“C’mon, Rarity. Ain’t nothin’ you can't handle, right?” Applejack put on her best easygoing, patient, good-friend-here-to-make-things-right voice, but trying to talk Rarity down from a fit was like trying to dry up a thunderstorm by drinking it through a straw.

“She interrupted my process!” hissed Rarity, who was now up to her knees in a mound of garments pulled from her workshop’s closet. Not just dresses, but vests, capes, and hats. Applejack even thought she saw a bit and bridle sitting on the pile before it was buried underneath what looked like one of the prototypes from the incident with the Grand Galloping Gala dresses. “Perhaps I should start hanging signs? Would that communicate my desire for other ponies not to move my tools and materials without my permission?” Rarity stopped throwing clothing for a moment to thrust a hoof into the air and sweep it from left to right, indicating where she would put a warning sign, if she were to actually make one. “Warning: Artist at work! Creative process in progress! Do not organize anything! Do not touch anything! Rrrgh!” Rarity threw her forehooves into the air with a little cry of frustration.

“Aw, c’mon.” Against her better judgement, Applejack stepped further into the room. Except for the growing heap of silk and cotton, this room was absurdly clean, especially for a workspace that saw as much use as this one. The workbenches were completely clear; somepony had done a thorough job of putting everything away in its proper place, down to the last stray pin. Even the mannequins were lined up in rows, like soldiers at attention.

Applejack smiled, and she even managed to keep the quiet terror out of her expression. “You know that Twilight means well, and--”

“Hmph!” Rarity plunged both forehooves back into the pile of laundry. “It's been a week of this! What, did the changelings fiddle with something in her brain?” Seemingly satisfied with how much clothing she'd dumped from the closet, Rarity waded over to the smallest workbench, upon which was a tall pile of fabric squares. The squares, Applejack noted, were perfectly arranged by hue in a vertical rainbow: red at the top, and purple at the bottom.

The first square rose in the grip of Rarity’s magic, and set itself down next to the stack. Then Rarity grabbed the second sheet, but instead of setting it on the table, she dropped it and let it flutter to the floor. The third also went to the floor. Then the fourth. The fifth was set on the work surface such that its corner draped over the edge by just a few inches. Rarity’s pace increased until fabric was flying like confetti, turning the floor into a patchwork collage.

“Tell ya what,” Applejack said, backing towards the door again. “I’ll go ‘n talk to her. A’right? Ain’t no need to--”

Applejack was cut off by the sound of Rarity pulling a drawer free of its housing and then upending it, dumping what looked and sounded like a heap of chromed scrap metal onto the floor.

Applejack excused herself from the room, and Rarity didn’t seem to notice.

---

The scene inside the library was quite a lot like Applejack’s visit to Carousel Boutique that morning, except being played in reverse. The shelves were completely bare, their contents emptied onto the floor. The entire main room was carpeted with books, except for a narrow walkway around the perimeter.

After a few moments of staring in awe at the sheer scope of the disaster, Applejack noticed Twilight’s perfectly combed mane peeking out from behind a wall of neatly stacked books.

“Hey, Twi?”

Twilight’s head dipped behind the “wall” and out of sight.

Applejack sighed and started down the cleared path which, she noted, was precisely the same width all the way around--a perfect oval-shaped walkway.

Twilight’s tail and hindquarters, crowded on either side by stacks of books, came into view. Applejack would have called Twilight’s name, but there was something odd about the mechanical way Twilight was working that made Applejack stop and just observe for a moment. As Applejack watched, Twilight levitated a book over from the mess and swatted it three times with a feather duster--front, back, and spine. Then she put the book on top of a stack, picked it back up, and put it down again so that it was perfectly aligned with the rest of the stack.

Without looking up, or even taking her eyes off of the books for a moment, Twilight trotted two steps forward, then shuffled back half a step. As she scanned for the next book to examine, she reached up with a forehoof to ruffle her mane and then straighten it back out. Then she levitated a book over and swatted it three times with her feather duster...

Applejack watched the process for several minutes, growing steadily more concerned. Twilight moved as repetitively as a wind-up toy; she even scruffed and straightened her hair exactly the same way between books. Eventually, Applejack tried to interrupt the process somewhere between the feather duster phase and the stacking phase.

“Hey! Twilight! You all right in there?”

Twilight suddenly straightened at the sound of Applejack's voice, dropping the book. Then, without saying another word, she picked the book back up, swatted it on its front back, and spine with the duster, and set it on top of a pile...

