Twilight's Fall

The door to the main hall of the castle creaked open, and five ponies quickly looked over to see who had entered. Babs Seed gave her friends a reassuring smile, a green saddle bag hanging over her back.

"It's just me," she said, her voice echoing throughout the large and dusty room. Blinkie Pie let out a heavy sigh, slumping her head on the cushion of the red chair she was sitting on.

"I'm so paranoid," she mumbled, "and... bored! Is it even possible to feel those two things at once?"

"Well, we haven't baked in about a week and we're still on the run," said Inkie Pie. "I'd say that's pretty reasonable." Apple Bloom and Minkie Pie were sitting next to one of the book shelves, a thin book lain out in front of them. Babs watched them curiously, knowing that Minkie Pie was still learning how to read.

"What's this word?" asked Apple Bloom kindly, though her voice had a hint of somberness.

"N... night..." Minkie said almost inaudibly. Babs furrowed her brow. Something was wrong; it hadn't sounded like Minkie didn't know the word, it sounded like she was strained. The others seemed to realize this too.

"You alright?" Inkie asked her older sister. Minkie Pie sniffled as tears rapidly began to fall from her green eyes. Apple Bloom immediately threw her arms around her.

"It's alright!" she exclaimed. "Ya were correct! It was night! You're doin just fine!"

"I'm not upset about that..." Minkie said, her lip trembling. "I... I feel so empty... I feel like my life was getting somewhere before it was ripped away when we were arrested..."

"I feel the same way," Blinkie growled. "When we were all reunited, I thought things were going to be just as fun as they were before, and that day with Fluttershy pretty much confirmed it. But now we're just sitting in the castle because we can't think of a good way to catch somepony, not with all the safety precautions and ponies looking for us. Babs can't do everything by herself."

"I uh... I brought some sugar..." Babs said, trying to smile and pulling out a medium bag of sugar from her saddle pack.

"Won't do much if we can't bake..." admitted Inkie Pie, and Minkie buried her face in her arms. Derpy fluttered over to try and help Apple Bloom comfort her.

"Where is Pinkie Pie?" asked Babs, suddenly noticing the most vibrant pony was missing. The others exchanged looks, all except for Minkie, for she was still sulking.

"She didn't come down this mornin," Apple Bloom said softly. "Last night, before we all went to bed, she got real quiet and hid in one of the rooms upstairs. We sorta all agreed to let her be. She hasn't been herself lately."

"I'll go see if she's okay," said Derpy, and she left Minkie's side to exit the hall. She flew up the crumbling stairs to the room she knew Pinkie had gone to the night before, and once she landed, gently pushed it open. "Pinkie Pie?" she whispered, seeing a shape in the far corner. Derpy slowly crept toward it, eyes adjusting to the darkness. There was a pink pony sitting with her face to the wall, but instead of the usual poofy mane, there was a sleek curtain hanging over the side of her face. "Pinkie Pie?"

"What is it?" Pinkie said in a dull voice that was only slightly louder than her oldest sister's.

"Are you alright?" said Derpy, feeling very worried.

"Does it matter?" Pinkie Pie was staring at the wall with an unchanging expression of grief. Her eyes were red and puffy, as if she had been crying.

"It matters to me... you're my bestest friend..." Derpy whimpered. She had never seen Pinkie Pie like this in her time of knowing her, and it scared her.

"Nothing matters," said Pinkie Pie, still in the same tone. "Not you, not me, not anypony. We're all worthless. Useless. Nothing matters."

"Pinkie Pie, you're scaring me..." The pink pony didn't respond, just continued to stare at the wall. Derpy bit her lip and wrapped her arms around Pinkie, flapping her wings and lifting her into the air with difficulty. Pinkie Pie didn't object to being carried out of the room and back downstairs.

"Pinkamena!" Blinkie Pie shouted when she saw her little sister's condition, leaping from the chair and rushing over to them as Derpy landed. The others came forward as well, worry plaguing their faces like an aggravated parasite.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Inkie Pie, touching Pinkie's flat mane.

