A Toy for Children

A spotless hospital room surrounded Twilight when she woke.  There weren't any pictures on the walls, any "get well" cards sitting atop her nightstand, or any "Get Well Soon" balloons littering the ceiling.  A sterile sheen reflected the dim lights above the bed in the middle of the room.

'Huh, maybe the nurses told Pinkie she couldn't leave anything behind, but that's kind of strange.'  A quick glance towards the window left Twilight blinking a few times.  'Okay, I'm pretty sure blinds would have been fine.  What did they do, tape a big black sheet of paper across the outside of my window?'

Her hoof absentmindedly found its way to the underside of her muzzle and began scratching a nonexistent itch.  'That's sort of an odd thing to-' Twilight immediately froze for a brief second before holding her hoof out in front of her nose.  "Wait... this is my hoof, isn't it?"  She flexed and wiggled it back and forth.  'I thought I was covered in bandages.'

Upon looking down, she immediately rubbed both of her hooves all around and over her coat before inspecting a spot where she remembered Nurse Redheart had pulled something out.  'Nothing?'

Something ghostly nipped on the edges of her hearing, sending Twilight's ears frantically flicking back and forth.

The sound grew into a whisper, "Princess... Sparkle..."

Twilight coughed lightly before speaking.  "Hello?  Is somepony there?  If I'm okay, when will I be allowed to leave the hospital?"

It grew louder still, casting reverberations around the room as it took the form of a regal mare's voice.  "Princess Sparkle... thou are not... in a hospital... here..."

"Here?  Where is here?"  Stiff sheets crinkled as they were pulled back before Twilight stretched a leg out to gingerly push against the floor.  'It doesn't seems like it hurts... have I been in a coma or am I that heavily medicated?'

The door was only a few strides away from the side of the bed before Twilight had the doorknob firmly in her grasp.  She gave it a good, firm twist before it effortlessly detached from the door in her hoof.  'What?'  Falling from Twilight's hold, the brass knob was sent soundlessly skittering along until it vanished underneath the bed without so much as a "clink" or a "thud".

'No, that can't be right.  Doorknobs don't do that.'  Her wings flared open when she tripped over her own hooves in a mad dash towards the window.  Orchid magic blasted the latch off the window just before her hooves grabbed it and wrenched it upward.  With a squeak and a loud crack, the window came free and slammed into the top of its frame with the rattle of glass panes.

Twilight reached forth to tear away whatever was obstructing her view, but her hooves were met with empty air.  Edges of her mane began curling upon themselves as a twitch started in her left eye.  "Silly me!  It's not like there's really anything there, I'm just looking out at nothing, there's no Ponyville... here..."  Her wings softly folded back against her sides when her gaze transfixed on what she thought was the horizon.  The errant purple mane fell limply as her brow furrowed.  "Looking at nothing... nothing... just an empty abyss..."  Patterns began to swirl like ripples in an endless sea of darkness.

"I'm... not here."  The words were like rocks she had to spit out as the room flickered slightly with every syllable.  "I'm not really here in Ponyville hospital."  The tiled floor beneath her hooves began disappearing along with the rest of the room as slowly as it had taken her to come to her conclusion.

Spastic movements that didn't amount to anything more than hoof waving and wing flapping accompanied the bared teeth beneath Twilight's grimace for a few moments.  They eventually slowed with the realization that the strange feeling of wayward weightlessness had returned to her.

She blinked a few times before looking around.  'Great,' a sigh escaped her muzzle, 'and here I am, back in this weird place again.'  That ghostly purple tendril had also appeared, snaking from her stomach into the void like a tether.

"Princess Sparkle... will Us to thee..."  The words seemed hollow as they echoed repeatedly in the silence.

Twilight snorted her response, "Yes, hello, miss voice.  I'm just absolutely peachy, thanks for asking.  It's not like I'm stuck somewhere I don't want to be with no discernable way to get home!"

"Enough," resounded the voice's demonic echo.  Twilight winced and held herself, waiting until it continued in a softer tone.  "Will Us to thee..."

