AN: Depressed Twilight = Lesson Zero Twilight but with less paedophilic undertones. Enjoy!

Chapter 53: Twilight Therapy

"Open the door!"

He opened his eyes and felt an incredible sense of déjà vu wash over him as he stared up at the ornately decorated ceiling above him. Judging from the sun streaming in through the windows, it was either mid or late morning – meaning he had been asleep for the past few hours. He started to sit up when he became aware of something resting on his stomach. Looking down, he cocked an eyebrow in surprise as he took in the small form of Applejack's little sister, Applebloom, sleeping soundly. Shaking his head with a small smile on his face, he gradually became aware of somepony hammering on a door nearby.

"Come on Twilight! Open the door! We're your friends!"

Carefully lifting the sleeping filly off him, he slid off the cot and placed Applebloom down. Stretching his arms in front of him to release the stress and tension in his muscles, he walked down the hall to a rather strange sight. All of the Rangers, Billy and both Princesses were standing around a door that seemed to have been locked and magically sealed shut. Rainbow Dash was pounding on the door; apparently taking over from a visibly exhausted Pinkie Pie. Walking up to Princess Celestia, he opened his mouth to speak when Pinkie noticed him and visibly perked up…well, as much as she was able to.

"Weihan! Please, you have to help us! Twilight is in her room and she locked herself in and we don't know what's going on! We're trying to get her out but we can't and we need her cause she's the leader and she's our friend! There was a battle last night which we fought in but the monster covered us in some sort of shadowy goo that made us look and sound like mini-Nightmare Moons! We were attacked by Twilight accidentally but you healed us and then collapsed and Applebloom decided to see what sleeping on a human would be like and since you're here, she's still sleeping and you gotta help us get her out!"

Heads turned to look at him as he struggled to process the information in the ramblings of the pink pony. Squeezing his eyes shut, he almost wished he was back in the icy prison he had been encased in a few days ago. Painfully aware that all eyes were on him, he sighed to himself and nodded once. The cyan Pegasus moved out of the way as he placed a hand on the door; closing his eyes as he tried to scan for a weak link in the magic. He also stretched out with his mind in an attempt to communicate to the emotionally shattered unicorn.

Twilight, please. If you can't let anyone else in, just let me come in.

He waited for a reply as he found a small weak point in the defence. Joy turned to mild frustration as the small weakness was covered up by more magic. He was about to pour his own magic into the locking spell to break it…when a small mental voice made him – and everyone around him – pause.

Weihan? You're really there? Come in…wait. I'll bring you in!

Weihan nodded once and opened his mouth to reply…but found himself inside the dark room within a few seconds. Carefully looking around the room, he saw Twilight Sparkle in a corner looking like Death warmed over. There were visible bags under her eyes and some parts of her mane were sticking out at odd angles. The most disturbing sight were her eyes; horribly contracted pupils that looked unnervingly out of place…and yet seemed disturbingly normal compared to the forced and frozen rictus grin on her face. The idea of being in a room with a clearly deranged Ranger wasn't a thought he wanted bouncing around in his mind…but it was there and he had a job that needed to be done.

"Twilight. Look at me."

"I'm looking at you."

He tried to suppress a shudder at the hollowed voice that issued from her throat. Twilight was teetering on the edge of sanity and he had to do whatever he could to pull her back before she was lost to them forever. Slowing his breathing to match hers, he took a few steps forward and crouched down in front of her. Slowly, he waved a finger back and forth in her field of vision until her glassy eyes began following it. Keeping the motion going, he slowly reached up with his free left hand and placed his palm on her head. Her ears twitched at the feeling, but he continued; keeping his voice low and talking as slowly as he could.

"Twilight. Your friends are out there and they are worried about you."

"How can they be my friends after what I did to them? I blasted them and wounded them…they were at the brink of death because of me. If…if you hadn't come along…"

He inhaled slowly and spoke again.

"You know it's not your fault. You couldn't have known the monster would do that. Remember what I told you earlier? You may be the leader, but you can't foresee everything that will happen."

She blinked once and her eyes focused on his face. He grinned internally but kept his face as neutral as he could. Moving his left hand slowly, he attempted to smooth down her mane as much as he could as she slowly relaxed. He said nothing as he smoothed her mane and fur as she would talk when she was ready. The only problem he could see in the future would be running out of areas to smooth down. Smoothing down the mane was one thing, as was smoothing down most of her body…except that pesky area on her hindquarters which he didn't want to think about as he didn't want to know what that felt like.

"I should've been able to see it."

He continued to keep his silence and remembered what Trini had said – the best thing one could do was to figure out the underlying cause of the problem before tackling it head on. The only problem was the problem was inside Twilight's head and only she alone knew what the cause was. She continued speaking; utterly oblivious to the world around her.

"Nightmare Moon was destroyed and her evil was purified by the Elements of Harmony. I should have known there was no way she could have returned and certainly no way Lord Zedd could have resurrected her. Still, I charged in without even thinking about all the other options. I led my team into a trap which I triggered and now…"

She let the sentence trail off as her eyes slowly closed. When they opened again, he was relieved to see that her pupils had returned to normal and her rictus grin was showing signs of relaxing. With a pang in his heart, he realised that the purple unicorn in front of him blamed herself not for falling for the monster's trick but for hurting and, in her eyes, failing her friends. He wished he knew what else to say to her to smooth over the damage that had been done…but he didn't have the experience with anything like this. He didn't know what it was like to unwillingly hurt others and prayed he would never experience the inner pain she was going through.

"And now; I don't know what to do. I want to run away and hide but I can't; I want to give up my powers but I can't and I want…I…I don't know what I want."

She looked up at the human with teary eyes and his heart went out to her. Smoothing down the last of her mane, he let out the breath he had been holding since seeing her in her depressed and slightly insane state. The look in her eyes told him she had backed away from the brink on her own but needed support to stay away…and although he wished it otherwise – he couldn't give her that support. Licking his lips, he opened his mouth to speak to her in the same slow and neutral tone of voice.

"Twilight, I know what you're yearning for. You realise the next time you face Creeper you won't be alone? I will be right next to you when he attacks."

The small unicorn shook her head violently and he sighed. He didn't know much about Creeper's battle strategies but had a strong feeling that the Ultra Psycho Ranger had somehow split himself into two entities and if the Purple Ranger were to face them both alone…well, the outcome wouldn't be pretty.

"I know you don't want to see them, but your friends are outside. They're worrying themselves sick over you. Twilight Sparkle, please for your sake as well as theirs – don't run away."

The Ranger took in a shuddering breath and nodded once. Exhaling slowly, the unicorn released the powerful magic locks that had held the door shut and spoke in a voice filled with emotion that gradually increased in volume until the final shout.

"I…the door is unlocked. I will defeat this monster on…no; I will defeat it with the help of my friends!"

At her shout, the door splintered open to reveal the other ponies that raced into the room to see if she was all right. Weihan hung back from the group of friends and felt Billy come up next to him. Giving the Blue Ranger a weary grin, he looked at the group of friends once more and spoke; his tone grim and hard.

"We need a plan. Now."

TBC…