Author's Note

oh my gosh im sorry this took SO long. im hoping to get the next one out a LOT faster.

"twilight - art thou awake?"

Twilight's head felt as if a thousand supernovas had all set off inside her very own brain all at once. She barely even registered Luna's voice, much less was she able to make her out against the blurred and melting together colors of the environment around her. She groaned, trying to part her lips to muscle out a response but finding that her words were still not caught up with the rest of her.

She took a breath, counting carefully as she inhaled and exhaled. It was a trick she usually used for panicked spiraling, but world-bending headaches were probably an okay usage for it, too. After a moment of deliberate breathing, all of the swirling colors came together to make coherent form.

She was in what appeared to be a hospital room, sterile white walls lurching all around her on every side. There wasn't much to look at, besides medical equipment and complimentary water bottles on a small side table.

The only thing that really caught one's eye was the imposing figure of a blue alicorn, standing at the side of the bed and staring ahead with a vaguely concerned expression. Twilight blinked a few times to make sure she wasn't hallucinating, and then realized she'd ignored the question for quite a while now.

"Princess Luna?" Twilight mused, voice quiet and strained. "What - where am I? Or, rather... what happened?"

"We wish we could tell you." Luna replied, casting a glance to the nurse at the doorway, gesturing to dismiss her and let her know Twilight was alright. As the nurse trotted off, Luna spoke again. "We left our quarters to continue our duties for the day only to find that you had fainted in our hallway. The guards were scrambling to wake you, but you were, as they put it, out cold. We rushed you here, but the nurse says she couldn't find anything wrong with you."

"How very strange..." Twilight muttered. It was the next day- well past the dinner and whatever events followed afterwards.

"May we ask... what were you doing before you went unconscious?" The Princess inquired. Twilight searched her memory for the events before this one. She remembered sitting through an extremely boring dinner, speaking with Cadance and then... nothing. She shook her head from the effort.

"I'm sorry, Princess, I... I'm not sure. I can't remember anything after the dinner, really."

"This is troubling." Luna commented. "We wonder if you have not simply been overexerting yourself with your duties. Perhaps it is the stress of your Princesshood that has gotten the best of you."

Twilight was not fond of the way that her tone had shifted. There was something in her words that came off as a challenge. She wondered idly if the Princess was beginning to doubt her abilities.

Twilight would hate it if she decided that she hadn't been fit to rule after all.

"I'm not sure that's it, Princess." She cautioned, trying to keep her tone as even as ever. The throbbing headache had subdued somewhat, but there was still some sort of specific ache lingering at her temple. It was so pervasive. So all-encompassing. "I have had a history of stress but it doesn't usually happen all at once."

"My friends are always keeping a close eye on me. I never stray far without somepony bringing it up to me. If I was only overdoing it I'd have heard an earful from Rainbow Dash or Applejack or- at the very least, Spike!"

"I'm worried this was something else. Something intentional." She concluded. Luna shifted on her hooves, ears twitching as she became silent in thought.

The alicorn stood and walked elegantly over to the window. She drew back the curtain with a starry aura of magic, and stared into the day. It was almost early afternoon.

A tiredness edged its way onto Luna's face.

"We... suggest that you keep your eyes open, in that case." She replied, much too late. "If there is reason to think there may be a danger following you," she looked over at Twilight from the corner of her eye. "We will be swift to eradicate its presence."

"Thank you, Princess." Twilight said. She was always grateful to have Luna's support. She always knew what was best for her.

"We must be going. The sun has some travel to do before long."

She watched as Luna left the room, closing the door behind her. Twilight sighed, wanting to get out of bed and leave but understanding she had to be officially set free by the nurses before she could go.

"TWILIGHT!"

The squeaky voice belonged to Pinkie Pie, who was waiting for Twilight outside the hospital with the rest of their friends. Before she could blink, pink hooves were squeezed around her in a tight hug.

