II

by adcoon

II.11 - Not a Joke

Everything that followed seemed to happen in a frantic daze. Guards came galloping and yelled orders to each other, then went off at top speed again. Dash didn't hear or take note of any of it as she struggled to keep Twilight from collapsing. Her hooves and the white polished floor under them was stained red with blood, and Twilight's body was trembling with cold shakes as she labored to breathe in between the violent coughs.

“Don't die! Please don't die,” Dash kept repeating in despair, even though Twilight was clearly not listening anymore. “They're getting help, it'll all be great!” she added, crying.

A pair of doors swung open at the other end of the room. Dash didn't look up but heard the voice of Celestia as the princess strode into the room. “What is going on out here?” the princess demanded, but hurried forward when she saw the scene. “Twilight!”

A guard hastily stepped in front of the princess to stop her. “You majesty! She may be contagious, you can't—”

“She is also my student!” Celestia snapped at the guard and pushed him aside as she rushed up to Twilight and Dash. “Twilight? Somepony get the royal physician down here this instant!”

“He is already on his way, your majesty,” another guard said meekly.

Dash looked up through tears as somepony she hadn't noticed before hurried past Celestia and knelt down in front of Twilight. Dash didn't recognize the richly dressed zebra who was now trying her best to gaze into Twilight's mouth without getting a hoof bitten.

The princess stepped aside to give room as more ponies came rushing into the quickly crowded room. “Can you tell anything?” she asked tensely, apparently directed at the zebra. “Miss Zapphira?”

“Black tongue, coughing blood,” the zebra, apparently named Zapphira, muttered under her breath and looked up at Dash very firmly. “You, a feather, now,” she commanded. Dash was much too confused and terrified to ask questions. She obediently stretched out a wing and grit her teeth as the zebra grabbed a long feather and pulled it out. Dash tried to bite back the pain as her eyes watered.

Zapphira held up the feather to the princess. “Get her to throw up,” she said as the princess picked up the feather in her magic. Celestia obligingly stuck the feather down Twilight's throat. The unicorn's body convulsed, and Dash quickly held her forward as the bloodied black contents of her stomach spilled over the floor.

“Good, keep doing that, make sure she gets it all out.” Zapphira turned around and quickly found the newly arrived physician who was standing among the crowd looking lost. “Daylily roots? Have you got any?” she asked. The doctor looked blank. Zapphira looked around with a scowl at everypony gathered. “Daylily! Anypony?”

“I keep one in my study,” Celestia volunteered.

“Get me its root,” Zapphira commanded. Celestia wordlessly shoved the feather to the physician, giving him a commanding glare before she disappeared in a flash. As he weakly stepped up to Twilight, Zapphira turned to a group of nurses. “You there, get us water! Plenty of water.”

Twilight had stopped throwing up and was looking very weak. The zebra turned around at her. “Don't stop until it's all out. Again.” Dash obediently held Twilight, too horrified to do otherwise, as the physician mutely repeated the procedure.

Celestia appeared again with a large flower dangling in the air beside her. The princess had clearly just pulled the whole thing out of its pot, wasting no time. “Is this the right one?”

Zapphira turned around and gave the flower one very quick glance. “Burning Daylight, yes! Clean the root in water, crush it in another bowl and give it to her, make sure she swallows it all.” She paused for a second to consider something. “Actually, just give her the whole plant.”

Celestia quickly got the root free of the worst dirt and set about cleaning and crushing the plant as the nurses returned with water. Twilight was burning now and barely breathing. Dash watched, feeling numb and unable to really process anything that was going on around her, while Zapphira and the princess forced Twilight to drink the water and crushed flower.

They all watched as Twilight swallowed the last drops and collapsed again. After a few breathless moments, Zapphira seemed to relax a bit. “Good … good, looks like it stays down. Get her cleaned and into bed.” She turned to the physician who was still standing helplessly with the feather, while the nurses hurried up to help. “Black tea will do her good. Don't remove the leaves, just give her the whole thing, and get her something to eat once she wakes up too.”

Dash followed as if in a dream while Twilight was washed and carried away by the nurses.

***

Dash gently tucked the blanket around Twilight and sat down next to the hospital bed. The unicorn was still unconscious, but her temperature had stabilized and she wasn't coughing so badly. Dash hadn't left, doing the best she could to clean herself without leaving the room. Now she sat there, feeling exhausted and worried sick. “Don't worry, everything will be fine,” she said for the hundredth time, as much to reassure herself as Twilight, who probably couldn't hear her anyway.

