Chapter 5: Unknown Factors

Hayuary 24, 1504 A.D.

Canterlot Castle, Royal Hospital Wing

Beep Beep Beep

That sound was annoying, Twilight wished it would stop.

Beep Beep Beep

But of course the sound didn’t stop, it took far too much pleasure in annoying the lavender alicorn

Beep Beep Beep

Finally fed up with the noise, Twilight reached out with her magic without opening her eyes and ripped off the cords that seemed to come in the direction of the beeping.

Beep Beep Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…….

“She’s gone into cardiac arrest!  Nurse!  Get me the defibrillator STAT!!!”

“Wait doctor! I think she’s awake and she ripped the cords off of her.”

Twilight decided she wasn’t going to get any more sleep with noisy ponies standing around so she opened her eyes and prepared to make a royal edict banning all talking while she slept when she noticed this wasn’t her bedroom.  From what she could see, she was an unfamiliar all-white room that had a sterile-smell to it.

‘Where am I?  I don’t recall leaving the library.  Wait a moment….’

‘Sweet Apple Acres!  Fire!  The unicorns!’

Twilight tried to sit up but noticed that she was securely strapped into the bed she was on.  She started struggling but a stallion in a lab coat swam into her slightly hazy vision and gently held her down and began speaking in a soft, reassuring voice.

“Careful princess, you’re safe now, you’ve been through a great ordeal and you have just woken up.  You are in the Royal Hospital in Canterlot Castle.  The other princesses and your friends and family are just outside these doors and they are alright.  But before we do anything else, we need to make sure that you’re not going to suffer a relapse.  Okay?”

Twilight relaxed and sank back down into the bed, noticing that she was very tired and her mouth was dry.  She began to take into account the other details she had not noticed before.  She was indeed in Canterlot Castle, the royal seal was on the doors and she recognized the staff from her times visiting and living in the castle.  There was numerous medical equipment along the walls as well as a few chairs.  Twilight herself had thick bandages around her head, horn, and different patches of fur as well as thinner and more flexible bandages around her wings, which were also sore and lethargic.

The doctor and nurses checked her different faculties, running some tests and asking her questions from time to time.  They then felt that she was well enough to be unstrapped from the bed and that she wasn’t going to suffer a relapse.  But they gave her clear instructions to remain in the bed and to not overexert herself until she was discharged.  Twilight agreed with all their demands, knowing that patients had to obey the medics.  She may be a princess of Equestria but even she bowed to them in matters such as these.

Especially since they carried sharp needles.

Finally, they packed their notes and started walking towards the doors leaving one by one.  The doctor turned back to the princess before leaving himself.

“Alright, we’ll let your visitors in but don’t get too excited and exert yourself.”

“Yes doctor, thank you.”

He left and held the door open as her parents, Shining Armor, Cadence, Spike and her friends rushed in to see her.  Twilight saw Celestia and Luna but they both waited at the back while the others crowded her.  They all began talking at once but eventually calmed down and let family get first dibs.  Her parents, Twilight Velvet and Night Light hugged her and began talking.

“Oh Twilight we were so worried for you!  But thank goodness you’re alright!” her mother said.  Night Light also hugged his daughter and spoke, “We’re all glad that you’re ok, you took a nasty hit to the head there kiddo.”

Her parents reluctantly pulled away and Shining Armor, Cadence, and Spike walked up to take their place.  Spike would’ve immediately jumped up and hugged her but didn’t want to hurt her, so he contented himself with just holding a foreleg with a claw.

Shining Armor held onto her tightly and said,

“Thank goodness you woke up!  We didn’t know how long you were going to be unconscious, those unicorns hit you really hard.”

Twilight looked back at her brother and then turned to face the rest of the room’s occupants.  They all had relieved smiles on their faces and were looking upon her as she lay prone on the bed.  She decided to voice the question that had been nagging her since she had woken up.

“How did I get here?  I don’t remember anything after their spells hit me.  What happened to the unicorns that attacked me?”

