The Guardian of Harmony

When Twilight returned to consciousness, a very unfamiliar sound greeted her ears, causing them to flicker in confusion.

Unable to think of anything that could cause such noise, she allowed curiosity to get the better of her and opened her eyes in order to locate the source of sound.

That was a mistake.

Immediately after opening them, she shut them once more and attempted to turn her head away from the source of light in hopes of getting away from it. Thus causing her to be aware of her body’s stiff and soreness along with the aching of her head.

With a groan of pain, she tried to bring her hoof up to her temples to help alleviate her headache, only to find something stuck inside the crook of her arm and preventing her from performing the action.

Alarmed, she forgot about the first matter of inconvenience and snapped her eyes open. The sudden onslaught of light entering her retinas made her head throb, but she needed to know what was preventing her arm from moving. The world was still a blur to her, but she forced herself to focus on her unmoving appendage.

Through the haze and focus, she was finally able to determine that there was a needle pierced and held in place by what seemed to be a bandage. Upon further inspection, she found that the needle seemed to be connected to a line, leading to a bag hanging by where she lay. Next to that were some sort of devices that she could not recognized, but determined that one of those was the source of the odd noise she previously questioned. From those devices, she found lines coming from and attached to her chest.

Looking past those, she found herself in an unreasonably large room (if it can even be called that with how… spacious it was) with white walls holding few… incredibly accurate and realistic paintings, a red floor that looked soft to the touch, and piles of papers and books piled about.

She had no idea where she was.

The previous, indescribable noise interrupted her thoughts as she idly registered that it was occurring faster. Bringing her attention back to those odd devices she was hooked up to.

More questions piled into her mind revolving around what those were.

Why was she… hooked up to them?

What’s going on?

What happened to her?

Was there something wrong?

“Twilight?”

Snapping out of her inner turmoil, she turned to the voice calling her name, and was greeted by the sight of familiar magenta eyes filled with concern.

Silence stretched between them as purple eyes kept starring into magenta ones, as if searching for something, searching for the answer to a question as to who the owner of those familiar magenta eyes was.

She should know who this is… She thought.

After a while, recognition slowly dawned into purple eyes as the pony came into focus.

“Celestia?” Twilight asked with a raspy voice and a pitch too high, prompting a question to arise in her still groggy and addle filled mind regarding why her voice sounded so… young.

A smile of relief came across the white pony’s face as she let out a soft, water filled, chuckle. “Yes Twilight, I’m right here with you.” She said craning her head down to give a small nuzzle to Twilight’s cheek with her nose as tears spilled down

Instantly, a wave of calm washed over Twilight at the confirmation of a familiar pony by her side and despite the confusions as to why Celestia was crying, their exaggerated head size difference, as well as all of her other previous questions still bounced around in her mind, she pushed it down in favor of comfort and tried her best to return the affectionate gesture.

“Here, drink some water.” Celestia suggested, standing up straight and allowing her horn to glow gold to levitate a cup up to the bed-ridden pony’s mouth as she also magically helped Twilight to sit up straighter and simultaneously add a few more pillows behind her. Meanwhile, Twilight tried to take the cup with her magic, but found it refusing to come forth. A small whine of frustration sounded from her throat.

“Take it easy, your body is still trying to adjust to being outside.” The white pony said, pushing the cup against the other’s lips.

Twilight wanted to ask Celestia to clarify what she meant by that, and to ask why she was talking so… oddly, but the throbbing of her head and the cool water brushing against her lips told her to ask later, along with getting answers to all her previous questions. So, she grudgingly allowed herself to be taken care of.

Once the cup was empty, it was levitated away, placed by the nightstand next to the bed and Twilight felt much more awake.

“I’m sure you have questions you’d like to ask…” Celestia began, her statement confirmed by Twilight’s small nod. “But first, I was hoping you would allow a physician and his… assistant to come in? To see if how you are.”

A small frown of disapproval formed on Twilight’s face as her ears drooped. Celestia KNEW that Twilight preferred having all her questions answered as quickly as possible.

