True to form, the exhausted unicorn thought, it had indeed taken all night. Not that Trixie could really tell, the dark void she sat in as featureless as ever. She’d hoped that she could feel the sun’s warmth as it rose even in whatever this place was, but the constant chill never left, a constant that never changed. She panted, collapsing to her haunches for a second as she tried to get her breath back.

“Don’t stop so soon dear student, you’ve only just begun!” Princess Luna’s goading had been her only companion the entire night, Trixie beginning to wonder if she didn’t prefer being left alone in this nightmarish hole. Hours had been spent chasing after the Princess, a variety of methods attempted and none getting her an inch closer than before. If anything, the Princess seemed miles away by this point, even as her voice still came as if beside her. It was truly maddening.

Trixie had tried charging the Princess down, she’d tried slowly walking up to her, she’d even tried casually strolling up like a pair of old friends and swinging her hoof around Luna’s neck; nothing had worked. Just as a test she’d also tried gripping something, anything of the Princess’ with her magic, an entirely fruitless test that only served to temporarily upset Luna and make her reappear even further away than usual. Trixie was running out of ideas at this point.

Shakily pulling herself back onto her hooves, she began a slow trot towards the Princess, breath still heavy. Blinking came slowly to her, weariness overtaking her whether she wanted it to or not, though it appeared she wasn’t alone in that. As she began to near Luna, she was able to get a look at her face: The Princess, beneath that neutral smile and careful gaze, seemed tired as well. Bags were forming under her azure eyes, and her lips strained to maintain the same expression, the only thing remaining the same as earlier being the energy in her voice, “Trying the same thing again? I must wonder what goes on through your head sometimes.”

“Please let me catch you,” Trixie’s response came out half growling, half pleading, desperate and frustrated that there was still no end in sight. Luna merely tsked, and tsked the whole while as her student plodded along towards her. By the time she reached Luna she felt on the verge of tears, carelessly swinging her leg out in the hopes of finally ending this. Then, as every other time she had tried this, Luna reappeared elsewhere, further off this time than she had every time before.

She fell to her haunches once again, the will to continue draining from her. She closed her eyes, breath ragged as she embraced the fatigue dwelling within her. She didn’t know how to do it, she really didn’t; Luna had evidently picked the wrong student, if she couldn’t even get past the first test, “Trixie, you haven’t given up, have you?” Trixie shook her head in resignation, closed eyes watering as her voice choked in her throat. She was going to lose everything she had, and in addition to that there was something visceral in the realization that she was failing the Princess, “Please, Trixie. One more try, okay? You can do it, go on.”

She groaned a sigh, upset that Luna was still making her work for it in her despair. She pulled herself up again, legs barely keeping up with the ache in her bones, but she kept her eyes close shut in defiance. If she was still doing this, she was going to at least give her poor eyes the rest they needed. She didn’t remember where she saw Luna though… No matter, she would pick a direction and walk it. If she got really, truly lucky, then she would simply walk right into the Princess.

It felt like minutes, one hoof in front of the other while her eyes began drifting off behind their lids, Trixie only moments away from falling asleep before a voice suddenly called out from behind her, “Oh my! I think that was the closest you’ve gotten all night!” Awake within seconds, she spun round with eyes wide open to see that Luna was indeed only a hoof away. Excitement coursed through her as she reached out, ready to finally finish with this, dread gripping her heart as Luna disappeared a hair’s breadth away from her hoof, “Oh I’m so sorry, Trixie. I was not there.”

Her heart was still, the shock freezing her while she grappled with the knowledge that escape had been right there. Tears welled up in her eyes, pupils constricted as she stared at where Luna had been. That was until she gritted her teeth and focused, fending off the wave of sleep that begged to take her away. She closed her eyes again, intent clear this time. She would not let Luna escape her grasp again.

A thought gave her pause, dragging her willful charge to a halt: She had no idea how she was going to do it. It had to be possible of course, as it seemed she had almost done it, but the specifics eluded her. Why was this so hard?! Everytime she had reached Luna, Luna had somehow gotten even further than before, which meant chasing her was just doing nothing. Somehow she doubted blindly walking off would truly work again, for Luna had somehow appeared behind her, a position she would only inevitably get further and further away from.