"You had all'a us plum worried, sugarcube," followed Applejack's drawl. The other five mares closed the distance between them, offering her a much lighter embrace than the one Pinkie was giving her. "What in the world happened to ya?"

"It was nothing, girls." Twilight replied. When she was met with the narrowed skepticism in their gazes, she thought she'd better continue. "Rather, it seems they didn't actually find anything."

"But..." Fluttershy muttered before she could be interrupted. "We were told that you fainted. That doesn't sound like nothing..."

"Nopony just faints for no reason, Twi!" Rainbow Dash contributed. "You have to have some idea of what happened!"

"Well, to tell you the truth," Twilight glanced from side to side, as if in conspiracy. "I'm a little bit suspicious. I've had a headache ever since."

"Well, darling, I'd be willing to bet that might be from the grimy floor that you collided with."

"You might be right, Rarity. But there's something about it that feels... different." She turned her head to see if there was anyone behind her, and then urged forward past her friends. "Let's go back to my place. It doesn't feel safe to discuss it here."

Her friends followed behind her, as perplexed as they were. As they passed each other, a few of them made nervous eye contact before keeping their sights on Twilight instead.

Back at Twilight's castle, the six of them were enthralled in a lengthy conversation.

She had explained her whereabouts just before the incident. The boring dinner. The dull ponies involved. At this point she'd thought about it enough that it was putting her to sleep all over again.

After trying to keep the mares focused on the topic of politics long enough, she told them of how there was a significant gap in her memory.

"It's strange. I swear I remember speaking to Princess Luna after I spoke with Cadance. But if I had passed out right then, why would she have told me she 'found' me in the hallway?" Twilight explained. "There's some time in between the Princesses leaving my side and me passed out in the castle hall."

"Now that I think about it," said Starlight, who had joined back up with the group when they got back. "If you were done with the dinner, I can't understand why you'd have been found in the hallway in the first place. If you were parting ways, shouldn't you have been preparing to leave to make it home before dark?"

"That's a good point. Why was I just wandering the hallways? Something is just not adding up here."

"Didn't you say there was something weird about your headache?" Rarity reminded her. Before Twilight could answer, Pinkie Pie seemed to have a thought.

"Oh! Oh! Was it a hangover?" She asked fervently. "I know that when Dashie goes too hard on the cider, she can get headaches for the WHOLE DAY after!"

"What? I do not!" Rainbow protested.

"That can't be it. I sipped some wine with my dinner, but not enough to lose my faculties." And the wine wasn't even that good. Twilight kept that thought to herself, though. "But my headache... it is strange."

"It doesn't feel so much like a normal headache as it does a side effect. Like when you get a vaccine or new medication." Twilight rose from her seat, and began pacing the room. "Light chills, the ghost of a fever, but worst of all a faint and thumping head pain. It's not like the soreness of a bad fall or the grogginess of an ill-timed nap."

"The reason that strikes me as odd is because... I think I know what kind of event can cause that feeling of sickness." Her horn lit up as she spoke, and whenever it did, something strange happened. For a brief moment, her magic sparked and crackled. It was like a fireplace given too much fuel. The smell of sweet smoke filled the air.

The small burst that popped from her horn was little more than a firework popper. Once it stopped, Twilight had no trouble at all levitating a cup to her lips for a sip of coffee.

"It's just as I thought." She mused. Not wanting to make her friends wait, Twilight was swift to go on. "This kind of effect is the result of a unicorn who's been afflicted with a spell of some kind. The tiny explosion you saw happens because of a magical buildup near the base moving outward towards the tip of the horn."

"This only happens if the spell in question was put on the unicorn to affect something to do with either her magic or her mind."

"Someone... put a spell on you without you knowing?" Fluttershy sounded worried, her eyes bugged with concern.

"That's my theory at least. It's actually possible for us to narrow down the kind of spell that was used if we study the other side effects as I go about my day." She turned to everyone. "That's why I'd like for all of you to stay with me and tell me if you notice anything troublesome about my demeanor or behavior."