A soft chuckle escaped from Celestia’s mouth as she leaned back down and gave another small nuzzle to her, reminding Twilight of their sudden size difference and bringing it to the forefront of her mind. She knew that Celestia was bigger than her, but did not recall the white pony being so much bigger that she was able to nuzzle Twilight’s cheek with just her muzzle. “It will only take a moment.”

Sighing, she reluctantly nodded her consent.

With a smile of satisfaction, Celestia’s horn glowed once again, opening the doors where a rather lanky unicorn with a muted orange coat and a combed dark blue mane stood, anxiously waiting. Twilight assumed that this was the physician seeing as he wore a white coat to indicate his profession, he was presumably summoned once Celestia noticed Twilight stirring awake. The other unicorn was of a more average build with a blue coat so pale; it could easily be mistaken for white. He also herald a short orange and yellow mane that was messily combed back

“Doctor Pill, Signal Flare, thank you for waiting. I believe Twilight here is ready for you.” Celestia smiled, prompting another look of confusion from the tired pony as she wondered about Celestia’s odd speaking manner once again, but shrugged it off. She was probably just being mindful of her voice for the bedridden pony, and with Twilight’s throbbing head, she was grateful for Celestia’s consideration.

Nodding, the two made their way into the room and by Twilight’s side, although… the physician walked a bit slower and upon closer inspection, Twilight found that he was sweating.

“B-Begging your pardon your highness, but might I trouble you to use your… er…” The orange unicorn started before looking more nervous

“Of course.” Celestia nodded with a smile. “The restroom is just right over there.” She said pointing her hoof toward the other side of the room at a door.

He gave a nervous smile before trotting away. Once the door closed, the other unicorn turned his head and gave a cheerful smile to Twilight.

“So… Twilight is it?” He asked, causing Twilight’s lips to quirk up, pleased that he was able to address her by her name as she gave a small nod of happiness. Just as quickly as it came though, it went and turned into a frown of confusion. Why would him just saying her name please her?

Signal Flare flashed another toothy smile, “Pleased to meet you. I’m Doctor Pill’s assistant for the day, Signal Flare. But please, call me Sig. How are you feeling?”

“Tired.” Twilight answered, prompting a small laugh.

“That would make sense seeing as you’ve been asleep for quite some time.” He stated with a chuckle, trotting a little closer to her, “What’s the last thing you remember before waking here?”

Twilight looked up at the ceiling in thought. “I recall being in my chambers… gazing up at the stars on the ceiling. And…” She scrunched up her nose and sharply inhaled in frustration. “And… some pony entered to keep company… Some pony…” She gritted her teeth in anger at not knowing who was last in her chambers.

“It’s okay. Take your time.” Sig softly encouraged.

Letting out a breath, Twilight quietly tried to regain control of her emotions. “… I can not recall who exactly, but he wished to speak with me and share my company.”

“What did he talk to you about?”

“’Twas in regards of the stars.” Twilight sighed, “He spoke of how…” She paused as she tried to recall something, another pony, amiss in her memories, causing her to furrow her brow in thought. “How…” Nothing. Nothing came. She couldn’t even bring forth an image. Her mind was blank when it came to these ponies and it caused her eyes to prick with tears. “I-I’m sorry, I don’t recall whom, but he spoke of another, and how…” Twilight let out another frustrated sigh, giving up trying to remember the pony. “The other pony regaled of a meteor shower to be performed during our travels.” She finished lamely, her head hanging down and causing her to miss Celestia’s pained expression.

“And where were you traveling to and for what purpose?”

“I-“ Twilight hesitated as her mind came up with a blank once more. “I do not know.”

The unicorn gave another nod. “Do you know what happened for you to wake up here?”

Twilight shook her head.

“I see…” the pale blue pony frowned, ears drooping a bit as his eyes narrowed in thoughtfulness. He opened his mouth to speak once more, but was interrupted by a door opening and the sound of a toilet flushing.

“I-I do apologize, but I am ready to see Miss Twilight.” The orange pony stated,

Sig let out a sigh as he took a few steps back. “Of course, she’s all yours.”

