Chapter 03: Weakening Hero
The room was deathly silent besides the loud BEEP of a heart monitor interrupting the silence of one’s impending demise, the blinds were open to let the rays of sunshine in, also lighting up the room.
The bed was holding one occupant, his breathing shallow and wheezing as he tried to get oxygen into his lungs.
The room was empty, except for the occupant, and the person laying her head on the edge of the stallion’s bed, holding his hoof in a iron grip, her eyes shining with unshed tears as she watched the life being sucked out of her lover with every breath, knowing that his inevitable demise was soon upon them.
How could this happen? You may ask.
...There’s always an answer…
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Jon and the two Celestias were walking across the street, making sure that no cars were going down the road, and entered his warehouse/home.
Jon opened the door for the two women, who smiled at him for his gentleman-like behavior.
As soon as the door close with a loud SLAM! A woman’s voice rang out from the darkness of the abandoned building,
“ Jon? Your home early? That’s a record!”
Tia’s eyebrow quirked in confusion, Jon simply chuckled as he guided the two through the maze of metal shelves and rusty mechanical parts.
Celestia’s eyes narrowed, the voice was FAMILIAR to her…
As soon as Jon, Tia, and Celestia made it to the newly built staircase that led up to the lit office, the door opened and out came Nightmare Moon, wearing a pair of jeans and a black shirt that had the symbol of the moon on it.
Jon greeted her, “ Hello Nightmare.”
Tia’s eyebrows shot up into her hairline, shock showing on her face as she laid her eyes upon the woman who she never met before in her entire life.
Celestia however, tensed her body up, clearly ready to fight if necessary…
But it was not, because Jon went up and hugged her, as if greeting an old friend, which made her blink away the smoldering embers that manifested in her eyes.
Even though Celestia didn’t like Nightmare Moon since she possessed her little sister a thousand years ago, she was willing enough to hear the Night Queen out on how she got here in the first place, especially since there was an Actuator staring at her with what appears to be a glare of death, as if just begging the Solar Diarch to do something to the banished mare.
Jon and Nightmare came out of the hug and turned to Tia and Celestia, Nightmare’s eyes widened as she spotted the Sun Princess standing next to her counterpart, and held her breath, as if she was…
A thought came to her and she saw how the Sun Princess wasn’t glaring at her with contempt, but patience, and slight curiosity.
...It made no sense… and Discord wasn’t even IN THIS STORY!
“ Greetings Nightmare Moon. It’s been a long time.” Said Princess Celestia, ignoring how the same Actuator was now hovering over her shoulder, either in curiosity or readying itself to attack, she didn’t know, but what she did know was the dropped jaw that Nightmare had, her turquoise dragon-slitted eyes bugging out of their sockets in surprise and a lot of shock.
Jon and Tia watched as the two Alicorn-turned-humans begin to interact with each other, amusement showing on the Pseudo-siblings’ faces as they stood on the sidelines.
Jon shook his head before saying, “ C’mon, let’s get inside and sit down. A staircase isn’t an ideal place to talk.”
At that, he slowly walked up the stairs, not noticing the concern on the three women’s faces as they eyes his gritted teeth and sluggish movements.
Nightmare and Princess Celestia gave each other a look that said ‘ Something’s wrong’. Tia had the same look, but it was with more intense worry, since she got to know her middle brother better over the course of the last week.
Ever since Camp Everfree and she adopted him into the family, he has been more open, more emotional, more kind.
So she KNEW something was wrong, and she bet he was just hiding it as to not worry her, Luna, and Cadence.
The three then heard a THUD! Snapping them out of their own little world and started running up the stairwell.
The three women made their way into the office, but stopped as they saw Jon’s slumped form on the couch, his Actuators sprawled out all over the place, as if they suddenly dropped dead.
...Oh no…
Tia ran quickly to his side and shook his shoulders, trying to wake him up.
“ Jon? JON! Wake up, Come on wake up! This isn’t funny!” She said, her voice cracking more and more as her brother didn’t wake up, not even when she slapped him in the face hard.
...He didn’t stir…
Celestia and Nightmare watched in horror as they noticed black veins start to crawl up Jon’s neck and spread to his arms, ending at his fingertips, which twitched with pained spasms.