No, what if she was going about this the entirely wrong way? Luna’s magic didn’t work like the, the Celestian Method she called it, the way Trixie understood. It didn’t follow the same rules, clearly, but how was she to figure out how it worked from within these bounds? Wait… Had Luna given her a clue earlier? From before the test even started, when Trixie had asked if she would be able to perform the same feats as her. Luna had noted the word perform as ‘apt’. A performance… Was any of this even real? She supposed the thought might’ve occurred to her earlier, had the suddenness of the test and sheer frustration she’d felt all night not overshadowed such thinking.

A performance then, was it all illusions? If so, then the Luna she’d been seeing all night must’ve been a decoy, meant to keep her away from the true Luna’s position! Then, she took note of something. Luna had been silent, her form too far to make out her expression, but Trixie could’ve sworn she felt Luna’s smile on her, warmer than she’d felt all night. The lack of Luna’s typical goading was confirmation enough for her, but that left one question. How in Equestria was she meant to locate Luna’s actual position?

She closed her eyes shut again, breathing deep as she tried to center herself. Without her senses to guide her, she had to rely on magic to find Luna. Her traditional magic would be of no help though; the illusions she typically made were nothing like this if she was right about it all being fake. Celestian illusions, in her line of work, functioned by projecting imagined images into the physical world, something all can witness but can choose whether to believe or not. This, this was an entirely different process, something that truth be told she was excited to learn. If she ever got out of here, that was.

Eyes held tight, she focused inwards, trying to imagine some soul pond within herself that she could draw upon and harness. When that failed, she continued trying, imagining other variations: a well, a swimming pool, even a pot. All she succeeded in was giving herself a headache, mind angry that she was still awake in the first place. What in Tartarus was the soul meant to feel like?! What use was it if she couldn’t call on it like her regular magic? She gritted her teeth, sitting herself back down as she tried thinking it through slowly. Was this all hopeless? Maybe her earlier thoughts were right, she really had no means of getting through this test. She let go, tension flowing from her body while embracing the overwhelming fatigue that’d hit her.

Then she noticed it. That small, inner twinge of recognition, like when you can feel some unseen pony’s gaze on you. It felt close, and she recognized that she didn’t feel alone, even with the knowledge that Luna had been so very far away. Her breath came as shaky as the hoof she raised, leg slowly stretching out to touch the nearby presence. She was ready for disappointment, for sleep to suddenly take her and to later wake up in her cell a failure. Fur.

Soft and worn like well-loved silk, for the first time in hours she felt something under her hoof. Her eyes flew open, blinded by the morning sun ahead of her before quickly adapting. Luna stood above her, in the very same position beside the pond as when they’d began that night, true to her word of never moving. Mentally, Trixie registered that she was still in the same position as well, and yet somehow she still felt all her limbs aching. Whatever, she thought, it meant nothing when she had actually done it!

“Well done.” Luna smiled brightly at her young student, pride beaming in her gaze at last. Trixie couldn’t help but return the smile, hers growing til it felt wider than her own face, eyes burning as tears of relief and joy came simultaneously, “I believe we are ready to rest for the day.” Trixie nodded, body giving out midway before she toppled over, sleep having forcibly taken her at last.

Rainbow Dash was on the guards in seconds, wings having to flap hard just to slow enough to speak to them. A masculine voice from the head of their group called out to her, annoyance breaking through into his apologetic words, “Excuse us ma’am, but this is a private matter. Interference is not necessary or wanted.” She rolled her eyes, like she was going to just ignore the obvious trouble before her, speaking almost lazily as she kept up with them,

“Oh yeah? What’s going on, who is this guy, what’d he do?” The earth pony guard huffed, speech coming difficult as they kept up the chase on the crazed pony,

“It’s not a matter of public- hah, concern. Please desist immediately.” She eyed the guards before her, easily keeping up even as they pushed themselves to run faster. The storm of girded hooves against the crystal street beneath them almost drowned out the ravings of the one they sought,

