It had been two years.
Two years since Discord had given Twilight Sparkle what she had asked for. Two years since the Rot, and pure chaos had taken ahold of the Princess of Friendship's wonderful life. Once, she had been the model student to Celestia; the loving, caring, understanding friend; a paragon of help and sound virtue; a source of hope for anyone wanting to better themselves. But not anymore, not since the day she'd wanted the answer. She loved knowing everything she could, and it had been her ultimate undoing.
With a solemn air to the mood, Fluttershy wordlessly followed behind Pinkie Pie, who wasn't bouncing along the ground happily as she usually did so very often, in front of her were a stoic Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity. All of them were visiting their dear friend today, having managed to make the critical time to do so, whereas usually they would tend to visit in pairs or whenever they had time otherwise. In the beginning of this lunacy when Twilight first screamed in anguish from her fateful decision, each friend had near-tirelessly devoted any and all available time seeing her to provide caring support and comfort, and hadn't faltered since, despite their understanding that she'd done this to herself. She was as much the victim in this horrendous situation as she was its perpetrator.
However, today was meant to be a special day though. For in her graceful telekinetic grasp, Rarity carried aloft a lovingly, wonderfully crafted cake, freshly sealed, that had been made by them all. With Pinkie's help and natural talent for baking they had created it in the early hours of the morning, with fresh ingredients all from Sweet Apple Acres too. Even so, the delectable looking baked good was a strange amalgamation, it contained the usual ingredients one would expect a cake to have of course; eggs, milk, sugar, butter, and flour, but Twilight's friends had picked up clues over time or simply learned the inclusion of other things normally considered alien to cakes. This one in particular contained a mixture of powdered ruby and sweet chilli sauce, alongside the standard of chocolate, vanilla extract, and a few pinches of ginger.
Naturally, Pinkie had brought a second cake along for themselves.
The former might not have been the most delicious cake for any of them --Pinkie Pie possibly excluded-- but Twilight had said upon many occasions, mostly to herself during partially incoherent rambling, that ruby had a profound outcome on ones digestive system that helped to prevent the acids in the stomach from becoming more pungent as the food was broken down, as well as suppressing the tongues ability to distinguish certain tastes by effectively, but only temporarily, damaging the clustered nerves of the taste buds in the same manner as capsaicin, but specifically the ones that dealt with bitterness, and to a better degree. Apparently the sweet chilli sauce also helped to that effect of having much less an offending taste and smell to her senses while actually allowing her to taste some small measure of sweetness from enhancing the other components, even though everything was still largely repulsive, to her it simply made it slightly more bearable.
Once Twilight had said she used to enjoy the taste of food, because it had been everything else that was the problem, the taste being entirely unaffected, but as time had crawled along, for some unknown reason that too, had warped as well. It was much to her displeasure that she learned from Discord that the Rot degraded even the 'fine-tuning' he'd set for her, and try as he might to change it again, it proved almost impossible for him despite his truly sincere best efforts, instead only managing to lessen the intensity of her sense of taste entirely.
Approaching the castle their friend called home, they climbed up the opaque crystal steps with quiet tensity. The structure was the same as it ever was, but it seemed much dimmer these days, much less welcoming and more imposing, especially given the numerous growths of plantlife sprawling over the walls and grounds now. Applejack gave one of the mighty doors a firm few knocks, and they all awaited an answer. Not a minute later, one of the heavy doors opened ever so slightly to reveal Spike, looking quite weary. The dragon, now much taller and slender a physique, had of course come of age these past years, both in part due to just growing up, but also due to caring endlessly for his mother figure. The red-rimmed eyes and the dark circles under them could more than attest to that. Regardless of this, he still smiled and greeted them warmly, ushering them inside without a second thought.
"Hey girls, hope you're all doing well." He yawned, closing the crystal door once they were all inside, and craning his neck until he heard a satisfying click, "Thanks for coming today, it means a lot to the both of us. I'm sure Twilight would tell you herself but she's finally managed to get to sleep, for once."