Slight frowns seemed to ripple across all the faces in the room, turning to each other for answers before finally resting on the two princesses at the back of the room.  Taking their cue, they both walked up and sat next to Twilight after the others pulled back again before Celestia began speaking.

“As soon as Luna and I heard you had been attacked, we took the pegasi guards and flew as fast as we could to Ponyville while the others temporarily confiscated a train to follow us.  When we arrived at Ponyville, we could see the smoke from the fire and deducted that was where you where, and by the time we got to Sweet Apples Acres  your friends had already found you and your attackers.”

Celestia paused and looked back at Applejack, who began speaking for the group.

“When ya left me and Big Mac’ behind, we were followin’ with the equipment when we heard several loud bangs and flashes comin’ from where ya were headed.  We dropped the stuff and galloped to ya as fast as we could.  When we found ya, you were knocked out and had several burns on ya.  The unicorns however, were already out cold and looked as though they had takin a severe beatin, they were sporting bruises, broken bones, and a few cuts.  We thought it was you.  And it was, wasn’t it?  Did ya send any spells at em before they got ya?”

Twilight shook her head as her confusion grew, the other ponies also looked disgruntled at this revelation.  She spoke, her doubts dripping in the tone of her voice.

“No…. I was trying to fly when they sent their spells at me, I didn’t cast any spells and I didn’t even see them.  It was dark out still.”

Celestia and Luna looked worried at this and turned from Twilight to face each other, they shared an expression as if they were trying to piece together a puzzle when Luna spoke for the first time.

“Twilight, are you sure?  We searched the area once we arrived and could find no traces of anyone else but you, your friends, and the unicorns in the area.”

“No Luna, it wasn’t me.  They didn’t waste time attacking.  From what I remember, they seemed to have expected me coming to help Applejack with the fire.  I bet they are the ones that started it in the first place, to lure me away from Ponyville to a more secluded place.  What happened next?  And where are the unicorns now?”

Rainbow Dash piped up, she was standing instead of flying due to the low ceiling.

“After the smoke cleared, Fluttershy and I flew down and saw Big Mac’ waving us down.  I reached him and he told me that some unicorns had attacked you but they were out cold.  When Fluttershy here heard this,” the cyan pegasus pointed a hoof at Fluttershy who was smiling sheepishly from the attention before continuing, “she rushed to where you were and started bandaging you up.  Applejack was tying up the unicorns at the same time.  I then flew to Officer Book’em and Mayor Mare and told them what happened.  Book’em got his unicorn suppressors from his jailhouse and the mayor immediately sent our fastest pegasus, me of course, to Canterlot to tell the princesses.”  Twilight nodded as Rainbow Dash talked but a question formed in her mind at the same time.  Twilight interrupted here before the pegasus could continue and turned to Spike.

“Why didn’t you all have Spike send Celestia a letter?”

Spike looked nervous but Rarity spoke up for him.

“He was with me darling.  When you left, he came out of the library and met with me outside and we joined with Pinkie Pie on the way towards Sweet Apple Acres and missed out on everything.  We didn’t know you were hurt until we saw the princesses arrive, and I’m assuming that the mayor either forgot or didn’t know that Spike could contact the princesses immediately.”  Spike squeaked into the conversation, sounding apologetic.  He looked slightly ashamed of himself for what he thought was failing Twilight in a moment of need.

“I’m sorry Twilight, I didn’t know.”  Twilight heard the him berating himself with the tone he used.  She wanted to let him know that everything was fine and that he had done all he could.  She had left him behind for his own safety of course.

‘And a good thing I did.’

Twilight gave Spike a reassuring smile and pulled him into a hug.

“Don’t worry about it, no one expected it and everything’s all right.  Right?”  She pointed her question at the two princesses who looked reassuringly at her.  She still hadn’t gotten all of her answers and wanted to know what happened to her attackers.  But Cadence answered Twilight instead.

“When Celestia and Luna arrived, they flew you back here to the hospital while the other guards that came by train took the unicorns into custody.  They’re in the dungeons after we patched them up but they have refused to tell us why they attacked you or who sent them.”

