I gazed with confusion as they set down several large plastic containers. "Here you go," announced one man in a hazmat suit. I signed the pad he was holding, and off he went.

And I was left with a bunch of sizable plastic tubs. Each was large enough to... No...

I grabbed for the edge of one of the higher crates and pulled it free with a loud pop of an air seal being broken. Inside was a dead pony, and air mask over their snout, their eyes closed, peaceful, and not moving. God. "Tell me you're alright. I reached in and gently shook the stallion, to no effect, but I did see something. A faint misting of the end of his gas mask. He was breathing! Thank all the gods.

I began prying the tops off the rest, setting each side by side. "What are those?" asked Starlight as she came in to check. "What they dropped off?" She leaned in over the top and scrambled backwards fairly instantly. "Sweet Celestia! Did they send us a bunch of bodies? Why?!"

"They're alive," I assured with a placating motion, "Just need to figure out how to--" I popped the last lid, and, of course, there was a paper in that one. "Here we are."

They were put into induced comas and shipped in airtight crates with oxygen supplies that would have run out, had they needed the proper amount of air during that time. "Turn them over to your medical staff for resuscitation." Man, they could have emailed me this info, preferably before I got a bunch of mostly-dead ponies in my lap... I quickly reached for the phone, just to hesitate.

"What's wrong?" Starlight was peering at me oddly.

"I was just thinking, even with medicine, these things aren't a 100% thing." I lifted into the air, leaving the phone behind. "I think I'll cheat on this one."

"Ooo, can I see?"

Um... I didn't know anyway for someone else to witness slowed reality. Starlight was a gem, but she was not a noodle. "I'll try to figure out how I can share that. For now..." I brought my hands together with a loud clap, reality focusing on the point and the sound.

I began plucking the needles in each of them and gently slapping them across the face. "Wakey wakey!" I swam back up to where I started just for the universe to stir.

"What? I say?" The first unicorn sat up, groggy, but awake. The others began to stir similarly, all of them coming to life. 100% success! "Where, oh, did we make it?" The stallion slipped free, literally, crashing to the ground with an ungainly splat.

A much larger pony was able to just step free, her eyes on me. "Director? I am Princess Celestia, and it is a pleasure to meet you." She dipped her head slightly. "I thought we'd be waking up with a lot more beeping, and doctors."

She was certainly large enough to fit what I knew of her. "It's really nice to meet you." I offered a hand and got a hoof in turn, but we did shake on it. "You were quite valued at your lab. I'm surprised they'd send you, of all ponies."

Celestia inclined her head. "I insisted. If I can help some of my ponies, I will do it." She winked gently. "Besides, I feel a steady eye on 'magic' is best, to keep it from getting out of hoof. I was told you're much farther ahead of it than we are, in most ways."

Most ways? "Are there ways you were ahead?"

"We understood the importance of cutie marks." She half turned, displaying her butt, or rather the suns on her butt. "A pony can work magic relating to their mark more easily. Ponies with a mark of magic can do it all a bit easier, but lack the specialization of a more specific mark."

Well, shoot, that was good information! "Thank you for sharing. Twilight is going to be--"

"--oh, yes! I can't wait to meet her." Celestia brought her hooves together in a loud clop. "She was an interesting pony on Discord, but in the real world will be even better, I feel certain."

"Pardon?" A voice came from a new mare. She was not a unicorn. I hadn't noticed at first, kinda panicking and all. "Yes, hello."

It was a chubby mare. Wait, I'd seen her before! Where, where... I know I had... "Welcome. Pardon the asking, but why did they send you?" She obviously couldn't do magic.

"About that. There was a pony here that wanted to meet me very much." She smiled timidly. "And he seemed like a nice pony. We've been chatting... I... just want to meet him."

That... "You realize that was, probably a one way trip. Getting you all here was already quite the feat." I offered a hand to help her get out of the crate. "I mean, seriously, welcome. We'll get you a room, promise. I'm just a little floored. This isn't really a vacation..."

"I know that, dear." She shook her rounded form out, looking more awake. "Maybe I was foolish, but it's too late to second guess myself now."

The population of the lab had grown that day. I began making the calls to get them rooms and added to the family. At least they were all in good spirits. "Ma'am?" The first unicorn was looking at me. "Pardon my saying so, but you are a curious case." He adjusted his monocle softly. "I am Fancy Pants." He had no pants, fancy or not. "Pleasure to meet you, director."

I offered a hand towards his extended hoof, shaking it as I held up the phone. "Mmm? Yeah, talking with one of the new patients right now. Fancy Pants? Unicorn, like most of them." Minus one. "Great." I hung up the phone, allowing me to focus on him. "I am the director, but I'm also a patient, as you can see. Thank you for helping us. Maybe we can get a lot of people a lot happier."

"I do hope we can." He nodded firmly. "Why I signed up to come. I confess, magic isn't my 'specialty', but I will try my level best." I glanced at his mark, three crowns? He was an aristocratic pony. I wasn't sure how that'd help, still...

