A.D.D. theater 11 · 1:52am Aug 3rd, 2016

Eleven of these now, I may have to collect all these shorts into a collection.

This Idea came to me after reading, Sothern Gods. Of all the A.D.D. theaters, this one is the most likely to eventually become a full story. At the moment I have a lot of writing to do before I get to it, so it's getting posted here.

A bleary sort of consciousness brought Twilight out of restless sleep. The room was uncomfortably warm, making her cold breath fog all the more.

“What day is it?” she thought, not daring to speak for fear of triggering another coughing fit.

Forcing her eyes to focus, she read the calendar on the wall. Today was supposed to be the entrance exam. Her expression wilted just a bit more. She had been looking forward to that, but it had been canceled along with every other public gathering. Not that she had the strength to stand, let alone go to a test.

Rolling over, she looked out the big window Brother had moved her bed beside. Her family’s house had one of the best views in the whole city. Perched on the edge of the upper terrace, she could see from Manehattan to Cloudsdale.

Twilight sighed, the long breath rattling in her chest, forcing her into a fit of coughing.

Mom and Dad had begged Shining to not get so close to her, for fear of him catching the coughing disease too. But he had invented a spell to keep the contagen away from him, just so he could still visit her. The doctors had been impressed with Shining’s spell, and were already recommending him to the royal medical school. Doctor Glow said he’d be a fine physician one day, helping sick ponies. Maybe he’d even be the one to find the cure for frost lung.

Curling into a tight ball, Twilight’s lungs rebelled against her will, forcing out more coughs, each harder than the next. Something cracked and tore inside her. It didn’t hurt, but she knew it was bad. As the fit passed, she found far more blood and bits of ice on her coat and bed than normal.

A smile played across her blood-stained muzzle. She’d gotten to see her brother get his mark of a shield and bandage. She only wished he’d gotten to see her get hers.

Looking out across Equestria, it occurred to her that her lungs didn’t itch anymore. There was a warmth where she’d only known cold the past few moons.

Sitting up a bit taller than she had in weeks, Twilight admired the beautiful weather on the other side of the window. It clashed horribly with the sickness that had ground Canterlot to a halt. Once a day or so, she would hear crying down in the streets below her. It always meant somepony had died. She’d die soon too.

At least she had a pretty view.

Twilight tried to take a breath, but air didn’t come. The hot fluid filling her lungs gave it no room. Laying down, Twilight took some comfort in the view, even as it began to dim. She forced her eyes to stay open, long after they wanted to close, she would see every second of sunlight she could.

The world blinked black, but Twilight forced herself back. Color was gone now, the world only shades of gray. She already missed the blue sky.

A glint on the horizon caught her attention, a single dot of pure white. Memory told her it was over Cloudsdale. Blackness crept around her again, but she wouldn’t let it take her just yet.

The point of white turned into a ball of color that began to expand at amazing speed. The gray world was washed with color again as a rainbow like she’d never seen soon filled the entire sky. Then came the sound. A thing like thunder, but ringing with joy. Twilight’s heart skipped at the beautiful furry, an honest smile lighting up her face as all of Equestria was covered by a rainbow umbrella.

As the rainbow sky faded back to blue, the light left Twilight’s eyes. In inky blackness, Twilight found herself alone with her tired thoughts. What else had she never seen? What other joys were out there for her to discover?

She wanted to see that rainbow again.

Deep within her, something stirred; the world began to come back to her. She felt strength she had thought lost forever. If she was stronger, she could leave this bed.

Something snapped inside her, something bigger and deeper than what her coughing had broken. Her lungs were still clogged with blood, but life was breathing into her anyway. The room shined white when she opened her eyes. It was a strange light, one that encased the room and chased away every shadow. Looking around, she searched for the light’s origin, only to discover it was herself.

Twilight gasped, or she tried to. The gurgling sound shattered whatever what happening and she fell onto her bed. Still though, she was alive, alert; for a few more minutes. Desperately, she tried to summon the power again. If she could control it, perhaps it would heal her.

Struggling with a force she didn’t understand, the darkness washed over Twilight faster than the first time. Her mind reached for that light inside her again, but she was too tired. Falling back, she tried yet again, but a movement in the room made her pause.

Twilight frowned. It was her mother. She didn’t need comfort, she needed strength: power to overcome this.

