Ponyville General Hospital was about as cheerful as a hospital could be most days. With a upbeat staff, and well cared for facilities, most ponies didn't mind going to the doctor. Lero was not most ponies. As it was, he now found himself sitting in a provided chair next to Equestria's newest citizen.

"So, are the Sea Hawks doing any better than they were when I left?"

"How's the economy?"

"Have aliens invaded yet?"

The one-sided conversation had been going on for most of the hour, since Vital Signs had hit Lero with the news. They weren't sure when, or if, this woman was going to wake up, and Lero was doing everything he could to keep himself from thinking about the latter. He sat there, talking about nothing in particular, hoping with all his might that some of what he was saying might be getting through.

The sound of hooves galloping down the hall told him that he had visitors. The door was kicked open and a multicolored blur zoomed in and embraced him.

"There you are!" Rainbow cried, "I thought you were hurt."

"Easy, love, I'm fine. Who told you I was hurt?" he asked, as he ran his fingers through her mane.

"The Doctor and Twilight, said you were up in the intensive care unit-"

"-With another human," Lyra finished from the doorway.

"What, whoa!" Rainbow leapt into Lero's lap, forelegs wrapped around his neck.

"So, this is the new human?" Lyra asked, concern evident in her voice.

"Yeah," Lero replied with a sigh, "that's her."

"That's a mare?" Rainbow exclaimed, "It's even bigger than you are." She clutched Lero a little bit tighter.

"She, Rainbow, not it," Lero corrected. Although, with her feet nearly hanging off the end of the bed, this woman was probably taller than him.

"Wait a minute, how did you two get here so fast?" Lero asked, looking at his mares, "I thought you were on opposite sides of Ponyville."

"Twilight, teleported to Bonbon's store and grabbed me, then the two of us managed to flag down Rainbow Dash. After that she teleported us all back here," Lyra explained.

"Flagged down?" Rainbow asked indignantly. "More like, shot down."

"Oh, we didn't even come close to hitting you."

"Your bolt almost grazed my flank."

"I knew exactly where you would be when the bolt got there."

"Girls," Lero interrupted, "you all teleported back here, and then..."

Both mares looked at Lero sheepishly.

"Doctor Signs, said you were in intensive care," Rainbow said.

"With another human, though Dash didn't stick around to hear that part," Lyra finished.

"I was worried, sue me," Dash said, getting down from Lero's lap and trotting to the bedside. "So, what's wrong with her anyways?"

Lero's voice caught in his throat. Nobody told them?

"She was pretty beat up when she came in, Zecora found her in the Everfree," he said, choosing to omit the details. "The doctors don't know when she'll wake up."

Lyra's ears twitched at the last of Lero's words. The slight quiver in his voice had apparently gotten past Rainbow Dash, but not her. She now looked at her stallion with renewed concern.

"Lero," she began, "what do you mean, they don't know?" As she finished Dash turned to regard her, suddenly serious, herd-mate.

Lero cleared his throat, to try and prepare himself for the words, but it didn't help much.

"They don't know when she'll wake up-," he took a deep breath, "-because she's in a coma."

Both mare's eyes widened in sudden realization. Lyra was the first one to reach him, crossing half the room so quickly that Lero missed most of it in the span of a blink. Her forelegs wrapped around his neck as she pulled him into a hug.

"I'm sorry."

The words hit Lero harder than he could have imagined. All the thoughts he had been trying to keep at bay suddenly came rushing to the front of his mind. All Lero could do was hold onto his mare, as the tears finally broke through.

For her part Dash wasn't quite sure how to react to what Lero had just told her. It wasn't until she heard the soft sobbing coming from her stallion that the true weight of his words hit her. Rearing up on the side of the chair Lero was sitting in she did her best to wrap her wings around her herd-mates, and nuzzle Lero's cheek.

"Hey, come on big guy," she began, as reassuringly as she could, "a big strong girl like her, why she'll probably be up in no time."

Lero wrapped his arm around her, pulling her in as close as he could.

"Thanks you two," he managed to croak out.

Rainbow opened her eyes to see the motionless form of the woman on the bed. Please don't make me a liar.

