The entirety of the weekend was spent in my bed or on a couch. Saturday morning, I woke up feeling dizzy, nauseous, weak, and I even had a fever; I'm not sure if it was a result of getting hit in the head, using magic in a body not used to it, or if I caught something while I was out there. It actually got so bad that I forwent my morning constitutional, and passed out in the middle of breakfast.

When I next awoke, it was noon, and I was on the sofa in the living room. Night Light had been there, quietly typing away on a laptop marked with a sticker that marked it Property of Canterlot University. After helping me work through a minor emotional breakdown—and a flashback to a time when Cantata and I were sick, and Dad watched over us the whole day—he brought me soup. We just sort of talked for a bit, as much as we could with my sluggish body holding me back. I'm pretty sure he was trying to gauge my mental acuity, to see whether getting me to a hospital was on the table.

Mostly, though, I just listened to him talking about the stars, both in terms of physics and in folklore. Humans have learned a lot more about stars than ponies ever did, and it really made me question how much of the night-sky I saw back home was a continent-wide illusion, and how much was real. For most ponies, they were just there, with some of them closer or brighter than others. They couldn't tell you about their composition, their type, or a good approximation of how far they really were or how long it would take to reach them travelling at the speed of light.

Like, take the star Betelgeuse for example. It was the tenth brightest star in the night sky, and next to the sun the largest star visible to the naked eye—at least in the northern hemisphere. It's the second brightest star in the Orion constellation, and it was known for its nature as a red giant. If it suddenly replaced the Earth's sun, the star would consume the three inner planets and the main belt, reaching all the way out to Jupiter's orbit. It's hard to even imagine, but it's crazy.

That evening, Twilight brought her laptop down to the living room to show me a movie. Maybe it was that she felt bad that I was sick, or maybe given my experience yesterday, but she decided to show me the first of three films: Puella Magi Madoka Magica – Beginnings. Admittedly, the magical girls theme made sense given Twi's aspiration to inadvertently prove the existence of magic. With how cutesy it seemed, though, I was not prepared for how dark it got. It was interesting, but also horrifying.

The next day went roughly the same way, though it was spent with Twilight watching over me while Velvet and Night went shopping. We ended up watching the other two movies back-to-back, and I had to admit that I was kind of confused for most of the third. Still, it was kind of nice to get to spend more time with her after she'd cloistered herself away to work on her magic detector for so long.

Maybe watching her 'guilty pleasure' anime was a way of apologising? I didn't exactly know how her mind worked; for all I knew, she might have blamed herself for me going out and getting hurt, simply because she made herself unavailable—that maybe if she'd been with me, I wouldn't have gone seeking trouble. Then again, I think that would have been more a me reaction than a Twilight reaction.

As Sunday passed, though I did eventually start to feel better. The fever broke late in the afternoon, and the nausea and dizziness went away. Although Velvet was planning on keeping me home for Monday, I promised that I would only go if I was certain that I would be fine. Really, though, I was planning on going regardless. It was supposed to be a home game for the CPA soccer team, and I wanted to be there to support Indigo. Plus, I wanted to meet with Jinx in the morning, too.

The next morning, I caught the early bus to Crystal Prep. It was so early that barely anybody was in the halls, though more than a few stared a bit more than usual. Oh, the whole school knew about my walk through the halls in nothing but a towel, but for the most part nothing had really changed. Mostly, it was just guys leering at me. That said, the wound on my forehead really stuck out like a sore thumb as I put most of my stuff away in my locker and headed for the library.

Still, it was so early that I didn't even see Twilight on the bus. In fact, the only other students that seemed to be around were seniors. That was fine by me, though; I posed no threat to them socially or academically, so I was well under their radars. They had more important things to do than pay attention to little old me.

As I stepped into the school library, I was kind of surprised to see Jinx Charm seated at one of the work tables. Rather than any sort of books, however, she just had a mason jar full of a clear, crimson liquid and a deck of familiar cards. Strangely, upon seeing me, she lit up and waved me over.

