Feeling lonely is something that nobody likes. Not alone, mind you, lonely. Being alone is easy, solitude can be a very calming thing, and everyone needs time to themselves. Feeling lonely is much more distressing, loneliness is a desire for companionship, either because your own company isn't very pleasant, a problem that many people share, or because the company of the ones you are with isn't very pleasant.

Being alone, though, that was easy. It was the reason that she hadn't bothered trying to find a way out. The quiet, dark, isolation had been a pleasant change of pace. She might have just stayed there forever, if she hadn't noticed the sound. It was two sounds, actually, the first was a sort of mumbling, like somebody was talking on the other side of a wall, it had started almost as soon as she arrived. The second sound she had noticed much later, a rapid whooshing noise like an arm or a bat being swung through the air. This second sound had been as faint as the first to begin with, but now it was getting louder, and it didn't sound like it was on the other side of a wall.

As the sound got closer, she suddenly felt very lonely. Turning towards the mumbling sound, she reached out, groping in the darkness, trying to find where the voice was coming from. Whoever was talking sounded nicer than that noise coming towards her, which she now recognized was the sound of wing beats, vary large wing beats.

Her hands grasped, futilely, at the darkness, as fear started to creep into her heart with each beat of those wings. Just as she was about to give up, and prepare to ether hide or fight, her hand struck something. It was a wall in the darkness, and on the other side the mumbling could be heard, but something was wrong, the mumbling was getting softer.

Let me out. Her fists fell upon the wall, while behind her the wings grew ever closer. Whatever those wings were attached to, obviously, knew where she was, and it was picking up speed.

Let me out. Again her fists fell, but the wall held firm. Striking franticly, she beat against it with all her strength, punching, kicking, even scratching, until her nails caught on something. Looking close she could just make it out, a crack in the wall, and on the other side, a fading voice.

Let me out! Blow after blow fell, and each time the crack spread and forked, until a web of fissures covered the wall, but it still didn't want to let her out. This stubborn wall was all that was keeping her here, she didn't ever care about the wings anymore, she just wanted out. She hated this place, she hated the dark, and those wings, but most of all she hated this stupid wall!

I said, LET ME OUT! Her fist slammed into the wall so hard that she was sure she had broken her wrist, but her arm went though, and the wall crumbled.

****

Her arm lashed out, as her eyes shot open, making contact with something and sending it crashing to the floor. Her eyes snapped shut almost as fast as they had opened when she realized how bright her surroundings were. Shaking the fuzziness from her eyes, she sat up in the bed she was in and tried to take stock of her surroundings. To her right was the source of the light, an open window, through which blue skies and green hills could be seen. On the floor below the window, she could see the broken remains of the drinking glass she had just knocked over. Finally, on her left, standing in a doorway, was an orange haired man with a neatly trimmed goatee, who looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"Hi," she said.

It was all her dazed mind could think to say, before exhaustion hit her like a ton of bricks, and sent her head plummeting back to the pillow it had just left. As she slipped into what she hoped would be some restful sleep, she thought she heard a voice calling for a doctor, and strangely, the beating of wings.

****

The sound of steady footfalls filled the waiting room of Ponyville General Hospital. As Lero reached one side of the room, and turned to begin his return trip to the other side, he glanced at the clock on the wall and let out an annoyed sigh. He had been pacing for the better part of an hour.

"Lero, will you please sit down, she'll be here as soon as she can." Twilight looked at Lero from her seat on one of the benches that lined the walls, giving him a small smile, and patted the spot beside her.

"I'm sorry, Twi," he said, taking a seat next her. "But, you sent that letter two hours ago. What's taking so long?"

"Lero, I know you're anxious, but she is a princess. Believe it or not, she can't always just drop whatever she's doing to come visit. Besides, even if she was here, what do you think she'd be doing?"

"Well..."

"She would be sitting here with us, waiting patiently, for the doctors to do their jobs. Honestly, I don't even know how you can be pacing after sprinting across Ponyville like you did," said Twilight, as she brought a hoof to rest on Lero's knee.

