The Elements of Lunar Harmony

by Paganbrony

Part Twenty: The Kiss of Death.

The Elements of Lunar Harmony

Part Twenty: The Kiss of Death.

Given that Berry was sober and that the three ponies with her were learning what that meant, the trip back to the Doctor’s was pretty uneventful except for Berry wolf whistling a passing stallion followed by loudly calling out to him what she would do if she had the time.

Berry topped this by making obscene gestures at the shocked nearby Ponyville residents who happened to be just going about their business.

Roseluck and Apple Cobbler agreed the stallion was worth the whistle but the somewhat awkward explanations to Fleur the nature and practicalities of some of Berries suggestions made the other two begin to blush deeply.

This was exacerbated when most of it went above their own heads also, since their own experiences of such things were incredibly limited, mostly being second hand descriptions and vaguely remembered sex Ed classes.

Berry Punch however was able to interrupt the increasingly quiet and mumbling pair and give all three an education in great detail about the ‘ins’ and the ‘outs’ and by the time they reached the doctor’s all three were the color of beetroots from tip to tail.

“D-Does it really happen like that? With the… You know… The naughty bit… And it goes…”

Fleur looked dumbfounded as she asked the very first question she had thought of but only now had gotten out due to the deluge of descriptions given by Berry having shorted out her train of thought.

Berry just nodded as Fleur blinked and replied in a far away voice.

“Oh”

The three of them followed Berry into the Doctor’s and through the reception but instead of entering the quiet room reserved for Spitfire she instead made her way towards the ward with Trixie on.

Roseluck and the other two questioned this when the four of them were gathered around the blue mare’s bed, Berry however just ignored them as she looked down at the sleeping mare.

Almost half of Trixie was covered in bandages, paper stitches and with almost non existent breathing it was clear to all Trixie was in bad shape but would in time heal...

Expectantly the three watched as Berry uncorked the bottle with her teeth and held it under her nose as the first whiff of aroma escaped the bottle.

For a moment, just a moment Berry looked as if she was her usual drunken self.

But that instant was gone and as she roughly pushed Trixie's head back she emptied the contents of the bottle down her throat and upon the last drop threw the bottle to one side and stood well back.

The other three however remained by the bed more curious about what would happen next than their own safety, but minute’s passed before Trixie’s eyelid’s began to twitch.

Then her whole body stirred as her eyelids flew open and she awoke with a deep gasping breath that caused her to choke as she breathed out.

“A-Are you trying to kill me… What in the hay was that…?”

Trixie struggled to focus on the shape more than a few hooves away as her mind failed miserably to function properly, sluggish from the enforced sleep due to exhaustion it took her awhile to put another sentence together.

In the meantime she moved her aching head to the other side and tried to identify the three mares next to her bed that were holding their collective breaths, after what seemed an age she finally remembered the key points of her adventures up until now.

Followed that is by a very sudden remembrance of her conversation with Death and the reasons she’d ended up in that encounter.

“S-Spitfire did Luna Bring Spitfire?”

Three voices answered her in unison explaining the state of Spitfire and pretty much everything else on top in their excitement, a weight lifted from their hearts seeing their ‘friend’ awake and responding.

Regardless of course the fact that if asked later whether or not they liked Trixie their answer wouldn’t always be less than truthful or forthcoming, certainly in her presence at least.

It was the deluge of information and ‘worry’ which made Trixie’s head swim being unused to ponies actually caring, she suddenly felt very sick and without time to warn any pony reared forward and let loose spewing forth what little remained in her stomach after all this time.

Berry was in fits of laughter on the floor as the three now furious and squealing mares dashed to the ward shower room, reaching unsteadily for the water jug on the table next to her Trixie swilled her mouth out and spat the contents on the already covered floor and painfully pulled herself off of the other side of the bed.

Trixie lay against the side of the bed as her near inanimate muscles and multitude of smaller injuries stopped her from regaining her hooves.

Berry who was bored of laughing at this point roughly grabbed Trixie around her waist and put her on her unsteady hooves and gave her a light punch on the shoulder as a friend would, she then started laughing again as she for the second time stood Trixie upright.

“Where is she?”

“She’s in a room down the hall, can’t miss it.”

“Is it me or are you looking…”

“Sober?”

“Yeah, I mean that and… Seriously you need to have your mane shaved and… Your eyebrows are…”

“You’re one to talk Miss Great and Powerful.”

Trixie looked down at herself and decided to ignore it in favor of what she had to do first before any personal concessions.

Slowly and awkwardly and with no help whatsoever from Berry, Trixie stumbled into Spitfire’s room and after Berry persuaded the doctor and nurse present (Redheart was still sleeping off the effects of her boozing having slept through the previous commotion) to vacate the room, Trixie approached the bed.

Spitfire was underneath the covers laid out on her side exposing the busted wing and in its infected state despite all the hard work by the doctor to the contrary it smelled awful as it continued to ooze through the wounds where bone shards had pierced the skin.

For all of the doctor’s ministrations Spitfire was barely breathing as Trixie lent forward whispered something into Spitfire’s ear.

“What now, do you know magic to help her?”

Trixie looked over at Berry and shook her head.

“No I don’t know any magic like that, but some pony gave me the solution in return for something…”

Berry was perplexed as she watched Trixie lift Spitfire’s muzzle and lean forward.