"Good morning, Eventide," she quietly greeted, a smile clear on her face. "I've been expecting you."

As I took a seat across from her, I couldn't help but feel something was odd about her demeanour. She always seemed friendly whenever we crossed paths, but there was a knowing glint to her eye, as if she knew something I didn't. Rather than whip out the tablet, however, I wrote on my new whiteboard. Morning, Jinx. You were expecting me?

She just nodded once and patted the deck of cards. "I've known of your curiosity regarding my readings and potions for some time now, and that you were planning on taking me up on the offer of teaching you American Sign Language," she admitted. Jinx made a show of shuffling the deck of cards, and then fanned them out in front of me, urging that I take one. Playing along, I grabbed one at random and flipped it over, revealing 0 – The Fool. Upon seeing it, an amused smile spread across her face. "My morning reading told me that I would be visited by the Fool, and lo and behold she has come."

Somehow, I felt like I was being insulted, but I kept my mouth shut—metaphorically speaking. Instead, I let her talk. "I knew there was something special about you from the moment we met," she explained as her smile became a serene one. "You had the scent of magic upon you in the lock-up, faint though it was. Then, when you were forced to go streaking through the school, it was stronger yet." She steepled her hands. "Now, though, I can tell you've actively used it, and recently too."

I stared at her in unease. It was bad enough that Twilight was at risk of finding out, but now there was someone here who had somehow figured me out? How? And what else does she know?

"Relax," she soothed, sliding the mason jar over. "I'm not about to go blabbing to the entire school. Just because I'm a witch doesn't mean I'm a bitch." Jinx swept up the deck of cards and put them aside. "Now, if I had to guess, you've been feeling weak and sluggish since Saturday. This potion should put you right as rain."

There was a heavy silence as I weighed everything she said. Somehow, I didn't think the meaning tied to that Madoka anime was what she meant, and I had very little knowledge regarding the historical term. All I knew was that they were historically burned for using 'witchcraft', although it was heavily implied that witch burning was really a means of enforcing a patriarchy by purging women knowledgeable in the natural sciences.

Then there was the matter of her somehow knowing, and being able to smell it. Assuming that she was being truthful, that meant that she definitely wasn't a normal human being. Agent Shimmer all but confirmed there was magic in this world, and heavily implied a sort of magical underworld with malefic spirits and Fae. Was that really so farfetched?

My eyes flicked down to the jar containing the 'potion'. You swear this is what you say it is? I wrote. When she nodded, I bit my lip. If she was telling the truth, then I might end up feeling less drained. I had a theory that I was so drained because my body wasn't used to channelling magic, in which case the only way I'd even be able to get past that would be to keep doing it and building up stamina.

Before I could come to a decision, I felt someone press their body up against mine from behind. Based on the softness pressed against my shoulders, it was a female student. "Jinxie, darling, you never told me you were friends with the forbidden morsel," came a sophisticated voice somewhere near my ear. Prey instincts finely honed through millennia of pony evolution began to scream at me, and all I could really do was try to keep calm—especially when I felt her breath so close. "Your blood smells divine, Morsel, especially with the still-fresh scent of magic upon you. Why, if I didn't know what would happen to me, I might not be able to stop myself from having a little nibble."

Jinx, to her credit, didn't at all seem surprised by whatever was happening here. If anything, she just seemed annoyed as she removed her glasses and rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "Lady Fleur," the student librarian got out in an annoyed voice that somehow managed to still sound respectful. That caught me off guard, because for all the times I'd seen her, she mostly seemed like a rough-around-the-edges, irreverent sort of girl. "You promised that you would not do this sort of thing in the open at the school. It draws too much attention."