"Well, what was I supposed to do? I mean, after I called the doctor, the very first thing he did was shoo me out of the room and tell me to go get you," said Lero, taking Twilight's hoof in his hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Well, you could have sent a pegasus, though I doubt they would have gotten there much faster than you," Twilight said, as she recalled the scene from earlier that day.

Twilight had just stepped out of the library to check the mailbox, when she had noticed Lero running down the street towards her at top speed, weaving around obstacles, and vaulting over any ponies who weren't fast enough to get out of his way. He had quickly informed she and Lyra about what had happened, and after a quick letter to Princess Celestia, Twilight had teleported herself and Lero back to the hospital, while Lyra had gone out to try and find Rainbow Dash.

"Alright, Twilight, I'll be sure to stop and think rationally the next time I'm in a panic," he said, with a chuckle, while nudging her with his elbow.

"You would probably be better off learning how to not panic in the first place," came a voice to their right.

Lero, and Twilight, looked over to see Lyra entering the hospital, with Rainbow Dash in tow. Both mares walked over to take seats, after nuzzling their herd-mates. From her spot next to Lero, Rainbow was the first one to speak.

"So, she finally woke up, huh?" she asked, looking at Lero expectantly. "Well, what is she like?"

"I'm not sure, Love, she only said one word before passing out again," Lero explained, his expression going serious again.

"So, why aren’t you up in her room with her, instead of down here?" Dash asked.

"Because, Lero isn't a doctor, Rainbow," Twilight cut in. "Right now, those are the only ponies that they're allowing in her room."

Rainbow Dash's gaze shifted to Twilight, as she raised an eyebrow. "Why, is something wrong?"

"Not that we know of. I imagine they just want to work in peace," Twilight continued.

Lyra gave her herd mate a concerned look. "Work on what, exactly," she asked.

Lero beat Twilight to the punch. "Well, Doctor Signs said that they're using some kind of heavy duty rejuvenation spells on her to boost her body's energy. Hopefully, it will keep her from slipping back into another coma."

"Don't worry, Lero, the doctors have been planning for this day for a long time." Twilight nuzzled his arm. "I'm sure she'll be up again in no time," she said with a smile.

Lero wrapped his arm around her, and pulled her in close for a quick kiss. "Thanks, Twi, I hope your right," he said, as he reached his arms wide to pull all three of his mares into a hug. "And, thank all of you for being with me through all this, I know I've been spending a lot of time here."

"Lero, we all know how much this means to you," said Lyra, as she felt his fingers begin gently scratching behind her ears.

"Yeah, big guy, we know you'd do the same for us," Dash said, as one of her wings slowly wrapped around her stallion.

"Thanks, girls, I hope you'll stick with me when it comes time to teach her about Ponyville." He leaned in to give Rainbow a quick kiss, which they held for several seconds.

"You know it," said Dash. "I don’t think anypony has been looking forward to that as much as Twilight here."

"Oh, don't worry, with the training regiment I've set up she'll be an expert on Equestria in no time. All I have to do is figure out where I want to start, " Twilight beamed.

As Twilight began rattling off a, seemingly endless, list of subjects, her herd couldn't help share a quick laugh together.

****

Upstairs, in the sole occupied intensive care unit, two unicorns stood on opposite sides of the bed. The first, a pale blue mare with a golden mane and tail, and dotted outline of a pony for a cutie mark, was pouring restorative magic into her patient. While she had only been at the task for twelve minutes, she was already starting to sweat. Sadly, while See Through knew several unique spells, her magical reservoir was not quite as deep as most unicorns.The other pony in the room was the doctor who had been treating this patient from the very beginning.

"That's enough, nurse," said Vital Signs.

See Through took a deep breath and relaxed, as she regarded the being on the bed in front of her. She still couldn't believe the amount of magic that they had pumped into her, if she were a pony she would probably have been glowing by now.

"Shouldn't it be working by now, Doctor?" See Through asked, between breaths.

"It is working," Signs replied, plainly.

"Are you sure? I mean, between me and the three other unicorns that have emptied their magic into her shouldn't we be seeing a reaction by now?"

Signs looked up at his co-worker, and smiled.