“I… wasn’t interrupting anything was I?” Doctor Pill asked, causing Twilight to arch a brow in question.

“I was simply in the middle of ensuring patient is oriented sir. Responsively she seems to be fine, but her memory seems to be rather shaky.” Sig quickly stated

The orange pony blinked, as though he were unsure how to make of this scene. A cough from Celestia shook him out of his stupor, causing him to shake his head. “Yes, well that can often times happen with ponies who have just woken. We’ll have to do further analysis to see exactly how far back her memories goes to ensure she can properly readjust back to pony society without much trouble…” He mumbled as he levitated a board with sheets of paper… clipped to it?

Twilight stared at the clip, wondering exactly what that was and how helpful it seemed.

Doctor Pill didn’t notice her curiosity as he stared at the board, flipping a few sheets of paper back and forth. Upon notice of a particular bit of information, he would give a small frown before continuing off to another sheet. Once he finished going over the charts, he finally looked up and levitated a small cylindered object out of his pocket and pushed something on the side, allowing light to pour forth from one end.

Twilight’s eyebrows shot up at the sight of this new device as she tried to wrap her head around how it worked. She quickly theorized and logically concluded with a very basic outline of it within her mind, that the object was actually hollow, and there was an enchantment (and a rather powerful one at that considering how bright it was shining) on the inside holding “light” therefore allowing it to shine in one direction along with a reflective coating around said enchantment to further allow maximum results. Before she could question the Doctor about her theory though, he spoke up.

“Alright, I need you to look straight ahead and try not to blink.” He stated, and before Twilight could ask why, light suddenly beamed into her retinas, causing her to reel back and shut them and groan.

If she wasn’t awake and alert before, she definitely was now.

“WHAT art ye doing?” She hissed.

“I know it’s a bit uncomfortable…”

Twilight scoffed

“But I really need to check to ensure that there is no trauma or injury within your brain.” The doctor continued

Immediately curious, Twilight peeked back at the Doctor warily, “And pray tell fair Doctor, how dost shining your…” she eyeballed the foreign object still floating mid air. “er…”

“Penlight.” Sig supplied.

“… What an odd name… it does not even write... unless it is indeed capable of such performance?” Twilight mumbled in question mostly to her self, but Celestia and Sig heard it nonetheless and both gave a low chuckle. “How dost shining your… light” She continued, obviously unsatisfied with the previous title. “Help with your… assessment of one’s brain trauma and injury?”

“I…” The doctor gave a nervous glance to Sig and Celestia, the latter giving him a firm nod that basically ordered him to answer her question. He quickly gave a polite cough to cover up his sheer incredulity of the situation. “Well, by shining light into your pupil, I am able to ensure and properly assess whether or not the size of your pupils are equal and whether or not your eyes are receiving proper signals to constrict. If they’re not, then that tells me that your brain is suffering from injury. It’s a really basic procedure, but in your case it’s important seeing as-“

Sig gave a small cough to interrupt the Doctor, who suddenly began sweating a little as he shook his head. “A-Anyway, it’s important that you allow me to do this.”

Twilight gave a thoughtful frown as she processed this information. “But why-“

“Twilight,” The white alicorn intervened. “I’m sure Doctor Pill appreciates all the questions that you may have, but I’m certain that he would much prefer finishing his examination to ensure that you are healthy.”

“Oh.” Purple eyes blinked before she straightened herself. “Of course, my sincerest apologies Doctor. I did not mean to prevent you from your practice.”

This time, the Doctor couldn’t do anything more than blink in surprise before shaking his head, “It’s alright… Now, please look straight ahead and try not to blink.” He repeated his previous instruction as he brought up the odd object in front of Twilight once more, shining light into her eye.

“So… pray tell, how didst you think of this, penlight?” Twilight idly asked as Doctor Pill switched over to her other eye.

“Er… What?” He asked, incredulity returning to his tone.

“The penlight. What came upon you to think of such a clever magical appliance?” Twilight asked.

“I… uh…” the penlight lowered in hesitance.

“Which gem did you use to hold your light enchantment?” Twilight continued. “And which spell did you place within?”

