//------------------------------// // Recuperation // Story: And Hell Followed // by BaeroRemedy //------------------------------// “I-I don’t remember anything else...the next thing I knew I was on the train back to Ponyville…” Princess Twilight Sparkle held her tail in her hooves and squeezed it against her body. She was still shaking, her eyes were focused in the middle-distance as she recounted her tale. Hours had passed since Twilight had teleported them all inside. Everypony who needed intense medical care had filed out of the room long ago, leaving only the alicorn, Applejack, Spike and Cheerilee left in the foyer. Discord had been told to keep the foals busy so they didn’t see all of this, there was no need to expose them to such carnage. For once, the chaos spirit listened and didn’t argue or quip. “How-how do we fix this, Twi?” Applejack was still keeping her distance from the mare she had once called friend. “How do we stop it?” The tension in the air, the fear, was thick enough to cut with a knife. “I-I don’t know! I don’t know!” Twilight curled up into a ball as she sobbed. “I don’t know. I don’t know…” The princess devolved into quiet sobs as her wings wrapped around her body like a fluffy cocoon. “Applejack…” Cheerilee approached the farmpony. “We need to give her some time to recover. Look at her.” The sobbing bloody mess on the floor only reinforced her point. “Please, give her time.” “We ain’t got time!” Applejack hollered back. “The sun’s cookin’ everythin’ out there and we’re runnin’ out of food! If we don’t fix this soon we’re either dead or it’ll be impossible to grow anythin’ out there!” She grabbed Twilight and pulled the alicorn to her hooves. “We need you to snap out of it and fix this, Twilight. Now.” “Hey!” Spike yelled as he got between the two Element Bearers and pushed Applejack away. “Leave her alone, Applejack!” The dragon and the pony glared at each other for almost a minute, until Applejack finally relented with a growl and went up the stairs. Spike sighed and turned back to Twilight. “I think you could use a shower, Twilight.” “P-please…” Twilight shuddered as she spoke. “I-I just want to wash it all off. I need to. I can’t take the taste of blood anymore…” Her mane was still stuck to her face from Sunburst’s blood, which was now mostly dried and stained her purple face. “Princess-” Cheerilee took a few tentative steps towards the alicorn and her assistant, but was cut off by a pained and angry look from Twilight. “Don’t call me that.” The anger faded and left just the hurt behind. “Please, just don’t.” One of Spike’s claws patted Twilight’s side as her head lowered, her eyes focused on the ground. “I don’t deserve it anymore…” “Twilight.” Cheerilee restarted her train of thought and spoke as soft and gently as she could. “Your friends, and everypony else here, gave up a lot to get you back. I just want you to know that we still care about you, and we will forgive you.” It was something that she felt Twilight needed to hear right now, that she wasn’t a pure irredeemable evil. “When I finally fail, all my good deeds will be like dust. They will be replaced by ash in the mouths of those who once revered me.” The other mare mumbled out as she leaned on the dragon beside her. “Starswirl said that. I never got it until now.” With a little nod from the princess, Spike helped her towards the stairs. Once alone, other thoughts started to invade Cheerilee’s brain. She had distracted herself by listening to Twilight’s story and thinking about what it all meant, but being alone again let the darkness creep back in. She could still feel Elytra’s blood on her flank and down one of her legs, it made her fur stiff and she could feel the dried blood flake when she moved. Then there was her hoof, almost an inch of fur had been scorched off of it. She still couldn’t feel it, which probably wasn’t a good thing. Then Sunburst and Bon Bon...they were left out there. The look on Sunburst’s face as he was impaled, the abject horror and betrayal. It was etched into her mind and she couldn’t shake it. He had done so much. He had escaped from the Crystal Empire and survived a train ride to Ponyville; he had spent every waking moment from then working to help the group in the castle. Without him, they wouldn’t have Rainbow Dash back, or Twilight Sparkle. He didn’t deserve to die out there. He didn’t deserve to have his body rot beneath the hot sun. Bon Bon didn’t deserve that either. She had been contentious at times, but she always did what she could to help. Her sense of duty now left her embedded in a wall, reunited with Lyra once again. It all finally got to her. Cheerilee collapsed and started to cry, her entire body shaking and heaving as she sobbed into the floor. The mare let her tears fall onto the crystal below her, she let all of her emotions pour out. All of the hurt and frustration. She had almost died. That realization hit her like a freight train and only turned the stream of tears running down her face into a deluge. Cheerilee had been inches from death when Twilight had kicked Bon Bon, she had been seconds away