She sat there staring at Twilight and gently stroking her leg, wondering what had happened. She hadn't had time to think about it until now, since everything had happened so quickly. Twilight had been fine last night and this morning, she had been fine at breakfast, and then … Dash went over breakfast again. Something Twilight had eaten, maybe. She sighed.

The door opened and Dash looked up to see Celestia enter, followed closely by Zapphira. The zebra had changed out of her rich clothes, which had gotten rather bloodied and dirty from the hasty operation. She still looked somehow regal and commanding as she stood there behind the princess, head held high and eyes fiercely caring.

“Will she be alright?” Dash burst out, looking to the zebra for hope.

Zapphira walked past the princess and leaned over the bed to give Twilight a brief look. “She is still alive, that is the best sign we could hope for right now. A full recovery will take time. She will be weak for a while, but the worst is certainly over.”

Celestia gave a mirthless smile and looked at Twilight briefly before sitting down on a pillow in front of Dash. “Zapphira here is the Zebrica ambassador to Equestria.” The princess looked to Zapphira. “Zapphira, this is miss Rainbow Dash, loyal friend of my faithful student.”

“Pleased to meet you, miss Rainbow Dash,” the zebra said over her examination of Twilight. “Wish it were under more pleasant circumstances.”

“Yeah, me too,” Dash said, her eyes not leaving Twilight.

“Miss Zapphira arrived in Canterlot this morning to discuss unrelated matters with me,” Celestia continued. “It is fortunate that she did. She has kindly explained to me that Twilight had ingested a very foul poison extracted from the intestines of the black-hooded wasp, a species of the south. It is a substance with which I am afraid to say my physician was not prepared to deal. It is not a poison commonly encountered here in Equestria, so we were ill prepared. I must apologize for this failure.” The princess paused for a moment, still watching Dash. “Do you have any idea how this might have happened?”

“She was fine this morning. We had breakfast together at a café in Gloaming,” Dash said, eager to help and eager for answers. “We both had coffee, but I didn't drink mine. It must have been that! There was a pony who served us our food … an earth pony named Café au Lait. Do you think she poisoned it?”

Celestia was silent for several long seconds before quickly standing back up. “I shall inform my sister and have her guards investigate the café you mention. Is there anything else you can think of before I go?”

Dash shook her head and watched the princess as she left the room. She sat for a while, staring at Twilight's hoof before she remembered Zapphira. The zebra was still there, currently going through the small supply of medicinal herbs in a cabinet. Dash sat up a bit. “So, uh, I notice you don't rhyme when you speak?”

Zapphira turned around, looking momentarily confused, then she brightened up. “No, indeed I do not rhyme, but it is not an uncommon choice.” She put a small glass of dried flowers back in the cabinet. “It is an old tradition among our people for the apprentice of a shaman to make a vow when they take up their personal quest. Vows of silence are common, rhyming a little less but still popular. Each apprentice chooses a vow that reflects their own nature and that of their spiritual journey.”

Dash nodded and stared off into the distance.

“I take it your question means you have met one of my folk?” Zapphira asked and closed the cabinet door as she turned to regard Dash. “I hope it was a friendly meeting?”

“Yeah,” Dash looked back at her. “Her name is Zecora. She's been a friend for a while now, lives in the Everfree. Twilight knows her best, though.”

“That is wonderful. Not many zebra travel this far from home, and not many ponies are familiar with our ways either, so it is always good to hear that relations are improving.”

Dash nodded before asking, “So uh, would you mind looking at my wings? I was out flying this morning and got really tired in my wings, like I'd just flown a marathon or something, but I haven't been doing much heavy flying lately, really.”

Zapphira trotted around the bed and narrowed her eyes at Dash's outstretched wing. “You seem well enough to me, miss Dash,” she said after a while and let go of the wing. “Perhaps you simply strained them, but I must admit I am no expert on pegasus health.” She smiled apologetically. “I am not in fact an expert on medicine either, I only remember a little herbology from my younger apprentice days. A fortune, in fact, that I remembered about the daylily flower just now.”

“Oh.” Dash felt a little silly for assuming the zebra would be an expert on all sorts of such things, like Zecora. Another thought struck her as Zapphira was on her way to the door. “You don't know anything about dopplegängers either, then?”

Zapphira stopped at the door and shook her head as she turned around. “I am very sorry. I have heard of the practice among my folk, but I am far from an expert. I can not help you there.”