"She keeps saying nothing matters," Derpy replied sadly. "I don't know what to do..."

"She's depressed," said Minkie Pie. "We need to lay her down and keep a close eye on her."

"She wouldn't hurt herself, would she?" said Apple Bloom in alarm.

"I can't be too sure, I've never seen her like this. But I know how it feels to be in this state, so we shouldn't take any chances," said Minkie. They all nodded, and Inkie and Blinkie carefully took Pinkie Pie from Derpy and hoisted her up onto a couch, laying her down. Babs looked on, feeling miserable herself as she watched Minkie Pie stroke her youngest sister's hair, humming softly. Minkie may have just been crying a moment ago, but it was obvious that Pinkie's emotional wellbeing was more important to her than her own feelings.

"Hey, I gotta go," Babs said to her distraught friends. "I just came ta drop off that sugar. I'll sneak out tonight afta bedtime, okay?"

"Sure, Babs," said Inkie Pie. No more was said, and Babs turned to leave the room, walking down the hall and out of the front doors. As she journeyed through the forest and back to Ponyville, her mind was racing. Pinkie Pie's mane was flat like it had been when she visited her in prison, but Babs had never seen her depressed before. It sucked all remaining happiness from her to know that their personal ray of sunshine had fizzled out into a dark pit of despair.

Once back in Ponyville, Babs accidentally stepped on a wanted poster with all six of her friends' faces on it. She shook her hoof, trying to get it off, but the tape's adhesive would not let go. With a frustrated growl, she tore the paper off with her teeth and spat it back to the ground. As Babs massaged the bridge of her nose, trying to dampen her anger, she caught a few words of conversation from a pair of ponies standing at a nearby flower stand.

"I wonder where they're hiding," muttered Junebug. "If the princesses can't even find them, it must be a pretty discreet place."

"I have no idea!" squeaked Blossomforth. "But I don't feel safe! I've been locked up in my house for a week ever since that poor pegasus' head showed up in front of the town hall building! It took all my courage to leave once I realized I was running out of food!"

"That was so horrible..." Junebug said with a nod. "I've been seeing that image in my nightmares... what was her name again?"

"Fluttershy," replied Blossomforth. "I didn't know her that well, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm horrified she was murdered. And she had just gotten out of the hospital from the first time those horrible ponies kidnapped her!"

"She was an Element of Harmony, wasn't she?"

"Yeah, and so were her friends, including that Pinkie Pie. You know, the leader of this nefarious 'baking' team? There were six of them, and now there's only two left. Twilight Sparkle is in the mental ward of the hospital. She's safe. Insane, but safe." Babs blinked, her lips parting slightly as Blossomforth paid for a couple of flowers and then hurried off, probably back to her home.

She was very aware that Twilight was still alive. The thing was, Babs hadn't thought much about her, for all of their focus had been on capturing Fluttershy. Blossomforth was right; Twilight was the last remaining Element of Harmony aside from Pinkie Pie herself, and she felt that was an injustice to her and her friends' work. However, Blossomforth was also correct in saying that Twilight was safe.

"But... how safe...?" Babs muttered to herself. Her eyes fell on the dirt stained wanted poster on the ground, and she stared at the picture of Pinkie Pie. In the photo, her mane was flat, just like it was currently. It hurt Babs to see one of her best friends in such a state. This was not the Pinkie Pie they knew and loved, this was some disturbed shell that was a faint reminder that the party pony even existed.

She had to fix this.

"Can I help you, dear?" said the receptionist kindly. Babs had made her way to Ponyville Hospital, venturing to the section that was reserved for patients with mental disabilities.

"Uh, yeah," she said nervously, "can I visit Twilight Sparkle?" The receptionist stared at her, but then picked up her phone and pressed a single button. After a moment, somepony answered.

"Yes, this is May Flower at the front desk," she said to the pony on the other end. "I have a filly here requesting to see Miss Twilight Sparkle... no, I don't know who she is... okay, thank you." May Flower placed the receiver back onto its dock and addressed Babs again. "Miss Sparkle's doctor is going to come talk to you."