Applejack sidled up alongside Twilight and nudged her gently. “How ya feelin’, sugarcube?”

Twilight’s face twitched. “Oh! Hello, Applejack!” Twilight switched her facial expression to an unconvincing smile, as if to pretend she was noticing her visitor for the first time. “I’m sorry about the mess. I’m re-shelving!”

“Uh, yeah. Sure looks like it.” Looking around at the hallway of books--each piece of wall stacked exactly twelve books tall--Applejack started to feel a little silly for coming here to tell Twilight that she was being too organized. Still, Rarity had been awfully upset, and it wouldn’t do to let Twilight think that there hadn’t been any problem...

“Listen, couldja take a break from yer work here for a moment an’ come visit Rarity’s for a spell? I promise it won’t take but a minute.”

Applejack licked her lips at the look on Twilight’s face. It looked as if leaving this task unfinished was far too much to ask. Before Applejack could open her mouth to apologize and offer to come back later, Twilight spoke up hastily.

“Of course!” Twilight said brightly. “Just wait outside and I’ll be right with you.”

As she started off down the book-lined path, Applejack glanced surreptitiously over her shoulder to see Twilight pick up the book she’d been working on when she’d been interrupted. She picked it up, dusted it on the front, back, and spine, then put it down, and picked it up, and put it down again.

“Jus’ head straight there an’ say hello ta Rarity! I’ve gotta check in with Apple Bloom at home.” With that, Applejack trotted out the library’s front door. She resisted the urge to break into a gallop. Everything was going to be fine, right? Twilight would go over, and get chewed out by Rarity, and both of them would calm down and understand each other. Like good friends, right?

Right.

Applejack didn’t gallop, but she picked up her hooves just a bit higher as she hurried home.

---

Carousel Boutique was a complete wreck. It looked like there had been a fight--mannequins lay toppled with their clothing in pools and heaps around them, materials and tools were thrown haphazardly around the floor to the point where there wasn’t much floor visible any more, and even some of the shelves had been broken and were stacked at dangerous diagonal angles.

“What the flying hell happened here?” Rainbow Dash stood at the front door with her jaw nearly touching the floor between her forehooves. “I heard the yelling and the crashing, and...”

“Nothing!” Rarity and Applejack retorted in unison.

“Jus’ a... a bit of a... Uh..."Applejack sputtered helplessly for just a few breaths. Then she turning away from the door and crouched down next to Twilight again, running one hoof gently down a frayed pink and purple mane. "Oh, sugar, sugar, it’s fine, c'mon now...”

“A bit of a wardrobe malfunction!” Rarity finished, sliding in to block Rainbow Dash's view so quickly that she nearly tripped over the leg of an overturned table. “Nothing to worry about! Happens all the time! In fact, I think I--”

“Please, stop.” The voice came from behind Rarity, and it was too small and meek to belong to Applejack. In fact, whomever was talking sounded like they were going to break down into tears at any moment. “Rainbow Dash, could you go and bring Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie?” Rarity stepped aside, and Twilight looked up from underneath Applejack’s foreleg draped over her neck. The fur around her eyes was dark and wet, and she swallowed to steady herself before continuing. “I think all of you girls need to hear this. It should explain a lot about... well, about me.”

---

Twilight and Princess Celestia stood in a tiny atrium, a secret retreat reserved for times when the school’s most powerful magicians required privacy.

“What? No! You can’t mean...!” Twilight sputtered, her face twisted in unspeakable horror. If such a thing were possible, she would have backed away from herself in fear. Instead, she just crumpled.

They’d waited for almost ten years to tell her. Ten years of hiding the truth, letting little Twilight believe some cute, bedtime story version of what had happened. A light show, they said. A shining halo of purple, and glowing white eyes, they said. And, oh yes, she hatched the dragon too. Nothing about turning the infant creature into a monster. Nothing about transmuting everypony in the room.

Nothing about how Princess Celestia was the only reason Twilight hadn’t sent an innocent creature on a rampage before killing her parents, along with everypony else in the room.

“But... if I... I could have... I’m... I’m a...” Twilight couldn’t even speak clearly, but Princess Celestia always understood what Twilight meant, even when she didn’t say it.

“You are wrong,” Princess Celestia said, nuzzling Twilight with the side of her head.

Twilight didn’t respond.