“Er…”

“Also, I assume that the –“

“Twilight.” Celetia interrupted once more

“Oh… Right… my apologies once again.” Twilight sheepishly said, ears flattening.

Awkwardly, Doctor Pill levitated his clipboard back in front of him as well as another object, this time wooden, using it to… scratch at the paper. It seemed as though this wooden object was being used as a writing utensil of sorts. The sight caused Twilight to quirk an ear up in confusion. Before she could voice a question though, he spoke up.

“Alright, well all your vitals and reactions seem to be fine. Your heart rate seems to be a little slow, and your blood pressure is on the low side, but that’s normal as you have only been resting and haven’t been able to eat properly as of yet. We’ll have to keep the heart monitor and IV hooked up to you until we determine that you’re able to eat without any trouble. After we get your body back up to speed, then we can go ahead and give you your vaccinations. But other than those few things, you’re the picture of health.” The orange unicorn stated with a small smile, eliciting a scrunched up face of confusion from Twilight. Before she could pose another inquiry though, Sig interrupted once more.

“Actually Doctor Pill,” Sig interrupted, “I still need to finish assessment of her cognitive state. And I do believe you have another patient to see, so it would be in your best interest to leave.”

The look of nervousness and sweat returned to the Doctor’s face, “Y-Yes, of course. W-well then, I’ll be returning once again tomorrow at this time to do further check up on Twilight, but until then please do not hesitate to summon me if you need to.” Doctor Pill said before turning to Celestia and bowing. “If I may Your Majesty.”

The white alicorn nodded with a small smile, giving her permission for him to leave.

With another hasty bow, he hastily made his retreat to the door.

Once more, Sig turned and gave Twilight a beaming smile once the doors shut. “Now that we’ve finished with that, shall we finish our questioning?”

Twilight gave a raised brow, but decided to humor him and nodded her agreement.

“Excellent! Now, as you have stated before, you had trouble remembering two ponies.” He started, pausing as he gave Twilight an inquisitive look to confirm his statement, receiving a small nod he continued on. “But, you remember Princess Celestia here correct?” He asked, gesturing a hoof to said pony.

At this, Twilight smiled. “But of course!”

“And how do you know her?”

A scoff, “I grew up with her, she is like family.”

“I see. Can you-“

Celestia interrupted with a voice of disbelief, “Like-? Twilight, how could you say that?”

“Princess, please we-“ Sig tried to calm her

“How do you mean?” Twilight asked, confusion and hurt evident in her voice. She had thought that Celestia thought of her as family as well. “’Tis true, is it not? We grew up together, played together. Is that not similar to what other families do?”

“Yes, but- you… we are not just ‘like’ family” Celestia tried to reason, “You and Luna were, are-“

“Luna?” Twilight asked, dumbfounded

“Yes! Luna! My sister! The pony you-“ Celestia gasped as her magenta eyes met with confused purple ones, “…you don’t remember.” She whispered, sadness filling her eyes as ears began to droop, but just as quickly, anger flared through her, causing her ears to flatten against her head as she gave a snort of anger. Her billowing mane that previously gave a soft flow of waves, quickened as it began to frantically flicker about. The air around her warmed, small heats waves to form above her. “This is HIS fault…” She said in a low growl, venom dripping from her voice. “If it weren’t for-, If we didn’t NEED to… I would have-“

“Your Highness! Please!” Sig yelled in interruption.

Tears welled up in Celestia’s eyes as her mouth clicked shut, turning her head away so Twilight would be unable to look at her eyes.

Silence enveloped the room as Celestia slowly came to a calm.

Twilight’s ears were flattened against her head as her face distorted into confusion and shame for not knowing what Celestia was talking about, “Remember… what?”

A tired sigh came from the stallion, “That’s… you don’t need to worry about that right now. Let’s continue on.”

Twilight frown deepened, her ears pulling back as she turned and glared at Sig. “No. I do believe that it is time you tell me what exactly has happened to me to incur such questioning and…” She gestured to the foreign devices she was hooked up to with her free hoof, “This strange treatment.”