when she tripped on the way back to the castle. Only chance had saved her. And Elytra. Elytra had saved her from certain death, and it cost the changeling her leg. The thought that it was worth it deepened the pit in her heart, because she wasn’t sure if it was. Elytra being hurt, and her very life being in the balance now, only made the uncertainty within Cheerilee to grow. If Elytra died because of her, she would never forgive herself. It would tear her up for the rest of her days. She sat there for she didn’t know how long, just sobbing and falling deeper and deeper into her own despair. Was Applejack right, were they doomed? How much time did they really have between the food and sun and the monsters coming for the mana pool? Twilight was here but if she couldn’t snap out of it in time, then they would have three unicorns and two alicorns in here when the mana pool failed and they would all die. “Umm...Miss Cheerilee?” The soft voice of Fluttershy drew her gaze upwards from the floor. The pegasus had her long pink mane held back with a blue ribbon and her front two hooves were stained a light green. “A-are you okay…?” “I-I’ll be okay, Fluttershy.” She took a few long and deep breaths before getting to her hooves. The spot right above the burn on her hoof stung, but the pain was enough to fight through. “I just-I just got overwhelmed, sorry.” Cheerilee wiped her eyes and continued her deep breaths to help calm her down. “E-Elytra is okay.” A wave of relief came with Fluttershy’s words and washed over Cheerilee. “Um..I’m used to helping animals and not...changelings. I did my best and stopped the bleeding, but...I don’t know if it helped.” The mare’s yellow hooves tapped against the floor quietly as her eyes fell to watch them. “Th-there’s just not much I know about changelings…” “Thank you.” Cheerilee couldn’t find the strength to speak louder than a whisper. “Everypony else?” At least Elytra wasn’t dead, that was one bright spot that offered a bit of reprieve. “Mostly just burns. They’ll sting but Rarity knows at least one spell to help with them until Twilight feels okay enough to help.” The reliance on Twilight brought back that worry. The alicorn was going to take time to recover, if she ever did. “Rainbow Dash...she lost feeling in her wings. She can’t move them right now either, but we don’t know how bad it is.” The pain in Fluttershy’s voice was apparent as she spoke about her friend. “We have her wings bound to her sides, but we can’t do much else.” “I’m sorry.” Cheerilee didn’t know what she was apologizing for, she just felt that she had to. “Is there anything I can do to help? Anything at all?” Her mind needed a distraction from the emotional pit it was in, something. “Relax, please.” Fluttershy stepped forward timidly before hugging Cheerilee. She was so soft and smelled of freshly cut grass. The schoolmare could do nothing else but wrap her own hooves around the pegasus and give her a gentle squeeze. “Everypony is on edge right now, so please...just relax. Take care of yourself and somepony else, okay?” The limitless kindness that poured from Fluttershy was something that was desperately needed in these times. “Okay, yeah. Good idea.” The two mares relinquished the hug and Cheerilee gave a weak and hollow smile. “Is Elytra in her room…?” She needed to see the changeling, she needed to just see with her own eyes that Elytra was still alive. “No.” Fluttershy shook her head and sighed. “Her room doesn’t have a...um...bed, so we put her in Bon Bon’s old room.” That hadn’t even crossed Cheerilee’s mind. The makeshift nest definitely would not be the most ideal place to recover, but at least Fluttershy thought on her hooves. “Okay. Thank you, Fluttershy. I needed this.” Cheerilee’s filter was off and she was just saying whatever crossed her mind. It was the truth though, she needed somepony to talk to her and calm her down. “Everypony does right now.” Was the simple response she received in return. Fluttershy trotted off towards the direction of the kitchen while Cheerilee shuffled upstairs. Every muscle in her body still ached with every movement, especially now that the adrenaline had worn off. The combination of effort and dehydration had completely sapped the strength from her body. Before getting Scootaloo and checking on Elytra, she headed to the bathroom that was on the floor. Once inside she looked in the mirror and sighed. The mare looking back looked half-dead. Her light pink mane was frizzy and all over the place, making her look more like one of the unicorns outside rather than a proper pony. Her eyes had deep and dark bags under them, which considering it had to be close to midnight wasn’t much of a surprise. Cheerilee raised herself up on her back hooves and set her front ones on the sink before her. She turned on the faucet and ran her burned hoof under it. Nothing. Anywhere the fur had once been, she felt nothing now. She really hoped it wasn’t nerve damage, but there would be no way to figure that out without a proper hospital. With a frustrated sigh, she shook her hoof dry. She wasn’t proud of what she did