****

Doctor Vital Signs sat in the waiting room of the hospital doing his best to stay awake. With any luck his night would soon be over, and he could finally get some sleep. The nurses had asked him several times now if he wanted to hand the reins over to another doctor, but he had refused. He was going to see this through to the end, no matter how long it took.

A sudden bang, and flash of purple, caused the receptionist to fall backwards out of her chair spewing coffee, and announced the re-arrival of Twilight Sparkle. Signs barely filched, he was too tired to be scared at the moment.

"Ah, miss Sparkle, I trust you were successful in sending your letter?" his words came out in monotone.

"Yes, Princess Celestia has been made aware of the situation, and should be here shortly," she replied. "I'm sorry I took so long, I had to wake up Spike."

"How long do you think it will take her to get here?" he asked.

Before Twilight could respond the room was bathed in a brilliant golden light, and low rumble, causing Twilight and Signs to shield their eyes, and once more sending the receptionist tumbling from her chair. Before them stood the magnanimous form of Princess Celestia.

"Princess," Twilight cried in greeting, before trotting over to nuzzle her teacher.

"It is good to see you again, Twilight," Celestia replied, as she brought her wings down to wrap Twilight in a brief embrace. "But, I'm afraid we have little time for small talk. Who is in charge here?"

"That would be me, ma'am," Signs said, stepping forward.

"Are you also the one who treated this newest patient?"

"I am," he replied, somewhat curtly.

"Then I must ask, why was I not informed of this sooner?" Her voice was as soft as ever, but the glare she leveled at him left no doubt in Sign's mind as to the Princess's mood.

"I see miss Sparkle was quite thorough in her report, and as I told her, I did not want to tell Lero that we had found another of his kind only to have to tell him, moments later, that they had passed away." The last words came out with an edge of finality that might have made a random listener think that the doctor was arguing with the princess.

"Why then, did you not simply contact Twilight Sparkle, and have her relay the message to me?" The doctor's tone was not lost to Celestia, but she decided to let it go. Judging by the bloodshot eyes and ragged appearance, the doctor had not slept in some time.

"It's well known around town that miss Sparkle is not very good with secrets," he stated, matter-of-factly.

"Thank you, Pinky Pie," Twilight grumbled.

Upon hearing her student, Celestia's features softened a bit.

"I understand your desire to protect your patients, Doctor Signs, but there are forces at work here that you do not understand. Please, in the future, inform me immediately if this happens again." The look of concern in the princess's eyes managed to pierce the layer of exhaustion surrounding Vital Signs, and in that moment he relented.

"Alright, Your Majesty, alright. If you feel it is that important."

"It is, Doctor, I would not ask you to do so otherwise," she said with a look of relief. "But we have talked here long enough already. Where is she, Doctor?"

"She's in intensive care, third floor, down the hall last door on the right," he instructed.

"Thank you, Doctor, now why don't you go home and get some rest, I'll handle this one from here," she urged.

"Thank you, Princess, I think I'll do that," Signs said with a smile, as the princess and Twilight made their way toward the stairs.

As the two ponies made their way up the stairs Celestia was the first to break the silence.

"How is he taking it?"

"Fairly well, all things considered," Twilight replied.

"What about the rest of your herd?" Celestia continued.

"They got here shortly before you did, and I just got back from the library. I haven't had a chance to check on them yet," Twilight explained.

"Just a moment," said Celestia, as they reached the last flight of stairs. Closing her eyes, the princess seemed to be focusing on a spell, though her horn radiated no magic. Their was a slight dimming of the light around them, and as Twilight watched the multi-colored aurora that made up the princess's mane dulled to a single rosy hue. With the minor transformation complete Twilight couldn't help but stare. Without her ever-flowing locks the princess actually managed to look younger than she usually did.

"Shall we go, Twilight?"

"Princess, you know he won't get better without practice."

"I am aware, Twilight, but I'm afraid time is of the essence at the moment," said Celestia, as she continued climbing the stairs.

As they approached the end of the hall, Twilight was the first to enter the room. There she found her herd. Lyra was standing at the bedside, a forlorn gaze cast upon its occupant, Rainbow sitting in Lero's lap with their arms and wings wrapped around each other, her chin resting atop his head. Twilight hated seeing her herd so despondent. Hopefully the princess will be able to help.

