//------------------------------// // In the thoughts of mass decay // Story: Decay // by Jinxed //------------------------------// “It was… four? Maybe five months back now.” Spike sighed, head in his hands. His friends sat around a small table that had been set up in Twilight’s room, and the air was depressingly solemn. “She’d been manic for weeks about the little beasts she always goes on about, but this was reaching a dangerous level of fear and disgust, full on attempts to rid herself of what only she saw.” The girls were all silent as the lithe drake explained, all attention focused on him between small sips of a drink or a bite of food. The aura in the room was dark and solemn, and they all felt the despair heavy on their hearts for their dearest friend. “After she tried fire spells and burned her fur and skin off in places, I intervened as best I could, I managed to convince her to try not using her eyes for a while. I thought I’d calmed her down, we tied that blindfold she has around her head and she seemed happier after…” He whispered, moving his hands under his chin. “Then I woke up to screaming, but it wasn’t the usual kind, it was pain. She’d had enough of the monsters she said, didn’t want to see them anymore, not for a single moment when the blindfold came off, so she’d grabbed a… a cheese knife… a-and she… she gouged her eyes out.” AJ leant her head on Spike’s shoulder and rested an arm around him as he suppressed a shudder at the memory, the girls following suit with them all ending up in a sorrowful comfort hug. Everyone pulled back after shedding some shared tears at the revelation, their breathing still shaky. “That’s s-so horrible, that you went through that alone.” Fluttershy sniffled, wiping her eyes on her wingtips. “We would have helped you then.” “I know, I know… I’m sorry. I just didn’t want to burden anypony with that knowledge.” Spike breathed out, taking in another few slow lungfuls of air. “I wasn’t really thinking rationally through all the sleepless nights and, well, that seemed like a good idea you know, not to tell anypony. She’s already so weak, and you all worry so much. Didn’t seem right to make everypony worry even more.” “I get ya reasonin’.” Applejack nodded with a great understanding. “Think we all do, ah don’t blame ya, an’ it does go without sayin’ we would have been supportive, but it’s past now.” Everypony nodded or hummed in agreement. “So… what now?” Rarity wondered, looking around the group, and again at Spike with a great amount of worry in her eyes. “We surely can't keep going on like this, it’s true what you say Spikey, Twilight hasn’t been getting better, and you’ve still been as attendant to her now as you always were…” “...But she keeps getting worse.” Rainbow Dash finished with a concerned, hard edge to her voice, slightly cracking as she maintained her false bravado. There was a silence for a few semi-peaceful moments, with nothing but the sounds of nurses and doctors going to and from places, until all six of them jumped slightly as there was a sudden crack in the air. “My apologies for being late, I feel Twilight has seriously hurt herself again.” Discord in all his glory looked no worse for wear than he had ever done, but his idea of being formal, kind, and respectful was of course to show up in a fluorescent pinstripe suit with a gaudy hat to match. Despite himself, Spike gave the Draconequus a small smile, and tried his best to pretend his friends other than Fluttershy weren’t trying to burn holes in him with their eyes, while Pinkie’s glare was much less intense, it was no less welcoming. As of course they blamed all of this in full or part on him. Spike didn’t deny he’d had a hand, and perhaps Discord never truly knew this would happen to an Alicorn with his same curse, but hating or otherwise alienating the chaotic god would be pointless in the long run of things. Fluttershy herself forgave Discord very early on in all of this as she was want to do, and Pinkie could never hate someone, and Spike didn’t like holding grudges against those that were truly sorry. Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash on the other hoof, had a much harsher view of him than the rest of them did, possibly even more so than Celestia who blamed it entirely on Discord, despite Twilight’s complete conviction and unwillingness to say no in her endless pursuit of knowledge. “Hey, Discord.” Spike greeted with a slight raise of his hand. “Twilight’s recovering in the ICU right now, don’t know if the doctors’ll let yo-” With a snap he was gone. Sure enough, when Spike got up and made his way to where Twilight was being looked after, poking his head around the doorway he saw Discord standing over her with a warm smile on his wizened features. “I don’t think she’ll wake for a while.” Spike commented, hearing the girls approach behind