"Thanks." Twilight would sort it out, in theory.

Susan's hooves came down on the bed on either side of Autumn's surprised face. "Why are you alright with this?"

"Pardon?" She wriggled in place, but didn't try to get away. "Alright with what?"

"I'm living with you, keeping you away from your boy." She tossed her head. "Who you never mentioned was your boy."

"You needed help!" squeaked Autumn. "So I gave it."

Susan leaned in, pressing her much larger snout to Autumn's. "You did it just because you were feeling nice?"

"Yes?" Autumn smiled awkwardly. "Is it... working?"

"I don't understand you." Susan thumped the bed they were on, making Autumn bounce in place. "I don't understand most of you. When I just made you lunch, that wasn't such a big deal. You were just cute little customers. I smiled. I gave you headpats..."

Autumn blinked as something wet struck her face. A big tear from the big kirin over her. "Did something happen?"

"Did something happen?!" stormed Susan, her form erupting into flames over Autumn. The bed, as fireproof as promised, did not join the flames. "Everything I knew would happen... happened. He left, he was taken away from me. Everything, gone..."

Autumn inclined her head faintly. "I'm here to talk about, promise, but you used a few too many 'hes' in there. Who left, who was--" Susan slammed the bed, making poor Autumn bounce. "Alright, not in the mood to chat! Right now is angry time, I get it."

"Angry time," repeated Susan as if she just liked the sound of it. "Right... Autumn... Right now is angry time."

Autumn suddenly darted, only to lift into the air. Looking over her shoulder, she could see Susan's horn glowing, holding her in the air. "Angry time?"

"Angry time," agreed Susan, thumping Autumn on the bed, then her hoof on Autumn's chest. "You want to know? Then listen. My husband, who I had no problems with? He left. Of course he did. His wife is gone in some shady medical facility for who knows how long. He's taking my child for the ride. They're leaving, who knows where." The flames exploded from her in all directions, raining down little bits of drifting ash, still burning. "Even if I became human today, my life is over. Done. Done."

She suddenly jumped off the bed, raging with howls and slams of the ground and walls.

Autumn sat up, watching her friend melt down. But she hadn't been struck. She hadn't been tossed against a wall. For all of Susan's fury and sorry, Autumn was intact. "I'm so sorry... I won't just pretend I know what that's like."

"Good." Susan deflated, the flames guttering as she shrank into a miserable, but still quite large, pile of fur. "I doubt many do."

"But I still care." Autumn bounced down from the bed and began trotting over towards Susan. "Look, this will sound super strange, but you're a part of our family. We're not married, and we have no kids, but that doesn't even matter."

Susan smirked faintly at Autumn as she came in closer. "Because ponies are just nice little creatures."

"I'm not a pony," reminded Autumn. "But I'm still nice. And you're still a friend. So if the universe is being super unfair... You can tell me about it." She offered a hoof out wide. "I can listen."

Susan let out a slow noise, air escaping her. "You have no idea." Despite those words, she closed the step to bring them together, nuzzling the smaller kirin. "I want to tear him apart... As if that would somehow make him stay..."

"Okay, see... that I know the feeling of." Autumn grinned lopsidedly. "That's a bit of kirin peeking out."

"I'm not a kirin," stormed the large kirin. "I am a human woman."

"You're Susan, and that's good enough." She reached up to rub at Susan's belly with her cloven hoof. "That's good enough."

Susan shoved Autumn away suddenly. "You are a dork."

"Guilty."

The two met in a gentle hug.

"Twilight Sparkle."

Twilight went rigid. Something deep inside of her reacted to that call of her name. She turned quickly, spinning on one hoof to face the great big winged unicorn. "Oh... hello? Wait! Celestia?"

Celestia smiled gently. "I asked them to not warn you of my coming. I see they..." Twilight had passed out on the ground. "Oh dear." That was not the intended goal.

Twilight woke to water splashing against her face. "Dearest Twilight, I have come to help. Are you alright?"

Twilight sat up sharply, almost poking Celestia. "But how?! I mean, you were a country away, and very contagious." She rubbed one arm with the other hoof. "Like me. They wouldn't let either of us walk out like that."

"And they didn't," assured Celestia in that kindly tone she had. "They put me to sleep, and I woke up here." She curled a wing around to lift Twilight's face. "And here I am, to help with your project. There is still room for me, I hope?"

"Of course!" Twilight beamed up at the big slice of pony, feeling somehow safer around her. "It's really nice to meet you, in the flesh. I'm Twilight Sparkle."

"This I know, but I am Princess Celestia," she reintroduced. "Let's work together, to make a lot of ponies, and humans, happier."

"Yes, exactly that." Twilight nodded firmly. "No wonder the ponies liked you, you are... very nice to be around, and we've only met in person for about a minute." She rubbed her cheek thoughtfully. "Maybe that's your talent? Let's get started!" And she had recovered, launching into demonstrations of magic and determining where Celestia was in the process.

They had work to do!

Author's Note

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