"Oh, that's wonderful news, Spike." Rarity replied, smiling genuinely along with pleased confirmations from the others as well. She stepped forwards and placed a hoof around his midsection in a warm hug, one he happily returned with a contented sigh, it saddened her already somber mood that he all but collapsed into her with his visible fatigue, as if the responsibility he had was literally weighing down on him, with a kiss on his soft cheek she squeezed him again. "How long was it this time? Nine days if I'm not mistaken. I do hope you're feeling alright, it was a few days since my last visit."
He grimaced and nodded, pulling back after a few moments to face them again. "Yeah... nine days straight she's been awake. One minute she was building one of her weird flower sculptures, and the next she's face down and lights out on top of it." He shook his head slightly with a deep pained sigh. "She's getting too easy to carry, she's barely eaten anything for the past two days as well, keeps going on about some legend, I couldn't make sense of it."
"It's fine, Spike. Don't worry yerself none now." Applejack stepped forwards, also leaning in and tightly hugging the worn-out curvy drake. "Why don'tcha go lay yerself down? We know our way about, we can go t' the throne room an' set things up, ready fer when Twi comes to."
"That sounds real good, Appl--" Spike tiredly began, before he was cut off by the massive noise of something breaking further within the castle. He immediately turned around and started running, presumably to where he knew Twilight to be resting. "Please don't have smashed the tea-set I left out, that'd be the sixth one..." He mumbled under his breath as he went, with the girls following behind, also concerned.
Spike skidded to a halt when he arrived to the entrance of Twilights bedchamber, cautiously peeking in as the girls anxiously huddled up behind him. They alarmingly found themselves pushed backwards all too fast as Spike jumped into them, as a teacup loudly shattered against the door. After a calming breath, he once again breached the room with utmost vigilance, this time not having anything thrown at him. He signalled for the group of friends to wait, and after a few seconds he waved that it was alright for them to come in.
They entered to the eerie tone of Twilight's singing.
"Bury the knight with her velvet gloves... bury the thief with the one she loved... bury the priest in her tattered gown... then bury the beggar and his golden crown..." She sang to herself in the middle of the messy room, with her back to them, surrounded by broken shards of ceramic, many of which were unfortunately piercing into her legs and flank. If she was in pain, she wasn't showing any sign of it. "Oh, bury the knight with her broken sword... bury the lady, lovely and pale..."
"Twilight, look who's here." Spike gently spoke, a hurt melancholic expression on his features as he went over and knelt down in the destroyed tea set and its contents to carefully help her to her hooves, his scales entirely impervious to the fragments of porcelain. "The girls are here to see you for your birthday."
At the mention of her friends, Twilight perked up slightly, ignoring Spikes touch, and stopped singing to herself. She turned to them somewhat in the wrong direction, revealing the pitiful sight that was herself. Her eyes were obscured by a dark velvet blindfold; her mane and tail were disheveled, but had clearly been brushed previously, likely the drakes doing; her hooves were cracked and chipped in several places; her body was far leaner than it should have been, the ribs visible through her coat that was also now stained with what was probably tea; her wings too, were uncared for, sticking out randomly or missing in places, likely that Spike couldn't properly do anything besides carefully smooth them; and of course now there were small bleeding cuts where she'd roughly sat in the broken crockery.
In short, she was an utter disaster.
Spike carefully removed the offending slivers, trying not to make contact with her too much, while she smiled honestly towards them as if nothing was wrong. It did look slightly uncertain however, though she thought they might not really be there. She took a few tentative steps forward, only stepping in the smashed tea set again, not that she even noticed much to their troubled gazes.
"So nice of you to visit me, all together." Twilight spoke, her voice low. It was irregular and distant, sounding almost aberrant. She took another step, emitting a soft crunch beneath her hoof. "I was afraid you weren't going to come, I don't know why. It’s all so dark lately."