"Look, I'm sorry, but I have no idea what's going on here."  Twilight applied a generous amount of force into massaging either side of her head.  "Maybe if I knew what was happening or who you were I'd be able to help you."  She closed her eyes for a moment and kept her hooves still.  "As it stands, I don't even know how to help my self."

There was a slight tug on Twilight's stomach.  'And now I'm feeling things, great.'  It was forcefully jerked a few times before Twilight opened her eyes.  Clear wisps swirled around the magical tendril that snaked away from her.  Twilight blinked before rubbing her eyes and staring again.

"Will Us to thee..."

Her eyes squinted slightly as Twilight tilted her head.  "What are you?"  Dark blue faintly flashed throughout the wisps.  "Wait a minute... is that... Princess Luna?"

A small dull sapphire mare coalesced from the darkening trails of blue to hang onto Twilight's tether.  She wasn't wearing any of her royal regalia and her normally billowing mane of stars was replaced with a fluffy mane of light blue.

Twilight covered her gasp with a hoof.  "Oh, princess, I'm sorry for being so rude!  But, why do you look- I mean, what are you doing here?"

"My sister received an urgent letter from Spike, informing Us of thy most unfortunate accident."  Luna began pulling herself towards Twilight along the magical tether.  "We arrived posthaste to assist thee in any way."

"But, forgive me, princess, where is 'here'?"

Shivers were sent through the snaking tendril as Luna stopped for a moment.  "We know naught of where or what this place claims to be, but We possess a few theories."

One of Twilight's ears twitched before the other as she paused to scratch the side of her muzzle.  "If neither you or I knows where we are, how did you find me?"

"Twas verily simple, Twilight, We merely followed thy trail."  Luna gestured, sending vibrations through the tether with a wiggle that tickled Twilight's stomach.

"Then you know what's going on?"

"Nay, though, We can assure thee, thy body remains perfectly safe."  Twilight's twitching eye didn't catch Luna's attention as she resumed pulling herself closer.  "However, We suspect Nurse Redheart to be right in her concern over the irregularities regarding neural activity and-"

"WHAT!?"  Twilight's hooves held her temples while her wings began flapping wildly.  "What's wrong with my brain!?  I knew it!  I'm going to be a pony vegetable!"

"We said nothing of the sort."  Luna shook her head as Twilight began fidgeting.

"Then I'm going to paralyzed from the withers down, or not be able to feed myself, or I'm going to be blind!"  Twilight's features softened as her outline began shrinking.

Black speckling appeared on Luna's chest while her mane began shifting.  "Twilight Sparkle, you will be fine, just calm down."

Twilight gripped harder at the sides of her head and began thrashing to and fro as her wings slowly faded.  "This is going to be worse than Magic Kindergarten!"  Tears streamed down her cheeks.

The speckling along Luna's chest grew wider as it spread throughout the rest of her coat.  "Heed Our words!"  Her pupils narrowed to slits.

"How am I going to raise Spike?  How am I going to do anything with my friends?"  A loud gasp escaped Twilight as she momentarily stopped.  "How am I going to read books!?"  She resumed her erratic thrashing as she started reaching the size of a filly.

An animalistic roar rang out in the darkness as Luna closed the distance between them with a lunge, fangs bared.

Twilight flinched to Luna's touch as she was swiftly scooped up in one fluid motion, condemning her inane sobbing to a quiet sniffle.  "Hush now, my little pony, thou shalt be well soon enough."  Her cool blue hair framed her soft smile, urging Twilight to snuggle against her flawless sapphire coat.

They stayed that way for a time, the forlorn princess of the night consoling the small bundle of purple hair and fur.  Not a single utterance made itself known until the steady beating of a heart pulsed through the tether between them.  Twilight gazed up to Luna with veined eyes, "What happens now?"

"It appears Our dear sister hath finished the spell."  Luna's caring expression was replaced with more serious demeanor.  "Hold fast, Twilight Sparkle, We would not wish to be left here as thou were."  Little purple hooves firmly wrapped around her neck before the space between them shone with a brilliant light.

Twilight's wings jutted out to their full width as she awoke with a gasp and lurched forward.  Ceiling lights blinded her before she halted her motion with another short gasp caused by the protestations beneath her bandages.  She hunched over slightly and closed her eyes as a massive headache formed under her horn.