The girl pressing herself against me, eased off, before sashaying over to Jinx's side of the table. Now visible, I realised I'd seen this pale young woman several times since coming to CPA, especially at Sunny Flare's table. She'd been rather sickly looking on the last two archery days. Fleur de Lis, that was her name. She's in Twilight's year, if I'm not mistaken.

Violet eyes watched me from behind a curtain of pink locks, though I could have sworn her irises were blood between blinks. "Oh pish-posh, mon petite familier," Fleur crooned, invading Jinx's personal space and tracing a well-manicured nail up along the girl's carotid. "I only wished to say hello, from one unusual creature to another." She then forced Jinx to look into her eyes, which were definitely red now. "Besides, don't forget your place. I can just as easily take back your gifts, and then you'd just be a mere fortune-teller giving out herbal teas once more, rather than a genuine soothsayer and potioneer."

"Y-yes, Lady Fleur," she croaked. "I apologise."

I wasn't entirely sure what was happening here, but I was pretty sure that—if not for the fact that they apparently both knew of my nature—they would not be showing me this display. Either way, it put me very ill at ease. I'd heard of creatures that could grant lesser beings powers in exchange for servitude once before. Once, there were demons that for some reason favoured having the umbral pegasi as their thralls. Misunderstandings and the birth of the vampony myth led to a near genocide of the umbral pegasi, more commonly known today as the bat ponies, and all they really managed to do was ensure that those thralls would live to pass on their inherited shadow powers to future generations.

Fleur took a seat beside Jinx, and locked her still-red eyes with mine. With the way she was smiling, I could just make out an incisor that looked particularly long and sharp. "Now, Eventide, wasn't it?" Fleur asked, reaching out and tracing her fingertips around the top of the mysterious potion jar. I nodded shakily, suddenly unable to break eye contact. Something wasn't right, and I could feel myself being drawn in by her gaze. "Now, here's what's going to happen..."

When I blinked next, Fleur was gone and my mouth tasted vaguely of cherries and herbs, the now empty jar sitting in front of me. Strangely enough I was feeling leagues better than I had when I got in here. Even the spot I'd been smacked in the head with the gun didn't hurt as much. What the hell just happened?

Jinx just sighed and dragged an empty potion jar back across the table. "Sorry about her," she apologised. "I sometimes question what her queen was thinking, turning her when she's so young; alas, it isn't my place to cast doubts or aspersions upon my mistress." Shaking her head, she gave me a smile. "Now, I think you wanted to start learning sign language, right?"

Despite feeling much more energetic throughout the morning after that strange encounter, I still felt a bit dazed. The gist I got was that Jinx was a potioneer and/or witch of some sort, and that she was the servant of Fleur de Lis, who was some other magical creature native to this world. It might have been some form of hypnosis, because there was this strange compulsion to not mention any of that to anyone but Jinx or, Celestia forbid, Fleur.

As a result, I was a bit spacey in class all morning. The maths teacher seemed to revel in it, because it meant I wasn't on my A game. The geography teacher, on the other hand took one look at the knot on my forehead, and took me aside to ask if I was okay. Given how apathetic they always seemed, it wasn't something I was expecting—especially when they told me that if I needed to, I could go to the nurse's office to lie down.

Come lunch time, however, most of the daze wore off, and I was happy that the day was almost over. After getting myself some fish and chips from the food counter, I made my way over to the usual table. Indigo, Lemon, and Sugarcoat were all already there. Over at Sunny's table, I spotted Fleur giving me this look that inadvertently sent chills down my spine.

The first thing I noticed after taking a seat next to Lemon was her new headphones. Unlike the old ones, these ones had a real sleek look and looked to be of the noise cancelling, wireless variety. Definitely not a cheap purchase. For the moment, she had them down around her neck, though I didn't doubt that she'd start listening to tunes sooner or later.