“Do they dream us life?! Does the sleeping slumber?!” They turned almost unnaturally quick, body uncomfortably contorting beneath them as they chose a new street to flee down. Rainbow heard screaming, new ponies confronted by this unknown danger. She had enough of the guard’s garbage about ‘desisting’, she’d stop the crazy pony before they could hurt anypony! Bolting forward down the new street, she witnessed crystal ponies running away in all different directions as the crazed one continued their mindless sprint. With one hard flap of the wings, she thrust forwards at a tremendous speed, tackling them to the ground before they could take another step. Hah! That wasn’t so hard.

She held the pony down on the ground, trying to not watch as their head lolled thoughtlessly across the crystal bricks underneath. Eventually the guard caught up to them, panting all the while as they began processing their capture, “Thank you for the… assist, if it did go against every protocol we have.” Their lead, a cream grey earth pony, squinted his eyes at her, glare no where near as grateful as his words tried to sound, “May we have your name?” Rainbow puffed her chest out, glad to have the chance to let somepony around here know who to thank,

“The name’s Rainbow Dash, and don’t you forget it!” The guard hmph’ed, his glare turning more appraising as he gave her a closer look,

“One of the Elements of Harmony? Guess I can’t say it’s a surprise you helped out then, even if we did tell you not to.” She beamed, smiling wide at the recognition. It was a warm feeling in your body, feeling known and appreciated by ponies everywhere. Then she remembered where she was, and remembered the crazed pony before her being cuffed and shackled by the other guards.

“Hey wait, what’d this guy do exactly?” An orange unicorn stallion in the back perked up, looking at her and eagerly explaining,

“There’s tons of crazies just like ‘em all round lately, it’s just better that we round them up and throw ‘em in with the others.” The leader smacked him right upside the back of the head, hissing something under his breath into the unicorn’s ear,

“Apologies ma’am, he’s new. But yes, we’ve had a recent influx of ill ponies like this one. We’ll be taking him to the Sanitarium, for care.” Riiight, Rainbow thought, not all too put off by the show but more intrigued at the new information. Twilight had tasked her with a job exactly like this one, discovering clues by talking to ponies. Trying her luck, she asked again,

“So what’s this Sanitarium place you’re taking them?” The newbie responded again, their superior’s reprimand forgotten already,

“It’ll probably be the Blessing Well Sanitarium, just off East Palace street coming from the Crystal Castle, you can’t miss it.” Another smack to the back of the head silenced them, this time hard enough to knock his helmet clean off.

“What in the Tartarus pits are you doing pestering an Element of Harmony with this drivel?!” The lead guard growled at his subordinate, not so quiet this time as Rainbow heard it clear as day. Now she was getting uncomfortable, hooves shuffling and deciding to leave before she could become witness to a full-blown lecture. Feeling no need to interrupt their exchange, she instead took to the sky, flying to where she remembered East Palace street being.

Minutes later, and after receiving directions from a confused pedestrian, Rainbow Dash found herself on the front steps of the Blessing Well Sanitarium. It was a grand structure, three stories tall at least and wider than a university building. Ground windows indicated a basement, though they were tinted and couldn’t be seen through. It was altogether pristine and professional, the outside coated in almost too shiny white paint.

It rubbed her the wrong way, somehow already confused by its perfect exterior. It wasn’t like she had the privilege of lingering on it though, still stood on the front steps and needing to actually investigate. She climbed the steps, pushing past double doors into the building where it felt even stranger. White tile floors, white walls, white reflective ceilings, freaking white lights! The entire place was coated top to bottom in white, and far too clean. There wasn’t a speck of dust in sight, not a single other color than white to be seen. Even the ponies were white! A pair of ponies in white lab coats spoke in hushed tones as they passed through one double door into the room and out past another.