“I saw your heart just as clearly as I saw your power, dear student. You will never be a danger to anypony, not now, not ever. I am sure of it.”

“But that didn’t matter back then!” Twilight shook her head violently. “I couldn’t see, I couldn’t think! It just happened! I didn’t decide! The magic, it--”

“Your magic is beautiful, just like you. And it is still growing, just like you.” Princess Celestia levitated a book down from one of the room’s many shelves. “We waited this long to tell you, because I wanted to be able to prove to you that as long as your heart is pure, so will your magic be pure.”

Princess Celestia opened the book to a page near the middle, and levitated it towards Twilight.

Twilight glanced at it, then glancecd away. “I’ve never seen it before,” she said bitterly. “It’s got six steps. Three channeling aspects. Too complex for a laypony. Must have been made by an academic. There.” She didn’t look up. “Why did you show that to me?”

“I want you to perform this spell,” Princess Celestia said, setting the book on a stand and gesturing towards it. “Work carefully from beginning to end. Learn every piece and understand it. Learn, and re-learn, and use the knowledge as a filter for you vast power.”

Twilight dried her eyes and started to read. The spell was every bit as hard as she'd expected, and she was glad for the challenge. Having to focus like this meant she had no room for distractions like emotions and horrible truths.

“Your magic is part of you; it cannot control you. You control it just as surely as you control your own mind.”

Twilight just nodded as she read. Her horn flickered experimentally as she tried to get a feel for one of the spell's aspects.

Princess Celestia's words echoed in her heart: Learn, and re-learn, and use the knowledge as a filter.

Your magic is part of you; it cannot control you. You control it just as surely as you control your own mind.

---

Most unicorns would have trouble learning how to throw magic through the air like a ball. When presented with such challenges, most of them had trouble grasping the idea of weaving and sculpting magic instead of simply pressing it into the mold of a “spell.” Others would fail because they lacked the skill to manifest magic as pure magic, instead of using it to affect existing objects.

“Don’t you dare do anything to my brother! You... you monster!”

Twilight Sparkle, of course, wasn’t most unicorns. She lashed out, and her anger slammed into one of the cave’s reflective surfaces, leaving a smoking crater.

There was still mocking laughter echoing in the caves. Twilight whirled and struck again. Fire surged from her heart, then through her horn, and out into the world, where it shattered and burned all that it touched. She fired at the walls again and again, each blast more hateful and more violent than the last, until finally--

“No! Wait!”

Twilight’s snarl of determination slowly twisted into a sick grin of victory as she watched the one who had been cackling with ear-piercing malice a moment ago raise a hoof in defense and scuttle pathetically backwards. Even more satisfying was the way the alicorn witch cowered, her eyes widened in mortal panic, when Twilight charged her down and pinned her.

“Please, don’t hurt me!” Princess Cadence begged. “Twilight? Twilight, it’s me! Please, you have to believe me!”

---

Rarity had invited the “party” into her bedroom because, by her reasoning, there were plenty of cushions for everypony there. Silence fell over the room as Twilight finished her explanation.

The silence didn't last very long. “And that’s why you started a FIGHT over Rarity telling you not to organize her stuff while she’s using it?”

Rarity shot Rainbow Dash a sharp glare. “Really, now!” she scolded. “Twilight needs our help!”

“What does she need our help with?" Rainbow Dash scoffed. "I’m pretty sure letting things get messy once in a while is a little bit different from flattening Ponyville--”

Rainbow Dash clamped her mouth shut, but it was too late. Twilight had a hoof to her mouth and was backing away from the table, her eyes quickly filling with tears.

Fluttershy flapped her wings and quickly hopped over to give Twilight an urgent nuzzle. “Twilight, no! We know you’d never hurt anypony! You’re our friend, and...”

“Well, I don’t know!” Twilight spat back so sharply that Fluttershy instinctually recoiled away. “I don’t know that I won’t hurt anypony! Why don’t you understand that?” She backed away from Fluttershy, and turned to glare at her five friends together.

“I almost ‘flattened’ a room full of ponies, including my parents, when I earned my cutie mark! And just last week I almost--” Twilight choked on the word, then turned her head aside and spat the rest of her sentence out while she still could without sobbing. “I almost hurt Princess Cadence when she was helpless. I... I’m...” She grit her teeth and squeezed the tears out of her eyes.

