you get yourself killed then it’s your own fault, not mine.”

“Do it.”

“Let me be clear,” he said, poking her chest with a hoof. “This ain’t some little race you can just blaze through. It WILL be dangerous, so you’d best follow everything you’re told to the letter or I will strap your wings to your side and haul you back to the castle so fast you’ll be shittin’ that rainbow thing out your ass the whole way back. Is that clear?”

“Yes.”

“Are you sure? You will be a member of the Royal Guard, with full responsibilities. It may only be for today, but that ain’t something to take lightly. Are you willing to put yourself in harm's way to protect somepony else, because, darling, that’s what it takes to be a guard, and a guard don’t run, fly, swim, or crawl away from their duty even if they’ve got the fire of terror lighting up their ass like it was a big ol’ bonfire. So you’d best be sure you’re good and ready.”

“I’m sure.”

He held out a hoof and said, “Then welcome to the Royal Guard, Rainbow Dash. You ready to find this wannabe foal killer and kick his flank?”

She grinned and shook his hoof. “Absolutely.”