A pegasus sat behind a receptionist desk, also white, as she used her wings to flip through files in a cabinet. Rainbow heard her muttering some unknown expletives as she pulled some folder out with her teeth before quickly examining it and throwing it back into the cabinet. Rainbow didn’t have the chance to speak up before the mare glanced her way, eyes wincing at the sight of the multi-colored pony. A sickly sweet smile appeared on her face in a flash, attention turned to Rainbow now, “Hi there! Welcome to Blessing Well Sanitarium, the only place of love and caring in a thirty-mile radius! Haha, I kid! I’m Gratuity, is there anything I can help you with today?”

Rainbow took a step back, surprised by the obviously well-rehearsed speech and quick change in attitude. The fake smile, the entirely white room and pony before her, it threw her off. It was… too clean, devoid of character save for its uniform color. Gah, she needed to focus, “I uh, what is a sanitarium exactly?”

“Oh that’s easy! We’re the premier care center for ponies with ailments resulting from the previous reign of-” Her voice dropped to a whisper, careful to not be heard by any but Rainbow, “- King Sombra.” Her voice bounced back to normal, “Anything else I can help you with?” That… didn’t explain as much as she would’ve liked it to, Rainbow frowning before asking again,

“Right, okay, what kind of ‘ailments’ or whatever do you guys care for?” The pegasus’ cheeks twitched, trying to maintain the same smile as before,

“There’s a wide variety spawning as a result of the prior ruler’s actions! Psychosis, depression, schizophrenia, paranoia, heartbreak, nightmares-” Rainbow coughed, not following so far,

“You can’t put nightmares in the same category as psychosis and schizophrenia, they’re not even close!” The receptionist’s smile fell, her eyes looking at Rainbow with the same pity one would have for a sick puppy,

“Oh but I assure you, we do. Right-” Her smile reappeared as though never interrupted, “We also treat PTSD, amnesia, severe phobias, and a laundry list of various other ailments.” Her little list finished, she sat quietly and awaited Rainbow’s next question, smile careful to not leave her face again. Rainbow on the other hoof, wasn’t so sure where to go from here. Her questions had been answered, yet she didn’t know what to make of them. Suddenly a voice rang out from deeper in the building, warbling as its source screamed,

“The dark awakes another?! When none sleep, where will we go?!” The receptionist simply laughed it off, waving her hoof as she tried to grab Rainbow’s attention,

“Oh that must just be one of our very loudest patients; they always get a little antsy when a newcomer arrives for treatment. Actually, I hear we have you to thank for our newest arrival, Rainbow Dash!” What? She hadn’t said her name yet… Taking a step back, she eyed the pegasus with renewed suspicion,

“How do you know that?” The receptionist giggled, taking the mare’s side-eyeing all in good fun,

“I received the news only moments before you arrived, and I can’t imagine anypony other than the one in front of me being named ‘Rainbow Dash’!”

“Well uh, I guess that makes sense.” She rubbed the back of her head, unsure whether to take the ‘thanks’ or not. She distinctly got the sense that the mare didn’t care in the slightest for it, and yet still had to thank Rainbow regardless. It, all of it, was starting to get to her, her fur standing on end at the unease she felt in this place. One last question came to her though, something unbidden but logical as she thought it over, “How long has this place been running?”

The receptionist tilted her head, not having expected that line but willing to answer regardless, “Blessing Well Sanitarium has been functional since Blessing Well herself founded it two hundred years ago! Ahem, one thousand two hundred, if you account for that whole disappearance business.”

It had been nice seeing Shining and Cadance again, especially when they were so understanding of the task given to her by Princess Celestia. They’d readily offered her anything she needed for her investigation, Twilight’s first stop of course being the Crystal Castle’s archives. They didn’t have time to personally help, which made sense to her when they were busy being rulers of the Empire, and she was endlessly grateful that she’d been granted even this much.

If only the search had gone better. She’d gone over two dozen scrolls and ancient tomes already, and not a single one of them had anything of relevance at all to her mission. Old trade records between the Crystal Empire and Equestria, with copies galore; A well-preserved student’s dissertation on the differences between two ancient Crystal pony philosphers, Twilight would’ve liked to examine that one closer had she the time; A time-worn scroll detailing a recipe for traditional Crystal Empire quiche.