"Okay..." agreed Babs. She waited silently, wondering what she was going to do if she was not allowed to see Twilight. After a few minutes, a yellow unicorn with a blue mane and tail, blue framed glasses, and purple eye shadow came up to her. She was wearing a white doctor's coat and had a stethoscope draped over her shoulders.

"Hello," she said sweetly, and Babs felt much less intimidated. "I am Doctor Crystal Heart. Were you requesting to see Twilight Sparkle?"

"Yes, ma'am," Babs replied strongly. "She was a very good friend a mine. I just recently moved ta Ponyville from Manehattan ta help my family at Sweet Apple Acres. My... my cousin, Applejack... was also Twilight's friend and... another victim..." A tear escaped her green eyes, and she quickly wiped it away. "I'm s-sorry... I'm not exactly over the tragedy..."

"I understand," said Crystal Heart, placing a hoof on the filly's shoulder. "Unfortunately, it's not visiting hours, so I cannot allow you to--"

"Please, doctor!" Babs exclaimed suddenly, meeting Crystal's magenta eyes desperately. "Twilight is the only friend I have left! Those heartless murderers took everypony I knew and loved away from me! I'm so alone!" Crystal Heart gave Babs a look of sympathy.

"Well... Twilight has been doing a lot better since she was first admitted..." Babs held her breath. "Alright, I'll make an exception. It's activity time right now, which is on the third floor, so I'll accompany you up there."

"Oh, thank ya! Thank ya so much!" Crystal Heart smiled and led Babs to the elevator, and the two of them stepped inside. "She's doin better, ya said?"

"Oh yes!" replied Crystal excitedly. "Granted, she's not in any condition to be released, but we were able to take her out of solitary confinement! She is not restricted to a straight jacket any longer, and there have been no violent episodes toward herself or any other pony. The one thing we've noticed is... she won't talk. When she was admitted, she was very unaware of her surroundings, but she'd still speak, though it was either incomprehensive babbling, repeating phrases about being a good friend or student, or... screaming."

The elevator dinged, and then the doors opened. They stepped out onto a floor that looked like a very clean and brightly lit preschool. There were a few ponies with nurse's hats, one or two with a doctor's coat like Crystal Heart's, but everypony else was wearing a green gown and showed obvious signs of illness, whether it was in the way they looked or in the way they acted. Some of the patients sat in groups as they played with games and toys meant for foals, but there were a couple that sat on their own, seeming to not want to socialize. One of these ponies was a very familiar purple unicorn. Twilight Sparkle was sitting in a chair facing the window. She was staring out of it, completely unmoving, and Babs could not see her face.

"Don't be surprised if she doesn't show any sign that she recognizes you," Crystal Heart told Babs quietly. "She hasn't been able to communicate with anypony, even before she stopped talking. I don't know if she'll even be aware that you're there." She gestured for Babs to go over to Twilight. "I'll be over here if you need anything."

"Thank ya, doctor," said Babs with a nod, and she slowly made her way across the room, pulling up an empty chair to sit next to the unicorn. She stared at Twilight, taking in her appearance; her broken horn was covered in a bandage, her face was gaunt, there were heavy bags under her eyes, her hair and fur was thin, messy, and slightly discolored, and she made no sign of acknowledgment to Babs' presence. "Hi Twilight," Babs said softly. There was still no response, the unicorn just continued to stare out the window. "I'm Babs Seed. We met at the Summer Harvest Festival." Twilight gave a slow blink, but did not shift her gaze.

Babs sighed, thinking hard. She felt Crystal Heart's eyes watching them, so she gently reached over and started stroking Twilight's mane. The ill unicorn remained in the same state, the only movement made being her eyes blinking every so often and her chest expanding slightly as she breathed. Babs remembered her friends' story of how Twilight lost her mind, so she knew that the mare was mentally fragile. The doctor had said she was doing better, so maybe that meant that Twilight was more aware of her surroundings than she let on.