"Hey, everyone, we have a visitor," Twilight said, in her best attempt at a cheery tone.

As Princess Celestia entered the room, Lyra turned to bow, and Dash began untangling herself from Lero, but was stopped when she realized he had not let go of her. In fact she could feel his grip tightening around her as Lero glanced quickly between Celestia, and the woman on the bed.

"Come on, Big Guy, we've been over this, she's not going to hurt you," Dash assured. "Or her," she continued, motioning toward the woman.

Lero forced his eyes shut, and took a deep breath. His grip on Dash gradually loosened until she was able to slip out of his arms.

"There, you see?" she asked, resting her chin on his knee.

"I'm sorry, do I really still frighten you so, Lero?" the princess asked, with a frown.

"It's my problem, Princess, I'll deal with it," Lero replied.

Celestia wanted, with all her heart, to help him do so there and then, but sadly she had much more pressing matters to attend to.

"I realize that this must be a difficult time for all of you, especially you, Lero, but I'm afraid I must ask for some time alone with the patient." As she finished Celestia stepped away from the door, and further into the room.

"Why do you need to be alone?" Rainbow was the first to ask.

"The doctors have done their best to heal her body, now I must make sure that no other forms of harm linger upon her," Celestia replied, a sad gaze falling over the woman.

With that, the herd made their way out of the room, each pausing to give Celestia a slight bow. Lero was the last one to make his way out, walking briskly and keeping his gaze away from the princess. He was half way past her when Celestia realized that he had stopped. In one slow, deliberate motion Lero extended his arm. Celestia's eyes shot wide as she felt a trembling hand come to rest on her right shoulder, though she dared not turn to regard it for fear of scaring it off.

"Please, help her."

The words were little more than a whisper, but they moved Celestia almost to tears.

"I'll do everything I can, Lero." She spoke the words as softly as she could, but Lero could feel the conviction behind them. So, with the brief exchange over, Lero removed his hand just as slowly as he had placed it, and joined his herd in the hallway.

"Come on, Big Guy," said Rainbow, "lets head down to the mess hall. Maybe you'll feel better if you get something in your stomach."

"Yeah," Twilight piped in, "we did kind of leave in the middle of breakfast. Besides, this may take a while." Twilight turned to look through the window into the room. Sure enough, Celestia was sitting with her back to the window. She seemed to be simply staring at the woman.

"Alright," said Lero, "I guess it couldn't hurt."

****

With Lero, and his herd, out of the room Celestia was able to work in peace. She began by pulling aside the quilt covering the patient, and folding it neatly in the chair next to the bed. Underneath the cover the woman was unclothed, apparently the staff had been unable to find a hospital gown big enough to fit her. Still, that made the cursory examination easy. The woman possessed a somewhat wide, surprisingly soft-looking frame. Celestia gently lifted the woman into the air with her magic, and slowly rotated her form over the bed, so she could examine her front and back. The medical staff had done an excellent job, as always, any minor cuts or bruises had been completely healed over, and the broken right arm now rested in a snug splint. The only marks left on the woman were the large wound on her right side, which was now little more that a thin pink scar, and the two marks that circled her wrists, which almost looked like the skin had been seared. Apparently, the marks on her wrists were too old to have anything done about them.

"Well, nothing seems amiss on the outside," Celestia said, as she lowered the woman back down to the bed. "Lets look a little... deeper."

Celestia lowered her head, closed her eyes, and inhaled deeply, steadying herself for what was to come. When her eyes opened the pupils and iris were no longer visible, engulfed in the brilliant white light emanating from within. As Celestia's gaze focused, the material world fell away, and was replaced by something that few ponies would ever see.

Since time began, all sentient creatures had struggled to describe what made them, them. To find a word for that inner part of themselves had been the focus of many a pony's life. They had tried, bless them, giving it names like the heart, the soul, chi, ki, and the center. These, however, were all vain attempts to describe the indescribable.