Twilight groaned, throwing her head back in frustration. All she needed was one sentence, one phrase, one word! None of them so far had even mentioned Sombra! The tan colored archivist walked over, a stack of scrolls held in her magical grip while shaking her head in apology, blowing a strand of her long black mane out of her face before speaking, “My sincerest apologies, Princess. I’d have sworn there was something here about King Sombra. Perhaps I only dreamt it?” Twilight pulled her head back down, rubbing her temples with her hooves as she sighed,

“It’s alright, Ink Well. I don’t believe there’s nothing here, we just have to find it.”

“Of course, Princess. I’m sure we’ll find something, let me see if anything got lost in the back.” Ink Well set her scrolls down beside Twilight, strolling to the back of the room. Now Twilight found herself surrounded by ancient literature on all sides, not that she minded. It was rather cozy.

“Twilight dear, it may not be a complete loss. I found this rather fascinating document, explaining how the crystal ponies of back then liked their fashion. See, it seems that the balls they held-” Slam! The archive door flung open before a blue blur flew into the room, skidding across the ground and stopping only a breath away from crashing into the millenia old texts before Twilight. Heartbeat racing in the knowledge that all this information could’ve been lost right then and there, she was cut off before she could speak,

“Twilight! I think I found something! It’s the weirdest place, the sanitarium, and it’s full of ponies who’ve been affected with stuff because of Sombra!”

“Rainbow Dash, did you have to burst in here so dangerously because of that?!” Twilight had to hold herself back from yelling, upset that her friend had so carelessly endangered her own investigation. She knew Rainbow was just doing her best to aid in her task so, taking a deep breath, she further added, “I already know about the sanitariums, Rainbow. I don’t think we’re going to find all that much at one.”

“You don’t get it Twilight, it was super strange! They treat all kinds of things that came from Sombra, and they even knew my name-”

“Did you help with that chase earlier, by the train station?”

“Uh, yeah? I don’t see-”

“That’d be why they knew you. Really Rainbow, there’s nothing all that strange about it. I don’t think you’re going to get much out of some sick ponies and their doctors.” A sanitarium? Please. Sure, they were essentially a non-existent concept in Equestria, but it made plenty of sense for the Crystal Empire. King Sombra’s reign was still living memory for much of the population.

“You really aren’t getting it, Twilight. You didn’t see this place! We gotta get the girls together and check the place out!” Twilight sighed, it seemed like Dash wasn’t getting it herself.

“Rainbow, I’m really sorry, but I need to get back to this, to my own investigation.” Rainbow’s face fell, so put off by her friend’s dismissal. Twilight wanted to groan again, but kept her cool, “I gave Pinkie the same mission as you, right? Why don’t you go get with her, and check the place out again? Ask Shining and he’ll probably get you authorization to enter the facility, and then you can investigate all you like.”

Her friend’s spirits soared, hopping to her hooves and wings flared, “You got it! Don’t worry, I’ll find out what’s going on!”

“Wait!” She had to shout to catch Rainbow’s attention before she left, the pegasus confused at being stopped so soon, “Be careful, okay? Not that I think you’ll get hurt, but there’s likely some sick ponies in there. Ponies who don’t want to be bothered or reminded of Sombra. Please, please don’t cause any trouble for them, okay?” Rainbow saluted, confidence beaming from her face,

“Of course! Who do you think I am? I got this!” She flew out of the room then, the gusts generated by her wings threatening to knock the stacks of scrolls over.

“Right, so I gather no one wants to hear about what I found?” Rarity sighed from her corner, going back to reading the book she’d been holding. Twilight shook her head clear, she had to get back to work. She picked the last scroll she’d read back up, the quiche recipe. There had to be a reason it was included in the archives, alongside the aged history books and old missives. Perhaps it was written in code?

Author's Note

Oof, sorry for the wait! Took longer than I had planned; getting sick kinda saps my enjoyment for everything.

Fun fact, I planned to name the Sanitarium the Radiant Hope Sanitarium, until on a whim I looked up Sombra on the wiki for some rereading, and discovered his friend in the comics was also named that?! I swear, I've never read a single one of those before!