Sugarcoat didn't seem any different than normal, but I quickly noticed that Indigo Zap was wearing a varsity jacket in the CPA colours, as were a few other students dotted throughout the cafeteria. Evidently, the soccer team was really pumped for the home game today, and they were trying to raise some school spirit. I wasn't sure that it was working for the rest of the school, but she seemed super pumped. Between the rejuvenating potion I'd been made to drink and her energy, I could kinda feel it.

"You look like shit," Sugarcoat oh so tactfully pointed out. "Did you get into some sort of fight?"

Indigo's jaw dropped as she saw the wound on my forehead. "Dude, what the hell happened to you?" she exclaimed, inadvertently drawing attention to our table.

I just rolled my eyes, got out my whiteboard, and scrawled out a quick explanation. I tried playing the good Samaritan on Friday. Ended up getting a gun pulled on me, and then pistol-whipped by this psycho from CHS named Lightning Dust.

Indigo's eyes narrowed, and it looked like she was fighting the desire to slam her palms down on the table and yell. Instead, she took a deep breath, and looked me in the eyes. "She's on the CHS soccer team with Rainbow Dash," she remarked, a somewhat vicious smirk on her face. "Just give the word and I'll fuck her up on the field and make it look like an accident."

Meanwhile, Lemon put her hand on my shoulder and asked, "Dude, are you okay?" It occurred to me that she probably felt a bit bad because she was one of the last people to see me before I went and got myself hurt. I probably would too in her situation.

I just waved it all off as I wiped down my board and wrote out another remark. There's no need for that. Assuming the person that psycho was beating on did what me and my foster brother told her when he came to pick me up, which was go to the police and her principal, that psychopath is probably expelled by now. Once they all saw what I wrote, I wiped down the board and started eating my fried and battered fish one handed. When given an 'Are you sure?' look, I just shrugged and kept eating.

After a few moments of thought, I took my gifted phone out and composed a short message to the contact labelled 'Shimmer'. Why wonder about whether Lightning Dust will show up when I can just straight up get the answer straight from the unicorn's mouth? As much as I liked the wordplay humans used, horse sounded too much like the slur whorse, and there was no way I was gonna disparage my maybe-sister like that.

Eventide: Got a question for you. Did you ever end up reporting Lightning to your school administration?
Shimmer: Oh yeah. My friends were furious when I told them about it on the weekend and made me go straight to Principal Celestia this morning. AJ had to keep Dash from killing her in the hallway. Pretty sure the cops just left with her after the principal expelled her, actually.
Shimmer: Why?
Eventide: My friend Indy was gonna risk getting suspended from the team if Lightning showed up for the soccer game at CPA.
Shimmer: 👍

Good news! You don't have to risk getting suspended. Bitch got expelled. I flashed to Lightning, earning a grin. Then I wiped it down and continued. Maybe don't give your rival too hard of a time about it. The one Lightning assaulted was one of her friends. Probably pissed enough as is. Either way, I'm gonna be in the stands, rooting for you.

"You're too nice for your own good," Sugarcoat quietly said, taking a book out of her backpack to read, now that she was finished eating. "People are going to take advantage of you if you keep being such a doormat."

Before Indigo could say anything, however, Lemon got this look on her face. She seemed really excited all of a sudden, and that was making me uneasy. "Guys, I just had an awesome idea," she exclaimed, looking from me to Sugarcoat with an almost manic look. "We should all cheer for Indy together!"

It seemed that the others knew what she had in mind, because the twin-tailed girl used her book to try and hide the blush spreading across her face. "Oh no," she muttered, shooting a glare at Lemon over the top of her book. "Tell me you're not planning what I think you're planning." Based on the grins that Lemon and Indigo were sharing, this was either going to be really funny, or really embarrassing.

Why do I feel like I'm suddenly in danger?

Author's Note

Sorry about the delay on this. I've been chasing so many plot bunnies lately, and I've settled on another side project, as mentioned in the comments of the previous chapters. In fact, I may have released it here on Fimfiction by the time this chapter goes up. I'd go so far as to say I've been hyperfixating on the other story.