Celestia simply called it the light, as that was what it appeared to be to her. A glowing radiance in roughly the shape of the physical body that contained it, and of a seemingly random color that Celestia still had not determined the significance of, despite centuries of trying. She could see many of them now, floating in the darkness that was left behind when the physical world was removed. On the floor below her she could see the lights of the hospital staff and patients going about their business. On the floor below that, she could see the bright purple light of Twilight Sparkle and her herd, the fiery red of Rainbow Dash, and the brilliant gold that Lero and Lyra shared.

As her vision once more came to rest upon the woman, Celestia was taken aback. She rarely used this sight for two big reasons, firstly it placed serious strain on her eyes, and second it involved looking into what was quite possibly the most personal part of any living creature, something she did not like doing without permission. This meant that even after all her many years of life, she could still be surprised when using it. And surprised she was, for in all her years she had never seen a multi-colored light.

The colors that formed this woman's light were a beautiful sterling silver, the likes of which she had not seen since she last looked at her sister Luna like this, and a striking verdant green that she was more used to seeing in earth ponies. The two colors worked their way up the woman's body in alternating bands, starting at her feet and ending at the very top of her head.

Celestia was so taken in by the nearly hypnotic display, that she almost forgot what she was doing. Shaking her head, to get it back on track, Celestia looked closer at the woman's light, scanning for any irregularities. She did not have to look for long.

She spotted it in the chest area. A slight dimming in the otherwise constant radiance. Pushing through the glare and alternating pattern, Celestia found what she was looking for. There it was, in approximately the same place as the woman's physical heart would be, the mark.

Crafted from that primordial filth that the world called black magic, the mark writhed like a worm coiling around itself. It was ever-eager to be near the ones who had made it, and cried out to them constantly. Even as she watched, it seemed to be trying to burrow beeper into the light, as if seeking refuge from her gaze.

"If it is more light you seek, then perhaps I can oblige."

Placing her hoof upon the woman's hand, Celestia opened herself up. Letting some small part of her own light flow into and mingle with the woman's, the multi-colored light began to glow much more brightly. Before long the glow became a blaze, and Celestia could see a dark shape pushing it's way toward the surface. Within moments the mark breached and was free floating, an oily stain in the darkness. It lasted all of three seconds, before the tip of Celestia's horn found it. Celestia ceased channeling her light through the woman, and instead diverted it to her horn. The mark swelled, strained, and eventually burst, it's remains scattered into the void.

With her task finished, Celestia let her vision shift back to the mortal spectrum. As the hospital reappeared around her Celestia looked once again to the woman on the bed.

"That should help, they will not trouble you again," She comforted, as she used her magic to pull the blanket back over the woman.

"Princess, are you all right?''

Celestia turned to the door to find Twilight standing there, a plate with a sandwich on it held aloft in her magic.

"Yes, Twilight, I'm quite alright," she said with a smile

"Are you sure? You look like you've been crying," Twilight continued, concern covering her face.

Celestia reached up with her foreleg brushed underneath her eyes. Sure enough tears had been streaming down her cheeks.

"Its alright, Twilight, its just a side effect of the procedure that I had to perform," she explained.

"Oh, are you finished? You've been up here for hours," Twilight said, as a look of relief washed over her.

"Yes, Twilight, I have complet- wait, did you say hours?" Celestia's eyes widened in shock as they snapped to the small clock on the wall.

"Ten twenty two!? I still have to raise the-," as the curtains on the lone window were thrown to the side, Celestia was nearly blinded by the light that came pouring into the room.

"It looks like your sister decided to cover for you, Princess," Twilight said with a smirk.

"Oh, thank you Luna," Celestia whispered. "I did not realize how much time had passed," She said, turning back to Twilight.

"Yeah, I thought you might be getting hungry." Twilight lifted the sandwich up in offering. "Egg-salad," she said, in response to the princess's inquisitive look. "I know it's not you favorite, but it was either this, green mashed potatoes, or white jello."

Celestia chuckled and let out a sigh. "Egg-salad sounds wonderful, right about now."

Author's Note

Well, here's chapter four. I tried to do a better job, grammar wise, on this one. Unfortunately, I'm still going to be relying on you guys to point out mistakes, as my search for an editor has proven fruitless.