Dabbing at the tears in her eyes with a feather-tip, it was Fluttershy that stepped forwards this time, wrapping her wings around her friend with a small sob as she pushed her head against Twilight's neck in a sign of affection, being careful not to tread in the tea-set herself. The gesture wasn't returned as the Alicorn had stood there rigidly with a sharp intake of breath, only releasing it when Fluttershy had withdrawn. They all knew about Twilight’s aversion to physical contact due to her altered state of mind, and even though she now couldn't see... them, what she'd called the parasites, she had told them she still sensed them around her, still heard them crawl on everything and everypony, hear the noise they made as they hungered, still felt them scuttle all over her skin when a connection was made with anything. So they did avoid touching her whenever possible, for her sake. Of course, sometimes they felt they needed to break that barrier to show their concern and friendship more than mere words would allow.
"We brought you a cake, Twilight." Pinkie sniffed quietly, Rarity delicately releasing her magical aura from around the boxed confection into Pinkie's upturned hoof, "Even added ruby to it, so it... doesn't smell as bad when you eat it."
Twilight giggled at that. The sound was disturbingly torturous. "You're always so thoughtful, girls."
She turned away, trotting uneasily towards her desk, which was littered with a myriad of objects. Test tubes and books scattered haphazardly; crumpled notes and uneaten food that was stacked precariously; and several different types of bug entrails in petri dishes, which Fluttershy had never commented on. Nevertheless, this study of viscera wasn't a new development for her, and had been occurring for many months now. Twilight was convinced to the point of mania at times, that she could utilise insects innards to create a spell that would ward off the parasites constantly feasting upon the universes decaying matter. So far, this wasn't proving successful.
In the blink of an eye, they collectively jumped as her horn flashed and she displaced a majority of it on the floor, several dishes both for food and guts, breaking upon impact and causing quite a mess. Spike only sighed in defeat, going over to start clearing up the debris, with a small gasp, Rarity also moved to assist him. Twilight beamed as she gestured towards her now 'clean' workspace.
"We can put the cake here." She stated matter-of-factly with a pleased look. They shifted on their hooves uneasily, until Rarity wordlessly brought forth a small length of cloth to rest over the grimy surface, so they could then they lay the cake on top of it. Once it was down, Twilight rotated again, wandering over to one of her sculptures she'd been working on at some point in time, it now holding her attention, her voice elevated as she spoke. "I've been creating, it's not finished and I'm not sure what I want to call it yet, but I'm sure I'll think of something eventually, what do you think?"
Sculptures of this magnitude were a new development. In all cases thus far when any of them visited, Twilight would all too happily show them something made of flowers she'd brought forth into creation, having said that flowers weren't nearly as bad a smell when they started to die, but this wasn't made of flowers.
"It's... er, it's definitely somethin' alright." Applejack offered lamely, rubbing her neck in a reserved manner.
Rainbow Dash was a little less honest, instead playing it up, even if she sounded slightly dejected. "It's real cool, Twi."
It was all she could manage to offer. Rainbow Dash had never really adjusted as the others had done, to how Twilight had warped, but she still tried her best to be a caring friend whenever possible, even if that simply meant a compliment. But to put it mildly, the piece was bizarre.
The creation was a mix of objects that had no right to look the way they did. There was a saddle that looked as if it had been half-melted into the surface of a giant diamond, to which it likely was a massive gemstone; lifelike statues of pure gold, silver, copper, and dozens of other elements of the periodic table that shouldn’t have been possible, even gallium which was interesting as it had a melting point of roughly room temperature. all misshapen and deformed into a strange abomination throughout the piece; great numbers of household items here and there as well, from knives and forks to a table lamp; several different books as well, all burnt, warped, or ripped apart sticking out anywhere there was space; and of course, the usual array of flowers and vines trailing over the entire thing, as they'd come to expect of Twilight's 'art'.
"But Twilight, you love your books..." Pinkie said, her mane deflating ever so slightly, "Why would you destroy them?"
The Alicorn turned towards the source of the voice, shakily flapping her run-down wings to cross the distance between herself and Pinkie, the action happened so fast Pinkie let out a squeak of surprise when her friend landed before her with a feral smile plastered on her muzzle. "B-because I have it all in my head, Pinkie. I made sure. Every book I know of or have, I remember it. I remember it all." She fell back onto her haunches, speaking still. "Books were nice but they're too slow, learning their contents it takes time just reading, and... and you c-can't... can't read the p-pages because they're always crawling over the words, and the words they scream at me, they scream themselves to sleep and it's too much, I can't read them anymore, I have to... to break them, and then absorb the knowledge through magic instead."