next, but it was something she had to do. Cheerilee got as much of her muzzle as she could into the sink below the faucet and turned it on just to drink. She gulped down water like she hadn’t had a drop to drink in weeks. She drank until she needed to breathe, at which time she pulled away from the sink and collapsed against the wall behind her. Cheerilee’s mind finally went blank. She sat there and just stared at the sink, not thinking about anything. Her breathing slowed and she focused on the cool tile pressed against her back and hooves. For those few minutes where she did nothing, everything felt right. “Whaddya want, huh?!” The perfect moment was shattered by the sound of Applejack yelling and a door slamming. “There ain’t nothin’ Ah can do anymore! Sunburst is gone and she’s our only chance!” Cheerilee slowly stood up and trotted over to the door. She cracked it open just enough to see Meriwether talking with Applejack outside of the latter’s room. “Ah’m just as mad at her as everypony else for all of this, but this is it.” “I say we leave with whoever wants to go.” Meriwether shot back. She looked the best out of anypony in the entire group now. There wasn’t a mark on her light brown coat and her, now fully pink, mane was even styled. “There has to be somewhere that is still habitable, and we need to find it. Staying here is a death sentence.” “You don’t think Ah know this is a death sentence?” Applejack hissed and advanced on the mare. “My little sister is here, the last of my kin! W-we’re the last two, and that’s all Ah’ve thought about since Mac...died.” Applejack looked away with a deep frown for a moment. “Twilight is here now. Give her the night and she’ll come up with some way to turn this around, Ah know it.” “Applejack, she is the one who started this.” Meriwether did not wilt in the shadow of the far younger and stronger mare. “If what you told me is the true series of events, then whatever that voice is might still be in her head. We cannot trust her.” “Well we have to.” AJ sighed and seemed to deflate as the air left her mouth. “We ain’t got no other choice. None. Goin’ out there is a quick way to die, you should know that by now. At least in here we got a chance.” Applejack’s voice had lost all of its confidence, all of its vigor and hope. It was only full of dread and resignation now. “Fine.” Meriwether dropped the conversation rather quickly. She glared at Applejack and then walked away, presumably going to her own room. Applejack brought a hoof up to her face and let out another sigh. It took a few minutes, but the farmpony went back into her room. Once she was sure the coast was clear, Cheerilee exited the bathroom. She had a myriad of thoughts on the conversation that she had just heard. Both mares had good points that struck chords, but she just didn’t have the energy at the moment to think about it more than just at a glance. Her hooves carried her to Bon Bon’s old room, where Elytra was. Cheerilee took one last deep breath and gently pushed the door open as slow as she could so as to not disturb the changeling inside. The scene inside wasn’t the one she expected to see. “Your mom and dad?” Elytra was laying in the bed on her right side, her voice hoarse and rough. Her aqua chitin was cracked and chipped all over, more than it had been after saving Scootaloo, and it was marred with black scorch marks. Her rear left leg was gone about halfway down, now covered with layers upon layers of what looked to be a mix of sheets and bandages that were already soaked through with green blood. “They were...out of Equestria when this started, I think.” Scootaloo sat beside Elytra on the bed, her back to the door as the two talked. “The last letter I got from them said they were in Farasi and were coming home soon. I don’t know if they made it back or not.” Elytra’s dark pink eyes flicked to focus on Cheerilee for a moment before going right back to Scootaloo. “I bet they’re safe, Scoots.” Elytra reassured the filly, reaching over and patting her head. “Safest place to be is out of Equestria, and the zebras are good creatures.” The changeling smiled all that she could manage. “Have faith, alright?” Scootaloo nodded softly in response. “So if you didn’t live with your parents, who did you live with?” “My aunts Lofty and Holiday. Aunt Holiday is my dad’s sister.” Scootaloo looked at her hooves as her wings flapped anxiously. “They were in Ponyville...when all of this started. They probably didn’t…” Cheerilee approached the pair quietly, not wanting to disturb Scootaloo’s talk. “Auntie Lofty is a pegasus, but she would never leave Aunt Holiday alone. They love each other too much.” “I bet.” Elytra sighed softly and brushed one of Scootaloo’s ears with a hoof. “If they are gone, at least they were together in the end.” The subject of family was one that Cheerilee had specifically avoided with Scootaloo. The last thing she wanted to do was dredge up those feelings in this environment. “And if they’re not, I know they’re just waiting to find you.” Scootaloo leaned into Elytra’s hoof and sighed. “Hey Cheerilee.” “Oh...hello.” Cheerilee