“Oh,” Dash muttered. “Um, thanks,” she added genuinely.

Zapphira smiled as she opened the door. “It was good to meet you, Miss Dash.”

Dash went back to watching Twilight.

***

She had dozed off next to the bed and woke again as she felt Twilight's hoof on hers. Dash blinked awake and looked at her friend. Twilight looked awful, but awake.

“Rainbow Dash?” Twilight said, her voice almost gone. “What happened?”

“The coffee was poisoned. Probably,” Dash said and looked up at the clock above the door. A little more than an hour had passed since Zapphira left. “Some kind of nasty foreign wasp stuff that the royal physician didn't know about. Lucky the zebra ambassador was here today.”

“The coffee?” Twilight looked miserable.

Dash stood up and stretched her wings and legs. “Yeah. Is there anything I can do? Something you need?” She wanted to feel helpful, and all this sitting and waiting was making her really itchy.

“Something … to eat,” Twilight whispered. “I feel all empty and … drained.”

“You don't say,” Dash muttered. She could have done without the knowledge of how much a pony stomach could hold. Or what it could hold. “The nurses brought some soup and bread. There's also tea,” she said aloud and flew up to a table. “It's cold now, but it's good. Except the tea, it's got lots of leaves in it, but Zapphira says that's good for you and will help you recover. She's the zebra who helped you. I tasted it all, and I'm still alive so at least it's safe.”

“You … tasted it?” Twilight sat up slightly and watched Dash.

“Yeah, well, I don't feel like trusting food from strangers right now.” She picked up the tray and carried it over to the bed. She set it down carefully for Twilight to eat. “I'm not gonna let you eat anything unless I know it's safe, even here.”

Twilight carefully tested her magic by lifting the spoon a few inches off the tray. Finding it no great effort, she slowly began to eat. “What if it had been poisoned?” she asked after a few spoons of soup. “What about you?”

“I … Well, I …” Dash said awkwardly and shifted a little. “I think they found another flower somewhere, so you know, I'd probably have been fine.”

Twilight ate the bread hungrily. “What if it was a different poison this time?”

She was doing it again, being all rational and unreasonably logical. Dash frowned and sat down. “Then I guess I'd be pushing up daisies, alright? I bet you can't think of a better way, anyway. It's not like we can just starve either. You need to eat after what you went through.”

Thankfully, Twilight didn't pursue it any further. Dash relaxed a bit and watched the clock while Twilight worked her way through the food. What was it about hospitals that made the clock seem like it was going backwards half the time?

Dash tensed and stood up as the door opened, but she relaxed again a little when Celestia stepped inside. The princess looked at Twilight and brightened into a smile. “Ah, my faithful student, I am glad to see that you are doing better,” she said and closed the door behind her. “You gave us quite the scare.”

“I'm sorry, Princess,” Twilight said, putting the spoon down. “I don't know what happened.”

“You're sorry?” Celestia walked up to the bed and gave Twilight a nudge and a careful hug. “You have no reason to be sorry, Twilight. If anything it is I who should be sorry.” The princess stood back up and suddenly looked very serious. “As for what happened, I can now say quite certainly that someone tried to kill you,” she said and glanced at Dash. “Both of you, but you were unreasonably lucky. So lucky in fact that my sister insists it was more than just good fortune which saved you. I myself will be waiting for more information before I jump to any such conclusions, but she does make a convincing argument.”

“What do you mean?” Twilight asked uncertainly.

Celestia trotted around the room slowly. “I got word back from Luna that her guards found the pony who runs the café in Gloaming. She was tied up and gagged in the back of kitchen. When the guard freed her, she reported that she had been attacked when she opened the café that morning, by a changeling who took her place and served you poisoned coffee. She saw this changeling put poison in both your cups, then it closed and left the café right after you had gone. The guard found your cups and confirmed that both had been poisoned, but one was untouched.”

“That was mine,” Dash said. “I just ordered the same as Twilight and didn't know it was coffee. I only took a sip of it.”

Twilight nodded. “That is true.”

“And very fortunate for us, since we only had one flower,” Celestia said and stopped in front of the bed again. “So what we are dealing with here is an assassination attempt by a changeling, and we have to assume your friends in Ponyville may be targets as well. I have already sent several of my guard to Ponyville to make sure they are safe. They will be under constant protection until we can get to the bottom of this. And so will you two, once you return to Gloaming. My sister has already ordered her guard to be on high alert.”

Twilight looked at Dash, then back at the princess. “You really think it's that serious?”