"I'm Applejack's cousin," she whispered, leaning in a little closer. Twilight's blink was slightly faster this time, and Babs had to refrain from grinning. "And... Apple Bloom's cousin..." She saw Twilight's eyes widen, and knew she had her. "I know where the bakers are, Twilight. They told me all 'bout what ya did. How ya poked your arrogant little nose in their business, how they had ta capture ya and your remainin friends, how they tortured ya..." The unicorn's breathing became slightly more rapid. "Fluttershy's dead, Twilight. I killed her. It was fun. We made her inta pastries. You're the last Element left, aside from Pinkie Pie. Do ya really think you're safe here?" Babs leaned even closer, hugging Twilight tightly. "They're gonna come afta ya. They broke outta jail, ya think we can't break inta a hospital? You're gonna die, Twilight. It's only a matter a time."

After a moment, Babs gently pulled away from the broken mare, whose eyes were wide as they continued to stare out the window. Her breathing was heavy, and she was trembling, her lips pressed firmly together. The fear radiating off of Twilight filled Babs with satisfaction, knowing that the unicorn had heard and understood every word she said. She knew that Twilight would not tell anypony about what Babs had just confessed because it was obvious she couldn't talk; her mental trauma was too great. Either that, or she simply refused to talk out of fear.

"I'll see ya soon," said Babs, the volume of her voice returning to normal. "Take care, Twilight." She got off of her chair and walked back over to Crystal Heart, who smiled.

"Did you get any response from her?" she asked.

"No," Babs lied. "She's just starin out the window. But I told her that I missed her, and that she's always in my thoughts. I didn't want ta mention anypony she knew cause I was afraid it'd upset her."

"That was a good decision," Crystal said with a nod. "We like to leave subjects like that for her therapy."

"Do ya think she'll ever recover?" Babs inquired.

"So far, we think not, but stranger things have happened," the doctor replied. "We're considering her docile nature as a sign of mild recovery, but her lack of responsiveness is concerning."

"Can I come visit her again?"

"Oh certainly! But let me give you the visiting hours so that--" Crystal Heart was interrupted by a loud crash and many screams, and she and Babs turned quickly to see ponies crowding around the window that Twilight had been sitting in front of. The glass was broken, and Twilight was gone.

"Back up! BACK UP!!" shouted an orderly at patients getting too close to the shattered glass. Crystal Heart turned on her heel and sprinted down the emergency stairs, Babs and a number of nurses and doctors following her. Upon arriving outside, there was a crowd gathered directly below the broken third story window, and the hospital officials fought to break through.

"No!" cried Crystal Heart. Babs, being so small, was able to duck under the surrounding ponies to get a closer look. Twilight Sparkle was crumpled on the ground, shards of glass glittering around her. Her limbs and neck were bent at odd angles, and her head had cracked open so severely, blood was practically pouring out. Her open eyes were listless, and she was definitely not breathing.

As the public was encouraged to disperse, Babs' look of shock was plain and true on her face. This was not what she had planned, or even expected. Looking up at the broken window, she narrowed her eyes at it, and then at the windows next to it, as well as below. There were no bars. How had she not noticed it before? Weren't mental hospitals supposed to have bars on their windows?

While a stretcher was brought out to move Twilight's body, Babs walked around the hospital to the next side, seeing a few smaller windows that had steal bars. So, the patients' rooms had them, but not the halls or public rooms? Well, she was certain that was going to change now that one of their patients had just committed suicide.

"Babs!" called a voice, and she turned around to see Doctor Crystal Heart hurrying toward her. Babs immediately scrunched up her face and started to cry.

"Why aren't there bars on all the windows?!" she wailed, gripping the doctor's coat in distress. Crystal Heart seemed to be trying to stay professional, but her eyes were glossy.

"We've... never had a problem..." she muttered. "We're a... low security ward..."

"My friend is dead! SHE'S DEAD!!" Babs sobbed, collapsing to the ground at Crystal's feet.

"I know, hunny..." the doctor cooed, trying her best to comfort the filly. "Listen... are you sure Twilight didn't do or say anything when you spoke to her? Anything that suggested she knew you were there?"