"You have to keep in mind that humans don't have any inherent magic in them. As such, they can contain far more magic then any pony, with no ill effects. Why, when I managed to convince Lero to let me test his magical capacity, he was able to contain the magic of five unicorns and Twilight Sparkle. Granted, his eyes did glow for two days after that, but still it proved my theory," Signs finished, with a smile.

See Through looked back at the human on the bed, with wide eyes. She had never formally met Twilight Sparkle, but she knew of the mares magical accomplishments. As bearer of the element of magic, Twilight Sparkle possessed a magical reserve that, to a pony like See Through, seemed limitless.

"Besides, there has been a reaction; look a little closer See," Signs said, as he lowered his head closer to the woman's face. "Note the slight flushing of the cheeks, and how her breathing is much closer to normal, instead of those long deep breaths that she was taking."

See Through wasn't sure if she could spot the differences that Signs was talking about, but decided to take his word for it. After all, Vital Signs was probably the closest thing Equestria had to an expert on human anatomy.

"Well, Doctor, if it is working, should I send up the next unicorn?" See asked.

"No, I don't think that will be necessary, these results are already promising. If you wouldn't mind heading downstairs, and letting Mr. Michealides know that it's okay for him to come up, I'd appreciate it," Signs asked.

"Certainly, Doctor," See Through replied.

As the nurse left, Vital Signs attention was drawn back to the patient on the bed. She had been out for so long that Signs had almost given up on her ever waking up, and now here he was just waiting for her to open her eyes. He had to admit, he was looking forward to meeting the patient that he and his staff had worked so hard to save.

As the happy thought crossed his mind, Signs proceeded to cross the room to the lone window. Opening the curtain, then the window itself, he was about to turn to the blinds covering the observation window when he heard the bed creak and shift behind him. Turning around, as slowly as he could, Signs was met with the sight that he had been hoping to see since the day the patient had arrived. The woman was sitting up.

She sat there, on the bed, rubbing her eyes with the palms of her hands, her shoulder length brunette locks covering the sides of her face, and the extra large hospital gown they had special ordered for her hanging loosely around her body. Before Signs realized what he was doing he had cleared his throat. This succeeded in getting the woman's attention, who turned to regard him with bright blue eyes. At first she just stared at him, a confused look playing across her face, until she began slowly scanning the room only to have her attention lock onto him again once she was finished.

"Is this a dream?"

Her voice was deeper than most mares, yet soft enough to be pleasing to the ear, Signs figured she would have a rich singing voice.

"No, no it isn't," Signs answered, tearing his mind from the strange place it had just wandered to.

"Then what are yoaack!" The woman reached up to clutch her head in her hands as pained gasps escaped her.

"Miss, are you alright? What's happening?" Signs was beside her in an instant.

"My head," she cried, "Feels like it's breaking!"

With her last words the woman lurched violently backwards and, before Signs could react, tumbled over the other side of the bed. Signs was about to jump over after her, but stopped as her hand came back up onto the bed, and long, sharp, black nails easily tore beep furrows into the mattress.

****

As the minutes ticked by in the waiting room, Lero's herd did their best to while away the time. Rainbow Dash was busy trying to balance a pencil on her nose, with varying degrees of success. Twilight Sparkle had found a magazine that was a mere two months old. Lero was cradling Lyra's head in his lap, while gently massaging her neck. Lyra seemed to be faring the best, she had swiped Dash's spot next to Lero when the other mare had gotten up to get a drink of water, laid her head down, and promptly fallen asleep.

"Ugh, how long have we been waiting?" Rainbow groaned, after dropping her pencil for the tenth time.

Twilight looked up at the clock for a moment before returning to her magazine. "Ten minutes," she replied, flatly.

"This is taking forever," Rainbow griped. "When is something going to happen?"

Before anybody could answer, the room was suddenly bathed in a brilliant golden radiance as a low rumble filled the ears of all who were present. As Rainbow and Twilight shielded their eyes, and Lyra was startled of the bench and onto the floor, Lero felt his entire body stiffen at the sight of the figure standing in the light. When the glare finally faded, standing in the room was none other than Princess Celestia.

"Princess!" Twilight exclaimed, as she and the other ponies all gave a brief bow.