Sig sighed once again, “I understand that you might be feeling upset and confused, but-“

“I also believe that it is time you confess who you really are Signal Flare.” Twilight said with a tone that brooked for no argument

At her tone, the stallion felt as though he were a little colt caught with his hoof in the cookie jar, even feeling his ears drooping a little. “I uh…” He looked to Celestia for help, who merely shook her head before hanging it in resignation. “Very well then… I apologize for being so discreet, but upon your arrival we, Princess Celestia and I that is, determined that it would be more beneficial if we could find out about your state of mind so we can determine how to… ease you into the world… and how to… well tell you of your current condition… To do that, we thought it best if I were to pose as a medical assistant, to help allay any suspicion towards my inquiry and to… help prevent you from panicking.”

“You see Twilight… You’ve been... well, asleep. For about 1000 years, due to a curse.” He slowly stated.

Twilight blinked, glancing back and forth between Sig and Celestia, searching for signs of a fib. Finding no such signs, she felt her heart sink and her head becoming light.

“I must confess that I’m not very well adverse in your particular condition, as you are the only pony we know of to have such a peculiar effect, but as I know it-“

“It’s like a disease.” Celestia mournfully said, head hanging low in shame. “We were… in the midst of war and you were leading civilians to safety when you were struck with this… curse…”

The words echoed in Twilight’s head as her throat went dry. “W-War? I-I don’t…” She began stammering.

The white alicorn winced at the unspoken words.

She doesn’t remember.

Sig continued on, “Yes. And as far as this, curse, goes – according to the information we do have – it’s a rather slow and painful crystallization process that spreads throughout your inner body. The crystals that are created within you not only seem to slow down your movements due to stiffening the parts of your body it has taken effect, but the crystals themselves upset your inner magical balance at random intervals and significantly depletes or surges one of the magic bodies within you on a near constant basis. This is especially important in your case as you’re –“

“The embodiment of magical balance.” Twilight interrupted in a near whisper. “If one of my magic pools is constantly surging or depleting, it would cause myself to continuously try and counter or spend it in order to bring my body back into harmony, therefore forcing my connection to dissociate with the world’s magic, which may cause it to fluctuate and burst into this realm in different disastrous arrays.”

“Er. Yes.” Sig confirmed with surprise

Twilight lightly blushed, “I have been constantly told of what I am supposed to represent. It would be very difficult to forget such information.” She confessed

Sig nodded to show he understood, and continued on with his explanation. “From what I understand, there was no… instant cure found. Instead, you found that you could be cured if you were to go back into the magic planes, where your natural elemental body could help you recover in time.”

“You were meant to stay in slumber for over a thousand years Twilight.” Celestia said, tears welling up in her eyes once again. “But I- I failed you… I could not maintain balance for that long and as a result… you were made to return still ill.”

Twilight didn’t know what to say as she tried to wrap her head around all the information she was given.

“As the Archmage, I have been entrusted with this information and been asked to study this curse, with hopes that I am able to find a cure for you as this is a magical, as opposed to a medical, case. To start, I did some diagnostic spells,” Sig intervened by continuing the explanation, “And it seems that your curse is dormant – for now. But it seems that your… early release was met with some complications…” He said as his horn took on an orange-red glow, soon after a mirror was being levitated towards them.

Upon seeing herself, Twilight had an answer to a few of the questions that had emerged upon her waking and initial meeting with Celestia.

She had regressed back into the form of when she was a filly.

It was just too much.

Her breathing picked up, breaths coming rapidly and shortly, and her heart began to race.

“Twilight? Twilight, calm down please.” Celestia pleaded as Sig quietly walked out of the room to give the two some privacy.

Dimly she was aware of the foreign device making its’ odd noise much more rapidly.

Her mind became fuzzy, and her vision began to blur.

“Twilight, please. Focus on me.” Celestia said, her face coming into Twilight’s view.

“I-I…” Twilight began to stammer.

“Shhh. I’m here. I’m still here.” The white alicorn said, her voice shaky as she lowered her head and nuzzled Twilight.

She could only respond in heart wrenching sobs.

“I’m sorry.” Celestia whimpered as tears fell from her face.