I was both suspicious and worried when Twilight didn't finish her sentence. But I was positively petrified when she called over the others for an Emergency Meeting and dimmed the lights in the room once everyone was settled in the center of the library.

"I'm glad everypony could make it," Twilight said as she turned to face us all. "I don't want to alarm anypony, but..." The way the unicorn's voice trailed off again gave me goosebumps. All I wanted to do was scream—

"Come on, Twilight, spit it out already!" I guess Rainbow Dash beat me to the punch. Twilight sighed and lowered her voice to nearly a whisper.

"I think...they're back." Everyone was silent, yet confused more than ever.

"...So, are ya gonna continue or do you expect us to be mind readers?" AJ asked.

"Ooh, ooh! I can be a mind reader!" Pinkie exclaimed, putting her hooves to her temples seconds later and making a focused face. I rolled my eyes.

"Seriously Pinkie?" I deadpanned, though I decided to leave her be. She was just being Pinkie Pie, and I didn't need her babbling on and on about what everyone in the room was thinking about. I didn't want to be creeped out more than I was right now.

"Anyways, as I was saying, the ponies—if you want to call them that—I'm talking about shouldn't even be alive, but..." Twilight bit her lip, and my patience meter bubbled over the brink.

"Oh my GOD, Twilight! Just say it!" I screamed, my voice cracking as it bounced off the walls of the library.

"I think Discord and Kayleigh are back!" Silence followed after the unicorn had spoken. Coldness teased me as it snaked its way around me until it felt like my whole body was barren of organs, muscles...every body structure that they teach you in Health was practically vacuumed out of me.

There was no way Kayleigh and Discord could still be alive! Twilight had just taken lessons on cruel—very cruel—jokes from Pinkie Pie and was just testing them out on us. Yet the rueful and strict look on Twilight's face notified me that the "cruel joke theory" was not the case. I shakily rose to my feet, and flinched when something brushed against my right hoof. Looking down at my side, I saw that it was Lucky, who was giving me one of his infamous concerned looks ever since I told him of my recurring nightmares.

"Z, you okay?" I heard Maya faintly ask. The expression on Lucky's face looked like he was about to second Maya's question with a sympathetic one of his own, but the last thing I needed was a roomful of ponies making my ears bleed with ignorant questions of concern that had obvious answers to them.

Ignoring my friend and husband completely, I spread my wings and immediately blushed when I realized they would strain under the weight of my stomach, so I tucked them back to my side and bolted out the front door. I wasn't even a block away from the library when some kind of force made my feet stop all together. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the ground to meet my face, and I was lucky when the collision never came. Oh, and speaking of lucky...

"Don't you know its rude to stalk someone?" I asked without quite looking him in the eye.

"It's not stalking if you're trying to help someone out," Lucky replied, releasing me from his magical grip. "Plus, I had to follow you."

"No, you didn't," I snapped. "I was perfectly fine on my own."

"Oh, so I guess continuous, intimidating dreams of the same people who put a hurt on you and Maya's home is A-okay with you now," Lucky snapped back. "You could've told me that after I saved you from three heart attacks in a row." My throat went dry, but I quickly returned some moist to it with a hard, scratchy swallow.

"I never asked for these nightmares to happen," I said, "and I never really asked for your help." I turned to leave but was stopped by the same magical force that nearly made me trip earlier.

I gritted my teeth and resisted the urge to strangle a certain alicorn. I'm too young for America's Most Wanted. Er, Equestria's Most Want. "Lucky..."

"Even if you didn't ask for help, you're getting it nevertheless!" I opened my eyes and craned my neck to look behind me. A faint patch of brown was all that my eyes allowed me to see. I looked down—just to be sure—and saw the familiar sparkly brown force field coating my hooves.

Maya released me and circled to my side. She put a hoof on my left shoulder and continued. "I don't care if you refuse the help given to you. All that matters is at least some help is being directed in your path." I swatted her hoof off with my wing and stared at the ground.

"But..." I cleared my throat, which was dry again, and willed my voice to stop being so inaudible. That wasn't going to be in my favor. I could already feel hot tears clumping together in my eyes, and it stung to hold them from slipping down my face. The last thing I needed was to be seen crying by my husband and best friend.

Another magical force lifted my head, and I was soon eye-to-eye with Lucky. Just seeing his face made the group of tears finally skydive from my eyes and slide down my cheekbones. I couldn't help letting out a pathetic sniffle as Lucky angled my face with his so he could see me properly.

"You know we'll get through this," he whispered. I gave a meek little nod in reply, too upset to say anything. "We will," Lucky repeated, giving me a soothing peck on my forehead. It was almost as if my tears were controlled with a Universal remote; they stopped completely.

"We will," Maya echoed, giving me a comforting hug. I returned it gratefully and didn't want to let go.

"We will," I mumbled.

"There they are!" I had to blink several times to let my tears let me see who was trying to find us, and was none too surprised when I saw the Mane Six sprinting over to us. I was given light hugs, pats on the back, and assuring words that really didn't need to be said because, frankly, the girls (and Lucky) could tell I didn't believe a single sympathetic word.

"You had us worried when you ran out like that!" Rarity commented.

"Yeah, don't ever scare us like that again, sugar cube," AJ added, giving me another light hug. Now I felt guilt-stricken that I was putting my friends through all of this grief, even though I didn't want their help in the first place. The concept of my sentence gave me a slight headache, and I didn't know what to feel at that moment. Grateful? Embarrassed? Guilty? What?!

Twilight stepped forward and put her hoof on my shoulder. What is it with ponies putting hooves on shoulders? Really! "I don't want to alarm you, so I think I should tell you beforehand." My throat tightened and my stomach dropped.

"What?" I croaked.

"It's about what I said with Discord and Kayleigh returning," Twilight said carefully. "The thing is...I know officially that they've returned...inside you."

Author's Note

Did you see that coming? Comment on it! :)