"I'm sorry I'm late. The griffon ambassadors were rather adamant that we finishing our trade negotiations," said Celestia, with a smile. "So, what have I missed?"

"Not much, to be honest," replied Twilight. "We've just been waiting for most of the past couple of hours."

"How has everypony been holding u-" Celestia stopped when she noticed Lero. Sweat was beading on his brow, his eyes were unblinking, and he was gripping the edge of the bench he was sitting on so tightly that his knuckles had gone white.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry," she began, as she raised her horn into the air and focused her magic. Some of Celestia's divine grace seemed to drain out of her as her mane and tail ceased their eternal dance, and fell to the floor in a single rosy hue.

Lero lurched forward, placing his hands on his knees, and let out the breath he had been holding. As his mares approached to make sure he was alright, Celestia's face fell at the realization that she had forgotten something so important.

"Is this better?" she asked, in a surprisingly meek voice; one that was not lost on Lero.

"Yes, Princess, that's... better. You know, we really need to set up a meeting to try and do something about that," he offered.

Celestia's ears perked up as she looked wide-eyed at Lero, while a small smile crept across her lips. "I... I think I'd like that," she said, hopefully.

Before anything further could be said, a gasp from one of the doorways caught everyone's attention. Turning to regard the sound, the herd spotted a pale-blue unicorn in a nurses hat staring at Celestia. Her mouth was open, but the only noise that managed to escape from it was a slight squeaking sound.

"Ah, good day, my little pony." Celestia greeted the newcomer with a warm smile. "Has there been a change in the human mare's condition?"

The Princess's words seemed to jolt See Through out of her stupor, and the nurse quickly fell into a deep bow. "Ye- yes, Your Highness," she managed to stammer out. "She's not awake yet, but doctor Signs says it's okay for her to receive visitors."

"Wonderful," replied Celestia, as she gestured to the door with a wing. "Shall we?"

As the group made it's way through the hospital, Celestia found herself flanked by Twilight Sparkle on her right and, surprisingly, Lero on her left. He kept her at arms length, and never took his eyes off of her, but he was still doing an admirable job of fighting through any lingering fears he may have had for her.

"It pleases me that you're willing to get so close to me, Lero," she said, in as even a voice as she could manage.

"Well, you have Twilight, and Rainbow, to thank for that," he said. "They've been helping me get over the fear, with the help of a little magic."

At the sound of her name, Rainbow Dash moved up beside Lero, and nuzzled the back of his hand. He returned the gesture by caressing her cheek, and resting a hand on the back of her neck. Rainbow remembered those practice sessions well; Twilight had the brilliant idea to try using Lero's love for her to fight his fear of Celestia. It had taken Twilight some time to perfect the spell she was going to use, but when she was done she had managed to create a transmogrification spell that could give Rainbow the size and appearance of a rosy maned Princess Celestia.

The change in form had been jarring for Rainbow, to say the least. On the one hoof, the extra-long legs, and high center of gravity, made keeping her balance a constant trial. On the other hoof, however, the massive increase in height, and very shapely rump she was suddenly sporting, had been an incredible confidence boost. She figured that she could get very used to walking around in that body... until she saw the way Lero was looking at her. That look of anxious fear plastered across his face was heartbreaking, but the way he recoiled from her approach was more than she could take.

It had been weeks before Twilight had managed to convince them to try again, this time in a much more controlled setting, with Lero sitting on one side of the library while Dash sat on the other, and tried to get him to talk to her. It was slow going at first, but after several days Lero had managed to force himself to realize that the pony talking to him was not a threat, but the very one he loved most of all. Once that point had been reached, Lero had progressed at a surprising speed. By the end of the week he was able to have a conversation with her, without his teeth chattering. The week after that, he managed to approach to within arms length of her. The true culmination of their efforts came when he was able to hold still long enough for her to walk up to him, and wrap him in a gentle hug.

As they entered the stairwell, a thought crossed Celestia's mind. "So, Twilight, how has the rest of Ponyville taken the news that another human is in their midst?"