Pinkie simply nodded as if she understood entirely.
Twilight gave pause, sitting there as still as a statue for a few moments. Pinkie leant forward to embrace her before she was slightly displaced backwards from Twilight suddenly teleporting away. For minutes that felt like forever her friends looked around worried, Spike apparently not fazed this magical outburst. They knew Twilight liked to teleport, but only Spike saw it happen often enough to know better. She never left the castle anymore, but the girls always fretted when she did this. She'd be back shortly.
Fluttershy squeaked in equal parts surprise and terror when Twilight came back in a blinding flash of dark-purple light, followed by the strange noise teleportation always created, only it was much more harrowing. As if sensing that fear from the yellow Pegasus, Twilight leant near her and whispered. "Don't be afraid, Shy, it's just the air being displaced as the teleportation spell moves faster than the speed of sound and tears through the sound barrier quicker than it usually allows, which is usually two-thousand-two-hundred-and-fifty-seven hoofsteps per second."
Departing that knowledge with the barest hint of a hug, Twilight moved back to the exact spot where she'd been sitting when they came in. Thankfully the shards of ceramic had all been picked up and the tea cleaned away, so she sat unimpeded. Applejack walked over to her and pulled some plasters, herbal ointment, and dressing from her pack she'd brought along; softly lifting Twilights hooves and placing the appropriate sized bandages over the cuts after dabbing them with the remedy. Twilight understood what the farmhand was doing and stood up briefly so Applejack could dab a particularly large furrow, wiping away the drying blood and wrapping it around with the clean dressing.
"Thanks, AJ." Twilight smiled, sitting back down in her spot. Applejack nodded, not surprised by now Twi knew it was her, even if she was usually the one that brought spare medical supplies along with Shy. Twilight had a sense of each of them, and knew their scents, as it were. She remembered Twilight telling her she smelled of apples and freshly tilled soil, she'd laughed then. It still amused her now, a small smile tugging at her lips.
"How about we move on through to the throne room?" Spike asked as he came over and carefully ran a brush though Twilights mane. "We can bring the cake with us."
The Alicorn gave a curt nod, getting to her hooves. She seemed reluctant to leave her spot, but she did so anyway, shuddering slightly as she began to walk. The girls paced with her, careful not to get too close but keep a watchful eye over the mare. She seemed quite distracted as they went through the halls, moving her head this way and that, she was twitching nervously, more so than usual. Rarity stepped up alongside her, igniting her horn in a faint blue aura. She'd spend a long time learning this spell specifically to help Twilight and it had been very difficult as making spells was not as simple as learning one and using it, or using a spell that came naturally like telekinesis.
She'd hired Sunburst from the Crystal Empire to teach her on the nuances of it as he'd made a few spells in his time as a Crystaller. He'd tried to offer his services for free as it was for a dear friend, but Rarity still paid him a modest stipend anyway. It'd taken so many months of training, and she'd even foregone taking part in numerous pageants and creating new lines for her dressmaking, but she'd succeeded. The glow emitting from her horn was a sort of warding spell, she'd pieced it together from old zebra writings and general knowledge from Sunburst, the effect was a soothing protective field around her, extended over a small surface area. It was incredibly taxing on her energy, but the effect was almost instant and worth the effort.
Twilight sighed in pure bliss as unseen to their senses, the creeping scuttling hordes were shortly forced away from everything within the field. It didn't stop much else though; things still sounded awful, the noise Rarity's horn was making was still creepily faded out and tinny, she could still hear the creatures inside her and everypony else that couldn't be gotten rid of, but it was better. The Princess moved over to the fashionista and gently leaned against her in way of thanks as they walked towards the throne room.
Twilight knew the spell couldn't last forever, but she was going to be much happier until the time it had to end. She tried not to think about when the invasive parasites would come skittering back to feast of them all.