Fluttershy awoke with in the dead of night, sweat covering her from head to hoof. The room itself felt unnaturally hot and her body even moreso. It reminded her of when she was still ill. It was decades ago now, but she still remembered how it felt to be at Death's door. What worried her even more was the dream itself.
Normally, the mare had no dreams. Another one of the many side effects of the Trial of the Grasses- her body was so attuned to the magic around her, most nights became a battle for slumber in the more populated towns, such as the city of Canterlot where she had currently rented a small room at an inn opposite Geralt's.
She remembered very little, save for the bright silhouette of somepony looking down upon her before delivering the final blow. "I-it was a dream, that's all..." Fluttershy tried to convince herself. Deep down however, she felt it was more. She felt as if she were witnessing death in the eyes of someone she cared about. Drying the tears from her eyes, the Pegasus looked out the window to the now quiet city. It was peaceful in a way, the lights like fireflies over a campfire.
Suddenly, a figure teleported behind her. Reeling back, she got into attack stance and sweep kicked the mysterious attacker's legs from underneath, toppling the pony to the ground. Flying to her bags, she equipped one of her claws and had it trained on the assailant's throat. "Speak, and your head becomes a trophy-" Her eyes widening, Fluttershy recognized the purple eyes shaking in her grasp. Groaning, she sheathed her claws and threw them back in her travel bag. "This had better be worth it for what time it is..." She spat over her shoulder.
Still shaking, Twilight got up on her hooves once more. "Y-yes, um, I-I'm sorry for arriving unexpectedly like this." She painted on the same smile she used for politicians. The mare thought it best to approach this topic delicately. "But we need to do the pairing spell. Otherwise the Law of Surprise will be void."
The Pegasus huffed. "Like I wanted you." She glared. "Do you know how it feels now, to be unwanted?"
"I...Yes." she sighed. "Not many ponies accepted-"
"No, you don't!" Fluttershy slammed her hooves so hard the wood beneath cracked slightly. Rushing forward, she grabbed Twilight by the neck and brought her within inches of her own muzzle. "Take a look, a good, long look. You see these eyes, this coat, my Mane?!" She pointed to each part of her body as she named them. "I became a Witcher, not some mare that came back from the spa! Decades on that Celestia-foresaken mountain, and not a single friend visited! DECADES!" Tears were streaming down her eyes. "...Not even you. The one pony with the power to."
"I-I didn't have it any easier either!" Twilight spoke up.
"Tch!" She tossed the Alicorn back down.
Recovering, the mare regained her composure and approached Fluttershy more sternly this time. "Do you think I wanted you gone?!" Tears began welling up. "It took me several long years to stop myself from trying to visit." Twilight dropped her beauty spell, revealing her true self. Fluttershy flinched a little when she had seen the real face of her friend, but nevertheless held her look of anger. "Several times I convinced myself it was political stress, but the fact of the matter is it was because I couldn't deal with my friend going through that ruthless training to become a m-" she caught herself. "A Witcher."
"The first to go was the mane." She pointed to her greying locks. "That started after my third attempt at teleporting out of Canterlot."
"Next thing that showed up were the wrinkles." She pointed next to the bags under her eyes and the crow's feet that accompanied them. "Day after day after insufferable day, I lost countless hours of sleep trying to run a country and convince myself you were okay up there!"
"I fought back every step of the way. I grew into a fine ruler, but not by choice." She sighed. "I just wanted to see you, damn the consequences." She cast the beauty spell once more.
"..." Fluttershy remained silent. "Things were never easy. For any of us." She turned to the city outside her window once more. "But we always had each other." She chuckled dryly, continuing. "To think I could rely on Friendship to fix my problems at Kaer Blathan..."
"...You still can." Twilight held out her hoof. Fluttershy wanted to say something, but instead sighed and gently pushed the hoof away.
"Friendship can withstand the test of time, but the scars run deep, Twilight... It'll take a long time before I learn to forgive you."
