Eventide Falls

by errant

Chapter 7

Twilight Sparkle’s five closest friends hadn’t asked how Celestia’s messenger had found them so quickly, mere moments after Twilight herself had been brought to the hospital. They hadn’t cared. They had come as quickly as they were able; glamorous Rarity had even neglected the arduous routines of mane care she practiced every morning. Nothing had been able to damper their elation upon hearing that their friend lived except their fear at being told she was badly wounded and in the hospital.

They had arrived at the hospital in time to see Twilight being whisked away into one of the operating rooms. They had rushed her supine form, delaying the doctors and nurses long enough to whisper assurances to their unconscious friend. They had been silently horrified at the sight of countless deep lacerations that marred nearly every inch of her body. Blood and dirt mingled to saturate her coat and her breathing was worryingly shallow. By unspoken accord no mention was made of her missing horn; no one wanted to be the first to acknowledge it.

They had sat for hours, anxiously waiting for word on their friend’s condition. They had only sporadic news from one of the nurses who would occasionally emerge from the operating theater, and that was vague at best. Finally they learned that the prolonged delay was due to the difficulties the doctors faced in repairing her excised horn. Besides that, however, they still had no notion of exactly what had befallen their friend and their impatience to know began to gnaw at them. When Princess Celestia finally arrived at the hospital several hours after Twilight was first admitted she was immediately mobbed by indignant questions.

“Princess, jus’ what the hay happened to Twi?” demanded Applejack.

“Yeah, this is totally uncool, leaving us in the dark like this!” exclaimed an indignant Rainbow Dash.

As the mares’ voices rose in accusation and force, Celestia was finally forced to powerfully flare her wings, silencing the queries.

“Please, my little ponies. I cannot tell you what happened to Twilight if I cannot get a word in edgewise.”

Faces recalcitrant and repentant, the five young mares settled themselves quietly so that Celestia could continue.

“Girls, there were a lot of factors that lead up to this tragedy. But the short version is this; she was kidnapped by a group of ponies who wanted to see my reign ended. They hoped to force me to abdicate by harming those I am closest to, and they decided to start with my student. They intended me to think her killed in the explosion. They did not anticipate that my intelligence service would be able to pinpoint them so easily. Only this morning I lead the Guard in rescuing her. Once I stabilized her condition I had her brought here for treatment.”

Celestia fell quiet, her expression inviting comment.

“Well, if ya don’t mind me askin’, Princess, why did they keep Twi alive if they wanted ya to think she was dead?” Applejack asked.

A grimace appeared on Celestia face before she answered, “As far as I can tell, they kept her alive solely so they could amuse themselves by torturing her.”

Shocked silence descended. It was not surprising that brash Rainbow Dash was the first to recover her voice. “Will she be ok?” she asked, an abnormal tremor in her voice.

“She was hurt badly and lost a lot of blood, but I was able to use my magic to heal the worst of the internal injuries. The doctors here should be able to handle the rest without too much difficulty.”

Rarity spoke up for the first time, asking the question heaviest on all their minds. “Princess, we couldn’t help but notice. What about her horn?”

Silence again. Celestia seemed to be gathering her words carefully.

“It . . . it doesn’t look promising. A unicorn’s horn won’t regrow naturally. Still, even if its broken it is usually possible for a another unicorn to regrow it with the proper spells. However, that requires that some remnant of the original horn still be intact, as the spell uses it as a template to rebuild the broken portion. The ones who did this to Twilight apparently knew this; they made certain to remove it entirely, even the portion that is fused to the skull and not just what is normally visible protruding from the head. The doctors are doing their best, but I’m afraid there is little hope of her ever regaining her magic.”

More silence, this time as the bearers of the Elements of Harmony tried to come to terms with a Twilight Sparkle who had no magic. The implications were . . . disturbing.

“But . . . but Twilight is the Element of Magic. Its what she is. She’s dedicated her life to studying magic; being your student is the most important thing ever to her. Without that what does she have left?” Fluttershy exclaimed, hysteria slowing becoming more evident in her words. “What does – “

“She has us.” All heads swiveled to face Rainbow Dash, surprised by her sudden curt outburst. Slowly her fellow Element-Bearers nodded assent.

Celestia smiled beatifically at Dash’s out-of-character sentiment, knowing it was mirrored in all their hearts.
“Fluttershy is right. Losing her magic will be very hard on Twilight. It will not be something she recovers from quickly. It will cause her pain we can scarcely comprehend. But Rainbow Dash is also right. She has us; those who love her will be there for her. We will be there for her in what will likely be the darkest hour of her life. Right, girls?” Celestia said, a hint of challenge underscoring her question.