"No!" Babs wailed. "She just breathed and blinked!"

"I'm sorry, Babs... I'm so sorry..." Babs stood and pulled herself away from the doctor, tears still cascading from her eyes.

"I... I hafta go...!" she cried, and ran off before Crystal could stop her. She galloped all the way to Sweet Apple Acres, hurrying up to Apple Bloom's old room and closing the door. She sniffled, wiping her eyes and nose quickly, sitting against the wall and covering her face. She was trembling hard as the corners of her mouth curled upward.

Babs was laughing.



"I'm back," Babs called as she entered the castle's main hall for the second time that day, though now it was nearly midnight.

"Hi, Babs," said Apple Bloom solemnly. They were all still crowded around Pinkie Pie, who hadn't moved an inch.

"How is she?" Babs asked her friends, joining the group.

"We tried feeding her, she won't eat," Inkie Pie explained. "Derpy's been crying over her, thinking she's dying."

"I just wish we knew how to maked her smile again!" Derpy said, clearly distressed.

"We tried singing, party favors, jokes," said Blinkie Pie, sounding exhausted. "We even tried to get her to snuggle Gummy, but she ignored him." She pointed at the toothless baby alligator that was perched like a statue on the back of the couch. "Doesn't help that he doesn't do much..."

"She hasn't even used the bathroom," added Minkie Pie. "That alone isn't healthy..."

"I know what'll cheer her up," said Babs in a calm voice. The five of them stared at her, and she could've sworn she saw Pinkie's ear shift. "Twilight Sparkle is dead."

"WHAT?!" the five shouted in unison, and Pinkie Pie slowly sat up, turning to look at the Manehattan filly.

"How did she die?" she croaked.

"Suicide," Babs replied. "I went ta see her at the hospital and told her that I murdered Fluttershy. I told her we'd all come afta her next, that we'd break inta the hospital and kill her. Not five minutes later, she threw herself out the window."

"How did she get through the window?" asked Pinkie Pie. "Aren't there usually bars on them?"

"In our hospital, only the patients' rooms have bars," said Babs, smirking. "It's low security. They didn't take that extra precaution cause they felt they didn't need ta."

"Well, I'm sure they'll rethink that," Inkie Pie laughed. Pinkie's mane trembled slightly, and her eyes seemed to show more life.

"What ya say we take a look at our list and pick a pony to play with?" said Babs confidently. Pinkie Pie's lip twitched, and she nodded. Derpy quickly flew to the book shelf and chose a large binder, opening it up to the page they left off on.

"Alright, Derpy, who's up next?" asked Minkie Pie.

"Sweetie Belle!" Derpy answered excitedly, and Apple Bloom blinked.

"That... that should be real easy!" she exclaimed, almost in a way that suggested she was in disbelief. "Babs is friends with her, she'll have no problem bringin her to us!"

"You mean, all this time we could've played with Sweetie Belle?!" said Blinkie angrily. "We were bored for nothing?!"

"We can't do Sweetie Belle," said Minkie flatly, and everypony looked at her questioningly.

"Why not?" asked Derpy. Minkie Pie met Apple Bloom's eyes and grinned nefariously. Apple Bloom seemed to understand, and her own smile matched Minkie's.

"We can't do Sweetie Belle," she said slowly, "without Scootaloo."

"I can get ya both no prob," said Babs. Just then, there was a loud pop sound, and Pinkie Pie shot into the air with a delighted laugh.

"IT'S PARTY TIME!!" she squealed, her mane and tail back to its poofy state. Everypony in the room cheered as Pinkie Pie landed back on the couch, and she seized Gummy in her hooves, hugging him lovingly. "And I have so many fantasterific ideas! Let's bring them to the castle instead of using the super secret room under Sugarcube Corner! We're going to have the fun right here!"

"Why?" asked Apple Bloom.

"You'll see!" Pinkie giggled, and the others agreed, hugging their favorite party pony in a group embrace, glad to have her back.