“That brings us to our next issue.”

Twilight quickly took her gaze back to Celestia and Luna, her facing forming an expression of inquiry as Luna talked.  What could possibly have gone wrong now? She thought.

Celestia bowed her head, her horn barely not scraping the ceiling and her mane blowing in an invisible wind, and answered the unspoken question from her former pupil.

“We have not been able to keep your attack quiet so we could announce it calmly when we had all the facts and could calm everypony.  But with guards rushing through the city and Luna and I rushing to and from Ponyville, rumors broke out and ponies began asking questions of what was going on.  We’re not sure how but news of your attack leaked out and now Parliament has called for an official inquiry.  Fancy Pants called for it to investigate what happened, if you’re alright, and to ask who is responsible.  We’ve told them that you were going to make a full recovery and they decided to postpone the investigation until you had woken up so you can testify.  As soon as you’re discharged, the investigation will begin.”  Luna interjected and began talking in a very angry voice.

“Whoever these foals were, we will bring them to justice and we will stop them.”  She then spoke in a more controlled tone and her voice sounded a bit bitter. “But you have been unconscious for a week, and the members have started panicking and are on the edge of accusing almost everypony else in that chamber of the foul deed.  With the unicorns keeping their silence we have little to no evidence on who planned it, they were very secretive and have covered their tracks well.  My Night Guard has been searching everywhere, but it looks like Parliament’s investigation is the only way we will be able to cool everything off.”

Twilight sighed and looked down at herself, shaking her head.  She had an inkling of the amount of panicking Canterlot was having with a princess being attacked.  Twilight knew that the best option was to get well soon and end the panic.  She looked back at her friends and family and drank in their expressions.  The others in the room also looked disappointed and were casting gloomy expressions as they digested the information from the princesses.  Twilight wanted to get onto something else before the melancholy became permanent and forced a smile on her face.

“Well, I’m ok and I am going to make a full recovery and I’m sure we’ll catch those responsible and everypony will calm down.  O.K.?  We are going to be just fine.  Let’s talk about something else, this can wait until I get out of the hospital.”

Twilight was glad as the others smiles returned, although she noticed that Celestia and Luna remained stoically worried.  At her reassurances they all talked about how long until she got out and struck up other small talk with her.  Trying to mimic Twilight’s good attitude and filing away Parliament’s investigation for another time.

Meanwhile, somewhere in a hidden location near Canterlot…..

Two ponies stood under the gates to the old manor.  The manor had once been the home of a noblepony but had seen disrepair as the family line moved out or died.  Now it served as the headquarters for the conspirators.  One of the ponies was large and was wearing a cloak that disguised his features while the other was a unicorn with a similar cloak but with the hood down, revealing his face.

“Is everything in place?”  the disguised pony asked the unicorn next to him.

“Yes my lord, all the preparations have been made and all that is needed is for Parliament to begin its investigation.”

“Good,” he whispered “the attack on that weak mare Twilight will have stirred up Canterlot, perfect for the next phase of the plan.  Although I expected for the attack to succeed....hhhhmmmmm.  Did the princesses’ official report mention how our unicorns were defeated?”

“No my lord, the report says that our assassins were stopped before Princess Twilight was seriously injured while the assassins were captured.  Thanks to our training no doubt, our unicorns have kept their silence and will continue to do so.  Even in front of Parliament.  If I may ask sir, why send only unicorns?  Wouldn’t it have been better to send in more of a variety?”

The pony shook his head under the cloak, causing it to ruffle before answering.

“I wanted something quick.  That mare has avoided many dangers and earth ponies and pegasi would have had to get close to kill her.  A quick, unexpected attack in the dark by magic was our best option.”

“Very well sir.  May I be dismissed?  I want to go over the preparations for Parliament.”

The larger pony snorted in ascent before turning his gaze back toward Canterlot as the unicorn re-entered the old manor.

“All is going exactly as planned.”