She was heartened by the solemn nods of agreement that answered her, reassured by the fire that reflected itself in the gazes of Twilight’s young friends.

“This won’t be easy. But somehow, we’ll pull her through.” Celestia looked like she might have said more but at that moment the doors of the surgical room banged open and an exhausted-looking doctor hurried towards them with obvious purpose.

* * *

An uncomfortable silence filled a single room of Ponyville hospital, five mares keeping vigil over the unmoving form of their lavender friend. White sheets rose and fell with the rhythm of Twilight Sparkle’s slow breaths. Those sheets concealed a hellish pattern of bandages and sutures that covered most of her body, the lingering reminder of heartless cruelty. They at least would heal in time. The most gruesome by far, though, was the ugly, puckered suture line that marked the monstrous destruction of a unicorn’s identity.

The mood was somber, expectant. Celestia had returned to Canterlot to oversee the cleanup following the rescue mission and to break the news, good and bad, to Twilight’s parents. She had left Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash and Rarity with orders not to leave their unfortunate friend’s side. She had received no objection as they settled down as comfortably as possible in the cramped confines of a hospital room.

Hours passed, interrupted only by the nurses making their rounds and the constant undertone of beeping machinery that monitored vital functions. As the day wore on and night fell each pony fell into light dozes of their own, taking refuge from recent horrors in their dreams. Sometime in the middle of the night, however, sleeping ears registered the faint sound of a strangled sob. Awakened immediately, five mares gathered hesitantly around the hospital bed to see that Twilight had awakened and, as predicted, was in desperate need of her friends. Without hesitation her surrounding friends jointly embraced the recently non-magical unicorn. Twilight buried her head in the mane of Fluttershy, who was closest, and cried her heartache out.

Gently stroking her mane like one does a frightened filly, Fluttershy quietly cooed words of comfort into Twilight’s ear, supported by the buoying presence of her friends.

“Don’t worry, Twilight. You have us. You’ll always have us,” Fluttershy whispered.

Looking up with haunted eyes, Twilight asked brokenly, “D-do you p-promise?”

Taken aback by such a question, Fluttershy answered without hesitation, “Of course I do.” Sensing their cue, the others followed suit.

“You know it, Twilight. I’m not Loyalty for nothing!”

“Consider it a Pinkie Promise.”

“As if ya even needed to ask, sugarcube.”

“Darling, as if there could ever be any doubt.”

Tears still in her eyes, Twilight continued, desperation clear in her voice. “Even without magic? Without it I’m useless. I can’t do anything else; I still remember my first Winter Wrap Up! And what about the Princess? Without magic I can’t be her student anymore. I’m not anything anymore; what good is an Element of Magic who can’t use magic at all? What use could anyone have for me –“

“Now you stop that right now, sugarcube! We ain’t your friends ‘cause of your magic, its because we like you for who you are. Magic or no magic, you’re still Twilight Sparkle. Our best friend and Celestia’s most faithful student. There ain’t no one gonna turn their backs on you because you can’t do magic anymore.”

“But Applejack, what about-“ Twilight weakly objected.

“No “buts”. Ain’t no one gonna love you less, ain’t no one gonna need you less. I want you to believe what I’m sayin’, cause it’s the honest truth.

Wordless, Twilight embraced the farm mare, managing only a weak “thank you.”

“Don’t worry Twilight. We’ve been there for you since the day we first met. And we always will be,” Applejack replied, trying to put all her support and love for her friend into those words. Apparently she succeeded, as Twilight soon fell back into a more restful sleep.

Freeing themselves from their mutual embrace, gently enough to not disturb the slumbering unicorn, her friends took up their vigil once more. Each of them knew this was only the beginning of a new road, paved in sorrow, that their friend must walk. But each resolved, in their own way, in the depths of their own hearts and minds,

She will not walk alone.

Comments

[Obsidian]

DEATH! Yea, I was expecting something like that. Maybe the element of magic can do something? Proxy a horn or something?

[errant]

468721

Maybe it could . . . if I intended for things to be that easy for poor Twilight.

[Lunar Justice]

Wich timeline does this follow? Before or after the Discord event?

[errant]

470462

For the sake of simplicity, lets say it is post-Discord but before the Royal Wedding. Essentially, sometime in season two. I didn't really consider a chronology for this story, though.

[Lunar Justice]

470962 Heh well it would be problematic if Discord broke free now. Twi lost her horn after all.

[Daralact]

A quite captivating story. Favorited, looking foward to reading more.

[errant]

498636

Thank you. I'm working on the next chapter now.

[khatre]

I know a solution!
see reference story "Pinkie's strap on Magic" (that was an alternate name but i liked it better )