//------------------------------// // Part Eighteen: Hyde that Booze, Berries Rolling … // Story: The Elements of Lunar Harmony // by Paganbrony //------------------------------// The Elements of Lunar Harmony Part Eighteen: Hyde that Booze, Berries Rolling … Time passed unseen by the trio sleeping in the library and when they eventually awoke it was slowly and without enthusiasm that they regained their hooves and forced their tired limbs to move. Muttering or nodding to each other they found themselves alone in the library, a note quickly scrawled by the resident dragon informed them he had gone to fetch some food for them and Applejack had gone to check where Twilight and Luna had gone. The note also made mention of the three glasses of milk and plate piled with biscuits on the table beside it, it was as they were quietly munching and drinking said snacks that Applejack returned with Twilight and a concerned looking Luna. It was with a tearful expression that Luna descended on the group checking each and everyone of them over and embracing them wordlessly before regaining a somewhat regal pose and addressing the now questioning ponies. “I am so relieved to see the three of you well, I am so sorry for all of this I am ashamed I put you in such danger…” Roseluck surprised all by speaking first with a voice that grew in volumes as she protested. “It wasn’t your fault! It was that idiot Braeburn… He kidnapped Spitfire and Trixie went spare… It wasn’t your fault…” Fleur seeing Luna’s distress at Roseluck’s show of support piped up with the question on every ponies mind but her voice nearly gave out as she asked the last part. “How are they? Are they going to live?” Luna closed her eyes for a moment then with all the solemnity in the world opened them and shook her head. “Trixie is going to be OK once she has recovered her strength as should Berry, but Spitfire… She’s really sick and…” Luna lost her composure her voice cracking as Twilight took over after placing a comforting hoof against Luna. “The doctor say’s the injury that Spitfire had to her wing wasn’t properly cared for, as a result of the obvious beating it’s had since your adventure began has caused the bones to shift about and even splinter…” Twilight paused swallowed and then continued her eyes not looking at any pony directly as she spoke. “The effect is that it’s become seriously infected and with the blood poisoning she’s hanging between life and death…” Fleur Roseluck and Apple Cobbler all hung their heads as Twilight elaborated on the Wonderbolts chances that she would recover. With the prognosis looking dire the trio were left looking at Luna who cleared her throat before telling them what actually caused the devastation of the woods. Apple Cobbler declared Trixie as being at fault but was surprised first at Luna shaking her head and then the real explanation that followed, like the other two the story took her completely by surprise. “When Twilight and her friends freed me from Nightmare Moon they failed to destroy her completely, since then she has been apparently rebuilding her strength.” Luna approached Roseluck and with her fore hoof lifted the small silver chain all of them wore from her chest and sighed. “The demon retained a small link to me despite her banishment and through that and these chains I imbued with my own magic she must have tried to take over Trixie…” The three gasped loudly as they exchanged frightened looks first at each other and then Luna.” “So Trixie’s been possessed… Should we stake her?” The room looked as Apple Cobbler blushed and hid her face behind her mane as the others tried to grasp the situation at hoof. “So does that mean she needs an exorcism… I mean more than usual?” Roseluck a hoof on her silver chain followed it immediately with another question as it occurred to her. “Will Nightmare Moon try to take control of us? Are we in danger if we keep these on?” Luna shook her head as she tried to smile in a reassuring way, promptly stopping when it quickly unnerved all present. “No… It is okay, Nightmare Moon has vanished I cannot feel her anymore… I do not understand but it must have been something Trixie did, what ever it was nearly killed her… All that power almost consumed her very soul…” Fleur asked the next question and with some trepidation for the future and like her companions made it without reservations as she spoke clearly and confidently. “What do we do now? Apart that is from waiting for Spitfire to get better or Trixie and Berry to wake up?” Fighting back her tears she broke down as she asked. “Is our adventure over?” Luna watched as their faces lapsed into confusion as they tried to remember all of the events that had gotten them there. It was at this point she made herself a promise to if possible see this all through and make all their sacrifices and their adventures so far mean something… …Silently she cursed Celestia as she realized her sister would be lecturing her relentlessly for all her mistakes so far, but with that she remembered the situation in Canterlot It was up to her to see this all through. “NO… A-At least not yet… We still have Trixie’s plan to enact… But we had better keep that to ourselves…” Luna awkwardly motioned a hoof at Twilight who merely looked confused as the trio nodded back, none of them wanting to explain their plan to blackmail Celestia to her protégé. “For the moment I need the three of you to look after the others as they recover, in the meantime I have to do some investigating to try to decipher our next move!” Luna managed a confident almost normal smile that was joined by the trio who despite knowing the precarious health of their companions were bolstered by Luna’s rare show of confidence and leadership. The group all breathed out and began to relax and discuss what they would each do now, their thoughts remaining with the missing three members of the group. Returning to earlier events on the ward with Trixie and Berry, Nurse Redheart was pacing nervously as she stared in frustration at the pile of bottles that the other nurse had heaped next to Berries bed. “I told you only to get spirits or wine, there’s only ale or lager here… AND ARE THOSE ALCOPOPS!!! WHAT BLOODY USE TO ANY PONY ARE THOSE!!!” Nurse Redheart closed her eyes and rubbed between them with a hoof as she listened to the other nurse give her explanation. “W-Well the barkeep said he’s out of spirits and wine and his consignment of champagne blew up apparently, he gets all of his supplies like every other bar in town from Miss Punch… And since her place was burnt to ground…” Nurse Redheart closed in on the unfortunate nurse and in a low tone full of promise of retribution ordered her to scour Ponyville high and low and go door to door if necessary. Watching her disappear once again, Nurse Redheart turned towards the beds that contained Trixie and Berry. She cocked her head and frowned as she could have sworn Berries eyebrows were looking suspiciously shaggy and her mane despite having been carefully combed out when she’d been washed was also looking very unkempt along with her tail. Unlike Berry Nurse Redheart was not immune to the lower forms of alcohol and with a worried prayer to Celestia she made a start on the ale wincing as the flavor hit her. Unnoticed Trixie twitched in her sleep replaying random bad memories from her past as her body agonisingly slowly began its road to recovery her mind however continued to torture itself wallowing in all the misery and the weight of what was to come. For two days it continued like this, Spitfire still hung in the balance between life and death, Trixie remained asleep and slowly Berry began to recover her strength and on that second day awoke to find an inebriated Nurse Redheart crouched in a corner surrounded by empty bottles. “Uh you OK there Redheart? You look a bit um… Out of sorts are you feeling OK…?” “I’m Fine… How are you feeling?” “Is one of those going spare by chance?” Berry pointed a shaky hoof at the pile of untouched booze next to the frightened nurse. “Berry there’s nothing but alcopops and lite beer left… There’s no wine or spirits in the whole of the town since your place burned, we checked… …TWICE!!!” Nurse Redheart continued under the withering glare of an increasingly frantic looking Berry. “Um since Canterlot’s been cordoned off we can’t get any from there and Manehatten won’t send anything either on account of violent bandits on the roadways, news it seems travels fast, that and some of Braeburn’s Posse had landed near there…” Looking about her she questioned Nurse Redheart about the others, only nodding upon hearing of the three who were OK and Trixie’s condition, but hearing Spitfire’s situation she grunted loudly and forced herself up. Berry Punch slid off her bed and staggered without a word out of the ward and out into the unsuspecting world. Nurse Redheart slid back against the wall and comforted herself that now Berry had voluntarily checked herself out any and all consequences were not her responsibility anymore. Never mind the fact Berry looked just like the Stone Age ponies from the history books, what with her bushy eyebrows topped by an overgrown mane and tail.