"Twilight!  Goodness, you're all right!"  Celestia's words sounded muffled to Twilight's left as she felt a pressure in her eardrums like she was submerged in water.  A ruffling of wings and sharp intake of breath sounded to her right.  "You've made it back alive as well.  Please, never scare me like that again."

Luna violently coughed before petitely clearing her throat.  "Yes, sister, We told thee that it was the only way to let thy spell reach her."

Twilight softly folded her wings back to her side with a wince.  "I do remember our 'discussion' quite well and you know that it could've ended much worse."  Plush Feathers tickled Twilight's as a wing draped across her back like a blanket.  "Are you truly with us again, Twilight Sparkle?"

A simple nod was enough to placate the princess.  'Just please tell me I'm done with the whole thing.'

Various beeps sounded before Luna addressed Celestia,  "Everything is as We suspected."

Twilight slowly laid herself back against her pillows.  'I just want to go home and curl up with a nice book.'

"Surely, you can't mean that?"

Faint traces of magic washed around Twilight.  'Maybe grab that semester 6 microbiology book that Spike used to level the table.'

"Regardless, twould be most wise to let her rest now that We hath secured it where it belongs."

'Or maybe not, a picture book sounds wonderful.'

"Yes, of course, Luna.  You are right.  We will let her rest now that she is no longer in danger."  Clacking accompanied the princesses to the door before they stopped.

The pillow gave way with a soft 'pomf' as Twilight gingerly pulled the sheets around herself.  'I wonder if Rainbow Dash will read something to me.'

Celestia turned to look at her student under Luna's gaze.  A smile spread across her muzzle after she heard Twilight's delicate snores.  One of the cupcakes shimmered a brilliant gold as it was levitated towards the doorway.

Luna blinked at the wayward sweetmeat as it floated past her.  "Sister, thou aren't truly considering consuming such sugary foods at such a late hour, are thou?"

"Hush, Luna, I'm merely checking to be sure that our friend Pinkie's cupcakes are within regulations."  Celestia leaned forward to take a bite.  The cupcake's frosting smudged as the golden shimmer was overtaken by a shield of cobalt before floating out the door before Luna.

"If such practices must be observed to protect her let Us be sure of its quality."  Crumbs and little swatches of purple frosting stuck to Luna's muzzle as she voraciously attacked the cupcake.  "Mmm, yes, dear sister,"  She called back from the hallway, "feasting on such sweetmeats is highly advisable."

A small snicker escaped her immaculate white muzzle as Celestia turned towards her slumbering friend.  It grew into a soft smile as she watched the bedsheets slowly rise and fall a few times before Twilight sighed in her sleep.  Golden shimmers encased another cupcake and followed Celestia out the door which slowly closed with a gentle 'click'.

Moonlight bathed the hallway in firm but delicate shadows around Spike as he tiptoed through the hospital.  Everything was quiet, save for the faint sounds of equipment monitoring the health of different ponies.  Even the unavoidable clacking of his claws hitting the hard, white tile floor and occasional brush of fabric as he carried Miss Smartypants seemed insignificant compared to the calm of night.

A door loomed in front of him, indistinguishable from the rest if not for a numbered plaque adorning the wall next to it, finally marking his destination.  Spike gently reached up, twisted the door handle, and let the door rock away from him.  Green lines sharply spiking from left to right on the heart rate monitor caught Spike's attention as it cast its glow, marring the room with a green hue from its stop atop an array of machines.  He turned his attention to the solitary bed standing in the middle of the room and the steady breathing of its occupant.

Slowly and surely, Spike made his way towards the right of the hospital bed and silently climbed up into the sheets.  Twilight recoiled slightly with a stifled snore when Spike snuggled himself and Miss Smartypants in between the sheets and Twilight's forehooves.  He pulled at the sheets and shifted himself closer to her.

"Sheesh, Twilight, What would you do without me?"  He propped his head up lightly on the edge of the pillow as he faced away from Twilight and closed his eyes.

Purple eyelids parted for a moment as a small smile found its way to Twilight's face.  'I hope we never find out, Spike, I hope we never find out...'  The duo laid there in the soft moonlight, waiting for sleep to overtake them.