him as entered the room. “Where are the nurses?” “They said I couldn’t be here. I did not accept that.” Discord chuckled, his lips upturning ever so slightly. “They’re now elsewhere in the hospital.” “They’re just trying to do their job.” Spike sighed, pacing over and taking a seat near the door and quietly bringing it beside Twilight’s bed where she lay unconscious. He briefly turned his head as the girls came through and nodded to them, but his attention was back on Twilight again within the second. “She’s not doing so well so they’re keeping constant watch on her.” “I’d imagine so, she is a Princess after all.” Discord nodded, absentmindedly creating what Spike thought was an almost iridescently beautiful rose that shimmered with each catch of the light, all the time looking at Twilight’s face. “I just come to bring gifts.” Placing the fiery rose within an equally gorgeous and intricate vase that swirled into existence upon the bedside table, he gently rested his paw upon her brow after a moment. Twilight stirred briefly, but remained asleep. Discord’s expression turned into a grimace as he did what Spike assumed was looking into her mind. “Oh.” Spike glanced in confusion to him, then to Twilight, but didn’t see anything the matter, looking back to Discord whose face was progressively turning into a questioning frown. He felt the girls shuffle around him, in quite the same level of puzzlement he was experiencing for not knowing what the problem was right now. “Well...” Discord muttered, as he began to smile. “That’s an interesting development.” “Discord?” Fluttershy whispered beside Spike. “What’s going on?” He said nothing to her for the next minute, which stretched out as they watched the chaos god stand there with an interested stare. She was about to ask again until he shifted slightly and removed his paw from Twilight’s head. “A slight hiccup, dear Fluttershy. Nothing more.” He smiled at her, the rose he created flaring as if it were alive. Noticing their eyes fall upon it, Discord gestured to the plant. “Just a little experiment I’ve been working on help Twilight in her goal of getting rid of all these tiresome pests that keep annoying us.” “To explain though, there does exist some powerful magic, warding spells and the like, very ancient and mostly lost to time, Celestia used it on a vase of flowers that Twilight has, and I do believe Rarity has dabbled in something similar.” He started, seeing Rarity nod to her creation of the pieced-together spell she used earlier in the day. “Well sadly, that ancient magic has limits. However, I found out that once upon a time it very briefly touched on utilising a form of chaos magic, but abandoned its usage in favour of something else, to which I retouched on that chaos aspect. Using that in this rose, with any luck once it becomes attuned to Twilight’s ‘frequency’ such as it is, it might just help to mostly ward off the parasites that ail her.” All of them perked up immediately at the sound of that. “T-that’s wonderful, Discord!” Fluttershy squeaked, followed by nods and agreements by the group. “She’ll be able to make a major recovery if she’s not worrying about… um… the bugs, or… whatever they are.” “They are a part of Rot, dear Fluttershy.” Discord said to her. “It is very tenacious though, so I’m unsure if this will work in the long run but it’s certainly worth a shot. I am just so sorry it took so long for me to do something like this, if it doesn’t work then the great amount of time spent doing it shall have been wasted.” “If it’s fer Twi it aint wasted time, even if it don’t work that’s still knowin’ what don’t work an’ makin’ progress.” Applejack reasoned. “I suppose.” Discord scoffed, sweeping his eyes across them all. For a brief few minutes the room was silent and pensive, until he hung his head with a abjectly defeated sigh. “I just… I truly wish I’d thought of the consequences back then.” He was of course referring to giving this ‘power’ to Twilight in the first place. “I really thought she could handle it, you know.” He uttered. “She is an incredibly strong pony, almost as strong as Celestia in some regards, and Celestia can handle a great deal.” “It’s all in the past.” Spike spoke up. “You’re trying to atone and that’s good.” “But it’s not enough.” Discord replied back, shivering slightly and looking around with a small, sly smile. “Ahh… that’s a good sign, though.” He glanced to the group who were looking at him expectantly. “The rose is working. It just needed to get used to Twilight.” He smiled, gently placing his claw on Twilight’s forehead again. “While it won’t outright force the Rot away as with the fancy vase, it will stop things from decaying considerably, the aura of the rose should very much slow it to a crawl in comparison.” “Which means?” Dash asked. “It means, Rainbow Dash, that she might be able to eat