The library was dark save for a small pool of artificial light, cast from a lamp in the middle of the circular room. It illuminated Twilight Sparkle as she stared intently at her book. Lying completely still she appeared to be in a near comatose state, but her mind was racing with the thoughts and feelings of a deeply troubled pony. Although her nose was stuck in a book, the latest antics of Daring Doo were the last thing on her mind. She was desperately trying to drive the events of the previous night thoroughly out of her memory. The more she tried to forget, the further she would slip into depression. She didn't want to be disturbed, and when there was a knock on the door she ignored it. Was it too much to ask for a little peace and quiet? After a few minutes, Rarity decided to let herself in. Twilight pretended she didn't notice her, but quickly realised that no matter how uncomfortable it was she'd have to talk to the fashion pony eventually.
Maintaining the guise of being thoroughly immersed in her book the purple pony slowly drawled, "You know, in these books there's always some sort of challenge the hero has to overcome. They go through a lot of trouble, make some sacrifices and sometimes some bad decisions, but they always get some sort of resolution. A definite end, you know?"
After a brief pause, Rarity swallowed and hastily blurted "I'm sorry, Twilight."
The purple pony looked at Rarity with genuine confusion. "Why?" she inquired, "It wasn't your fault. I'm the one who thought that it would be a harmless adventure. I'm the one who thought that we needed to keep pushing on to save you. I'm the one who didn't think her actions through. I'm the one who broke us up."
"No, darling, you-"
"No listen to me, Rarity, this was entirely my fault. I'm to blame. And it doesn't help my conscience knowing that other ponies are holding themselves responsible."
"There's no way you possibly could've known what would happen. You made the best judgement you could under the circumstances, and you mustn't blame yourself. You weren't even there when Fluttershy-"Rarity choked on her words for a moment, unable to even utter the atrocity. Her lip quivered as she attempted to maintain a straight face.
"That's just it, Rarity. I should have been there. I'm the element of magic. Keeping my friends together is my destiny. And I failed. How can I live with myself, knowing what my friends must be going through because of ME?"
Twilight's ears up pricked and her eyes widened. She felt a sudden surge of excitement as an idea crossed her mind. Maybe she would earn her redemption, her resolution, her conclusion. Perhaps she could amend her failure. As she her new plan, she completely ignored Rarity, who picked up on the scholar's absent-mindedness and gave a dejected look "I'll see you soon Twilight," Rarity said before turning to leave.
"I'm going to make this right," Twilight declared before the white unicorn stepped out the door.
"You don't need to, Twilight. Look, I have some thinking to do but I'll be in touch."
Twilight hardly noticed Rarity's farewell. She was rather excited about how she was going to save the day. From the bookshelf she summoned an ancient tome with "The Elements of Harmony and Starswirlian Archetypes: A Comparison" written across the deep blue cover in faded gold letters. The element of magic had erred, but was convinced that she would reunite the elements through the power of friendship. Immediately becoming totally absorbed in her research, she didn't notice one of her oldest and most loyal friends walk out the door after the element of generosity. Spike desperately wanted some pony to talk to, and Twilight was clearly in no such mood.
When Rainbow Dash knocked on the door of the library, Twilight answered immediately. Greeting her guest with unreasonable enthusiasm, she invited her to take a seat. Rainbow was briefly overwhelmed by her host's energy, and it took her a moment to notice that the librarian's appearance was as messy and unkempt as the library itself. The book cases seemed empty and bare as the majority of their contents were strewn across the floor. There was hardly any floor space that wasn't covered by some book, scroll or piece of parchment. Each item was indistinguishable and the whole area appeared to be one mass of paper. Taking no note of her guest's shock the host called out to Spike, requesting two cups of tea.
When Spike didn't respond, Twilight waved off his apparent disregard of her request saying "He's probably still sleeping," before joining the athlete on the couch. "So, is there anything I can do for you?" she continued, forcing a broad unsettling smile.
After a brief pause, Rainbow replied "umm, yea there is actually. See I can't go to Cloudsdale for a while, so do you mind if I crash here for a while?"
"Sure, great! Anything I can do would-"Twilight paused for a moment and twitched nervously before continuing "Would be great!"
For the better part of a minute the two ponies stared at each other in silence. The unicorn was putting on a wide, obviously forced grin. In return, the Pegasus skewed her face in confusion.
"So," continued the purple pony awkwardly, "why can't you go to Cloudsdale?" seeing Rainbow shift uncomfortably, she misjudged her uneasiness. "Oh, it's no imposition!" she exclaimed, "I love spending time with all my good friends! If there's any way I can help, I'm right here."
Rainbow chuckled awkwardly and said "You're starting to creep me out. And I'd really rather not talk about it."
Twilight's heart fell as her ears twitched down in sadness. She felt totally rejected. She made no effort to hide this fact as she slouched down and pouted sadly.
"Not that- sorry." Rainbow said hastily, trying to pull her friend out of her strange mood.
"No, no, no, don't be ridiculous, you have nothing to be sorry about. It's all just..." Twilight's voice trailed off and her eyes glazed over, lost in her own little world. The Pegasus stared at her uneasily. She was really starting to regret her decision to stay at the library. After the weird unicorn finished whatever train of thought she was on, she jumped off the couch and declared "Well, it's getting late, I'm off to bed! You know where the guest bed is. I'll see you in the morning!" The clock hadn't chimed 8pm yet.
With Twilight in bed Rainbow was left alone with her own thoughts. The Pegasus concluded that something truly terrible must have happened in the tunnels, and that she'd rather not know exactly what. She had some concern over Twilight's unusual behaviour, but her primary fear was for her own future. Retrieving the small bottle of pills she'd picked up at the clinic from under her wing, she read the instructions "Take one pill once per day as directed". For a moment, the fresh memories of the woods seemed to flash before her eyes again. With a shiver she concluded that the prescription was for regular depression. The Pegasus felt at least doubly depressed. She poured two pills onto her hoof and swallowed them. Feeling like she had nothing worthwhile to do, she followed the unicorn in hitting the hay early.