"Well, Princess, to be honest, I'm not sure if most of the townsfolk even believe it yet." Twilight cleared her throat. "At first, everypony was talking about it; what would she be like, where would she stay, what kind of job would she do? But, after the word got out about her condition, and so much time passed without an appearance, well, I think most ponies have assumed the worst."

"That is unfortunate," Clestia replied. "I had hoped that-"

A scream cut through the air just as they reached the top of the stairs. Celestia's head snapped up. The voice was one that she recognized, it belonged to Doctor Vital Signs, and had come from the room at the end of the hall. The thought of one of her ponies in danger galvanized Celestia into action, and in a brief flash of golden light she was at the door to the small room. What she saw, she almost couldn't comprehend.

Standing in the room was the most bizarre creature she had seen since Discord's reign. Standing on two legs, it easily crested seven feet in height. Its head was that of one of the owls of the arctic north, and like them its entire body was covered in striking white feathers, save for a shock of red plumage at the base of its neck. Its body was lean and wiry, as were its arms and legs which all ended in long onyx talons. Finally, a pair of wings, matching her own in size and span, unfurled from its back. One of its hands was currently wrapped tightly around the throat of Doctor Vital Signs.

"Unhand him, creature!" Celestia barked, as magic flowed to her horn.

The thing turned and regarded her with large yellow eyes, before unleashing a shriek that was a fusion of a mare's scream and a falcons cry. Releasing its hold on Vital Signs, it cast him to the floor, where Celestia's eyes followed him. Too late did she realize her mistake, for with her attention momentarily distracted, the creatures next move took her by surprise. Drawing one of its hands across the empty bed next to it, its talons caught the pillow that lay there and sent it flying at Celestia, the makeshift projectile connecting squarely with her horn. As pain lanced through her head Celestia lost her hold on the magic gathered in her horn, causing it to flow into the pillow and detonate in a feathery explosion. Celestia managed to focus her vision in time to see black talons pierce the cloud of feathers and prepare to close around her face.

As the acrid taste of fear began to seep into her throat, another spell was unleashed, but not by her. This spell had been crafted many, many years ago, by an old bearded friend, who had a knack for preparing for the unthinkable. Just as the creature's claws were about to make contact, the room was filled with blinding light, and the assailant was thrown against the far wall and held there. The beast struggled for just a moment before going limp, its mind forced into a magical sleep.

"Thank you, Star Swirl," Celestia muttered, as she looked down at her regalia, which was still glowing with the power of the warding spell that the creature had just triggered.

"Princess, what was that?" she heard Twilight yell, as the others came running down the hall. As they reached the door, they were all given pause by the sight of the creature, still floating in the warding spell's magical grip.

"What in Equestria is that thing?" exclaimed Rainbow, pointing at the creature.

"Never mind that, where's the human?" Lyra asked, looking at the torn remains of the hospital bed.

"Everypony!" Celestia snapped, "we will find her soon enough, right now somepony check on Doctor Vital-"

"Princess, look!" Lero yelled, pointing at the creature.

As the ponies cast their gazes at it, the creature began to change before their very eyes. As they watched, white feathers fell in sheets to the floor, and the muscles underneath seemed to ripple and contort. Limbs shortened, and thickened, while zygodactyl talons reshaped into soft pink digits. As wings were absorbed into it, the body lost it's lean physique, and took on a much fuller, softer appearance. Finally, the head completely rearranged it's features; eyes shrunk, beak softened, and thick brown locks spouted from the scalp.

When the transformation was complete, a very familiar form floated before them.

"What?" Lero choked.

"How?" Twilight gasped.

These questions, and more, raced through Celestia's mind, each one leading to a dozen different answers that she wished she could believe. In the end, though, there was only one explanation that could answer all the questions. It forced its way through gritted teeth, and fell from Celestia's mouth as a single strained word.

"Chimera."

Author's Note

Hey, I bet you all thought I was never coming back. Sorry it took so long to get this chapter done, but writer's block can be a real bitch.

Well, she's finally awake, and now you know why the story is called chimera. I hope I didn't scare too many readers off with this turn of events.
Hopefully, future chapters won't have such a long wait between them, and I can start answering all the questions that were just raised.

Until next time.