“You might have died,” Celestia said gravely. “I take few things more seriously than your well being, Twilight. I understand that my sister has told you about Eden?” She picked up her slow pacing again. “Luna is quite certain that she had a little paw in ensuring that Zapphira just happened to be visiting the castle today, just in time to save you.”

Dash's frown deepened into a scowl. “Why would she do that?”

“My sister told you that she does not want you dead, did she not? But she might want you fearful enough that you will surrender the Elements to her in return for safety. It would not come as a surprise if she is playing the changelings against you, hoping that you will give up before it goes too far.” Celestia trotted back and forth in silence a few times before continuing. “I can not deny that my sister's speculation makes sense, but do keep in mind that we have no proof yet of her involvement in any recent events at all.”

Twilight stared off into the distance as she thought it over. “And we still don't know what is going on, either, but if Eden is involved why hasn't she let herself be known? Wouldn't she tell us what she wants?”

Celestia stopped again. “I expect it can not be long before she does,” she said thoughtfully. “But perhaps we need to come to her, instead.”

“How?” Twilight looked at the princess, hoping for answers.

“That is the question,” Celestia smiled. “And I have total confidence that you will find a way, as always. You have a way of dealing with these things, my dear Twilight.”

***

Dash walked slowly, supporting Twilight as they followed Celestia down through the grand hallway to the great door with the sunburst, behind which the Elements were safely stored. The princess stopped in front of the door and lowered her horn, directing her magic at the special lock and taking a step back as the door slid open. “Ever since that day with Discord, every time I do this I fear I will once again open this box,” she said and picked up the box, “and find it empty.”

Celestia turned and smiled little. “But I am quite certain that they are still in here this time,” she said and opened the box. Dash and Twilight both held their breath as they gazed into the box, and immediately released the air in relief. All six Elements were indeed sitting neatly in the ornate box, glittering in the light from the sun through the stained glass windows depicting the epic battles fought for Equestria over the years. Quite a few had been added in recent years.

“I am, of course, quite certain that these are the real Elements,” the princess went on as Twilight picked up the crown. “And you and Luna assure me that, as impossible as it seems, the ones you got back in Gloaming are real as well?”

Twilight nodded silently as she studied the jewelry. “I … I can not find anything wrong with these,” she said at last. “They are real, I am as sure as I could possibly be.” She put the crown back in the box, neatly in the middle with the others. “I think we need to see both sets together, in the same room at the same time. Perhaps they … switch places?”

Celestia put the box back in the vault and carefully locked the door again. “I am afraid I can not allow that at present,” she said and turned back around. “We do not know what might happen if they are brought together. Until we know more, I must insist that they be kept strictly apart.”

Twilight looked downcast at Celestia's denial. “Oh, of course, princess.” She turned slowly, helped by Dash, and followed as Celestia headed back down the hall. “Do you think Eden could have done this somehow?”

“I must admit, I do not know, but I don't see how,” Celestia said. “Luna is quite sure that it should not be possible, and as far as these matters are concerned, I am inclined to trust her assessment. What I am quite certain of, however, is that if anypony knows what is going on, it must be Eden.” She looked back over her shoulder at them. “Which is why I believe you need to find her. Just remember, don't give her anything and don't agree to anything.”

Comments

[Rainbow87dash]

Yeah a bit late for that Tia
Have a Telegram

[youtube=9bIQ8DpGHnk]

[Mister Morden]

Sounds like to deal with Eden you should follow the same rules as dealing with Fae!

Never say thank you, for that implies debt. Never agree to any deals. Never break the rules of hospitality. If they offer you a wish, run as fast as you can.

Good chapter!

[Sidurien]

I think they will eventually give Eden the "fake" real elements and keep their own copy. Sounds logical if thats all she wants. Both sides get what they want, but im just speculating

[MellowMabari]

Another great chapter! I really don't know how things are going to work out. Its hard to know what to make of Eden, either. She's usually benevolent, but kind of tricky as well. Her interests are always at the top of the agenda... Oh, and loved Dash's taste testing Twi's food - it was pretty adorable. Still loving this, and am eagerly awaiting the next chapter - at your convenience, of course.

[adcoon]

1623563

Dash is best loyally paranoid taste testing pony

1612102

She certainly will be tricky to deal with, but if anypony can, it's probably Twilight, right?

[adcoon]

1613206

Can not confirm or deny anything

[Knifecz]

This story is just too interesting.
Can't wait for another update.