grinned sheepishly as Scootaloo turned around to see her. “I’m surprised to see you still awake, Scootaloo.” The little pegasus chuckled nervously and her eyes darted back to the bug on the bed. “Well I heard Fluttershy telling Applejack that she was okay, so I had to come check on her.” Scootaloo rubbed the back of her head with her good hoof and smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t mean to wake her up...but I saw her leg…” “It’s fine, Cheerilee. Really.” Elytra reassured them both. “I don’t mind the company, in fact I need it right now.” The smile on her face died as she looked down to her now missing leg. “I don’t think all of the good vibes in Equestria are going to fix this...and it’s not something I can just make a new one of.” “We can be cast buddies!” Scootaloo offered as she did her best to avoid looking at the stump. “I can sign yours and you can sign mine!” The grin on Elytra’s face returned to full force at the thought of it. “You’ve got a deal, Scoots.” She moved her stump a little, wincing as she did so. The changeling huffed and glared at her now missing appendage. “I just...really need to patch myself up. They did a good job for a pony body, but…” “Do you need some help?” Cheerilee said as she sat beside the bed and rested her head on the mattress. “I don’t know what you need, but I’m willing to do whatever...especially after…” Cheerilee’s eyes met Elytra’s for a split-second before the mare looked away. “No, I wouldn’t want to put either of you through that.” Elytra looked at Scootaloo with a small mischievous smile. “Remember I showed you how I made my nest?” The filly nodded apprehensively. “It’s how I fix up my shell too. I hit it with a different spell, but the same stuff.” “Ewwww.” Scootaloo stuck her tongue out and made a ‘blech’ noise as she looked away from the changeling. Cheerilee was thoroughly lost, she had no idea what Elytra used to build her nest. “Ugh, I don’t want to see your spit again.” “I’m sorry, what?” Cheerilee had to ask. “To build our nests and repair our chitin, we use our saliva and transform it with our magic.” Elytra recited, much to Cheerilee and Scootaloo’s combined disgust. “Exactly. So I’ll do that on my own time. Don’t worry about me, I’ll be okay.” “Well we’re going to worry about you anyway! Because you’re our friend and that’s what friends do!” Scootaloo cried out defiantly as she raised her bad leg in the air, quickly retracting it with a whimper. “Ow…” “And we’ll worry more about her in the morning, dear.” Cheerilee nudged the filly with a hoof, coaxing her down from the bed. “Go wash up and head to our room, alright? I’ll be there in a minute.” Begrudgingly, Scootaloo grumbled and hopped down from the bed before hobbling out of the room. “So.” Cheerilee sat on the bed next to Elytra once the door had closed. “I want to thank you for saving me. It wasn’t something you had to do-” An aqua colored hoof was brought up to her muzzle. She looked at her companion to see the usually dark pink eyes soften in color as they met her own eyes. “-It wasn’t even a choice,” Elytra whispered. “I didn’t think when I saw you get hit, I just acted. I couldn’t let you…” The last word that died in her throat hung in the air like a sword above both of their moods. “I couldn’t,” They looked at each other for a moment as the chitinous creature before the pony searched for what to say. “I-I didn’t care what it cost. Even now, a leg seems like a good trade to keep you safe,” Cheerilee couldn’t help the blush that spread across her features. “I’d do it again for you or Scoots. I wouldn’t even have to think about it.” “Still...thank you. I owe you more than you can possibly imagine,” Cheerilee rested a hoof on Elytra’s chest. Her chitin was just as warm as it always was. It felt nice. “If there’s anything I can do for you, please-” “Tell me how you feel. About me, I mean.” The request was simple, but demanding. It made her heart begin to race again and her thoughts swirl like a maelstrom in her skull. For the first time since it got burnt, she could feel her hoof, specifically her own pulse in it. “I-well…” the mare stammered out as she looked anywhere but Elytra’s eyes. “I think you’re a good creature, deep down,” She figured that she would start from there. “You want to be better than you were and you’re sorry for what you did...in Canterlot. You need some help understanding some pony stuff, but-” Cheerilee’s rambling was interrupted by a soft giggle and then a groan of pain from the changeling. “That’s what you think about me, Cheerilee. I want to know what you feel,” Elytra adjusted herself on the bed and propped herself up so she and Cheerilee were now seeing eye to eye. “I don’t want to just taste emotions anymore and assume things, I need to know.” Cheerilee’s head had no answer for that, not one she could articulate at the moment. Today had taken its toll and she was struggling to stay awake, let alone coherent. Her head was no help, so instead she turned to her heart and asked what to do. It responded with the simplest answer in the world. Cheerilee leaned in and kissed Elytra.