At first it was just a kiss but as it deepened a small glow of blue light passed from Trixie’s mouth to Spitfire’s where just before it disappeared it changed into the flaming orange of fire except one small spark reversed course and returned to Trixie who unknowingly absorbed it causing a faint glow to appear around her for the briefest of moments.

Almost imperceptibly Spitfire began to glow and then gradually grew brighter and brighter as Trixie and Berry both had to shield themselves from the light pervading the entire room.

Once this was over and they were able to see clearly, the effect of the exchange was immediately obvious, instead of a clearly ruined wing there was smooth skin and coat with all feathers intact and no obvious signs of their having ever been an injury!

Quietly the pair watched as the mare in the bed stirred and then moments passed before she woke up and began to try to move, Trixie settled her back with a hoof and gave her reassurance all the while soothingly stroking her mane in a motherly fashion.

Still recovering Spitfire without opening her eyes fully, strained to speak.

“Were you just… Kissing me…?”

“Yes…”

“Oh”

“You’re breath stinks… Like rancid…”

“I threw up on the others first.”

“C-Charming real nice… Couldn’t you be like a prince in shining armor or something…?”

“Quit complaining already, you’re alive, Braeburn’s toast and now we just have to gather our strength and go to Canterlot and get you replaced!”

“Great… Blackmail and unemployment… Oh joy.”

“Hmmph well it’s better than the alternative the universe had in mind.”

“Which is?”

“Missing out on spending all your time traveling around with me and Berry on a loony mission from Luna!”

“Hooray maybe now it will be some pony else’s turn to get kidnapped while you’re all snoozing…”

Trixie coughed awkwardly and looked away as Berry finally sidled up next to her and looked down at Spitfire.

“You look like crap Spitfire.”

“Hey Berry how are you…?”

“Sober.”

“Oh… How’s that going?”

“I got into a fight with a bunch of squaddies…”

Trixie raised an eyebrow but said nothing.

“Oh… Did they hurt you…?”

“Only my hooves after I’d been hitting them for awhile, that armor is tough.”

Berry was rubbing her fore hooves together absentmindedly as she relived the scene in her mind.

Trixie and Spitfire both exchanged glances as they remained silent out of confusion and sheer exhaustion, but still managing weak smiles.

It was sometime before the other three mares reappeared now slightly damp but at least looking normal for themselves, shooting daggers with their expressions they took up a semi circle position at the foot of the bed as Spitfire forced herself into a sitting position.

During the following chorus of ‘how are you’ and ‘Thank Celestia you’re alright’ and the far more sensible ‘How did this happen’ from Roseluck, that the sense of unity however impractical or implausible between them was renewed once more.

Finally assembled the group sat facing Spitfire as they each gave their own version of events from the morning at the woods, their arrival in town, Berries fight and Trixie’s and Spitfire’s recovery.

This was followed last by Trixie who skipped the whole part about Death and bluffed her way through defeating Nightmare Moon’s power claiming the demon had been consumed when she couldn’t possess Trixie, destroyed by her own power backfiring, and then some of this power was siphoned off by Trixie who then of course used to bring Spitfire back.

The group accepted this in varying degrees of disbelief shock and awe, luckily the only other unicorn Fleur had absolutely no knowledge beyond absolute basics of magic and in no way could dispute this ‘fanciful showdown.’

Although it took a while to explain everything and the fact Trixie and Spitfire were fighting to stay awake, by the time every pony had caught up with current events all of them looked as though the next few years would be spent in bed.

At this point a confused and hung over Nurse Redheart entered having been woken by a confused doctor and the other nurse; they had sent her to deal with this reunion since their attention was now taken up by a bunch of broken and battered looking royal guards who were only now entering the clinic having taken a while to get there in their current state.

Nurse Redheart had rolled off the bed and stepped hoof first in the result of Trixie’s ‘outburst’ and with her head banging she was not in the best of moods.

“Will some pony please tell me what’s going on?”

They did, Nurse Redheart went home.

Watching her leave the group were about to sort out what to do about rest, when Berry who was itching to be anywhere else than a boring hospital room opened the door before rapidly closing it again and swearing.

“It’s those guards again! They followed us here!”

Apple Cobbler looked doubtful.

“They’re probably here cos you gave them the hoofing of their lives…”

“True… But their still here aren’t they? We’ll have to sneak out, AC you grab Spitfire, you two carry Trix.”

“What did you say?”

When Trixie spoke first Apple Cobbler contented herself with an indignant huff at the shortening of her name, Trixie however stared at Berry her face a mask of indignation.

“What did you just call me?”

“I called you Trix”

“I do not like that nickname; you will call me by my proper name.”

“Why don’t you like Trix?”

“No…”

“I’ll bet you’re good at turning them though…”

Like a bomb going off the rooms supply of oxygen disappeared as the onlookers and Trixie open mouthed processed what had been said, Trixie’s delayed comeback however was interrupted by a rapping at the door.

Roseluck hesitantly approached the door and called through it to ask who was out there, the reply alleviated some of the tension but as the knocker entered the room the door was closed again by Berry who started to barricade the door.

The newcomer glanced around the room slightly bewildered but she recovered her wits and launched into a torrent of questions.

Once finished and her questions answered the mare nodded her head sagely and without a clue what to say next she brought in front of her with her magic a box that had been obediently hovering next to her the whole time.

Trixie would have never have admitted it but she really envied how magic came so naturally to the purple unicorn now sat before the group, so she asked the obvious.
.
“So Twilight… What’s in the box?”