After a short break to clean up the surprisingly not sour smelling vomit the three ponies again sat around the small table in a room smelling faintly of Fruit Bat Loops. Each had a small jar before them, holding the last pieces of their “donations” to the experiment. Clearing his throat, High Light began to speak.
“So. We are at the final phase of testing and need to combine our reagents before adding them to the base potion. Brighten Early and I have agreed that an equally proportioned solution being added at once instead of adding each reagent separately would not only be safer but potentially yield better results.” Nodding to himself, he looked towards Wake before continuing. “Wake, I just wanted to say…thank you. Thank you for helping us with these experiments but thank you the most for being my friend. Your friendship is very valuable to me, and I appreciate you for it.”
Wake blinked quickly several times, he had never heard anything like this out of High Light. Well, at least not while sober. He was quite huggy when hitting the hard cider. “Oh uh, well. It’s not a problem, really. We’ve been friends for years and I wouldn’t change a thing. Well, except you almost blowing me up a lot but meh.” he replied with a smile and a shrug.
Wake Vortex held out a front hoof towards his friend, High Light quickly meeting it for a hoof bump with a hearty smile. Hearing the clink of metal jerked both sets of eyes back to the table. Brighten looked up from the bowl and stirring spoon in her hooves. “I took the liberty of combining our reagents while you two were being sentimental. Absolutely zero reaction from all three reagents when combined. It’s a bit distressing, and frankly disgusting.” She stated bluntly. “In for an acorn in for an oak, as they say. Adding combined reagents to base potion, brace for reaction.” she said, scraping the strange gritty substance into the base potion’s bowl.
As the nasty sludge-like reagent hit the potion, everypony froze. A pregnant silence filled the room, they all remembered what happened last time they relaxed. After several seconds Brighten’s eyes flashed around the room. “Somepony that isn’t me, stir it.”
Meeting each other’s eyes, the two stallions stared at each other for a moment before High Light puffed his chest out and spoke. “Wake, stand over by Brighten. Darling, be ready throw up a shield should the reagent react...negatively”. Once Wake was standing beside Brighten he positioned himself to quickly jump back within her shield range and grabbed the spoon. Sweating visibly he said “Stirring reagent into base, possible reaction unknown.”, dipped the spoon into the potion and began stirring.
The only sound in the room was the gentle click of the spoon occasionally tapping the side of the bowl. It felt like time had stopped and nopony dared breathe until the reaction started. High Light stirred the potion for a solid fifteen seconds before stopping and looking over his withers to Wake and Brighten, his expression a mix of confusion and alarm. “Stirring complete, ‘Alicorn’ Potion completed with zero reaction. No color or viscosity change is apparent. Did the reagent sink to the bottom of the bowl and not mix in?” he questioned, using the spoon to drag the bottom while looking for chunks of the reagent. “Might as well try it, Wake. It should have dissolved into the base.” he said with a heavy sigh, already mentally preparing for a failure.
High Light stepped off to the side to join Brighten, a scowl on his face, as Wake approached the table. The potion looked…just like the potion base. It was as if nothing had changed. Wake shrugged and lifted the bowl to his lips with his hooves. “Here goes nothing” he whispered before closing his eyes and sipping the potion. Quickly finishing the bowl, Wake let out a tiny burp and turned to his friends. “It uh, kinda didn’t taste like anything. Almost like drinking water.” he admitted with a chuckle. “Sorry guys I gues-” before his eyes took on a familiar bright white glow. His wings flared out far wider than his normal wingspan would allow and his suddenly massive hooves cracked the tiles beneath them.
From behind her shining golden shield Brighten and High Light could only stare in amazement and watch as a horn of burning pink flames erupted from his head, it’s size easily matching Princess Celestia’s. Wake’s body continued to swell and grow at an alarming rate until he stood at least double High Light’s height, bones popping as the now much larger stallion rolled his neck and withers around in discomfort. Wings, hooves, and horn ablaze with the same burning pink Wake looked down to his terrified companions with a curious expression. High Light met the burning Alicorn’s eyes and quickly shouted “Lower the shield! I know now! I KNOW!”.
Brighten gave her husband a bewildered look before looking back to the creature before them. If any part of her was scared, she did not show it as she dropped the shield. The pink flamed Alicorn lowered it’s head down to High Light’s level as they stared at each other for a moment before High Light whispered “Thank you, I see what I was missing now.”. The Alicorn smiled, it’s head shifting so it’s glowing white eyes could look from High Light to Brighten Early before a blazing white light overtook the room.
Eyes clinched tight, it took what seemed like forever for Brighten to be brave enough to blink several times before attempting to hold them open. Before her stood High Light and a smiling Wake Vortex, seemingly whole of mind and body. Brighten couldn’t help but notice all of Wake’s injuries appeared to be gone, if anything he looked shinier and healthier than ever before. The same could not be said about the room around them. It was in shambles and she had no idea why.
It would appear that High Light had recovered quickly, as he had a quill in his hooves scribbling away on a piece of parchment. Looking to Wake for answers, all she received was a small cough that let out a pink puff of heart shaped smoke and a sheepish smile. “Let me guess, something amazing happened and I can’t remember any of it.” she deadpanned. The scratching of High Light’s quill never slowed as he stared intensely at the parchment.
Wake looked back and forth between the two before speaking.“To be fair Brighten, I don’t think we remember anything either, I know for sure I don’t. All the research notes are gone too. High hasn’t said a word but has been scratching at that paper since he could open his eyes though, so he might know something.”. Curious, Brighten moved to read over her husband’s shoulder be. Eyes wide, she couldn’t believe what she was seeing. He had done it. Whatever that had happened had inspired the Earth pony; High Light had figured out what all the other healing potions were missing. It wasn’t going to be easy, but they could make this. Barely noticing the quill’s scratching had stopped, Brighten saw High Light move to face her in the corner of her vision. Looking over at him, they stared into each other’s eyes for a moment before they smiled wildly. Both looking over to Wake Vortex, they said in almost perfect unison “Hey Wake, want to help us test a potion?”