“You’re strong. Far stronger than I have ever seen,” her mother said, but it was not her voice.

Will alone kept her eyes open as she watched her mother ripple with green fire. “You are young to have that kind of will,” the slender, black creature said. “I can give you the magic you crave, but it has a price.”

The blackness took Twilight as the creature stepped towards her. This time though, she was not alone in her mind. The black and green mare had followed her into numbness.

“What are you?” Twilight thought.

“The only thing that can save your life,” The mare answered.

“Please...”

“I would like very much to, but something must be traded. Something that only you have the right to give.” The inky blackness took on a green glow as the creature spoke.

“What’s that?”

“Your life.”

Twilight reached for that strange power inside her again. “Don’t want to die.”

The mare’s laughed echoed in Twilight’s mind. “You will live, but not as the life you know. You must leave Twilight Sparkle here and come with me, to take on a new name, a new life, and a new destiny.”

“But what about my brother and parents?”

Twilight could feel the mare smile. “Such a sweet young thing. They will get their happy ending too. There will be a new Twilight Sparkle in this bed tonight, one making a miraculous recovery. She will live the life you lost, while you live your new one.”

In her mind, Twilight nodded, but she wasn’t sure if her head actually moved. “Okay.”

Hot breath rolled across Twilight’s muzzle a moment before hard lips press against hers. “Then drink.”

She started to wince away from the gross touch, but she didn’t have the strength. Something sweet trickled into her mouth. It tasted of honey, and tingled like a loving touch. She could feel life’s energy on her tongue. The last of her will went into swallowing all she could. Life rippled through her as it hit her stomach, giving her the strength and need to drink more. Every drop of life the Queen gave her, she drank eagerly.

How did she know...

Queen Chrysalis pulled away, leaving a void where she had been. Focusing on the power she had been filled with, Twilight shaped it with her will to live. Her body churned and shifted. She coughed, but this time it was a cleansing purge—vomiting out rotten blood and frozen tissue. She gasped for breath, and felt her lungs welcome the warm air.

Opening her eyes, she found more color in the world than she remembered. A yawn forced its way out of her, teeth ached as they sharpened and grew. Her horn burned as it too changed. A gout of pain made her cry out as something erupted from her shoulders. Instinct told her she had wings now. A thought sent them to buzzing, confirming her suspicion.

“Different,” the Queen mused. “You kept your coat.”

Looking over herself, she expected to see the same black carapace as the Queen, but found a lavender coat that was only spotted with shiny black in places.

“Do not mind that. Stand tall, Princess Apis,” the Queen said. “Stand by me as my daughter.”

Standing, she looked around the room as she stepped down from the bed. It was strange and familiar all at the same time. Memories of happiness echoed here, yet she knew she wasn’t welcome here.

She became aware of another’s presence in the room as she neared her Queen. A young drone, his carapace still soft, fluttered off the Queen’s back, and sat before her. The sleepy little drone was only a little smaller than her, though she knew she was just a few days old. Standing on unsteady legs, it kneeled before her: the little drone was waiting for something.

“Touch your horn to hers, and let her into your mind,” the Queen said. “She can not harm you.”

Giving Queen Chrysalis an uneasy nod, she did as she had been told. A spark made her wince when the drone’s horn met hers. Again she found herself not alone in her own mind. This time it was not the monolithic presence of the Queen, but a delicate one that seemed to have no identity of its own. She felt memories tweezed and shuffled through, the very essence of who she was examined like a bit of art not fully understood.

This little one was trying to understand her, know her, become her—but she was far too weak of mind to accomplish more than roughest imitation. Taking the fledgling consciousness into the grip of her magic, she filled it with every memory she could scrape from herself. All but one, the rainbow. That was hers, and she would share it with no other.

As the presence retreated from her, she opened her eyes just in time to see the drone become a lavender unicorn filly. Her mind swam as she stood next to the Queen, watching the drone settle into the bloody bed. There was a mark on the filly's flank; a pretty star-burst pattern.

Looking back at her own flank, she found that same mark. She smiled, but her heart ached too. She was supposed to have shared this with somepony... Who?

“You have potential, Apis, and you have much to learn ” the Queen said. “We should leave this drone to her work, and return to the hive to begin your studies.”

Apis nodded, and followed her Queen out of the room.

Report Rocinante · 195 views ·

Comments ( 3 )