Spike slowly woke up from his suspended animation. “Oh Celestia,” He moaned. “My head.” He checked his surroundings. He was in Twilight’s library. The entire place was a mess. Books were scattered everywhere, pages torn, quills broken, scrolls crumpled up and tossed everywhere. The stench of pony sweat and rotten fruit was thick in the air. Spike instantly realized that Twilight had been doing all the researching and testing she could have done to help the poor dragon. “I told her it was useless,” he mumbled to himself.
Spike ascended the stairs and entered the main room. It was filled with dust and cobwebs, but lacked in ponies. The kitchen was also pony free. He slowly peaked into the bathroom but found his friend wasn’t in there. Twilight’s room also had contents of zero mares.
The purple dragon began to worry. Where was she? Perhaps she had stepped out to purchase some more supplies for testing. Or maybe something had happened to her. Spike shook his head no. He shouldn’t think that.
Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity stood in the doorway to the hospital room with their jaws dropped. They had heard about what happened the previous day but weren’t allowed in till today.
Lying on the bed on the opposite side of them was Twilight Sparkle; only she was in the worse state any of them had ever seen. She was so thin that her skeleton could be seen through her skin. Her horn had several cracks in it, as well as her hoofs. She had several IV’s in her and an oxygen mask over her face.
“OH GOODNESS!” Rarity exclaimed. “She must have worked herself to death!”
“DON’T SAY THAT!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “She’s not dead! She can’t be!” She turned to Twilight. “Listen Egghead, I swear to Celestia that if you die I’m going to drag you back with my bare hooves and…and…” She couldn’t finish her sentence.
“Girls, I’m here.” Fluttershy said as she slowly walked into the room. She had arrived late because she was taking care of a sick rabbit. “How’s Twi…” She screamed when she looked at the bed. “Is she…Is she dead?!”
“No…” Rarity said grimly. “At the moment she isn’t…”
Fluttershy couldn’t keep herself from crying. She was quickly embraced by her friends who told her to calm down and everything would be alright.
Then all of them jumped when they heard a moan. “Spike…” Twilight was awake and trying to sit up. “I…have…to…help…” All five of her friend rushed to Twilight and held her back. Her severe weight loss made it easy for them to push her down, but they had to push lightly out of fear that they might hurt her.
“Hold yer horses gal!” Applejack shouted. “You barely have enough energy to keep yourself alive!”
Twilight insistently tried to get up. “Spike…”
“Please stop it!” Fluttershy pleaded. “You’re going to hurt yourself!”
“Doctor!” Rarity shouted. “We need a doctor in here!”
A stallion in a doctor’s uniform and Shining Armor dashed into the room.
“Twili!” Shining Armor shouted. “You need to lie down!”
“I…have…to…help…Spike…”
“Nurse!” The doctor shouted. “Sedate her!”
A pegasus nurse rushed into the room and injected a needle into Twilight’s arm. The purple unicorn instantly fell backwards onto her bed. All of them sighed in relief.
“Please tell me she’s going to be ok doctor.” Pleaded Shining Armor.
“We’re doing everything that we can.” The doctor told him. “It would be best if you all went home. We promise that we’ll contact you as soon as we know anything.”
The five mares and Shining Armor exited the hospital and found two Royal Guards outside. They informed Shining Armor that he had to return to Canterlot and resumed his duties.
Shining Armor grunted. “I’m going to stay here until my sister gets better.” But the Royal Guards insisted that he must return. “Fine…” He said in dismay. The white unicorn boarded his chariot and was flown away.
“Come on,” Pinkie said with less than her usual amount of energy. “I bet some cake will cheer us up.” They started to make for Sugar Cube Corner when all of a sudden they were approached by Spike.
“Hey,” He said. “Have any of you seen Twilight?” None of the mares said anything. Applejack just nudged her head towards the hospital. “Oh my gosh!”
Spike burst through the door to Twilight’s room and nearly fainted. “T-T-Twilight?” He ran to her bedside. “Twilight? Are you ok? Twilight? Answer me!” The purple dragon rushed to a doctor who was entering the room. “Tell me she’s going to be ok!”
The doctor shook his head. “We not sure. We’re surprised she’s even alive now. From what we can tell…she’s not going to make it through the night.”
Spike gasped and dashed out of the hospital. “Damn it!” He said to himself. “This is all my fault. She went this far because of me!” He burst through the door of the tree house and ran down into the basement. “Where is it?” He shuffled through all of Twilight’s books till he found the one he was looking for. Advanced Potion Making. He franticly flipped through the pages. “I know it’s in here. Yes here it is!”
Spike worked as fast and hard as he could for hours making the potion. He had seen Twilight make potions enough time to know how to do it properly. He made so much noise that Applejack and friends went inside to investigate.
“Spike?” Applejack called into the basement. “Ya down here?”
“YES I DID IT!” Spike shouted so loud that the mares jumped. He bolted pass them and out the door.
The five mares went down to investigate his work. They saw the potion book laying out on the table and examined the page it was opened to. They gasped.
Venom of Life
Share it with a pony on the brink of death
And be prepared to draw your last breath