Applejack nudged her way past Fluttershy. “Twilight, you listen to me. You were a hero back there.” Twilight didn’t respond, but at least she stopped crying. Applejack pressed further. “When you finally made it back with the real Princess...” It was Applejack’s turn to silence herself as she saw her words backfire.

Twilight shook her head, still looking at the floor. She started to make her way towards the perimeter of the room, stepping carefully over fallen machines and mannequins the whole way. Her friends just stared helplessly as she went--except for one.

Twilight yelped in surprise as a bouncing, grinning, hot pink puff of pony exploded upwards from a pile of scraps in front of her.

“Not so fast, missy!” Pinkie snapped.

“What do you want,” Twilight monotoned.

The room fell silent as Pinkie fixed a hard stare on the top of Twilight’s drooping head.

“PILLOW FIGHT!”

Pinkie reared forcefully, flipping a blanket towards Twilight’s face. Twilight reeled backwards as if she’d been splashed with water.

“Whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do?” Pinkie taunted, bouncing happily as Twilight fumbled with the blanket. “Better get ready, ‘cause here I come!”

Four pairs of eyes widened in alarm as Pinkie dove to grab a “weapon” from the bed. Rarity started to run over to control the situation.

“Pinkie! What are you--mmph!” Rarity was suddenly muffled by a white sheet, which wrapped itself around her head like a sack. After a few moments of impotent flailing, Rarity toppled into a pile of dresses.

Pinkie Pie laughed victoriously. “Ha haa! I have the best ideas! Now, where were we? Oh yes! Getting Twilight to defend herself!”

“I’ll stop her!” Rainbow Dash yelled. “Pinkie’s pillowfighting style has nothing on me!” She grabbed the cushion she had been sitting on and blasted straight towards Pinkie, skimming low, cushion readied. Pinkie, meanwhile, was holding a pillow in her teeth, head lowered in a defensive pillowfighting stance.

Rainbow Dash wound up for a devastating fly-by cushion attack, but Pinkie was too fast--the first swing caught only empty air.

“Come on, Dashie!” Pinkie mocked, turning her back to Rainbow Dash and shaking her haunches teasingly. “I think you’ve lost your touch! You’re not the pillowfighter you used to be!”

“Rainbow Dash!” Applejack yelled. “You are makin’ things worse! For Celestia’s sake--”

Rainbow Dash wasn’t listening; she was too busy looping around for another attack run. She dove again, but before she reached her target, she was blindsided by a pillow to the side of the head, sending her spinning off course.

“What was that?” she yelled as she got to her feet. “Aaargh!” she added, as a balled-up sock bounced off of her forehead.

All eyes turned towards the source of the assault.

Twilight had somehow managed to escape from the blanket, steal most of the pillows in the room, and set them all one neat stack. she’d also dragged over the laundry basket, which explained the sock.

Twilight’s expression was dark and stony for one terrifying second.

And then she smiled. Evilly.

“All right. You want a pillow fight? You got a pillow fight!”

Twilight lowered her head, and her horn flashed. Everypony in the room dove for cover as the orderly stack of pillows exploded, sending cottony projectiles flying like shrapnel from a pillow bomb. Then, with one feather-stuffed weapon in the grip of her magic and another between her teeth, she reared and flipped the laundry hamper, sending a spray of towels and socks into the air as a screen to cover her advance.

The ensuing pillow fight would be one for the ages. In her first pillow battle, Twilight proved herself a tactician and marksmare to match the likes of Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash. It was a legendary clash of embroidered beatings, fluffy violence, and glorious laughter.

---

When it was all over, Twilight and her five closest friends lay cuddled together on a bed meant to hold nowhere near so many ponies. To say that the bedroom was a disaster zone would be a severe understatement. Pictures had fallen off the walls, drawers had been yanked onto the floor, and the couch had been tipped over to be used as cover. It looked like Rainbow Dash had been using the room to practice making tornadoes.

Twilight was the last one awake. Too exhausted to move, but not quite exhausted enough to pass out despite the things on her mind, she stared up at the arched ceiling and tried to organize the day’s events in her head. Today’s lesson had been an important one, and Twilight wanted to distill it into something that she could learn and re-learn, but it was too hard to focus. She kept being distracted by things like the fading giddiness of adrenaline, Applejack’s soft snoring from somewhere near her hind legs, the lumpiness of the mess of sheets that she was laying on, and the weight and warmth of Fluttershy’s head against her shoulder.

Before she fell asleep, Twilight briefly thought of the reshelving she’d left unfinished, but only briefly.