"...ALL of us?" Rainbow asked, dreading the thought of sticking around just to observe for hours and hours.

"Yes!" Twilight replied with a cheerful grin. "All of you!"

She didn't seem to notice how unsure everyone seemed to be. They cared about her, and the concept that someone had cast a mysterious spell on her was extremely nerve-wracking.

"Well, if it's a way we can check up on ya and make sure you ain't in trouble, I say it's worth it. Right, Dash?" Applejack eyed the pegasus meaningfully.

Rainbow sighed, resigned.

"Right."

"I'm so glad to have all of you. It should be simple! Just stick around and sleep over, and in the morning if I feel all better we don't have to worry anymore." Twilight didn't feel half as confident as she sounded. The thought of somepony following her around still made her all paranoid and jumpy. She just hoped that it was really nothing after all.

Once her and all her friends separated from the table, she went about her business.

A whole day of spending time with her friends later, and Twilight didn't seem out of the ordinary. Occasional dizziness and perhaps a time or two where her vision blurred, but nothing else odd.

The night was winding down, and Twilight was laying in her bed. She was reading a book, particularly the number by Soul Scribe she had spoken to Starlight about.

Her friends were all in various other sleeping arrangements littered around her. Rainbow had already gone to bed, as did Rarity. Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie and especially Applejack remained on alert.

Twilight glanced at Spike, sleeping in his bed. She hadn't wanted to explain too much of the events to him and have him frightened. He knew that something was up, but he hadn't really questioned or pressed the issue too far.

She turned back to her book.

Obviously, my findings were of utmost importance. I couldn't help but wonder if

... What?

Twilight flipped the page over and saw that the book continued on the other side.

After our conversation, I became more curious than before. I wondered... if these fragments could be harvested, would I be able to discover the secrets of the crystal ponies glimmering forms? I only ached for not being able to see one in the flesh in my lifetime.

Twilight blinked. What was going on? There was an entire half page completely devoid of ink! When it continued, it seemed there was something vital entirely missing from the text.

Just as she parted her lips to try and bring up the issue to her friends who were still awake, she felt a strange heat on the back of her head.

The warmth spread around her head like a headband from either side, and when it touched the base of her horn... it started getting hotter. Quickly, the temperature raised against her forehead. Twilight sat up with a start.

"Girls!" She barked in surprise. The heat was raising to a point of pain. Not just pain... a sizzling, searing agony. "Aaah! Hot, hot, it's hot!" She jumped out of her bed and backed up, clumsily tripping over her own hooves.

"Sugarcube!?" Applejack and the others were quick to her side. "What's goin' on?"

"My- my horn!" Twilight croaked, the burning sensation making her eyes water. She felt the magic inside her horn fighting against it, sparkling and catching against the invisible flame like gunpowder to gasoline. Pops of raw energy splashed against the inside of her skull. "It hurts!"

"She looks fine, but... oh, what do we do?" Fluttershy tried to look around for something. The others were starting to stir now.

"Twilight, you look okay! What's-" Pinkie put a hoof against Twilight's head and immediately pulled it back with a sharp yelp. "Ouch!"

"What's it feel like, Pinkie, quick!" Applejack insisted.

"It's- It's hot like a stovetop!"

"How can we help?!" Rarity's voice prompted the mares to turn and look at her.

"Make it stop!" Twilight cried. "It's boiling!" Her voice had broken as hot tears welled up in her eyes. At this point, smoke had begun to plume off her horn.

"Rainbow... go get a cold cloth." Fluttershy spoke calmly, but firm. This was just the same as a wounded animal. She could help here. "Rarity, please grab a pillow."

The two ponies didn't need to hear it twice. Within a few seconds, they'd lowered Twilight's top half against a pillow on the ground and had Fluttershy pressing the cold cloth against the base of her horn.

For a while, Twilight just whimpered and cried big, rolling tears. Fluttershy hushed her and spoke gently until she started to quiet down.

After a bit, the pain subsided.

All that it left was silence, and a profound fear.