food without wanting to put powdered ruby in it anymore, and seriously injuring herself in the process.” He explained, smiling wider at their pleased responses. “The parasites won’t be able to do what they do as fast, meaning things will not rot as fast and decay into nothing, things will become more bearable.” “Well that’s excellent news, Discord.” All heads turned to the source of the voice, all of them knowing who had spoken. Gracefully entering with her mane waving in a non-existent breeze, Princess Celestia trotted into the room with a solemn smile, made softer from hearing Discord’s new information on her beloved student. Without a word, Spike moved aside with the girls following suit so she could come over to Twilight in her bed. “It is only right that you should fix this.” She said, not meeting his eyes and keeping her own firmly on Twilight, carefully tucking Twilight’s mane around the back of one ear. Her tone of voice remained calm, caring, and all too motherly. The lack of any apparent anger was what made it all the more concerning. “This is your grievous error, and I will see it corrected.” It was always a worrying prospect when Celestia didn’t show her true feelings, because that usually meant she needed to hold them back in order to not entirely unload her frustration upon her intended target. Discord knew this, and visibly swallowed a nervous lump in his throat with a small nod of understanding. “Well, I’m making progress.” He assured, trying to meet her eye. Of course he was a little regretful when she did. Words didn’t need to be spoken between them when her eyes spoke volumes of her actual feelings on the matter. Staring into those flared eyes was as if the very Sun itself was boring into him and burning him from the inside out. The pain was not the usual type, but one of extreme disdain, as if he’d let down and disappointed a loving parent that had always viewed their child with naught but love, to then discover their child has done something horrendous and the sheer weight of it means they’ll never look at them the same again. It was crushing, and he had to look away. “I shall leave now.” He said softly, giving a last look to the Princess of Friendship as she rested soundly. He was gone when she turned back. Princess Celestia smiled as she tucked Twilight back into her own bed within the castle she called home. With Spike and the girls saying their little hopes and assurances of recovery they all came to leave her be, until Celestia asked Spike to stay back so they could talk. “Princess?” He wondered, coming back inside as the rest of them, understanding the situation, went to go back to their daily lives. “What is it you need?” He blinked in surprise as he found his slender form engulfed in a very large wingspan, and pulled into a most caring hug. He felt as if a divine presence had washed over and absolved him of all his troubles and fatigue. Gently he raised his arms and placed them around the Princess to return the hug, all but melting into the soft feeling of her fur. “Thankyou, little drake.” Celestia sniffed, her voice a whisper. “You’re such a good boy for your mother, working so tirelessly to care for her even when you yourself are suffering.” “I-it’s just… what I should do?” Spike felt dumbstruck by the reflection, smiling and then holding her tighter. “She would do the same for me, until she collapsed.” Holding back a choked laugh, Celestia pulled back. Tears shone in her eyes, but she remained resolute in her expression. “Yes… she would.” She smiled to him, one she felt him cherish. “Let us go, and let her rest for now. I will remain for a time and be ready should she wake unpleasantly.” Agreeing, they both left together as Twilight peacefully snoozed away. "Are you there, Twilight?" Yes. "How are you feeling?" I don't know, my body isn’t doing well, but here I feel fine… Thank you, as well. The rose was lovely. You really shouldn’t tease them all like that, you know. I’m handling the situation quite perfectly fine. “You know I can’t resist, I can’t wait to see how they react. That rose is a small step in the way of progress, hopefully it means a great deal more in time. Speaking of progress... "Indeed, Twilight. Thanks to your extreme efforts you’ve finally done it." It's really been doing a number on me physically these past months, hasn't it? I hadn't noticed too much, I’m not really there in reality anymore. "Your friends are very worried." I feel that. I can't really tell what is what in the world these days, but I always feel that. "Worry not, all that should soon be behind us. You're quite ready for what comes next." You really think so? "But of course, dear Twilight.” If you say so. Come on, we’ve still got work to do. “You do, I’m just a helping claw. This is your universe, you created it.” Yeah I did, didn’t I? Come on then, let’s go explore!