She sighed. "Alright. Then as your friend, I'll try to earn back that forgiveness..." They both stared to the majestic city below, watching the fireflies flicker in the night...
Twilight awoke first, the bed she was in hard and itchy. "This isn't my usual Canterlot bed..." She mumbled, wiping the tiredness from her eyes. Slowly she remembered what happened last night, until she jumped out of the bed in surprise.
"Good morning." Fluttershy greeted, sipping on a small cup of tea. "I'd offer you some, but it's a special brew Geralt had made for me back at Kaer Blathan." She leaned in and whispered. "I think it has Kikimora saliva in it."
"Oh, um... Okay?" Twilight quizzically stared.
"It'll paralyze most creatures, but to Witchers, it's more like a tingly feeling." She took another sip. "It pairs well with a nice Raspberry tea."
"When did i-" Twilight was interrupted by the Pegasus.
"Sometime last night. You talk in your sleep now." She stated plainly.
Twilight winced. "Did I... Say anything bad?"
"No, just a few words." Fluttershy beamed. "Mostly sorry, kumquats, and the square root of pi."
"I recited the square root of pi... In my sleep." The Alicorn blankly stared.
"That isn't anything new, you were always good at math." She calmly teased. Suddenly, her expression changed to a serious one. "About the binding spell..." Setting the tea cup down, she continued. "How exactly will it work? Forgive me, but I don't want you to be even more reckless with Witcher magic than you already have."
Twilight cringed at hearing those words. "Yes, the binding spell..." Stretching one last time, she sat at the small table the Pegasus was at, magically summoning a spell index to explain. "I'm the item of Surprise, that much is true... But I was originally going to have myself bound magically to Geralt, to serve penance."
"You were going to anchor yourself to a Witcher, just like that?! That's reckless, even for you."
"No, no!" Twilight exclaimed. "J-just hear me out." She highlighted part of the matrix in the diagram. "Witcher mutations will deny most forms of outside magic, correct?" Once Fluttershy nodded in confirmation, she continued. "Well, with this spell, I wouldn't be bound, persay. It's more of a contract by blood, or wings in this case." She sighed. "I'm willingly giving up my Alicorn magic. I'll be a Unicorn again..."
"B-but Twilight, you worked so hard to-" the Alicorn interrupted.
"To earn my wings? I did, but all it brought me in the end was pain. Besides, it doesn't disappear." She pointed to another diagram on the index. "It'll be stored in a medallion much like the one Geralt wears, and if I'm correct, will also act like it as well. Since he can't make anymore copies due to the nature of the magic it was first imbued with, I was going to offer it to you..." She chuckled dryly. "Not like it changes much."
Fluttershy was speechless.
"A-And the binding? How does that work?" She eventually asked.
"Well, it acts much like anything else, really. I'll be bound to you, magically. My power is yours, your power is mine. In this case," she sighed once more. "I'll feel what it was like becoming a Witcher, minus the effects. It'll be like-"
"Torture." Fluttershy gasped. "Twilight, the Trial of the Grasses was a painful experience that I don't wish on anyone!" Her mood changed back to the sour one from yesterday. "And you think that'll make it alright?! It doesn't change anything, Twilight! You just end up like a monster..."
"I know." She sighed, but then grew a look of determination. "But I'll do it. I need to do this, not for anyone else other than me. I won't forgive myself if I don't understand what I put you through."
Fluttershy was about to say something, to stop her friend from going through a harrowing experience, but she knew that look all too well from their previous adventures. Twilight wasn't taking No for an answer. "Then we leave for Kaer Blathan once Geralt is ready." She walked to the door then stopped, looking back over her shoulder. "Twilight?"
"Yes, Fluttershy?"
The Pegasus gave her a final look, her Wolven eyes cold as stone. "This is a one way road; you better pray to Celestia that you're responsible enough to pay the price."
For the first time in a long time, Twilight Sparkle had felt something she hadn't in 11 long years:
She felt the overwhelming fear of responsibility for another life.