What is happening to him? The three thought the same question as they tried to wake Jon up, with failed expectations.
“ Call 911!” Tia shouted, tears beginning to drop down her cheeks as she noticed the black veins.
Nightmare snapped out of her shock, and ran over to the old fashioned telephone that Jon and her got to work, and connected to the local line.
Princess Celestia eyed the veins with a small glare, as if trying to magic them out of the friendly man’s blood.
Even though they just met, she felt a small part of her magic wrap around him in an embrace, as if it was familiar with him.
It must’ve been her counterpart’s magic that connected them, since Tia was the one to adopt Jon into the Faust family, meaning that in her world, he would be her brother.
It made a small part of herself leap in joy for a new family member, besides Twilight.
...It didn’t work, since they still seemed to spread across his body, which means that it was killing him slowly, probably painful as well.
She didn’t know what to do, she never saw this kind of sickness before, nor did she never see a creature that used this type of attack either, so she was out of her element...
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The Canterlot Hospital was bustling, A gurney was being rolled with the man lying down on his side, his Actuators tucked in carefully so they don’t fall off the gurney.
Princess Celestia practically ran back through the portal, since she and Tia didn’t want to answer uncomfortable questions on how there’s a second her.
Celestia galloped through the halls of Canterlot Castle, swiftly avoiding working servants, guard ponies, and butlers, her cerulean eyes shining with determination on what is happening to her counterpart’s brother.
Principal Celestia called the family and they were sitting in the waiting room of the hospital, a solemn air filling the room which was empty since they were the only ones in there.
Cadance and Shining Armor were holding hands, her other hand on her stomach that was starting to show her pregnancy to the world in the form of a baby bump.
Celestia and Luna were hugging one armed style, Luna trying to comfort her older sister, as well as to comfort herself that nothing’s wrong with her older brother…
But she had a feeling that it is worse than anyone thought…
Nightmare on the other hand, was sitting alone, with her head in her hands, shoulders shaking slightly as she cried quietly, tears rolling down her dark cheeks and a despairful air surrounding her as she thought the worst has happened to her friend.
Her ACTUAL Friend…
The doors to the waiting room opened and out came a nurse, a clipboard in hand, and called out,
“ Celestia Faust?”
The mentioned woman’s head shot up, her eyes rimmed red from crying, saying in a hoarse voice.
“ Yes?”
The nurse took a breath and only said, “ Follow Me”, before going back through the open door.
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The Faust family looked into the window of the room and saw Jon sleeping on his back, his Actuators spread in the air and suspended by casts, his pale face sweating slightly with bags under his eyes.
Celestia gasped slightly, a lump in her throat as she tried to speak.
Luna beat her to it, asking the same question that was on all of their minds, “ Is he gonna be alright, nurse?”
The nurse, Redheart, took one look at the group, before shaking her head in sadness,
“ I don’t know. Whatever’s happening to Mr. Whalen is worse than we thought. Those black veins under his skin show that of a powerful toxin going through his body, slowly killing him every day, and there’s no known cure in the world that can save him. We’ve tried everything! From gamma treatment to basic blood replenishing bags.”
Cadance, who was staring at her pseudo cousin, said, “ So there’s nothing anyone can do to save him? What is in him anyway?” Her voice began cracking due to the thought of her child never seeing their uncle.
Nurse Redheart, her name showing on a tag on her lapel, looked at the woman, before shaking her head.
“ No. Whatever IT is, it’s not normal by our standards. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that it’s from another world entirely.”
Celestia stiffened slightly as she caught the last part of Redheart’s sentence and gears started to turn in her head.
Another world… is it possible? She thought as she and her family were herded out of the hospital, since visiting hours were over.
After returning to her and Luna’s mansion, she laid in her bed, and couldn’t get the thought, and slightly stupid idea out of her head.
Tonight... She’ll get Jon out of the hospital…
Tonight… She is gonna take her brother to the other side of the portal, and cure him of whatever is making him ill and then take him back home...
Tonight, Celestia would get answers … Or she’ll die trying…
And Nightmare is gonna help her…